About Ryne Hager
Ryne was ostensibly a senior editor at Android Police, working at the site from 2017-2022. But really, he is just some verbose dude who digs on tech, loves Android, and hates anticompetitive practices. His only regret is that he didn't buy a Nokia N9 in 2012.
Latest Articles
Slide for Reddit back on the Play Store after Google admits mistake
Following accusations of 'impersonation,' Google admits the app was compliant all along
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The popular open-source Reddit client Slide for Reddit is now back on the Play Store after being mistakenly pulled by Google on July 9th. The company initially claimed that the app violated the Play Store's "impersonation" policy. However, upon further review, the app was found to be compliant with Play Store policies, and the app's listing was reinstated today.
Android 11 Beta incorporates refined smart home controls into power menu
Beta 2 changes emergency, power, lockdown button layout
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We've known that Android 11 plans to integrate smart home controls into the long-press power menu, building on the wallet functionality it already added, and we've even seen mockups for what it will look like. But today we've received a report of the change live and in the wild on a Pixel running Android 11 DP4, and it turns out, anyone on Android 11 can enable it by sideloading the latest Google Home app release.
Google's response to Android apps getting delayed or killed in the background leaves a lot to be desired
The company can and should do more for developers
Google's Android AMA is underway, and the team's engineers have already answered the most hotly-anticipated question: How will Google fix the problem of inconsistent background limits across different manufacturers and devices? It's a long-standing problem where overly aggressive power management tweaks break functionality in plenty of apps, resulting in a headache for developers and frustration for users. According to the AMA, Google does plan on making a few changes to help fix things, but the company isn't doing all that it could.
Android 10 has been the most quickly adopted Android update ever
aNdrOid FragMenTAtIon
Critics of Android are always quick to point out its very real fragmentation issue, and how long it takes for major version updates to land across the ecosystem. But it's less of a problem with every major update, and that's culminated with last year's Android 10 release. Between Treble, GSIs, and Project Mainline, Google has been making a good dent in update uptake in the last two years, and Android 10 has seen the fastest adoption of any Android update ever.
App usage went up 40% during the pandemic, according to report from App Annie
Consumer app spending is also up 25% on the Play Store year-over-year
According to a recent report from App Annie, app use is up an incredible 40% year-over-year in Q2, driven in no doubt due to the ongoing pandemic. Between needing more apps for better work-from-home workflows and boredom from simply being stuck at home, the time we're spending using apps reached an all-time high of 200 billion hours during April, making last quarter the biggest yet for both app use, downloads, and consumer spending.
Google celebrates Earth's 15-year anniversary
Still about 4.5 billion years behind actual Earth
Google Earth has a long and storied history — though not quite as long as the planet it depicts. The product we all know as Google earth was released on June 28th, 2005. Though we're a few weeks separated from that, Google has taken today to celebrate its formal 15th anniversary. But, in fact, Google Earth's history stretches back a little further than that.
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Android 11 appears to have a launch date set, according to a video published (and since unpublished) by Google for the recent "Hey Google" Smart Home Summit. There may yet be a delay, and the context of the announcement is a little unclear, but a slide on the developer-focused video clearly says, "September 8th Android 11 Launch."
Android 11 Beta 2 officially lands today. For developers, that means we've reached a milestone called "Platform Stability," so everything they need to care about when it comes to making apps compatible is now final — the platform won't change before the stable release in Q3. For consumers, that means there's only one more beta before Android 11 is formally released, and we'll probably see a few more features and tweaks in this latest version.
Google Fiber comes to a new city after long expansion hiatus
Get ready for $70 gigabit, West Des Moines, Iowa
After a long hiatus, it looks like Google Fiber is finally ready to start expanding to new markets again. In a blog post yesterday, Google announced that the West Des Moines, Iowa city council has approved an "open conduit network," and that Google fiber will be the first tenant for city-wide internet access via the new plan. Over 66,000 new customers will have access to Google Fiber's fast and cheap internet access — and incumbents will finally have a reason to compete.
Moto G 5G Plus is official: Snapdragon 765, quad-cameras, and a 90Hz screen
It's not coming to the US, though — at least, not yet
Following last week's leaks, the Moto G 5G Plus is now official. Packing a Snapdragon 765, 6.7" "Full HD+" 90Hz display, big 5,000mAh battery, and (as its name suggests) 5G connectivity, perhaps the only drawback is the fact that it isn't coming to the US as part of this annoucement. The Moto G 5G Plus will be available in Europe and the UK on July 8th and 10th, starting at €349/£289, respectively. It's also coming to other markets including Saudi Arabia and the UAE soon.
