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Google Photos adds text selection prompt on mobile and upload origin information on the web
Small but helpful additions to a great service
Google Photos is already a solid product and has only recently received a massive facelift that's still not rolling out widely. But there are always little things that can be improved upon, and recently, two have surfaced: The Photos app now shows you toasts that let you quickly copy texts from images while the web interface allows you to see where you've uploaded a given photo from.
Amazon temporarily stops selling some non-essential items in Italy and France
More urgent provisions to be prioritized in countries badly hit by COVID-19
Our only effective defense against the novel coronavirus is staying at home, which leads to an unprecedented impact on the economy, but also on logistics. With a lot of people confined to their apartments, it's no wonder that Amazon is experiencing an influx of orders, a lot of which include essential goods like groceries, health and household items, baby products, and more. To help get these items to people in need as soon as possible, the company has announced that it will stop shipping non-essential items in Italy and France, which are among the hardest-hit countries.
10 remote learning apps to help you (and your kids) acquire new skills while you're stuck at home
Why not just use this time to learn something new?
Due to the spread of COVID-19, a lot of public schools, universities, shops, and workplaces are closed, with many people working or studying from home. If you're starting to go stir-crazy without the outside world and looking to challenge your mind with something other than games and films, there are tons of remote learning apps out there that can teach you something new while you're confined to your own four walls. We've also got a suggestion for you if you need some support while homeschooling your children.
Android 11's long-press power menu might become a smart home control center (Update: DP2 video)
The power menu could become much more powerful
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In Android 11, evidence has surfaced that Google might finally add quick wallet access to the long-press power menu, but it looks like the company has much more in store for this system feature. XDA Developers has discovered that the menu might be turned into a control center for home automation, letting you easily manage smart appliances in your house.
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While the OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro received Android 10 in September, the company has been very quiet about when the latest major release would hit its first 5G phone, the 7 Pro 5G. CEO Pete Lau finally took to the OnePlus forums with information on the update, but he's bearing bad news. Due to "more rigorous tests, debugging and optimizations" than anticipated, the manufacturer is expecting to launch Android 10 in the first quarter of 2020.
Get the Stadia Premiere Edition for $99 today only ($30 off)
Likely to celebrate the launch of Doom Eternal
While many people seem to have developed an aversion to Stadia, I personally still absolutely love Google's vision for cloud gaming. Sure, a lot of promised features haven't made it into the product yet, but it's slowly coming together. I'm surprised again and again how well it performs, just like others on the Android Police team. If you're not already heavily invested in Xbox, PlayStation, or PC and/or are willing to give a new cloud gaming platform a go, Stadia could be interesting for you. Today only, you can also save $30 on the Premiere Edition of the service, costing you just $99 instead of the usual $129.
Latest Google Messages beta gets its own image markup tool
Slowly positioning Messages as a serious competitor for WhatsApp and Co.
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- The new markup tool should be available for all by now, as Google shares news of it and other recent improvements to the app.
After killing off a few earlier attempts at conquering the chat app market, Google has decided to develop Messages at full steam. Thanks to the rich communication services (RCS) rolling out in more and more countries, the SMS app is gearing up to become a possible WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger replacement for many people. With that in mind, a simple image markup editor shouldn't be missing from the service, and Google seems to think the same. It's currently beta testing a markup tool in the application.
The Doom series is among the best-known video games in the world, so it's great to see that Google managed to secure the rights for the latest title in the installment — in fact, this is the game Stadia has been hyping even before the service itself launched. Today, Doom Eternal has finally landed on the platform, along with being released on most other common consoles and stores.
HMD, maker of Nokia phones, introduces a global data-roaming SIM card (Updated)
HMD Connect app pops up on the Play Store early, spoils some details
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- HMD Connect is now official (in beta, at least), bringing with it those details we were anticipating on pricing and availability.
HMD Global is the manufacturer behind the Nokia brand revival and has created a plethora of well-received Android smartphones ever since that Windows Phone bet didn't work out. With Nokia re-established, the company seems to be searching for the next frontier, and it looks like it wants to start an additional business as a mobile operator. An "HMD Connect" app has silently appeared on the Play Store, and judging from the description and the listing's images, the Finnish company wants to focus its effort on providing data-only plans to those who travel a lot internationally.
Google launches Camera Go app as Android Go usership hits 100 million active devices
Giving low-end smartphones some high-end photography capabilities
Hot on the heels of the Nokia event that brought us the new Android Go-equipped Nokia 1.3, Google has taken the opportunity to talk about the new Camera Go pre-installed on that phone. Similar to other Go apps, it has been created with low-end hardware in mind while retaining some of the features that make Google's image processing so great.
