About Jules Wang
Jules joined the Android Police team in 2019. He currently contributes art for our stories and edits our podcast. Before that, he managed weekend news and wrote AP's newsletter.
Jules also contributes to our sister sites XDA-Developers and Pocket-lint. He also was editor at our now-sister site, Pocketnow.
Latest Articles
This Android Police podcast episode was recorded in front of a potentially sentient AI
That's what one Google engineer would like us to think, at least
On this week's show, Daniel gives a deeply-nuanced meditation and appreciation of Google's language bot LaMDA which has produced some compelling responses to questions about its sentience. No, we don't think it's alive — not yet. Plus, we chat a bit about our Android phones of the summer, the Nothing Phone 1 and... the Samsung Galaxy S22 FE?
YouTube Music makes seasonal Recaps official so we can judge each other's tastes more often
There WILL be a 'Song of the Summer'
After a drive-by appearance for some YouTube Music Premium subscribers earlier this month, it seems that the Spring Recap is officially here to stay. The data spread, inspired very much by Spotify Wrapped, looks to be headed for a seasonal release so that users will be able to stylishly track how their tastes evolve over months, not just years.
Qualcomm has just saved $1 billion thanks to a court ruling
It's about a fine related to the bad, old days of Apple v. Qualcomm
It's good being Qualcomm. The company has had more than a decade of indominable market presence where top phone brands including Apple and Samsung were shipping its product and it successfully avoided an hostile takeover attempt from Broadcom, if only by executive order. Even as tough times have turned things upside down for chip producers, though, Qualcomm is still doing well for itself, especially after a new billion-dollar judicial ruling in its favor.
WhatsApp chat history can now freely move between Android and iPhone
This new feature even has Zuck all excited!
Crossing the mobile divide between iPhone and Android is... let's just say a process going both ways. But one thing that hasn't been able to jump the gap is your WhatsApp chat history. Last year, switchers moving from iPhones gained the ability to export their data over to Samsung Galaxy and Pixel devices. There wasn't much news on work in the reverse direction, though — until now.
Chrome OS could let you split your screen in different ways
We're partial to more than one style of split-screen
The importance of managing windows on Chrome OS (soon to be ChromeOS) is growing. Splitting the screen in half for two windows may be useful for most people, but there's more than one way to cut a cake or slice a screen and a new commit in the Chromium Gerrit may be a sign that Google is recognizing this.
Spotify Pie breaks down the genres you're listening to, including the ones you didn't know existed
An extremely round and colorful version of Spotify Wrapped
If you use Spotify on the regular, you know how much data the audio streaming app has on your listening habits. We see it every year with its flashy Wrapped breakdowns. But there are plenty of other ways to break down that blackbox of data and one of the newest and most colorful ways comes from a UCLA student.
If you want a limited edition Diablo Immortal Galaxy S22 Ultra, you'll need to play to pay
It's not a $1,300 loot box — you know what you're getting here
Despite our lamentations, Activision Blizzard's Diablo Immortal — pay-to-win nature and all — will prove to be a hit to hardcore gamers in South Korea. What better phone to do it with than a special edition Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra?
Another Pixel 6a unboxing video is here and this one's not from Google
Complete with 11 minutes of commentary in Malay
Late last month on YouTube, Google France's retail training channel had posted a video going through the Pixel 6a's big talking points including its fingerprint sensor and what comes in the box. That video got pulled down from public view a couple days after it went up. But fate seems to find its way around these things — another video exposé of the Pixel 6a has appeared, this time from Malaysia.
These Made by Google and Nest deals for Father's Day are too good to miss
Get him a new phone or help spruce up his home
You know what your dad needs? We hope it's a smart speaker, a video doorbell, or even a Pixel 6 Pro, one of the best Android phones you can buy. Father's Day is a week away and if you want to ship any of these Google devices to him, you'll want to plan ahead and make sure you can take advantage of some neat sale prices while the going's good.
Leaked photos of Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip4 give us a peek at that smoother foldable screen
And a slightly bigger cover screen to boot
If a phone hasn't been leaked in photos, then has it really been talked about? Rumor mills are amazing operations and they can churn out big time if there's at least some excitement in the air for a product. Fortunately for Samsung for which its upcoming Galaxy Z Flip4 seems more like an iterative update than a trailblazing remake, a new intel drop today would show that yes, people are paying attention.
Apple ain't afraid of no PACMAN as it downplays M1 chip vulnerability
It's not known if this exploit could work against other Arm chips
Apple has wrapped up a big week with WWDC 2022 done and dusted and a new MacBook Air announced with a new M2 chip. But while the company may have had confetti and bugspray on its agenda, it also downplayed a new vulnerability on its M1 chip as uncovered by MIT's Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory this week.
