Latest Articles
Here are the 10 indie Android games you'll want to pick up this weekend
These titles won Google Play's Indie Games Festival
Looking for some new games to pick up and play this weekend? Google has wrapped up its month-long Indie Games Festival, announcing ten winning titles from across Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Take a look and see if any of these numbers interest you.
You can now mark the shutdown of Google Hangouts on your calendar
This is the last Hangouts holdout before Google Chat takes over
The end of the road for the aging Google Hangouts messaging service has been dreary and, perhaps, overdrawn. The former all-in-one text and video chat app had been supposedly supplanted twice over by the intergenerational Allo and Duo before Google Chat and Meet eventually came to the fore. But now, we finally have a date of when we can actually say goodbye to the service.
Matter is the future of your smart home, but what is it?
It should make your devices play nicely together, but how?
Setting up a smart home is not a seamless experience. While the best smart home devices claim they're simple to add to your existing setup, the reality is much different. Until now, a universal communication standard for smart homes hasn't existed; smart home devices have been built to work with a few platforms, not all of them. Enter Matter, the solution for the mess that is smart home communication. But what will it mean for your smart home?
A Pixel 7 Pro unboxing video is the latest leak to hit Google
We're still light on discernible details
We are weeks away from learning all we can know about the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro from Google. There's plenty of substance we've already dug up about the phones, but sometimes, you just need to sit down with a hefty bag of potato chips and munch. The equivalent of that in our field is a low-res unboxing video of what's purportedly a Pixel 7 Pro coming out of Bangladesh.
What is Sony doing with Android phones? The Android Police podcast is at IFA 2022 to find out
Plus, is ChromeOS ready for its first laptop with a 120Hz display?
Our team is churning out stories from the vendors at IFA 2022 while our Manuel Vonau is on the ground at the Messe Berlin shaking hands and getting insight into the late-year product launches and, perhaps, the far-flung future. We found just enough time, though, to squeeze in a little podcast recording action in between a meeting and a pressekonferenz. Nokia, Sony, Lenovo, Google, and even Apple all get a mention. Get mixed up and mixed in with us, why don't you?
-Amazfit-GTS-4---Lifestyle-Female.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=430&h=300&dpr=1.5)
Amazfit boasts boosted GPS system with new GTR 4, GTS 4 smartwatches
They can track ALL of The Exercises
The world of smartwatches isn't just the black-and-white of Apple Watch and Wear OS — even if they are the best smartwatches out there. Amazfit, for one, has been pushing its own software platform while undercutting the competition on price delivering some funky devices. Following up on its third-gen GT series of watches, the company is bringing to light at IFA 2022 the GTR 4 and GTS 4 watches — which feature round and square displays, respectively — with what it's calling an industry first.
The Android Police podcast says get the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the 44mm Galaxy Watch 5
Those are our verbatim recommendations and you can take them to the bank
Our reviews are out. Now we get a chance to sit down and actually talk about them. On this week's episode of the Android Police podcast, Daniel's off, but our Stephen Schenck's in to chat all things Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 with Ara and Will. Of course, there's plenty of chat to go around with the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, too. Take a listen and you'll get to find out why we're pushing buttons with our show title this week.
Netflix reportedly has launch plans for its ad-supported tier
The company is denying the rumors which include two big factors: how much and when
Streaming's salad days may be behind it. The market seems to have reached its saturation point in North America and many customers are more than happy to subscribe for a limited run of content they want to watch before unsubscribing. Netflix, which has poured billions into original productions and acquisitions, has been hiking prices for its subscription tiers and is hoping an excursion in cloud gaming could help augment its revenues. It's also been toying over whether an ad-supported tier could keep more people hooked in at a lower price. Now, we're learning just how much the company may be willing to charge for that tier and when.
BeReal's popularity is exploding, but will it survive its Instagram clone?
Why use a new app when the one you have an do it, too?
Social media trends come and go like the weather. Remember when Snapchat was the biggest thing around? And what about that short period when Yik Yak was on everyone's phones? TikTok might be basking in the glory now, but a new app, BeReal, is set to steal its spotlight. Ironically, it's partly thanks to TikTok users sharing their thoughts on BeReal that the app has exploded so quickly. When we last examined BeReal a month ago, it was sitting pretty at #1 on the App Store, and it's gone from 11th to 7th on the Play Store. However, it's now caught the eye of Facebook owner Meta, which may spell doom for the app.
