Latest Articles
Still waiting for the Play Music to YouTube Music library migration tool? Here's how to request early access
There's no guarantee, but this form will at least let Google know you're interested
Last week, Google announced that it was finally making it possible for Google Play Music (GPM) users to move their data over to the new YouTube Music (YTM) streaming service. However, the migration tool wasn't made available for everyone immediately and is rolling out over the "next few weeks," so a lot of impatient users have had to sit tight and hope they would get it soon. If you'd like to expedite the process, Google has opened up an early access request form.
Nest Hubs and other Smart Displays let you easily hide, star, and share slideshow photos
The feature is now available for third-party Google Assistant Smart Displays
Read update
Google's smart speakers and displays are brimming with features, some of which unknown. Many of you likely never noticed that they can ask their smart displays to star, share, or hide a pic when it comes up, but that feature has been available for a year. Google is now making it more visible by bringing the icons to the screen.
Google Duo v87 lets others reach you over your email address, adds family mode and graduation filter (APK download)
You still need a phone number to first sign up
With the latest version of Google Duo, the video calling service is adding several features that were either officially announced or secretly unearthed, including a new family mode and some timely filters. The most interesting of these additions, however, is the option to make yourself reachable over email, and thus remove the need to share your phone numbers with others to allow them to call you.
Google's Play Music & TV service has been long overdue for an update and revamp, especially on Android TV. The app has stagnated behind its counterparts, like the Play Store and YouTube, which got an interface uplift on Android TV in the past months, but it should be getting an overhaul according to new leaked screenshots.
Headspace offers a free year of premium membership to healthcare professionals and those who lost their jobs
Because all our heroes need to take care of themselves too
Read update
This will be a difficult post for me to write. I can usually draw a clear line between my Android Police work and my other job as a pharmacist, and call upon a (slightly) more objective and professional tone while relaying news, but today is different. Everything has been different for a while. So in lieu of a regular introduction, I'll just say that I'm very thankful to companies that appreciate the effort and stress our healthcare professionals are going through while fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and are doing their best to offer them some relief. Headspace is one of them.
Nest Hub and other Smart Displays get improved smart home controls for Hue, Shield, smart locks, vacuums, and blinds
Becoming a more powerful smart home command center
Google's Nest Hubs and third-party Assistant Smart Displays have been receiving an update that vastly improves their smart home controls. Among the changes we spotted are live light status and scenes for Philips Hue and Lifx, new Shield controls, the ability to unlock your smart lock, plus controls for blinds, air fresheners, and vacuums. Other product categories may be updated too, but we don't have everything on hand to test with.
Everything you've ever wanted to know about smart door locks, and why you should buy one
In many cases, they enhance your security and privacy, not take it away
Our homes are increasingly filled with gadgets that connect to the internet in ways that rightly have us concerned for our privacy and security. But when discussing those concerns, it's important to keep a level head and consider just what kind of privacy and security concerns actually stem from using these products, and in what instances they might actually enhance both for you in real, tangible ways. And like surveillance cameras, we think smart locks fall into such a category: they can actually make your home safer and more secure than a traditional, "dumb" lock, and they do it all while bringing a tremendous amount of convenience. For many people, the idea of a remotely-controlled door lock elicits a visceral, knee-jerk reaction; who could possibly think connecting physical access to your home to an app is a good idea? But when discussing the benefits and drawbacks to a smart door lock, we think that for most people they're a reliable, trustworthy tool that can bring peace of mind and practical security benefits a traditional lock can't match.
Facebook's new web interface is here for all, complete with dark mode
Finally a look that embraces Facebook's role as the darkest spot on the internet
Read update
Back at F8 2019, Facebook promised a redesign for its mobile apps and website. The Android app started receiving the new interface almost immediately, but the change was only promised on the web in "the next few months." Now, it's starting to roll out and along with it comes a new dark mode option.
OnePlus Gallery has received a small update that adds Google Lens integration. The app, which comes built in on all OnePlus devices, can now easily call up Lens to visually search an image and find elements and text in it.
YouTube Music widely rolls out Explore tab and new player UI with lyrics (APK Download)
Finally getting serious about new music discovery
YouTube Music has been steadily improving and spreading to more countries since its launch. Over the past couple of months, Google has been testing and slowly rolling out two new features in the app: a new player interface with lyrics and an Explore tab for better music discovery. Both of these are now live for most users (if not everyone) in the latest app update.