The Android Police podcast thinks Apple is the fun company now
Ten episodes in and we have blasphemed beyond redemption
No, we're not talking about Macbooks and M2 chips this week on the show, but we are taking a good look at iOS, CarPlay, and the larger Apple ecosystem and how it comports with our views on Android and Google. Where should each company nip and tuck from each other? Is there an identity or mood shift that we've noticed? Why can't we just say that Apple sucks and be done with it? Well, we'd like to think we can be more mature than that at the Android Police podcast. Thanks for pressing play and giving us a listen. As always, news links are below for your reference. Do give them a push because they help us out here at AP.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip4 may offer a larger storage option for the first time in series history
A small phone with an oversize load
As we pack more of our digital lives into our phones — especially with the photos and videos we're capturing, the memes and quarterly reports we're downloading, and the music and movies we want with us in our darkest times off the grid — we'll end up wanting more storage on them. According to new intel, Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip4 are expected to respond to this demand.
AirPlay and Google Cast devices could all live in one iPhone menu someday
But this would be a contingent kumbaya
Just as with Google I/O, the keynote at Apple's WWDC has become something of a reverse mullet: party up front with business at the back. While we've been catching the waves on all the flashy features, there's at least one bit player in beta you should be watching out for that will let iOS reach devices supporting Google Cast in addition to AirPlay ones all on the same menu.
ZTE's Axon 40 Ultra gets ready to go global, and early birds can score a discount
You can snag $48 in savings through June 21
ZTE remains one of the few Chinese brands that will happily sell Americans a maximalist Android smartphone and it'll do so at a relative bargain to your Samsung or Apple. Last month, we got a sense of what the new Axon 40 Ultra, such a maximalist device, would have in store for the world. You won't be able to buy one just yet, but today, you'll be able to snag some pre-sale savings.
New York is about to ratify a landmark right-to-repair bill
Consumer choices bloom, outcomes to be determined
A right-to-repair bill in New York has survived a year in legislative limbo, having been passed by the senate last year but only getting the stamp from the state assembly last week. Now ready to be signed into law, the "Digital Fair Repair Act" is set to pave the way for the state's citizens to take electronics repairs into their own hands.
Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go 2 isn't as future-proof as this 2021 Chromebook
Really? With THAT display?
When one thinks Surface, they also think of Microsoft. It's a pretty good brand name. But the company has been slicing its product categories by form factors and price points deli-thin: would you like a premium, mid-tier, or entry-level Windows 2-in-1 or laptop? This week, the company updated its budget-ish laptop series with the Surface Laptop Go 2. On paper, it's super-portable, surprisingly performant, and costs between $599 and $799 — sounds like Microsoft wants a piece of the personal Chromebook market. But which should you go with?
Telegram reportedly surrendered user data to authorities despite insisting '0 bytes' had ever been shared
Government pressure may have finally won out
Messaging apps that offer end-to-end encryption can claim that they're protecting their users by saying that they've thrown away the key — metaphorical and literal — and can't undo what's been scrambled in transmission. Telegram, however, claims it protects every user whether they use E2EE or not, saying that government data requests have to pass an especially high muster before it would comply and that it has never acceded to such request. Not so, a report claims.
Motorola phones at risk of hacking with chip-level vulnerability
At the center of attention is a chipset from Unisoc
Chinese chipmaker Unisoc has been able to seize upon opportunities in the global chip shortage crisis. As Taiwanese cohort MediaTek has been able to ascend with more upscale products, so has Unisoc, taking the former's place in more budget phones. But such a rise is due stricter scrutiny: we've seen one of the company's older chips marked as a threat vector, putting owners of a number of budget phones at risk with only some prospect of a patch. Now, we're learning about another vulnerability that's explicitly affecting a Unisoc chip in three Motorola devices.
Today only: Download pro, open-source apps from Simple Mobile Tools for free
Celebrating SMT's sixth anniversary
For 6 years, Slovakian developer Tibor Kaputa has been the driving force behind Simple Mobile Tools — a suite of 22 basic Android apps, most of them free, produced in an open-source manner that present themselves as unobtrusive yet customizable. There are no ads and, if you're against data harvesters, these apps are a great alternative to what Google or your OEM provides. Kaputa does have plans for a more ambitious open-source hardware project, but in the meantime, he's celebrating SMT's launch anniversary today with his traditional annual sale on its Pro apps.