Latest Articles
Spam invites for Google Classrooms are out of control and unstoppable
The notification settings don't help real Classroom users
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Spam has a way of getting around to all the platforms we use online. Whether it's good ol' fashioned phone calls or email, the comments section of anything, or automated content generation polluting the tubes of YouTube, it's all unpleasant and messy and the only real saving grace we have is the ability to ignore it. But for Google Classroom users who are dealing with a wave of fresh textual horrors, they might not even have a valid way of doing so.
Material You seeps deeper into Google Photos with Partner Sharing
The setup flow gets super colorful
Google Photos makes the storing and sharing of memories effortless. But the app achieves its greatest synergy when users share their photo and video libraries with their partners, letting one see snaps they've taken on the other's device from their own phone almost immediately. But as much as Partner Sharing makes life easy, a Material You makeover should make the feature easier to get on board with and it's hitting people's eyes right now.
The Unicode Consortium — the group in charge of all the symbols we use on computing platforms and how we use them — is taking 2023 to adjust to a new annual cadence in updating its guidelines after the COVID pandemic effectively knocked its March publications back to September. You might've noticed the new batch from Emoji 15.0 dropping on your Galaxies and Pixels since the fall. This means we'll be seeing Unicode 16.0 in September 2024 and a smaller Unicode 15.1 update this fall. So it goes for the Emoji 15.1 standard as we get a preview of what it will bring.
LineageOS 20 is off to a roaring start with builders and maintainers working on the Android 13 mod for a whopping 57 devices. That roster now includes four new devices from Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi and German upstart Shift. Some owners will definitely appreciate the Lineage treatment on these releases.
Twitter blocking third-party clients looks like it wasn't any accident
As for why, the comms team has yet to produce an answer
Twitter stands as one of the smaller major social networks that punches above its weight in terms of sheer influence. For those who'd like to track that influence down to specific numbers, third-party clients created with Twitter's own API have filled the gaps that couldn't be filled by the original app. Last week, however, it appeared as though the company shut down access to its API, effectively making all those clients useless. There's been suspicion as to causality, but it seems now we have actually found some reason to believe Twitter made this happen.
MKBHD microwaves a cold take and the Android Police podcast is on it
We love you, man, but can we talk for a sec?
Sorry, Marques. We love ya, but we gotta call you out on this one tweet (and use an old frame from when you were on our last podcast). Also on the Android Police podcast this week: wireless carrier control over your eSIM, the boredom of Samsung, Carl Pei's dreaded half-step into America, and a bit of emo punk rock the Gerard way.
This convertible Chromebook deal is a cheap thrill at just $114
The IdeaPad Flex 3i really does 'flex'
The great thing about looking for terrific, affordable Chromebooks is that there's always an opportunity to pick one up for even less than you'd expect. That goes for Lenovo's Chromebook Flex 3i, a low-profile, but incredibly versatile laptop that's going for $75 off its already-sunken MSRP right now.
Google's accessibility enhancing Switch Access app is the latest breakout ready for smoother updates
Motor-impaired Android users set to benefit
One of the bigger debates with smartphone obsessives has been about size — should they be big, like Google's Pixel 7 Pro, or small, like the Asus Zenfone 9? Left out of the discourse are people living with physical or mental impairments, but when it comes to solutions for interacting with a 21st-century necessity, the answer: to each their own. Google is now ensuring it can actually adapt Android to these users' accessibility needs.
Google's latest sibling company wants to keep the world fed through our climate crisis
Mineral is making heartier plants with robots and machine learning
Farmers feed the world. But they don't just produce the food we eat; they also release tons of greenhouse gases, making the agricultural industry one of the leading contributors to climate change. It'll take drastic measures to turn things around like switching out staple crops and incentivizing sustainable practices. A small, but important part of the equation, however, is making sure we're able to adapt to the change that's happening. That's where Alphabet, parent of Google, wants to step in.
New year. New you. New dawn. New light. We got any more of these? How about new emoji? The Unicode Consortium published its official list of new emoji back in September and Samsung put up its own designs for Galaxy device owners to use shortly afterward. It's taking a bit longer, though, for some of our favorite trillion-dollar (give or take) software maintainers. Now, in 2023, Google's next in the queue and it looks to be drip-feeding these fresh symbols to devices on Android 13 QPR2 Beta 2.