Read update
Netatmo may not be the first brand that comes to your mind when you think about smart home security, but the French company does a lot of things right. Its cameras come with no hidden fees, but offer local storage, backups to Dropbox and an FTP server, face recognition (though not super reliable), alarm detection, Google Assistant integration — perks that usually cost a lot with competitor products. However, in my review of the Welcome camera, one of the aspects I lamented most was the sluggish Android app. Two years later, it's finally received a big refresh.
Watch hundreds of puppy, kitten, wild life, and nature livestreams to break the quarantine monotony
Lose yourself in nature while staying indoors
Every one of us is dealing with their quarantine boredom in a different way. Some have taken on cooking or gardening, some are still finding ways to get out and exercise away from people, many are resorting to video calls to stay in touch with their friends and family, and others have picked up neglected hobbies like wood-work and knitting. But if you still feel that all of this isn't enough to fill your empty days, I've got a neat recommendation for you: nature livestreams. They're fascinating, time-consuming, full of surprises, and very easy to get sucked into.
Read update
One of the best uses of the Google Nest Hub, Hub Max, or any third-party Smart Display (Lenovo, JBL, etc...), is as a smart digital photo album. I've already shared with you the steps to set up the photo frame plus tips to make the most of Live Albums, but there are a few new hidden capabilities that make it easier to interact with the photos once they're showing on your Smart Display. In this post, I'll explain how you can ask where and when a photo was taken, add it to your favorites, hide it, and share it directly with one of your contacts.
Apple Music expands to 52 new countries, is now available in 169 total
That's 91 more than YouTube Music
Since it launched in 2015, Apple Music has always been one of the most widely available music streaming platforms in the world, only rivaled by Deezer. The service started out with more than a hundred countries and added a few throughout the years, but it's now going through its largest expansion: 52 new countries and territories can benefit from it, and new subscribers from those locales get a free six-month trial to test things out thoroughly before committing to a paid subscription.
Slack finally lets us set custom message reminder times, because not everyone starts work at 9am
Long overdue, very long overdue
With many companies having moved to remote work, staying in touch with the rest of your team can be a challenge. Many of you are new to online team communication platforms, but here on Android Police, we've been using them for several years. Our choice is Slack, and we're happy the service has finally added custom message reminder times. If you're wondering what that is, allow me to explain.
Yummly now tailors its recipe suggestions based on what's in your pantry
Because shopping for new ingredients isn't as easy as it used to be
Yummly has been, and continues to be, my favorite cookbook and recipe manager app. I love browsing the app for suggestions and ideas, but I also like digging into different ways to prepare a certain dish then combine them all for my own version. Until now, my two biggest complaints were the inability to make personal notes or recipes, as well as the lack of an option to search by ingredients. The second issue has become moot as the app just added a proper pantry manager and search filter.
Google is temporarily lowering Chromecast's ambient mode photo quality and slideshow speed
Every small measure helps with strained internet resources
Following the announcement that it'd be reducing Nest's video quality to help lower network strain around the world, Google has also revealed that it'll do the same for the Chromecast and smart displays. The move is temporary and comes from a mindset that every bit helps, even if it's just saving everyone a little bit of bandwidth.
Watch the OnePlus 8 series launch event here
And grab a blood pressure medication to handle the high prices
OnePlus is gearing up to announce its upcoming 8 series devices in less than two hours and many of us are amped up to discover two of the most anticipated flagships of 2020. If you want to catch up the launch event live, we've got you covered right here.
How to get back 'exact size' and 'larger than' search filters on Google Images
And other missing search parameters
Read update
It's been more than seven months since Google Images got rid of some of its most useful search parameters, to the dismay of many. While we first hoped the change could be a bug or temporary, it's now become clear that this was an intentional decision on Google's side. Every few days, I go looking for the "exact size" or "larger than" search options, then quickly remember that they've disappeared and switch into one of my backup plans. In this post, I'll look at the different parameters that Google removed and how you can replicate their functionality in various ways.
Read update
One of the most appealing uses of a Google Nest Hub or other Assistant Smart Display is as a photo album viewer. It plugs in to Google Photos and rotates through any album you want to view, providing you with (hopefully) good memories throughout the day as you pass by when it's idle. But static albums can be boring after a while, that's why you can make some live-updating ones so you never have to manually choose or change anything.