Samsung Galaxy S20 owners are experiencing GPS lock issues
It looks like only the Snapdragon variants are affected
The Galaxy S20 lineup comes with exceptional hardware and Samsung's familiar high-end design, but just like any tech product, they're not perfect. We were not too impressed by the ratio of the S20 Ultra's capabilities and its price, and now an issue has popped up that affects the whole S20 series: Some people report that they can't get a GPS lock in Google Maps and Waze on their brand-new phones.
More and more banking apps are adding support for Android 10's new biometrics API that allows you to use the Pixel 4's face unlock mechanism to access your account, mitigating the need to fill in your password over and over again. Ally Bank is the latest financial institution to join this growing group. The newest version of the Ally Mobile app now supports both fingerprint and face unlock, depending on your device.
Google Search dictionary results can now be filtered by topic
Helping you find the right definition of a complex word
These days, Google Search isn't only a great tool for finding websites that give you whatever information you're looking for, it also offers some insightful results right below the search bar, like definitions provided by the Oxford dictionary. For some words, these entries can quickly become convoluted, though, especially when they change their meaning when applied to different contexts. To make it easier to sift through these, Google Search now lets you filter results by topic for some words.
Snapseed is still alive, gets its first update since 2018 (APK Download) (Update: First 64-bit version)
What's new? Bug fixes.
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When it comes to killing unsuccessful projects, Google is ruthless. The company got rid of its dying social media platform Google+ and its beloved but superfluous Gmail alternative Inbox, and it's in the process of killing Play Music. We feared Snapseed would meet the same fate, as the app hasn't seen a new release since 2018, but that has changed just today: The brand-new version 2.19.1 has surfaced on the Play Store, though it only brings along bug fixes.
Asus ROG Phone II starts getting Android 10 today (Update: Changelog and download link)
The release comes after four months of beta testing
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The Asus ROG Phone II is an absolute unit of a gaming handset that packs all of the best hardware currently out there, and luckily, the manufacturer has decided not to divert too much from the stock Android interface. It still took it quite some time to update the phone, though: Four months after Asus started the initial Android 10 beta for the ROG Phone II, the device is now finally receiving the stable release of the software.
24 Hour Fitness offers premium app features for free as it temporarily closes clubs due to COVID-19
Helping you take your workout home
While what feels like half of Europe has already imposed closures and restrictions on non-essentials stores, public spaces, and fitness studios, this phase of the COVID-19 response is only starting in the US. The second largest fitness chain in the country, Fitness 24, has decided to take the step proactively and closed all of its locations Monday, March 16. In order to keep you fit in the meantime, the company offers premium content in its 24GO app free of charge.
Motorola Edge+ renders show off waterfall display and triple-camera array (Updated)
The phone is rumored to be Motorola's next flagship
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Ever since Google sold Motorola to Lenovo, the brand's strategy has been subject to change. In the past, there were only three model lines, but now, it's hard to discern the plethora of often all-too-similar phones released under the Moto name. There also hasn't been a proper flagship for a while, but Motorola is apparently looking to change that. OnLeaks and Pricebaba have teamed up to share renders and specifications of an alleged Motorola Edge+, and it could shape up to be the brand's new front runner.
Google Discover finally lets you report inappropriate or misleading content
That's much better than just full-on blocking news sources
I find myself scrolling through Google Discover to pass some time more often than I'd like to admit, but thanks to Google's vast collection of my personal data, it's not surprising there's usually something interesting for me to be found. One thing has always annoyed me, though: You have to resort to blocking certain news sources because of misleading or sensationalist headlines, even when some of their articles aren't as bad as others. Google finally found an elegant solution for this problem, as it's now possible to report misleading, sensationalist, violent, and hateful or abusive content in the feed.
YouTube TV now allows you to mark shows as watched
Helping you keep your exhaustive collection organized
Other than letting you watch linear TV anywhere you go, YouTube TV also allows you to save as many episodes and shows to a virtual DVR as you like. This likely helped grow many people's libraries to unsurmountable sizes, which makes it harder to keep track of what you've watched and what you haven't. Google seems to recognize this, as the company is starting to roll out a "mark as watched" option so you can manually sort out episodes you've already finished, in case the platform hasn't caught that you did.
Google Pay has an alternative, cleaner interface accessible from your Pixel’s power menu
It lets you view payment and loyalty cards at once
Google Pay's new power menu quick access interface has been in the making for a long time and finally became official as part of the March Pixel feature drop. Thus, we've been using the quick wallet for a few weeks already, but we've only recently been pointed to another interesting new UI hiding behind the rightmost "View all" entry. When you enter Google Pay that way, you're greeted by a bottom-bar-less design that shows you both your payment methods and your loyalty cards in a one-page layout.