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Samsung confirms fix for another annoying One UI 6.1 bug
A Secure Folder update will allow you to uninstall the app in One UI 6.1
Samsung recently rolled out the One UI 6.1 update for its 2023 flagship and premium devices, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5. Since this was a significant update, some bugs inadvertently slipped through the company's testing, leading to excessive battery drain, the fingerprint scanner not working correctly on the lock screen, etc. Samsung quickly acknowledged the problems and confirmed they would be fixed soon. Now, Galaxy users have run into another annoying bug in One UI 6.1.
Meta’s upgraded AI comes to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook
Meta AI gets more powerful with real-time image generation and more
Google and OpenAI are not the only companies dabbling in the AI chatbot space. Meta also launched its AI chatbot — aptly named Meta AI — in September 2023. Since then, the company has slowly but steadily improved the LLMs powering its chatbot. More recently, Meta AI rolled out to some WhatsApp users as an experimental feature. In a major Meta AI expansion, Mark Zuckerberg announced the chatbot's integration into WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook, and Instagram. It's switching to the Llama 3 AI model as well, which is faster and smarter than ever.
Samsung's flagship and foldable phones, like the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 5, hog all the limelight. But the company's budget phones are equally important and play a key role in making Samsung the world's largest Android manufacturer. In March, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy A55 and A35, successors to two of its most popular budget phones from last year. Back then, the company only confirmed that the A55 wouldn't launch in the US and provided no details on the A35's availability. That's changing now, with the phone going on sale in the US starting today.
Nothing’s newest earbuds pack some meaningful upgrades
The Nothing Ear is the company’s latest flagship earphones
Nothing made a name for itself with its wireless earbuds, the Nothing ear (1), in 2021 before jumping onto the smartphone bandwagon. In 2023 year, it launched the Nothing Ear 2, packing some much-needed improvements and audio upgrades for $149. For 2024, the company is launching not one but two earbuds: the Nothing Ear, its new flagship earphones, and the Ear (a).
iOS inches closer to Android with new third-party app store and Nintendo emulator
But in typical Apple fashion, there are a few catches...
Apple's walled garden looks pretty but has limitations, with the company keeping a close eye on what kind of apps iPhone users can download. For years, the App Store guidelines have prohibited developers from offering retro game emulators. But in a surprising move, Apple updated the guidelines earlier this month to allow retro game emulators on the App Store, thanks to the EU's Digital Markets Act and to avoid further regulatory scrutiny. This has now paved the way for an official Apple-approved game emulator to go live on the App Store.
Feast your eyes on these Google Pixel 8a renders
These renders are of higher quality than some recent leaks
Over the last few years, unreleased Pixel phones have leaked months before their official unveiling. It's the same story with the Pixel 8a, which has been detailed multiple times over the last few months. With the phone purportedly due for an I/O 2024 debut next month, its leaks have only picked up pace. A recent render leak showed off the phone in all four of its colors, though they were of poor quality. A new leak fixes that, showcasing the Pixel 8a from multiple angles in all the colors that Google plans to offer it in.
Google Photos could soon hide memes and clutter from your main feed
Plus, the Memories tab could get a big UI revamp
Google Photos makes it easy to manage your vast pictures and video library. With some effort on your part, Google's backup tool can neatly organize your library, categorizing photos based on people, events, functions, and more. Plus, it will occasionally resurface old pictures to make you nostalgic. If, like me, you use Google Photos to back up all media you receive on WhatsApp, Telegram, and other apps, your library is likely cluttered with unwanted memes, GIFs, and screenshots. Google now appears to be working on a way to let you hide such unwanted media content from your library.
Your Samsung phone just gained some useful home screen customization options
Provided you use Good Lock and the Home Up module
Besides their powerful internals and long software support, another advantage of owning a flagship or premium Samsung phone is Good Lock access. Coupled with its modules, you can use Good Lock to unlock additional features and customize key aspects of your Galaxy phone and One UI. Home Up, a module that enables extra One UI launcher-related personalization options, is now getting a major update with significant new features.
Android 15 offers a glimpse of new Pixel Launcher animations
The changes include new animations, widget recommendations across categories, and more
All Google devices ship with Pixel Launcher as their default launcher. While there are quite a few things we hate about Google's launcher, it is still relatively customizable and packs valuable features, including At a Glance widget integration. With Android 15, Google plans to further improve the Pixel Launcher by introducing some quality-of-life improvements. A new report has detailed some of these changes.
5 ways the Samsung Galaxy S24 is better than the Pixel 8
Google's phone falls behind its Galaxy competitor in a few key areas
The Galaxy S24 is Samsung's compact flagship phone, while the Pixel 8 is Google's non-Pro flagship phone from late 2023. Together, they represent the best of what the two companies offer in small form factors. While the Pixel 8 packs a punch, the Galaxy S24 is arguably the superior choice, offering a more consistent and superior experience. Wondering why? Here are five reasons we think the Galaxy S24 is better than the Pixel 8.