After months on mobile, Google Chrome's RSS reader is finally making it to desktop
Chrome 106 may (or may not) have the feed panel we're all waiting for
Feed readers are your one-stop shop for collecting headlines from all over your favorite publications for easy perusal. In October, Google Chrome brought in an RSS feed reader — years after the demise of Google Reader — for Android and, shortly after, iOS. A desktop client was, unfortunately, a long ways to go. But there's some hope that we may be nearing the end of that line.
Checking for a Google Play system update isn't possible on many phones right now
There's also some questions as to whether this has to do with the August update (or if there is one)
There are more moving parts to Android than ever before and that's thanks to Google separating a great number of services from the operating system proper. That means more things are getting more updates at different times. A number of users are wondering, however, about what just happened to their ability to manually check for Google Play system updates.
Google starts the clock again on Search's timer feature
It's nice to hear that tick-tick-ticking once more
As quietly as it seemingly went away, Google Search's timer seems to have come back without much of a whisper. Okay, someone did say something about it this week.
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=430&h=300&dpr=1.5)
Are you an avid reader? Have you thought about making the switch from paper to e-reader? Amazon isn't in the habit of discounting its Kindles often — we've got our thoughts on the best Kindle out there, by the way — but you might just be in luck if you act fast for these deals on the Kindle Paperwhite and the Kindle Oasis just in time for the new school year.
Pre-production Pixel 7 and 7 Pro pop up on video, leave us guessing about battery size
This is a guessing game of millimeters and milliamp hours
We hold these truths to be self-evident... that different Pixel phones are different. They look different, they measure different, and they might even behave differently. Google's upcoming Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro very much won't be the Pixels that came before them, but there aren't many ways we can tell them apart right now given that we're ostensibly waiting until October before they officially go public. We do have a better idea, though, thanks to the power of YouTube.
Budget carrier Visible goes from one plan to two, now starting at $30 per month
It won't be offering group discounts anymore, though
Verizon-owned prepaid carrier Visible has shaken up its service plan offerings for the first time since its inception in 2018, expanding from its original one-plan model to two and removing a critical pricing feature for group accounts.
Is Android 13 a hero or a villain? The Android Police podcast decides
Fewer exploding boats, but you do get a lovely swing!
Maybe we laid "The Dark Knight" on a little too heavy, but let us have our fun — we're sure you'll be having fun right along with us as the Android Police podcast covers the launch of Android 13. Plus, we've got Jerry Hildenbrand from Android Central to espouse terrific kernels, too.
Android 13's anti-rollback protection has already bricked at least one Pixel 6
It's a shocking point of no return
With Android 13 out of Google's hands and onto developers who are modifying the operating system for their own purposes, it's going to be a tricky road ahead. There are a number of new features the version bump brings that need to be tested, but before they can do that, they'll need to make sure of one crucial thing and that's to install Android 13 on both system partitions of their Pixel device. One developer has found out what happens when things go awry without that second updated partition.
Android 13 is coming to phones from Samsung, Sony, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi, and more later this year
Coming soon to a phone near you (if not your phone)
The news is out: Android 13 is finally here and we didn't have to wait until September to get it! But for those of you who don't own a Pixel, when can you expect to get that fresh over-the-air software update on your devices? Well, Google isn't making any specific promises on behalf of the manufacturers, but it is giving users a heads-up on which ones will be joining the party by the end of 2022.
Telegram now welcoming custom emoji packs for Premium members to use
Get ready for a heap of new emoji we all haven't seen before
Telegram, a messaging app that's already going heavy on the emoji, is tripling down and going hog wild on the smileys and sparkles with its latest feature updates. These changes will revolutionize the way you use them, but some of them will come at a cost (of course).
Some Target stores are discounting the Pixel 6 Pro by a crazy 70% right now
You might call this 'The Final Markdown'
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are old news and in Google's rear view mirror. For now, the Pixel 6a is getting its 15 minutes to shine before the Pixel 7 phones inevitably push them aside, too. It's just the way things go. But it also might be prime time to go a-huntin' for some terrific Pixel deals... except in this case, you'd have to do it in the real world.