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Google Play Games for PC starts limited beta for Android games on Windows, sharing system requirements
You'll need a relatively powerful computer for now. And for once, the US isn't getting a Google thing first
Last year, Google told us at The Game Awards that it planned to bring Android games to Windows PCs under the Google Play Games banner — basically launching an Android app store for Windows, limited to games. True to its prior promises, Google has more to share with us now that it's 2022. Starting today, interested parties can sign up for a limited beta of the new Google Play Games for PC, but only if you're in Hong Kong, South Korea, or Taiwan.
Google's finally killing free legacy G Suite accounts
Good luck moving your purchases to a new account if you don't want to pay a subscription
Long ago, Google used to offer free Google Workspace (née Google Apps, née G Suite) plans for custom domains, letting anyone enjoy things like Gmail and other service integrations like Google's single sign-on and Drive through their very own URL. Google axed that too-good deal back in 2012, but those already on it were grandfathered in. Or, they were until now. Google is killing its "G Suite legacy free edition" plan entirely later this year.
The Pixel 5a is almost a swan-song for an older smartphone era. Released three years ago, this would be a flagship phone, with billboards and TV spots promoting it. Enthusiasts would even have loved the logic that went into designing it: Finally, someone is making the battery bigger and the camera bump smaller! But now, in 2022, it cruises under the radar as a sleeper hit, cult favorite, and one of the best phones no one is talking about.
Here’s what Android 13’s new notification permissions look like in action
Apps will have to ask before they bother you
Among other anticipated features, Android 13 is making notifications a permission setting. As in, for an app to harass your notification bar, pinging you with impunity, it has to actually ask you to do that first. We knew it was coming, but now we know what it might look like when it does land.
Android 13 may offer four different styles for Monet's colorful dynamic themes
A spritz of new colors
Android’s beautiful new dynamic theming is the very epitome of chic design. But “monet,” as the feature was called in development, could get an even more carefully crafted upgrade with Android 13. Google is developing four new color combinations for that dynamic theming, covering a range from exaggerated vibrance to muted desaturation.
Android 13 goodies: An Assistant trigger tweak and a keyguard user switcher
Plus a bonus shot of the Panlingual's settings
As we wait for an Android 13 preview, details for the upcoming release trickle in. On top of recently spotted features like the tap-to-transfer media playback, some UI tweaks for the output picker, QR code scanning tweaks, and a “Panlingual” feature for per-app language settings, we have a few lingering tidbits for you. On top of those, Android 13 could debut a tweak for the Assistant trigger in button-based navigation modes, and a user switcher menu may be coming to the keyguard.
Android 13 may give the output picker a new coat of paint
Pick your playback device in more consistent style
Among other recently spotted changes including some QR code scanning functionality and a media tranfer feature, Android 13 is also rolling out at least a few UI tweaks. After all, what would an Android release be without them? The changes we’re about to show are likely a work-in-progress and merely a glimpse at the direction things will head in, but Google appears to be giving the output picker menu a new look in Android 13.
Android 13 prepares to streamline QR-code scanning
With a lock screen QR reader and a Quick Settings tile
If we can crown a single winner for the last two years, it’s the QR code. Once an inconvenience, the obnoxious little black and white squares have become indispensable and hygienic ways to access menus in these becovid times. With how much more we’re using them, it’s unsurprising that Google would be looking for ways to make that experience even simpler and more convenient, and it looks like that will happen with Android 13.
Android 13 may have a tap-to-transfer feature for moving media playback between devices
We don't know how it will work yet, though
If the past is any indicator, the first Android 13 previews aren’t due for another month, but features for the upcoming version have already been spotted in development. Among a handful of other audio-related changes (keep an eye on our upcoming coverage today), there’s a new feature that could be coming in Android 13. We don’t know everything about it, but it sounds like it will let you move media between your phone and other devices, potentially like Apple’s iPhones and Homepods allow.
Google is bringing Fast Pair to Chromebooks, Android TVs, and smart home gadgets
And it's not just for headphones
Google's Fast Pair fixed one of the biggest issues Bluetooth devices have: The pain in the butt it can sometimes be to get them talking to one another. But with Fast Pair, it's as simple as being nearby and turning both of them on. It just works. And we don't mean that in the sarcastic Todd Howard sense; it's legitimately one of our favorite features. The only drawback is that one of the gadgets has to be an Android phone. Or, at least, it was until now. Google is bringing Fast Pair to a whole lot of stuff, from Google TV and Android TV to smart home gadgets (if they've got Matter support), and even Chromebooks are getting in on it — though we knew that last part was coming.
