About Ryan Whitwam
Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would. He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play.
Latest Articles
Motorola has had a strange couple of years. It was making some interesting, though mediocre phones, then it was acquired by Google. Then, it started making great phones. Before we could truly enjoy the new Motorola, the company was sold off to Chinese mega-firm Lenovo. We all worried what this would mean for Motorola, and now we're seeing the first products from the new-new Moto—the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus.
[Update: Fixed in Dev Preview 5] Google has already fixed the weird notification toggle behavior from the last Android N dev preview
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- The fix is officially live in Android N Developer Preview 5, which rolled out yesterday. Now tapping the WiFi or Bluetooth toggles will actually toggle them instead of opening the mini settings modal.
Most of the intrepid users who tried the most recent Android N developer preview were none too pleased with the new notification toggle behavior. Google changed the WiFi and Bluetooth buttons from simple toggles to connection list triggers. After more than 1,500 issue tracker stars in just a few days, Google has relented.
[Gotta CATch 'em all] The Android 7.0 Easter Egg is a quick settings kitty collector
The fifth and final Android Nougat developer preview has arrived, and with it is the new Android Easter Egg. In Lollipop and Marshmallow we were treated to a version of Flappy Bird, and this time we get a built-in version of Neko Atsume—a kitty collector. Can you entice all the cats to visit your phone?
Your carrier probably wants upward of $700 for the Galaxy S7 Edge, but you can avoid those prices if you don't mind buying from eBay. There's a listing live right now for the dual-SIM GS7 Edge at the low, low price of $569.99. That's even cheaper than the last time it popped up.
Samsung Pay has been available for almost a year, but it's only worked on Samsung's phones. Now, the company is looking at expanding Pay to its line of Gear watches. Anyone in the US with a Samsung phone and a Gear S2 can give Samsung Pay a shot, but it's not as robust as the phone version.
Sony's phones have looked more or less the same from one generation to the next for years, but the company may be looking at a more substantial redesign. A device believed to be the F8331 has been photographed in the wild, and it doesn't look like the Sony phones of the past. It does still have some of the company's hallmark features, though.
Look at your smartphone. Odds are very, very good that it's running a chip with ARM-designed components, or at least the ARM instruction set. UK-based ARM Holdings has become an integral part of mobile computing, and Japan's SoftBank wants a piece of that. The companies announced today that SoftBank will acquire ARM Holdings for about $32 billion.
[Deal Alert] Get 30% off all courses on StackSocial's Skillwise education site through July 20
We've posted plenty of deals from StackSocial in the past, but those have all been for things. Now, StackSocial is in the business of selling knowledge. Specifically, it has launched a site called Skillwise with educational courses of all sorts. If you want to learn about design or development, now's your chance to do it with 30% off all Skillwise courses.
Chromebooks started as just a portal to web apps, but more powerful extensions eventually made them a little more robust. Now, the Play Store is rolling out on Chromebooks to add a ton of new functionality. But... what about Windows apps? A company called CodeWeavers is tantalizingly close to making that happen thanks to the new Android support. So, we're talking about Windows on both Android and Chrome. As you can see from the image above, they are very, very excited about the prospect.
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Google offer free calls and texts to France following Nice attack
These posts are never fun to write, and we've been writing a lot of them lately. Odds are you've heard about the attack in Nice, France that took place several hours ago. I won't recount the specifics, but at times like this all the backbiting among the big US wireless companies stops. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have all announced free calls and texts to France so those with loved ones in the region can check in. Google is also waving fees for calls to Nice on its various platforms.
Motorola under the stewardship of Lenovo is doing something very different this year. The Moto X brand may not be gone, but it's certainly not the company's focus right now. Instead, we have the Moto Z and Moto Z Force. They're thin and they have Moto Mods—snap-on modules like projectors and speakers that make the phones much less thin. The Z is coming to Verizon first as a Droid phone (that's what I have to review), but the device I'm looking at now is very similar to what Motorola will release unlocked later this year.
BlackBerry touted the security features of its Android build when announcing the Priv. It launched with Lollipop, but we thought surely it'll get a quick 6.0 update being so close to stock. How wrong we were. The unlocked Priv update started rolling out in late April, and the AT&T variant has been stagnating since then. Today is the big day, though. Android 6.0 is hitting the Priv on AT&T.
Motorola announces the larger 2016 Moto E, coming to the UK in September for £99 [Update: Probably no US launch]
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Motorola has already announced updates to its 2016 flagship (Moto Z) and mid-range (Moto G) devices, and now the entry-level is getting some attention too. The 2016 update to the Moto E is now official with a larger 5-inch display and an approximate release date of early September in the UK.
Google Keyboard v5.1 (originally bundled with N preview) is rolling out in the Play Store [APK Download] [Update: Changelog]
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Google gave us a little sneak preview of Google Keyboard v5.1 in the Android N dev preview back in May. You could sideload that APK on other versions of Android to get the new themes, but now the final build appears to be hitting the Play Store. As with all Google releases, this one is staged. We've got the new version available for sideloading, though.
Adobe opened up the mobile version of Lightroom to everyone late last year after first launching it as an exclusive for Creative Cloud subscribers. If the editing capabilities of Lightroom weren't enough to get you to check it out, maybe the new camera functionality will be. The built-in camera now has full manual controls and a shortcut, plus there have been improvements to file exports.
Pokémon GO is a massive hit for Niantic and The Pokémon Company. After just a few days, the game has rocketed to the top of the Play Store, including the list of top grossing apps. So, it's already making a ton of money, but it's going to be making even more in the not too distant future. Niantic CEO John Hanke recently noted that sponsored locations will be part of the game.
Android Auto works in a few dozen markets already, but until today Japan was not among them. Google has announced that its in-car platform is available in Japan effective immediately, and several cars will be ready to accept Android Auto connections just as soon as Japanese users can find a USB cable to plug in.
We've been expecting some changes to SMS functionality in Hangouts for some time, especially after Google started pushing Messenger as an SMS alternative inside Hangouts. As of Hangouts v11, it looks like the other shoe has dropped. This version of the app removes merged conversations as an option.
[Prime Day Deal] Get 30% off the Fossil Q Founder Android Wear watch and 50% off other Fossil wearables on Amazon today only
Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Prime Day. Now that we've got the #PrimeDay SEO out of the way, you can take advantage of the aforementioned Prime Day on Amazon to pick up a Fossil wearable for a pittance. The Q Founder Android Wear smart watch is 30% off, and the other Fossil wearable devices are 50% off. You will, of course, need to be a Prime member.The Q Founder is still retailing for around $300, which is way too much. All variants of this watch are on sale for 30% off today. That puts the price down to $161.92-192.05, depending on the variant you choose. This smart watch is a little on the large side, but it's well designed and has a fast Intel SoC. You will have to cope with the flat tire screen, though.
Tuesday app and game sales: Another World, Talon for Twitter, Castle of Illusion, and more
There are plenty of deals happening on Amazon today, but what of the Play Store? There's a ton of great stuff for your phone on sale today too. You want classic RPGs? Widgets? Exercise apps? Puzzles? RAM cleaners? We've got you covered on all but the last count.