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
[Deal Alert] Amazon Matches Google's Price Drop On The Nexus 6—$499 32GB And $549 64GB In Both Colors
Google took the somewhat unprecedented step of lowering the price of the Nexus 6 in the Google Store earlier today. It rarely put things on sale when hardware was in the Play Store. Now Amazon has followed suit and matched the new price. The company is now asking $499.99 for the 32GB Nexus 6 and $549 for the 64GB.
[Deal Alert] International Unlocked Galaxy S6 (G920F) On Sale For $579.99 Through eBay
The Galaxy S6 has only been out for a few months, but we're already seeing some solid deals on the international variant around the internet tubes. Today it's popped up on eBay Daily Deals for a mere $579.99. That's $50 less than the last time we saw it.
If you're going to get any real Android modding done, you're going to need a custom recovery. TWRP is the most popular one out there, and now it has official support for the international LG G4.
Motorola Offers Atrix HD Owners $100 Off A Moto X To Apologize For Dropping Update Support
The Atrix HD came out in 2012, right before Motorola's Google-fueled turnaround. That's why it was surprising when Motorola put this phone on the KitKat update list in late 2013. That update never came through, leaving the device on Android 4.1.1, but Motorola is offering a deal on a new Moto X to make up for that.
[Android M Feature Spotlight] Volume Controls Provide Quick Access To Individual Ringtone, Media, And Alarm Volume Again
The Lollipop update attached all the priority notification settings to the volume dialog, but you might recall most of that is gone. There's a little bit of Do Not Disturb in the Android M volume toggle, but more important is the improved access to individual volumes.
[Android M Feature Spotlight] Direct Share Can Provide Share Links To Specific Contacts Or Conversations Inside Apps
Android's share menu has always been useful and extensible, but Android M will make it even more handy with the addition of direct share. This is a set of APIs that will let developers specify sharing targets deeper inside their apps. So instead of sharing that photo to Hangouts, for example, you might be able to share it to a specific contact in Hangouts in a single tap.
Imgur App Gets A Huge Update To v2.0 With Fully Native Design, Better Uploads, And More [APK Download]
It has become accepted fact that Imgur is the best way to host images on the internet. Stop it with that Photobucket nonsense already. The official Imgur Android app has existed for a while, but it wasn't an ideal experience. Now with today's v2.0 update, it should be much better.
[Android M Feature Spotlight] App Standby Forces Individual Unused Apps To Hibernate To Save Power
We've already talked about Doze in Android M a few times. That's a system-wide state that keeps your phone or tablet in deep sleep when it's not being used. App Standby is a distinct feature that works to keep individual unused apps from gobbling up power in the background. Depending on how many apps you install on your phone, this could be a bigger deal than Doze.
[Updated] Google Will Unveil Voice Access At I/O, Allowing You To Control Apps Entirely By Voice
Touchscreens are okay, but what about putting those pipes to better use? The description of one of Google's talks at I/O later this month points to an interesting new feature called Voice Access. Basically, instead of touching the phone, you talk to it to control apps. So essentially Star Trek? That'd be rad.
Doze is one of the more interesting features of Android M, and also potentially huge for the platform. Google has said again and again that the new version of Android would improve battery life, but they might have actually done it this time. Doze puts apps into deep sleep when the device isn't in use to save power, and Google's developer docs explain exactly how this will work.
[Android M Feature Spotlight] New Android Recovery Lets You Apply Updates From SD Card, View Recovery Logs, And Mount /System
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Chances are that if you're in the recovery interface of your phone, it's because you broke something, need to force an update, and you're just fiddling with things. The stock recovery doesn't have a ton of options, which is why alternatives like ClockworkMod and TWRP exist. Still, the stock recovery in Android M is a little more capable than before.
Humble Mobile Bundle 13 Is Live With Hellraid: The Escape, Worms 3, Puzzle Retreat, And More
There's a new Humble Mobile Bundle available, and that means it's time to get out your wallet and buy some neat games. You get to help out some charities while doing it too. There are six games in the bundle right now, and more are on the way.
It was quite a Google I/O newsfest last week, wasn't it? Now maybe you're looking to wind down with some cheap apps and games. Well, we have those. Read on and save.
Platform Distribution Numbers Updated—Lollipop Continues To Climb Slowly But Surely, Now Over 12%
Google is a little early with the platform distribution numbers this month, but if you were hoping for big changes, you're going to be disappointed. The numbers look rather stable this month with Lollipop continuing its slow rise, even though Android M is just around the corner. Everything else has ticked downward, but guess what's still there... Froyo with 0.3%, just like last month.
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Google likes jokes, but it has confined most of the Android gags to one specific place. When you open the secret version logo, you can long press to see what Google has cooked up for an Easter egg. In KitKat it was an interactive mosaic of platform logos, in Lollipop it was a Flappy Bird clone, and in the M preview it's a shrug emoticon.
Google is very into this whole cloud thing, so much so that it's offering unlimited storage of high-quality images and video as part of the new Photos. If you've got all your stuff online, do you really need it locally? The new Photos app doesn't think so, and it can help you save some space.
The folders in Google's stock Google Now Launcher are currently restricted to just 16 entries (four rows of four). That's going to change very soon. The version of GNL that ships with the Android M preview has folders that automatically paginate when you add more than 16 apps. How many pages can you have? I'm not sure as I have yet to hit the limit.
Google recently dropped the price of the Project Tango developer tablet to $512, but there was no new hardware announced at I/O. Qualcomm just can't contain itself any longer, apparently. The chip maker has announced a new piece of Tango hardware is on the way, and it's powered by the Snapdragon 810 [insert overheating joke].
Google's Developer Site (Including the Nexus Factory Image Page) Gets A Material Overhaul
Google's developer pages have not traditionally been very snazzy. The dev site served its purpose, and that's it. Now it's suddenly a completely material affair. Included in the redesign is the Nexus factory image page that you've probably visited a number of times (or almost daily).
[Android M Feature Spotlight] The New Do Not Disturb Includes Custom Rules And A Repeat Caller Exception
We already went over the gist of Android M's Do Not Disturb mode, but this isn't just a re-branding of priority interruptions. There are some cool new features in the settings that make DND on Android M quite appealing. It's easier to make DND work for your schedule without a ton of fiddling around.