Chromecast integration is a hard requirement when you're deeply entrenched in Google's ecosystem and surrounded in Assistant-based smart home stuff. It cuts down your options for things like soundbars a little unless you're willing to augment that with extra gadgets, but Google tells us that one big-name brand is making an across-the-board to change that, with more planned. "All Bose speakers and soundbars" will be getting Chromecast functionality built right in.
OnePlus 10 Pro specs reveal the company's Oppofication is nearly complete
Warp Charge is gone, it's called SuperVOOC now
It's day two of the OnePlus dribble fest, and today you get the 10 Pro's specs. The company is still holding a lot of details back, and it still hasn't disclosed a US launch date yet, but as part of its marketing efforts, now it's willing to confirm the hardware particulars for its upcoming flagship, which have leaked over recent months. Many of the details even match the OnePlus 9 Pro (or seem to), but there are a few surprises. We knew it would have a beefier charging rate, but the loss of the old "Warp Charge" branding implies that the company's Oppofication is almost complete: It's SuperVOOC now.
Google Pixels get the January update with MS Teams 911 call fix — excluding the Pixel 6
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro won't get it until later this month
Google has started rolling out the January update for Pixels. I know, it's a Tuesday, and they usually land on Monday, but that sometimes happens on holiday weekends. There's one other big kink, though: The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro aren't in on the party just yet. Google notes that the update for its latest phones will be delayed until later in January.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE hands-on: Better late than never
The rumors of its cancellation were greatly exaggerated
Samsung had an uphill fight to release the Galaxy S21 FE — that's "Fan Edition," for those not in the know. We thought it was canceled, then it was delayed, and that’s ignoring how hard it would be in the first place for Samsung to follow up on the much-loved Galaxy S20 FE. Now it’s here, promising the same kind of formula: A year-late Galaxy S21 with a few cut corners. The question is, did Samsung cut the right ones?
Today OnePlus is showing off the "design" of its upcoming 10 Pro. That's right, the company's drip-fed, super tedious marketing is back, and as we wait for OnePlus to spoon out details bit by bit over the coming who-knows-how-long, all we have to show you right now are a handful of official renders and a teaser video affirming what's already leaked, plus confirmation that the phone will launch in China on Tuesday, January 11th at 2PM Hong Kong time.
OnePlus 9 Pro review: Teaching us to fear updates
It didn't even take a year for OnePlus to drop the software ball this time
Read update
OnePlus just can't catch a break these days — and it's pretty much the company's own fault. Right on the heels of a praiseworthy update commitment extension that had us excited to increase our review score, news drops that OnePlus has been throttling some of the most popular apps to better manage battery life and heat. After that, the Android 12 based Oxygen OS 12 update landed, and it was not a good time. In short, the days of a scrappy upstart are over, and a more mature OnePlus is stumbling even as it succeeds. Is this just a phase the company has to work through after the Oppo merger, or a sign of something worse?
It's going to be another month before your Pixel 6 can take full advantage of your new Pixel Stand
'Superfast' charging won't be available until the January update — which could arrive late
Google may have started selling its new second-generation Pixel Stand a few weeks ago, but your Pixel 6 won't actually be able to take full advantage of it for a little while longer. Since the December update has been pulled, the up to 23W fast wireless charging functionality won't be delivered to the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro until the January update.
Google pulls the December update for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro
Due to an issue with dropped and disconnected calls
Just earlier today, Google published, then deleted, then republished a post to its forums, claiming that the December 2021 update had been "paused" for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. This makes sense, given how few customers received the original update. The explanation? Apparently, the December update introduced an issue with dropped and disconnected calls for some.
It doesn’t occur to me very often, but the skills you get in this gig can bleed over into other things. When you get down to it, I’m basically a professional consumer who happens to geek out over Android a little more than most folks do. But those basic skills apply across the board, and I can spend weeks researching pretty trivial purchases. Some of them I end up pretty pleased with, but either way, I am one super picky dude when it comes to just about everything — it’s my job. So here are a few of my favorite things I’ve gotten in the last year.
Samsung says you're all buying more folding phones this year than analysts expected
4x year-over-year growth, and it sold more in one month than all of last year.
According to Samsung, this latest crop of foldables is selling nicely. No, the company still isn't sharing precise sales metrics, but it has dropped a handful of relative numbers. We already knew that Samsung's pre-orders for these new third-gen folding phones beat year-to-date sales for its prior models, but that success apparently continues. In the first month of sales alone, Samsung says it sold more of these new foldables than it did for all of its folding phones in 2020, and it has now shipped four times as many folding phones in 2021 than it did in 2020.