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LG G3 owners on Sprint, you should be getting a new over-the-air update in the next few days. Don't get too excited, it's not a new version of Android - you should have gotten Lollipop 5.0 sometime back in February. Nope, this update does one thing and one thing only: enable factory reset protection, a 5.0 feature that was left out of LG's updated build for some reason.
Looking for a quick and easy way to set someone up with a smartphone? Then head over to Groupon, which is currently offering an impressive entry-level bundle for just a Benjamin. The current deal offers the original Moto E (2013), a SOL portable Bluetooth speaker, and a Tracfone SIM card with 1200 minutes for $94.99. Is that still not enough for you? Fine, take a car charger as well.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Looking for an awesome Android TV machine? Then go buy the NVIDIA SHIELD, because it's worth every penny that you pay over competitors like the Razer Forge TV and the original Nexus Player. But if you want one that's cheap, look no further than the Amazon listing for Google's first-party set-top box. Today the Nexus Player is .78, just over $35 off of the $100 retail price. Amazon Prime customers can get free two-day shipping as well.
Ah, summer in the US has arrived, and you know what that means: Motorola leaks and rumors. A few hints of the new flagship Moto X have been circulating (none of them reliable enough for a full post here on Android Police), but new evidence of the next mid-range Moto G is worth looking into. According to a series of photos posted to Google+, Motorola intends to keep the same basic layout for 2015 but revise the textured rear panel with an LG-style vertical strip. It looks purely decorative, with no power or volume controls.
It's Father's Day. If you have a dad and you appreciate him, go have lunch with him. If he's too far away, call him on the phone, like people used to do before things like touchscreens and smartwatches and Taylor Swift. Don't send him a text message or IM that says "Happy Father's Day" - that's just so tacky. It's the communication equivalent of a last-minute drug store gift card.
Heads up or "peeking" notifications, the little miniature pop-ups that appear in Android Lollipop if a notification comes in when you happen to be actually using your device, aren't for everyone. That's why Google will include the option to disable them on a per-app basis in the upcoming Android M release. (See Settings>Sound & Notification>App notifications in the Developer Preview.) It's also why apps like HeadsOff have sprung up to cater to those who want them to go away even sooner.
If you want to do absolutely everything from the "OK Google" voice prompt in Android... well, you can't. You can't, say, fire a rocket at the moon, or end world hunger, or have a dachshund puppy delivered to your doorstep. But developer João Dias is trying his darnedest to make all of that happen, and with the latest update to his AutoRemote app, it's getting closer and closer. You might even be able to make that rocket thing happen if you know someone at NASA.
When you enable USB debugging on your Android phone or tablet, then plug it into your computer it gives you a single prompt to enable ADB debugging, after which you can manually adjust the automatic behavior from the Settings menu. At least it's supposed to - apparently with later versions of the ADB.exe Windows file, the prompt is appearing every time you plug an Android device in, whether you've set the automatic behavior or not.
If you're using a "smart" wearable device because it's fashionable rather than practical (and the current crop of smartwatches have a pretty tenuous grasp on the idea of practicality anyway), then why not just wear an old-fashioned watch or bracelet and deal with the arguable inconvenience of reaching for your phone on occasion? These and other questions might be answered by the Android app for MICA, an Intel-branded wearable that puts fashion over form.
The original Moto X signaled a major design shift for Motorola, and the company has done an admirable job keeping the device updated to the latest versions of Android so far. The Moto X 2013 is now seeing its first Android 5.1 updates, specifically for the unlocked retail models in the United States and Brazil plus the Rogers carrier version sold in Canada, according to Motorola manager David Schuster. This comes after a few weeks of soak tests.
[Bonus Round] Chronology, Rescue: Heroes In Action, Heroes and Castles 2, E3 1915, Into The Circle, And Space Galaga
Chronology, Rescue: Heroes In Action, Heroes and Castles 2, E3 1915, Into The Circle, And Space Galaga
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got a mobile take on Braid, a mix of hack-and-slash and tower defense, a firefighting strategy game, a unique tale of a game reporter, a minimalist physics game, and a Galaga reskin. Without further ado:
Android TV and similar set-top boxes are incredibly popular with the cord-cutting crowd. But if you still subscribe to cable, the various networks included with your package are finally getting their respective acts together and creating decent online options for streaming shows and movies. EPIX, a channel that's mostly focused on playing older and second-run movies, has finally made its way to Android TV. The app went live back on June 9th, but for some reason the company is just announcing it now.
HTC seems to have forgotten about its sole entrant into the "phablet" market - they haven't released anything as large as the 5.9-inch One Max since its debut way back in 2013. But presumably the people who own it still like it, or at least use it, so the news that HTC is finally updating the device to Android 5.0 should be welcome. Numerous users have started receiving the Lollipop OTA as evidenced by posts to Twitter and XDA-Developers.
Most of you are probably familiar with AirDroid, the Swiss army knife of Android utilities. The desktop app is pretty great too, especially if you sit at a computer desk all day surrounded by phones and tablets like some kind of complete loser professional gadget blogger. The latest update for the Windows and OS X companion app adds compatibility with a couple of social services, new language options for Russian and Portuguese (the kind from Portugal - the Brazilian dialect was already there), and the usual bug fixes.
I dare you to try and get through this story without getting Devo lyrics stuck in your head. Ready? Here we go: FireWhip is a casual game from developer Trichotomy that's unlike just about anything on the Play Store, despite its simplicity. You play a tiny pixelated blob which, for reasons that aren't adequately explained, has a whip made of fire. The objective is to kill as many bad guys (also represented by pixelated blobs) as possible, in a sort of 360-degree version of a top-down shooter.
Believe it or don't, there are a lot of people who care a surprising amount about Google's official Android clock app - enough that there are six different versions of it on APK Mirror, for example. Today Google has finally decided to post the app to the Play Store, enabling automatic downloads for millions of Android users and letting the company refresh the app free of over-the-air updates. You can download it right now.
An external USB-powered battery is not a complex piece of electronics. Generally it has energy input, energy output via a couple of standard USB ports, maybe a few LED lights for measuring the charge, and perhaps a flashlight if the manufacturer is feeling creative. But today's Amazon Gold Box deal includes a battery that can actually start your car. How's that for flexibility? The Anker gadget (an economical brand name we've come to trust) is going for .99, $100 off the retail price.
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- If you're on build YNG1TAS17L, you can use the following incremental OTA zip instead, since it weighs only about 20MB. Apply in recovery, as usual, and save yourself 500+MB.
OnePlus One owners, have you been having problems with touchscreen sensitivity on your phone? How about the Bluetooth connection in your car stereo? Any issues with sending MMS texts through the default app? At least some of you have, and the latest release of Cyanogen OS is meant to fix all three. Version YNG1TAS2I3 (still Android 5.0, if you're wondering) was just posted to Cyanogen's website.
It's been almost eight months since the Federal Communications Commission opened its lawsuit against AT&T for misleading statements on its "unlimited" data plans. Today the Commission announced its intention (PDF link) to fine the wireless company $100 million for failing to notify its customers that going over unspecified data limits on an "unlimited" plan would result in severely reduced or "throttled" speed, well below advertised speeds, violating the 2010 Open Internet Transparency Rule. "Unlimited means Unlimited," said FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Travis LeBlanc.