Cody Toombs
Senior Reviewer
Contributing since February, 2013
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1509articles
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About Cody Toombs
Cody has been writing with Android Police for ten years. While best known for the hundreds of APK Teardowns and breaking news on many of Google’s new products and services, he also covers deeper technical topics about the inner workings of Android, app development, and security. Cody is a software engineer and consultant with two decades of experience developing mobile and enterprise applications. In addition to writing, Cody is a regular podcaster and has made appearances on CNN, All About Android, and Tech News Today. Cody is also an active photographer and videographer, occasional gamer, and an all-around decent human.
What tech products or categories are you most passionate about?
Cameras and smartphones for photography. New technologies are bringing a lot of interesting things capabilities to the worlds of photography and video.
What was your first phone and what do you remember about it?
My true first phone was some old Motorola candybar phone from before the days of smartphones. I started on smartphones with the Cingular 2125 (a rebrand of the HTC Faraday, I think?)
Latest Articles
Arlo's home security products have been a popular option for people looking to set up a few wireless cameras. The top of the line Arlo Ultra is weather sealed, shoots in 4K, shoots a great image at night, and offers plenty of well-designed features. While we liked this model, price was a bit of a turn-off. However, Amazon has a 4-pack on sale for just $800, which is $200 off MSRP.
DOOM 64 lands on Stadia, bringing classic pixelated carnage to the platform
Early DOOM Eternal buyers are getting it for free
Admit it, your soul demands a meal made of crazy guns, demons from Hell, and a side of exploding barrels. If you were a gamer back in the late 90s, your first taste of this exquisite dish may have been served up by DOOM 64, a sequel to DOOM II launched exclusively on the Nintendo 64. It's back after 25 years, but this time on Stadia; and now everybody can be nostalgically engulfed in the low resolution chaos.
Bing Wallpapers app launches with daily updates to your background (APK Download)
New photos every day from some fantastic photographers
While the search engine wars haven't been particularly kind to Bing, fans of the service often praise it for updating the home page with beautiful and interesting background photos each day. It has been so popular that it has sparked a small following, and there are several wallpaper apps dedicated to pulling the images from Bing's homepage to use as wallpapers on our phones. Microsoft has even delivered the same functionality a couple times in the past with its Bing search app and a now-defunct lockscreen app; but if you don't want all of the extra weight that comes with those, Bing now has a new app dedicated to just doing wallpapers.
Latest VLC beta switches to bottom navigation, adds share menu
New video information overlay during playback
The once ubiquitous navigation drawer has become a pariah of app design over the last couple years thanks to a forced movement toward gesture navigation. We've seen plenty of apps switch to a tabbed bar at the bottom of the screen, and now VLC is joining their ranks. Along with a few other new features, the first beta of v3.3 now sports a browser screen with an updated navigation model.
DJI announces Mavic Air 2 with 34 minute flight time
Bigger camera sensor, 48MP photos, and a new controller
Rumors and leaks have been calling for DJI's next aerial drone to make an appearance in the company's April 27th announcement, and now it's official. The Mavic Air 2 is coming to market with some notable improvements over the original Mavic Air, and a few changes that set it apart from the original in some interesting ways.
Android Auto should bring back calendar integration and reminders
It was one of the best features and Auto isn't as good without it
Android Auto saw some big changes last summer, including removal of the Google Feed-inspired home screen and the addition of semi-persistent audio controls in the navigation bar. While most of the changes were welcomed, a few things were lost in the transition. Complaints have been stacking up over the sacrifice of calendar integration, or more specifically, that there are no appointment reminders or a convenient way to kickstart navigation to the places you need to go.
Aptoide database breach exposes 20 million user accounts, possibly more to come
At least there aren't any payment details to worry about
Website hacks are nothing new, and it's all but certain that everybody has had at least at least a couple login credentials and other details exposed at some point. Unfortunately, another incident has occurred, this time with the Aptoide app store. Minimal personal information and zero payment details were exposed, but login credentials are exposed.
Google Play Music subscriptions are failing to auto-renew for some
Go check on your grandfathered subscription
Read update
Holding onto a grandfathered Google Play Music subscription has become a badge of honor for many, but a hiccup in billing may require that you double-check that it's still active. There have been a growing number of reports that accounts with the original $7.99 Play Music subscription haven't auto-renewed this month. Some people are able to restore the subscription easily enough, and others may have to reach out to support to get things corrected.
Google Fit adds new Wear OS Tiles, prioritizes step counter, and improves Heart Point recommendations (Update: APK download)
Now there's a reason to keep checking your watch while you're stuck inside
Read update
Just as many people are getting a bit stir crazy from staying indoors, the Google Fit team is delivering some long overdue attention to the Android app and Wear OS. Over the next week or so, several enhancements to the interface are set to roll out, meant to make information more visible while streamlining the interface so users can quickly pull up the most important bits of data.
