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YouTube is a lot of things to a lot of people, but for gamers, it's the ultimate cheat guide to every game, ever. If you can't figure out how Nathan Drake is supposed to get through that tower scene with the snipers or you're stumped over the pattern needed to survive 8 more seconds of Cup Head, you're going straight to YouTube. But depending on the game, you might have to sit through 20 painstaking minutes of slow gameplay to understand a strategy, or you might have to rewatch the same clip a dozen times to spot the timing needed for each move. That just got a lot easier as the YouTube Gaming app just added playback speed controls, and they're a bit faster to access than on the regular YouTube app.
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It's time for a new version of Android Messages. The latest update takes a slightly larger than average jump from v2.5 to v2.7, but no obvious changes to the UI are really popping out. However, the apk did get much smaller with this release, and there are some things visible through the lens of a teardown. We'll keep watching for other changes, but let us know if you see anything.
Google began rolling out version 23 of Allo yesterday. No feature changes have jumped out at us yet, but there's plenty of material for a teardown. There are more details about the upcoming camera effects for selfies and selfie clips, a new type of attachment, custom support for contact cards shared between people, and more.
We've all been there. You're caught up in a YouTube spiral, each video you watch ends with a recommendation that you can't refuse. Day turns to night and the bright background of the app contrasts sharply with the darks and midtones of most videos, making your eyes more tired than they need to be. You rub your eyes to bring them back to life, but it's only a temporary fix. What you really want is to make those bright white backgrounds go away. There's some good news: Dark mode is coming.
The Google Home app has seen some big enhancements lately, and with the rollout of v1.26, it's gearing up for some more. The latest update brings the notable addition of EQ settings for speakers and introduces a new screen for backdrop history. Users of Android 8.0 Oreo might also notice their app shortcuts are now sporting fresh adaptive icons. However, the main topic comes to us via a teardown that shows a new feature called Speaker Pairs which will enable us to take two speakers and set them up to work in stereo.
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There's a fresh version of the Google app rolling out on the beta channel right now. This one doesn't appear to put a lot of new stuff in front of us for use right now, but there are hints scattered around that tablet support is ready to launch. A teardown brings the more interesting clues, including more capabilities for Routines, additional details for the screen-enabled Google Home (i.e. Quartz), and even downloadable podcasts.
A new version of Play Music is available this afternoon and it's making a big leap in versions from 8.0 to 8.5. This update doesn't come with the redesign that had seemed likely after last month's visual refresh to Play Music on Android TV. But cosmetic touchups were in the cards as the adaptive icons for app shortcuts were fixed in this release. Additionally, Play Music lost some megabytes after unbundling its Wear app.
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A new version of the Google Phone app began rolling out this weekend with a few bug fixes and some new hints about what may be coming in the future. We've checked for the *infamous 'switch to video call' feature* that was spotted during the October 4th event, but it still doesn't appear to be operational yet. However, a teardown of this update reveals that the Phone app will automatically correct prefixes when you make a call to international numbers and it may begin offering voicemail transcriptions on behalf of carriers.
Updates to the Play Games app aren't as free flowing as they are for many of Google's other apps, but they often do bring pretty big changes or additions. The latest version bump gives Play Games a huge visual makeover that looks cleaner and puts installed games front and center. There are also three included mini-games to play if you get bored and don't have something else installed yet.
Have you ever wondered how people make those timelapse videos where the view from the camera smoothly drifts from one point to another? These are done with a piece of gear called a motorized slider. They're generally large, unwieldy, and limited by unfriendly user controls. Enter Trek, a modular, motorized slider designed for smartphones, GoPros, and other lightweight cameras. It's app-controlled for easier use and more advanced routines than many other sliders.
Android Pay is getting a small makeover with its latest update, rolling out to users now. The new version switches to the always-familiar navigation drawer found in most other Google apps. If you're running Android 8.0 Oreo, you'll also see a change on your launcher as Android Pay also makes the upgrade to an adaptive icon.
Hey, remember that time when a Hangouts update added a shruggie code? How about a month later when the following version expanded to a whole library of ASCII and emoji shortcodes? Then that time about a year later when a few more were dropped in. Look, I'm not trying to draw a parallel between shortcodes in Hangouts and the stickers in Allo, but... #inb4. But seriously, the cool thing about the one and only easter egg phrase added to the latest Hangouts is IT'S F*#&)@& ZOIDBERG!
Two frequently requested features were added with the release of the latest YouTube Music update. Version 2.06 brings with it the double-tap to seek feature from the main YouTube app, and perhaps just as importantly, it can now be installed to tablets directly from the Play Store and has a new tablet-oriented layout for the video player.
The latest update to Google Maps is rolling out on the beta channel now. This is the version that brings the just-announced restaurant wait times. That appears to be the only notable addition users will be able to see right away. A teardown also brings more meat to the upcoming motorcycle-specific enhancements.
A small update to Google Photos is rolling out right now with the smallest of changes. There's a new button buried in the image editor for quickly launching external image editors. Otherwise, this release appears to be mostly bug fixes and adjustments to some of the text throughout the app. As always, if you're looking to get the latest update, hit the link to APK Mirror at the bottom.
Hot on the heels of Allo's update over the weekend, Duo is now out with a new version of its own. Like Allo, its adaptive icon has been retouched to get rid of the infamous dinner plate look. While there aren't any other changes to the app on the surface, a teardown provides us with clues that Duo may support signing in with and being contacted through your Google account.
Google is starting off the week with an update to the Contacts app. After poking around for quite some time, it looks like there aren't any notable changes on the surface, but changes to the resources suggest that we'll soon be able to turn on real-time location sharing with other people directly from within the Contacts app.
Google Allo is loaded with quirky and unusual features, many of which fall outside of the norm for traditional instant messengers. While a lot of people write off things like selfie stickers as distractions, they serve to give users new ways to make their chat experience into whatever they want it to be. Based on a video and screenshots we've obtained from a person testing preview features in Allo, it looks like the app will soon introduce a feature called 'Activities' with the ability to launch miniature shared apps that everybody can interact with.
Releasing an app update just before the start of the weekend is always a bit risky, but here we have an update to Allo v22 that shows that's just how those developers play the game. On the other hand, this looks like a pretty calm update; the only thing jumping out so far is a streamlined UI for setting up solo and group chats. A teardown also brings up some clues about enhancements coming in the future, including transcriptions for audio messages and new camera effects.
A new version of the Play Store is rolling out, but you're probably not going to see too many changes outside of a couple different banners here and there. However, a teardown of the APK does provide quite a bit more to look at. There are clues suggesting the Play Store will soon begin selling audiobooks, show notifications about your apps and games, change some of the process for downloading certain apps, and more.