Stephen Schenck
Managing Editor
Contributing since March, 2018
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About Stephen Schenck
Stephen is a managing editor at Android Police, where he helps people find words that are good, and put them in orders that are good, too. Most of the time those words tell people about the latest smartphone news, keeping them in the know about the newest devices, most recent software updates, and next-gen features coming down the pike. He's been working in tech media for over a decade, including stints at Phone Arena and Pocketnow. Occasionally spotted across the American Northeast, Stephen can be cautiously approached after signaling goodwill by waving a shiny new phone in his direction. Although easily spooked by garish apps or aggressive notification alerts, in his native environment Stephen seeks engagement with kindred spirits, and is always happy to explain why your phone is too damn big. Stephen still uses Windows XP and thinks you should, too.
Latest Articles
The embarrassing days of Android brands caught tweeting from iPhones are coming to an end
Everyone's still using an iPhone — you just won't know it
Big companies invest so much money in public relations and advertising, that you'd certainly expect them to approach those efforts with a commensurate amount of care — making sure that the message is clear, on point, and avoids any embarrassing gaffes. But time and time again, we've seen companies and prominent people working in the Android sphere make announcements on Twitter, only for their actions to be betrayed by the tweet's "Twitter for iPhone" source label. That era of very public blunders may soon be drawing to a close, as Twitter's new owner Elon Musk announces his intent to deprecate the labels.
These Pixel Fold renders are almost as sensational as the phone's rumored launch price
The long-awaited Google foldable could arrive alongside the Pixel Tablet
There's never been a more exciting time to be a fan of Google's Pixel devices, as we're right in the middle of the brand's big expansion into new product categories. We just got our hands on the new Pixel Watch, and there's even more to look forward to in 2023, with the dockable Pixel Tablet on the horizon. But maybe the most eagerly anticipated new Pixel has been the long-rumored folding-screen model: what we've been calling the Pixel Fold. In a new report, Jon Prosser shares some absolutely stunning renders of the upcoming phone, while giving us a hint at what its release could look like.
FLIR's latest thermal camera gives your phone a snap-on heat-vision upgrade
The FLIR One Edge Pro is the company's most flexible way yet to bring IR cameras to smartphones
Remember when smartphones only had one camera on the back? One lens, one sensor, take it or leave it? Well, to say that things have gotten a little nutty since then is nothing short of an understatement, and these days the expectation is that a well-rounded phone needs to offer multiple cameras: ultrawide, telephoto, or maybe even variable optical zoom. For all those options, though, we're still talking about cameras that only capture visible light — and isn't that just so, like, narrow, man? There's a whole, big electromagnetic spectrum out there, and with FLIR's new One Edge Pro, your phone can start taking advantage of it, snapping thermal pics in the infrared.
Why Pixel Watch and Fitbit calorie reports may not show what you expect
An early bug with user bio data is being corrected
Read update
With the Pixel Watch, Google is understandably leaning really hard into its Fitbit ownership, making that service a prominent part of the wearable and its health features. Fitbit instantly brings the smartwatch some valuable brand recognition, but it's also a name that carries with it certain expectations, occupying such a premium spot in the market. But are new Pixel Watch users getting an experience that lives up to Fitbit's reputation? We took our concerns about the calorie data being reported by the Pixel Watch and Fitbit app to Google to find out.
MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9200 chip is the flagship Snapdragon competitor we’ve been waiting for
There’s still very little chance your next phone will have one, though
Meaningful competition is frustratingly hard to come by in today's mobile landscape. That's a situation that's true across categories, from phones themselves, to the components that go into them — as time goes by, we end up with fewer players in the game, and correspondingly less choice. Qualcomm's the dominant force when it comes to SoCs, and while a few phone makers flirt with silicon of their own, it largely feels like they're doing so just to show that they can. But all along there's also been MediaTek, and while we're used to seeing its chips on lower-end phone hardware, last year's launch of the Dimensity 9000 attempted to put the company on real flagship footing. Now it's following that first big step with a second, more confident one, with the introduction of the new Dimensity 9200.