If you've had your eye on a Moment case and were just waiting for a killer sale, there has never been a better time to pick one up. All of Moment's cases are currently on sale for just $20, down from the regular price of $40; and the discounts get bigger with more cases. And while you're shopping cases, many other products from Moment and other brands are also on sale for as much as 30% off.
Google Phone v47 prepares to add Flip to Silence gesture (APK Teardown)
May soon enable answering as 1-way video calls
While some of us spend very little time on the phone, it's still very important that we can make and respond to calls in the most intuitive ways possible. That might involve knowing where buttons are and what direction to swipe, what to look for on a screen, or how some things will react to gestures and button presses. The latest update to the Google Phone app reveals it's about to get a popular feature for muting call ringers by simply flipping the phone over.
Google Play introduces Asset Delivery system to streamline game downloads
Developers can fast track game installs to get you playing faster and use less space
While the world is slowly progressing with faster Internet connectivity, and OEMs are iteratively offering more storage space in devices, it's still hard to keep up with the rate that games and some other apps have been growing. To combat this trend, Google is introducing a new Asset Delivery API so developers can further streamline the install process for games so users can get up and running even faster and with less space used.
Plenty of Fish adds video chat so you can keep dating during social isolation
We only lose when we stop trying
As modern society rapidly prepares for what will become one of the loneliest times we will likely ever know, it doesn't mean singles have to be stuck in limbo until things return to normal. Dating service Plenty of Fish is launching a new video streaming feature that will make it easier for potential dates to meet virtually without abandoning the practice of social distancing for an IRL meeting.
Spike in uploads to Google Drive is slowing down video processing
Patience is a virtue... or maybe your only option
While many people are hunkering down for the next couple of weeks, it's a great opportunity to do some spring cleaning of your home, computers, and other gadgets. At least that's something I've been trying to do, but maybe you're just kicking back with a game and binge watching a show you've been meaning to catch up on. As it turns out, quite a few people are putting Google Drive to the test as uploads have evidently spiked and are now causing slower than usual processing time for videos.
Google Hangouts loses location sharing in latest update
It's not like people need to know where you are
We've known for a long time that Google Hangouts was destined to shut down, but most of us couldn't have predicted individual features would be slowly picked from its not-quite-dead body. That seems to be the case with the location sharing function formerly found in Hangouts. As of v32, the convenient messaging feature has been quietly removed.
Moment releases universal lens mount compatible with most phones and tablets
An answer for everybody that can't get a photo case
One of the best things about Android is that you can choose from a multitude phones in many different form factors. Unfortunately, that's the reason accessory makers have a hard time keeping up with so many designs, and as a result, they often don't bother to support more than a select few models. Moment has been in this position for quite a while and regularly hears requests from people that want to use the lenses, but can't get a case for their model of phone. Now Moment is introducing an adjustable clip with a mounting bracket suitable for use on most smartphones and tablets.
Stadia finally offers downloadable screenshots and game videos
Sharing to social networks still has to be done by hand
Stadia has progressed quite a bit since it the invites started flowing to early adopters, but many people still say it feels very incomplete. Many standard features are still missing, the game library isn't very expansive, and it still hasn't fulfilled some of the core promises — playable on Android TV, anyone? Nevertheless, the Stadia team can (partially) cross off one of the features users have been expecting: access to screenshots and videos.
Google Cloud Next turns into digital-only conference amidst coronavirus concerns
Is Google I/O Next?
One by one, major conferences and events have been postponed or cancelled in response to the spread of COVID-19, widely referred to simply by the name: Coronavirus. Most major cancellations were occurring for events scheduled in February and March, but it was inevitable organizers would have to begin dealing with events further out on the calendar. The latest name to get his is Google Cloud Next, an event focused on building software using Google services and other web technologies. However, instead of cancelling the event, Google Cloud is turning it into a virtual conference.
Android 11 developer preview 1 adds support for soft reboots
You won't use it directly, but it could pave the way for some great features
Major Android updates always come with a host of new features and functionality, but there are countless other changes taking place behind the scenes that set the stage for more significant improvements down the road. Among the additions in Android 11, most of us will probably never care about rebooting userspace, but it may be a first step for several other bigger enhancements to come.
Android 11 continues crackdown on restricted APIs
It's time for the annual purge of private methods
Starting with Android P, Google began slowly closing the door on the use of non-public APIs. The process began with method calls that had little or no known usage among app developers, but things changed when Android Q expanded the list of restricted interfaces to cover a larger selection. Now with Android 11, the crackdown continues as the Android team adds even more non-public APIs to the restricted list.