About Ryan Whitwam
Ryan is a tech/science writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would. He's the author of a sci-fi novel called The Crooked City, which is available on Amazon and Google Play.
Latest Articles
US government regulators have been watching with interest as Facebook's troubles keep piling up, and now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is adding to them. The agency, which is tasked with protecting consumers from abusive business practices, has announced that it has opened an investigation of Facebook's handling of user privacy.
Samsung has a long and complicated history with Android updates. It's reasonably fast with security patches, but that's not what most people use to measure success. It's the big updates that matter, and Samsung is often bringing up the rear when a new version of Android comes out. Here we are, six months after Oreo launcher, and Samsung is promising it'll be done updating the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 in a few more weeks.
Logitech has been making webcams for many years, and a while back it turned its attention to the burgeoning home security market with the Logitech Circle camera. I thought that device was a surprisingly good value that competed well with established players like Netgear and Nest. There's a second generation camera now, and it improves on that first camera in almost every way. If you don't mind a few minor foibles, this could be the right camera to keep an eye on your humble abode.
Google has been talking about Instant Apps for a few years now, but it only turned developers loose on the tools around the middle of last year. With Instant Apps gaining popularity, users have started to notice some strange behavior. In Android 8.0, Instant Apps appear to break the ability of the PackageManager to return a list of installed apps.
[Deal Alert] MoviePass offering annual subscription at $6.95 per month for a limited time (regularly $9.95/month)
If there's one certainty in life, it's that movie tickets will keep getting more expensive. If you're willing to adjust your habits slightly, MoviePass can save you some cash. This app-based cinema subscription service usually costs about $10 per month for up to one movie every day, but for a limited time, you can get it for just $6.95 per month. There are some caveats, but that's a good deal.
Google is warning developers to include prominent crash reporting disclosures in apps or face removal
There's been an uptick among Android developers receiving warnings from the Google Play team. The issue appears to be crash reporting, which is a common feature developers build into apps. Google now seems to be of the opinion that most crash reports count as sensitive data, and developers have to include a "Prominent Disclosure." Affected developers are getting 30 days to implement a fix and resubmit, but as usual, Google's violation email is light on details.
Instagram made the switch to a non-chronological feed a while back, and many users are still unhappy with it. Today, Instagram says it's rolling out some changes to make the feed less terrible. Well, Instagram didn't call the feed "terrible," but that seems to be the consensus outside the company. Soon, you'll see newer posts near the top and have more control over refreshing.
Files Go is one of the few "Go" apps that Google has not restricted to phones running the Go Edition of Android. You can install it on any phone, and there are a few new features available today. We saw at least one of these features in the recent beta release, but Files Go now officially has file search and more options when removing unneeded items.
NVIDIA launched the SHIELD Tablet way back in the summer of 2014. Most device makers would have long since abandoned a tablet from that era, but NVIDIA has kept it reasonably up-to-date. The tablet is running Nougat and got the KRACK patch late last year. Now, NVIDIA says it's working on a new patch to address the recent spate of CPU vulnerabilities.
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- The AT&T Galaxy S8+'s Oreo update is now rolling out. Oddly, AT&T chose to release the S8's Oreo update before the S8+'s, even though every other carrier released both updates at the same time.
The Galaxy S9 is shipping, so it's about time that Samsung's 2017 flagship phones got Oreo, don't you think? So far, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon have all started pushing updates. Today is AT&T's turn. The OTA is hitting devices as we speak, so that's the last of the big four.
Plex v6.15 adds on-device audio transcoding, local streaming to Chromecast, and more
On the heels of a new Chromecast UI rolling out to everyone, Plex is starting a staged rollout of a new version of the Android app. This one comes with a few significant changes that make your smartphone more capable for playback and streaming. You can finally do some on-the-fly transcoding from Android, and local files work with casting.
[Deal Alert] Audible is offering a free Echo Dot (or $50 off another Echo) and $50 off an annual subscription
Amazon sells a lot of ebooks on its Kindle platform, but it also owns Audible to push audiobooks. It sells a lot of those, too, even though audiobooks tend to be rather spendy. Audible subscriptions are a cheaper way to get the books, and you can save a ton on an Audible subscription today. It's $50 cheaper than usual, and they'll throw in an Echo Dot.
Lytro is probably most well-known for making visually interesting "light-field" cameras, but it has taken that technology in a different direction more recently. The company is now developing high-end VR capture and processing technology, and Google is reportedly very interested in that. According to TechCrunch, Google is in the process of buying Lytro for $40 million.
It was a big deal some years back when Plex added Chromecast support. Google's Chromecast platform has only gotten more useful since then, and now Plex's Chromecast UI is getting an overdue revamp. The new interface looks nicer, but it also comes with functional improvements like better slideshow support and subtitle resizing.
Subscribing to a news organization helps support quality journalism, but getting subscriptions set up can be a pain. You've got to manage logins and payment methods for everything separately, and not all operations have the resources to manage a subscription service on their own. That's where Subscribe with Google comes in. This new service lets you sign up for subscriptions on news websites via your Google account.
Telegram is a popular messaging service in Russia, partially because of its encrypted communication capabilities. However, the company may be forced to disclose its encryption keys if a new court ruling stands. Russian Supreme Court Judge Alla Nazarova denied Telegram's appeal today, ordering it to hand over the keys to the Federal Security Service (FSB).
More app developers are getting into augmented reality on Android now that Tango is a thing of the past. Google's official AR platform of the future is ARCore, which will work on most devices. Even eBay is getting into AR with its latest Android app update. Sellers can now use AR to choose the right box size.
Oppo has announced its latest flagship smartphone, which it calls the R15. Odds are if you're reading this, you'll never have the chance to buy it. Oppo sells its phones mainly in China, but you might be able to buy a phone that looks an awful lot like it called the OnePlus 6. And look at that—a screen notch.
Foldable smartphones have been patented, demoed, and scrapped more times than any of us can count over the years. Maybe foldable phones aren't the future—maybe the future is going to be about expandable phones. Samsung has filed a patent for a smartphone display that expands when you pull on the sides. It's like carrying a smartphone and a tablet at the same time.
[Update: More details] Google is rolling out a new web Play Store design with much larger screenshots, a new reviews page, and more
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It's been a while since the web Play Store got a fresh coat of paint, but it's coming. Google is in the process of rolling out a tweaked UI, after testing it for a few months. We're still digging through the redesign, but some changes are obvious. The screenshots are much larger, which is a long-overdue change. You'll also notice a myriad of layout tweaks and a new dedicated reviews page.