Google gives Pixel Superfans 100 cold, hard reasons to recommend the phones to their friends
The reasons are dollars
What's the only thing better than a shiny new Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro smartphone? If you said “having someone else pay for it,” we like the cut of your jib. While these phones are both some solid values, andd have already seen some incredible deals, Google's latest promotion could score you one for absolutely free — so long as you convince enough of your friends to buy one.
Google forgets the Pixel 7 now supports Android 13's QPR1 beta in latest survey
Google's newest flagships can run QPR1 beta 3, but aren't included on the feedback survey
Read update
Android 13 has been out for a few months now, and we didn't have to wait very long after its arrival to get our hands dirty with some fresh beta action, trying out Google's latest features while still under development. The first Quarterly Platform Release beta landed for Pixel phones in early September, and we've gotten two more since. But as Google asks for feedback about its latest build, it seems to have forgotten about its two brand-new smartphones.
Google Chat is getting Slack's most important feature
Free yourself from the wearisome world of pre-defined emoji
Collaborative communication tools are the cornerstone of any remote work environment. As they pick up new features and functionality, they often empower us to do our jobs more efficiently, saving time, money, and effort. That's exactly why we're so excited to see Google Chat adopting what might be the single most important feature Slack has to offer: support for custom emoji.
Chrome will finally force you to upgrade from Windows 7 in 2023
You'll need to be running Windows 10 or 11 to continue using Chrome in the new year
Anyone with even a passing interest in information security knows that being as safe as possible means keeping your devices updated. When a major new operating system comes out, though, sometimes users end up dragging their feet before upgrading, whether they're concerned that a new OS might introduce software incompatibilities, or just slow them down as they re-learn workflows. Chrome has been threatening to leave old Windows users behind for a while now, and we've been wondering when Google would drop Windows 7 compatibility ever since Microsoft ended mainstream support back in 2020. This week we finally start learning how things are going to end, with next year's release of Chrome 110.
Clear Calling arrives for the Pixel 7 with Android 13 QPR1 Beta 3
Get ready for your once-a-month voice call to sound even better
When the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro debuted earlier this month, we got to meet Google's latest hardware — but not all of its latest software. While the phones arrived running Android 13, not all of their special features were ready to go right out of the gate. For instance, Clear Calling promised to help reduce background noise and improve fidelity on voice calls, but it's not due to land until the December Feature Drop. If you don't feel like waiting quite so long, you can get your first taste right now thanks to Android 13 QPR1 Beta 3.
Chrome gives tablets some long-overdue attention ahead of next year's Pixel Tablet launch
It's almost like browsers work better on bigger screens
Google has been anything but shy about its growing affinity for tablets, from Android 12L, to all the apps we've seen getting updates this summer in order to optimize them for larger screens. With plans to introduce the Pixel Tablet sometime next year, laying all this software groundwork makes perfect sense. In its latest effort to bring tablets the love they haven't been getting, Google is sharing the changes coming to Chrome to improve its look and functionality on Android's largest screens.
YouTube has blessedly ended its 4K Premium paywall experiment
Cheapskates, rejoice
Say what you will about Google services being free because you're the product it's selling to advertisers — at the end of the day, most of us are perfectly willing to sit through some targeted ads so long as they get us access to that sweet, sweet content. But when we hear about that content getting locked behind a paywall, we start getting very nervous — and this was exactly what we recently saw in a test YouTube was conducting, where it restricted 4K video access to paid Premium subscribers. Thankfully, that test has now ended.
Buy a Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro and Amazon will pay you hundreds of dollars
Score a $200 Amazon gift card with the Pixel 7 Pro, or a $100 card with your Pixel 7 purchase
You really don't have to look very hard for a reason to want pick up Google's latest phones, the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. We were already big fans of the Pixel 6 series, and these new models only refine that existing design, delivering some smart upgrades while making us feel secure about our purchase with years of software support ahead. Retailers have been offering some fantastic deals for shoppers looking to pick one up, but if you haven't pulled the trigger yet, this latest might be the best yet.
Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro get a head start on banishing 32-bit Android apps
Beating both Android 14 and the Pixel Tablet to the punch
Change is many things: scary, exciting, inevitable. Android is changing all the time, and for a while now we've been anticipating a major shift in terms of software support, one that would see the platform abandon its oldest software — Android will go 64-bit-only, dropping compatibility for old 32-bit apps. The biggest question has been “when?” Would the Pixel Tablet demand 64-bit apps? Could we be sitting around until Android 14 to make the switch? Apparently Google just got tired of waiting, and quietly launched the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro without support for 32-bit apps.
Android and Chrome take their first steps towards a blissfully password-free future
'Password' is quickly becoming a bad word
Signing in to accounts sucks. Password resets, two-factor prompts, hackers breaching databases — who needs the aggravation? This is exactly why we've been so excited over the past few months, after Google shared word that a brave new passwordless future was on its way to Android and Chrome. Thanks to cryptographically signed passkeys stored on your phone, you'll be able to securely and easily access your favorite services — and that all gets started today.
Google gives the Pixel Buds Pro their biggest upgrade yet with a 5-band custom EQ
Now with more bass options than an angling competition
In a perfect world, all headphones would offer perfect frequency reproduction across the perceivable spectrum, we'd all have perfect hearing, and we'd only listen to original, perfectly high-quality master recordings. In reality, we have basically none of that. Instead, we make the best of the situation, and when it comes to tweaking our audio experience, that often involves the help of an adjustable equalizer. A few months back, Google introduced its Pixel Buds Pro, and today the wireless earbuds get a major customization upgrade with the arrival of a 5-band EQ.
Changing Pixel Watch bands is so easy, you'll want to start a collection
Sadly, you can't afford to
It's an incredibly human desire to want to express ourselves through our appearance, whether that means spending 20 minutes choosing what to wear in the morning, or picking out a phone case that's just looking to attract attention. With the new Pixel Watch, Google is hitting the ground running when it comes to customization, already offering over a dozen bands to pair with that wearable you're pre-ordering — and even more variety is on the way in 2023. Access to lots of options like that is great, but what I think I like the most about personalizing the Pixel Watch is just how easy Google has made it to change bands.
On the Pixel 7, Google Assistant's Tensor superpowers are more delightful (and helpful) than ever
Look for enhanced voice typing, At a Glance, quick phrases, and more
Google's new hardware may be the star of today's event, but as the company has demonstrated time and time again, it's Google software and services that really make using its devices the premium experience it is. With the arrival of the Pixel 7 series and Pixel Watch, Google's sharing a few enhancements to Assistant that really build off the fantastic Tensor-powered on-device interactions we first got to know with the Pixel 6.
Google's new Nest Wifi Pro upgrades your mesh network to Wi-Fi 6E for a hefty price
A simplified hardware lineup makes it easier to expand your network
If networking your home doesn't mean much more to you than unboxing the router your ISP sent over by default, chances are you're missing out on a lot. There are plenty of great Wi-Fi 6 mesh routers to choose from, but if you're looking for a solution from Google, your best option for a while now has been the Nest Wifi system that arrived alongside the Pixel 4 back in 2019. We've been hearing rumors about new hardware all summer, and today that finally goes official, as Google reveals the Nest Wifi Pro.
Pet-friendly robots, bedside sleep tracking, and everything else you missed at Amazon's big hardware event
Techtober is off to a techtastic start
Techtober may still be a couple days away, but Amazon is not wasting any time getting us started on a high note, and today the company unveiled a dizzying array of new products and enhancements to existing ones. We've already highlighted some of the major stand-outs, like the stylus-equipped Kindle Scribe, or the new Echo Dots and the cool way Amazon's using them to act as Wi-Fi range extenders, but that's just scratching the service. Let's take a look at the best of the rest of what Amazon had to share, including robot upgrades, new Fire TVs, and lots more.