8Bitdo is making an officially licensed, SNES-style controller for Microsoft's xCloud game streaming service
It's about the same as the existing SN30 Pro — but, you know, Xbox-er
8Bitdo is pretty well known for its modern-but-retro-styled Bluetooth controllers. They're a favorite among the AP staff and a good choice for folks big into emulation. The company is adapting one of its best-selling game controllers specifically for Microsoft's Stadia-like upcoming xCloud game streaming service. The new controller is a tweaked version of the existing SN30 Pro, with a new Xbox-friendly color scheme and explicit Microsoft xCloud compatibility.According to The Verge, 8Bitdo isn't just pushing out a licensed and branded version of its existing product, the company has worked together with Microsoft to make it "fully functional with xCloud." It will also support 8bitdo's existing Ultimate Software, which lets you remap buttons and adjust things like trigger and stick sensitivity, with support for multiple profiles. (Hopefully, they can release an Android app with the same functionality — it's a little annoying having to use your computer to change these settings.)
Play Store tweaks category icons with new mint green and blue colors
The 'top categories' carousel is also gone in this latest test
Google is rolling out a handful of minor visual tweaks to the Play Store in a recently spotted test. The change rearranges the Categories section to remove the "top categories" carousel at the top, increases the whitespace between listed categories, and updates the icons themselves. These changes also apply to other parts of the Play Store that include categories, like the Family tab.
Google's Play Protect service, which helps protect you from accidentally sideloading malware, is now blocking the installation of the benchmarking app AnTuTu. Google Chrome is also warning users that navigate to Antutu's official download page that the site contains "harmful apps." This news follows the application's removal from the Play Store earlier this year
Smartphones are nothing without apps, and there are a whole lot of them out there on the Play Store. Of course, the quality there... let's say "varies" thanks to Google's rather lax administration and curation efforts. But there are piles of apps we depend on every day, others we use maybe a couple times a month, and yet more we uninstalled, never to use them again. With Google's convenient account Dashboard tool to refer to: How many apps do you have tied to your Google Play account?
Lenovo C340 review: The best cheap Chromebook of 2020
If you want a $300-ish Chromebook, this is the one to buy
There are a lot of "cheap" Chromebooks out there, but if you want a good cheap Chromebook, you'll really have to dig. In fact, they're few and far between, and between old models, soon-to-be unsupported chipsets, and "gotchas" like legitimately terrible display panels, it's legitimately difficult to separate the genuine competitors from laptops deserve to be in the proverbial trash heap. But Lenovo's C340 is a great follow-up to the success of the previous C330, and it's Android Police's Most Wanted budget Chromebook pick.
OnePlus fixes yet another security flaw that may have exposed sensitive customer data
Fortunately, there's no evidence it was ever actively exploited
A security vulnerability in OnePlus' out-of-warranty repair and advance exchange invoicing system has been fixed. The vulnerability, which was discovered on June 30th, exposed customer details including full names, phone numbers, email addresses, IMEI numbers, and physical addresses. The system affected is run by a third-party vendor and is only used by US customers. Android Police disclosed details of the vulnerability to OnePlus after receiving a tip from a reader, and OnePlus does not believe it was ever actively exploited.
PUBG temporarily banned in Pakistan because won't someone think of the children
A formal hearing is scheduled for July 9th
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (or PTA) has temporarily banned the game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. The PTA claims to have received reports which claim that the game is addictive, wastes time, and poses a negative impact on the physical and psychological health of children. Let's hope no one explains Fortnite to them.
DontKillMyApp benchmark released from Early Access with new icon
From Urbandroid, the folks behind dontkillmyapp.com and Sleep as Android
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Urbandroid, the developers behind Sleep as Android, have suffered plenty of headaches getting their app to work on a wide range of Android phones. Different manufacturers all think they have great ideas when it comes to stretching out battery life. Usually, they do it by aggressively killing apps in the background, which can break app functionality. Urbandroid even made a site called DontKillMyApp to track and shame the worst offenders and point out how to fix these issues on different phones (if you even can). Now Urbandroid is making a new benchmarking tool to measure your own phone's background apps performance. Like the previous site, it's also called DontKillMyApp, and it's available now in early access on the Play Store.
Gawk at the boatloads of cash Google is throwing at Apple to maintain its search monopoly
According to a recent report by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, Google paid £1.2 billion (or around $1.5 billion) across 2019 to secure its place as the default search engine in devices across the market, the "substantial majority of which" was paid to Apple. That's a huge sum, and rival search engines claim it makes competition impossible — they simply can't afford to be in contention with numbers that high.
Pandora gets Dark Mode support on Android 10
Plus offline podcasts for Plus and Premium subscribers
Following last year's redesign, Pandora is picking up another feature that should prove to be popular. An update is currently rolling out that brings offline podcast support for Plus and Premium subscribers, but far more importantly, it also adds Dark Theme/Mode support for Android 10 as well as Samsung's Night Mode.