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No one's given a handbook on parenting their pet, so we must figure it out as we go. Unfortunately, the reality is that our pets are finicky and demand our time, money, and patience. Of course, it doesn't mean we don't love our adorable animal friends; we just need a quality support system to attend to their needs, train them to act/behave appropriately, and ensure we properly care for them. We've rounded up the best Android apps that every cat and dog owner should have installed on their trusty Android phone. Thanks to these apps, we can finally build a much-needed support system, so let's dig in.
Will the Google Pixel 7 do a better job with pet photography?
With all the recent camera improvements I'm not sure why this is so difficult
I'm not a professional photographer, but I love taking photos of my pets. If they are doing something funny or weird or look particularly cute, I snap a photo. A consistent problem I have is that I can't get a good photo of my black-haired pets. Neither dog nor cat, in good or bad lighting, during the day or at night, no phone has captured them in a life-like way. Even a Google Pixel 6 Pro, can't get the job done. It's 2022, and with all the smartphone camera software and hardware improvements over the last few years, this should be a non-issue. Let's hope new phones, like the Google Pixel 7 series, will do better.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold3 is getting better at taking photos of pets
Capture your good boy's best side
Samsung’s portrait mode has improved a lot over the years, and while it doesn’t beat Google's solution found on Pixels, it’s become much better than it used to be. Now Samsung is further enhancing portrait mode, this time specifically for cats and dogs.
Raining cats and dogs? Try having cats and dogs drive for you. For a limited (but unspecified) time, Waze is letting its users turn on Cat & Dog themes with cat and dog navigation voices, cat and dog profile moods, and cat and dog icons. Now all we need is a CatDog theme.
Uber Pets lets your dog take advantage of gig economy workers too
Though it might be tricky to find an Uber Pets driver near you
Traveling with pets can be a major hassle, and it doesn't help if you're somewhere without access to your own vehicle. Uber is here to help. The app and service now allow pets to come along on at least some rides, for a nominal fee. Of course.
The Dead Zebra Android Minis have been a fixture of the Android community since the early days. There have been numerous blind box sets, as well as special editions to commemorate events or locations. There's a new special edition set today, and it's aimed at the pet lovers out there.
Version 3.14 of Google Photos just started rolling out a little earlier today. This one doesn't appear to have any new features or major changes, but it might possibly be leaving behind some older versions of Android. This update could also be preparing to launch the Favorites feature spotted in a previous teardown. Looking further into the APK's resources, there are also signs of more options related to Shared Libraries. And finally, Austin's Mysteryer feature takes yet another turn.
One of Google Photos' main selling points is how easily and accurately it can identify faces in photos and group them together. The face recognition is seriously impressive, and it saves a lot of time when you're looking in your library for pictures of a specific person. Now, as we first saw in a teardown, Google is rolling out the same feature for cats and dogs, allowing you to easily locate photos of your furry friends.
Google launched a pretty cool promotion in 2016 with the offer to store every photo and video taken on Pixels at original quality. The same promotion will apply this year with the release of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, but it now comes with a catch: The promotion expires in the year 2020.
The latest update to Google Photos is starting to roll out to users, bringing the version up to 3.6. A run through the app hasn't turned up any brand new features, but there are some interesting things in the teardown. We can look forward to maximum cuteness as facial detection may be expanding to encompass our pets, even mixing them in with the faces of other people. There's also a new feature called Motion that promises to bring life to our images. And finally, there's a firm clue that Google Lens may actually turn out to be a temporary Pixel exclusive.
Emergency care for cats and dogs is incredibly varied and requires years of learning and practice. But basic first aid is pretty much the same as it is for people, minus a few pounds and plus a little fur. So if your pet has an injury or mild illness you might be able to take care of it yourself, or at least mitigate further injury until you get to a veterinarian. Enter the Pet First Aid app from the American Red Cross.
Gameloft has figured out what's been missing from most of its recent games. No, it's not a business model that relies on something other than in-app purchases. Gameloft just hasn't been bringing enough cute to your phone. Well, they're setting that straight with Littlest Pet Shop, a game so overflowing with cute that you won't be able to resist giggling and clapping your hands like an 8 year-old girl.
When on{x} showed up as an Android exclusive from Microsoft, we figured it was just a fluke. Then Android got its own Xbox LIVE app straight from MS, and things got interesting. Now, Microsoft has launched its first Android game: Kinectimals. Sure, it's not Microsoft's most popular game, but it does show that the company is willing to take Android more seriously. Even at the risk of its own mobile OS.