Here’s how Android 15 could help your phone connect to a satellite
A leaked video has revealed the satellite pointing UI
Apple introduced satellite connectivity with the launch of the iPhone 14 in 2022. Despite efforts from Qualcomm, satellite connectivity has not yet become mainstream in the Android ecosystem. The best smartphones launched this year so far miss out on this feature. Multiple signs point to Google working with T-Mobile to integrate satellite connectivity in Android 15 with a twist. It also plans to use a new Exynos modem on the Pixel 9 series, enabling it to talk to satellites. A new leak has now revealed the Android satellite pointing UI, supposedly a part of Android 15, showcasing how the feature will work.
Sony's flagship wireless earbuds are a steal at $70 discount
The Sony WF-1000XM5 is available for its lowest-ever price
You will find plenty of great wireless earbuds, but none match the sound quality and ANC offered by the Sony WF-1000XM5. The Japanese giant's flagship earbuds deliver outstanding sound quality in a sleek package that can last for hours. But at $300, the WF-1000XM5 is expensive. Amazon's latest deal takes a whopping $70 off the earbuds, dropping them to a lifetime low price of $230.
Samsung dethrones Apple to become the world’s largest smartphone maker again
Preliminary Q1 2024 smartphone shipments show the Korean giant is again back at the top
Apple dethroned Samsung to become the world's largest smartphone manufacturer in 2023, shipping more phones than the latter for the entire year. This happened after 13 years of Samsung dominating smartphone sales with its Galaxy devices. Following this setback, the Korean company has made a strong comeback this year, with the Galaxy S24 selling like hotcakes thanks to Galaxy AI. Coupled with iPhone sales dwindling in China, Samsung has again recaptured the top slot from Apple in the global smartphone market in Q1 2024.
The Galaxy S24's AI features are coming to Samsung's 2022 flagships
The One UI 6.1 update will arrive for Samsung’s 2022 flagships in early May
Samsung released One UI 6.1 with Galaxy AI features alongside the Galaxy S24 launch in late January. Following a couple of months of exclusivity, the company recently expanded One UI 6.1 and Galaxy AI to its 2023 flagship phones, including the Galaxy S23, Z Fold 5, and Flip 5. Some reports indicated that Galaxy AI would also come to the Galaxy S22 and Fold 4, but there was no official confirmation from the company. Samsung has now provided a precise timeframe for One UI 6.1's release for its 2021 and 2022 flagship Galaxy phones and what Galaxy AI capabilities they will get.
Google Play purchases are getting a lot more convenient
Enabling biometric verification will no longer require entering your Google account’s password
For added protection and to avoid unwanted transactions, you can enable additional verification for purchases on the Play Store. After this, you must enter your Google account password to authorize a transaction. On Android phones and tablets with a fingerprint sensor or face unlock, there's an option to use biometric verification to avoid the hassle of entering your Google account's password. But when you first enable the option, you have to enter your Google account's password for confirmation. Google is making a minor tweak to this process to make purchase verification less annoying.
Google One will kill its VPN service later this year
Pixel users will remain unaffected by this change
Google launched its own VPN service in October 2020, initially bundling it with premium 2TB+ Google One plans. Over the years, the company improved its VPN service by expanding its availability to more markets and bundling it with cheaper One plans. Despite its limited use case, getting access to a free unlimited VPN with a Google One subscription was a nice perk to have. But in typical Google fashion, the company is killing its VPN service for good "later this year" due to low usage.
Google is bringing its most advanced Gemini AI to OnePlus phones
Summarizing news articles and more AI features are coming to OnePlus and Oppo phones
Google's Gemini LLM comes in three sizes: Ultra, Pro, and Nano. On smartphones, the Pixel 8 ships with Gemini Nano, while Samsung opted for Gemini Pro on the Galaxy S24 series. Joining them, OnePlus and Oppo have now announced they will integrate Gemini into their devices. Unlike the Galaxy and Pixel though, the two BBK-owned companies have opted for Gemini 1.0 Ultra, Google's most powerful AI model.
Fitbit’s Sleep section gets a much-needed revamp
Viewing your key sleep tracking data will get much easier
Google confirmed a major overhaul of the Fitbit app in August 2023, with the redesign rolling out a month later. As a part of a revamp, the app was simplified and designed around three tabs: Today, Coach, and You. It made tracking and viewing your vital health metrics easy. While the new UI was fresh and modern, some sections of the app still used the old design. Google is slowly changing that, with a revamped Sleep stats page now rolling out for the Fitbit app.
Google’s AI Magic Editor is coming to all devices for free, but there's a catch
Pixel users get full access, but everyone else only gets 10 saves
Magic Editor is one of the best photo-editing tools available in Google Photos. First available exclusively on the Pixel 8 series, it allows you to move the subject around, remove unwanted objects, resize subjects, change the color of the sky, and more — all after taking the picture. Outside the Pixel 8 series, Magic Editor can be accessed by subscribing to a Google One plan with 2TB of storage or higher. But now, we're learning that Google will soon make Magic Editor available to a lot more devices without even needing a One subscription, though with a catch.
Samsung is extending software support for this old Galaxy flagship
The Galaxy S20 looks set to get security patches past its promised support timeline, Samsung help document suggests
Samsung's software policy states that the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 are eligible for three years of OS updates and four years of security patches. However, according to the company's promised timeline, the Galaxy S20 is no longer eligible for new security patches as it is now over four years old. But instead of abandoning the device, Samsung has downgraded it to a quarterly security update schedule, extending its software support cycle.