Android Police appreciates Lenovo for giving ultra-portable computing a good reputation with its Chromebook Duet 3. It stands as a beautiful refinement of the original, smaller Duet while providing more than enough performance on ChromeOS — including on Android apps — all on a budget. In fact, we think it's one of the best Chrome devices you can get, especially if you're on a shoestring. If you're stuck with an even thinner wallet, though, well, you might just be in luck...
The Fairphone 2, running Android 10, is getting its last update in 2023
Owners can recycle the phone for a €50 store credit
Fairphone makes Fairphones. That is, a Dutch company makes highly-repairable Android phones with responsibly-sourced components and long-lasting software support — the latest and greatest example being the Fairphone 4. But at the end of those hyphenated ideals comes a harsh reality: not even a phone with as much tender loving care will last forever. As such, Fairphone 2 owners are now learning that the end of the road is near.
In emergency, break the Pixel 7's glass and listen to the Android Police podcast
We've also got our crew on the ground at CES 2023!
Our Stephen Schenck and Taylor Kerns have been trapezing across Las Vegas as CES 2023 went along and they were kind enough to drop by the Android Police podcast for a few minutes to give some thoughts on what they've seen so far from the likes of Razer, Withings, Lenovo, and others. Plus, Ara and Will cover Pixel 7 shatterings and Android Auto matters. It's all on this first episode of the year!
Samsung yo-yos Galaxy S23 Unpacked event date in front of our eyes
All of those eyes are glued to February 1
We're racing into the home stretch before Samsung's first Galaxy Unpacked event of 2023, sure to provide us with all the details on the Galaxy S23 series of smartphones — the good money says they will be this year's best-sellers for Android. All that's left for the company to do is announce when the announcement is going to happen. And it did last night, if only for a second.
Samsung wants you controlling Matter gear with its SmartThings Station
And it doubles as a wireless charging pad, too
It's CES 2023 and at the same time as the players in the smart home field are all pushing out Matter-certified gear, said players are reinforcing their own ecosystems with new hubs and bridges for loyal single-brand customers. To this point, Samsung is out with a new SmartThings hub that doubles as a wireless charging pad.
HP developed an exciting charging case to go with its new wireless earbuds
It's the power center for the Voyager Free 60+ and we're not just talking about charging
Wireless earbuds are a must-have in an era where the headphone jack no longer exists on most phones. Besides offering pure tetherless convenience, top-of-the-line buds will get you pretty good audio quality, a case that supports wireless charging, and maybe a few other flourishes. On-device playback and settings controls have always been lacking on these personal audio products, though, and that, to us, has been a shame. HP and subsidiary Poly, an enterprise audio vendor, seem keen to do better on this front at CES 2023 with their Voyager Free 60 series.
Nanoleaf's first ceiling lights go above and beyond walls
We're also getting an immersive TV backlight system
We've heaped plenty of praise on Nanoleaf — one of the best names to have in your smart home — for its vivid geometric tile lights you can mount on your walls to give any room the right mood anytime. With the Matter interconnectivity standard firmly established and CES 2023 on, the company is officially taking those tiles to places they haven't actually gone before.
Cync's newest lights let you make your neon dreams come true
Plus, new Matter-compatible gear, but no updates for old bulbs
Last year, Cync made a splash by expanding its smart home portfolio beyond only lights to include a camera, a thermostat, and a solar panel. Well, it's another year, we're talking CES 2023, and the Savant-owned GE Lighting brand is all about lights again — including a treat for those who've wanted a neon sign in their room — and simultaneous cheers and jeers for the Matter interconnectivity standard.
If you're wearing a Fossil smartwatch or one from the myriad fashion brands that have licensed rights out to the company, you may have been disappointed at how slowly software advancement has gone. Samsung and, of late, Google have hogged the best Android smartwatches for a lengthy span and when it finally came to Fossil's Gen 6 watches, it came with plenty of DIY trudging and without Google Fit and Google Assistant. There may be reasons for the tedium, but it's left some customers displeased. Now at CES 2023, Fossil is launching yet another smartwatch with its Gen 6 design — its full name is actually the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness Edition. This time, though, it will be running a software race of its own making.
Real-life OnePlus 11 photos show off its colors in a different light
The phone goes live in China on Wednesday
OnePlus once again got ahead of itself on Boxing Day by plopping down these giant PNGs featuring the OnePlus 11 in voids with a menacing aesthetic and looking oddly placed in the hands of attractive human models. But away from the CAD renders and out-of-place cut-and-paste jobs, we've now got some new pictures of how you might see this phone in the real world.