Latest Articles
6 ways the Apple antitrust suit could affect the Android ecosystem
Enough about you, let's talk about me
The US Department of Justice brought a lawsuit against Apple this week, alleging the company's practices have created an unfair monopoly in the US smartphone market. The full lawsuit is practically a novella, but in very broad strokes, the US government is critical of the tactics Apple employs in shaping user and developer behavior, particularly when it comes to popular products like iMessage and the Apple Watch.
The OnePlus 9 series likely just got its last major Android update
They're still in line for some security patches, though
The OnePlus 9 series has reached one of its last milestones this week. As reported by Android Authority, following the rollout of Android 14-based OxygenOS 14 to unlocked versions of the OnePlus 9, 9 Pro, and 8T over the past few weeks, OxygenOS 14 is now hitting the T-Mobile variant of each of those devices.
The Google Play Store is ditching its search bar in favor of a new tab
The Play Store takes a page from Spotify's book
The Play Store is getting a bit of a visual tweak. 9to5Google reports that the Play Store's search bar, previously featured prominently at the top of the store's Games, Apps, and Books tabs, is being replaced with a new Search tab accessible from the app's bottom navigation bar.
Google Photos finally lets you override its document auto-categorization
New categorization options are rolling out now
Last month, Google services enthusiast AssembleDebug shared on X that Google Photos was working on a way to change how the app categorizes images of what it calls "Documents." The new setup would let users manually alter the way various images — screenshots, photos of receipts or event tickets, that sort of thing — are tagged, making it easier to organize that kind of info in Photos. We're seeing those new options on our own phones now: manual categorization is finally rolling out.
How Android's app archiving will help save space without losing your app data
Coming soon to a phone near you
Last month, certified Android ace Mishaal Rahman shared evidence for an in-development app archival feature. Presumably headed for stable Android 15, app archival lets you save storage space by offloading the majority of an unused app while keeping your user data, making for a smooth transition should you choose to reinstall it. Today, again via Android Authority, Mishaal shared a closer look at how the process will work. It seems like you'll have options to archive apps on demand or to have your phone do it automatically, and the entire system relies on what Google calls archived APKs.
Blink Mini 2 is a cute little security camera that starts at $40 and works inside or out
The versatile little fella is available right now
Looking for some cheap security cameras? Amazon-owned Blink's got you covered. The new Blink Mini 2, available now, is plenty affordable at just $40. It's not the type of upgrade that'll make owners of the first-gen Blink Mini want run out and replace their cameras — it's still a cheap 1080p security camera. But some smart changes like a wider field of view and an outdoor-adaptable design should make it an appealing option for anyone looking to build out their Blink setup.
Google Home for web finally adds camera history and clip downloads
The spartan Google Home for web interface is learning new tricks
Introduced in 2022, Google Home's web interface has always been camera-focused, lagging well behind its mobile apps in terms of smart home functionality. But this week, the two are inching just a little closer to feature parity. Starting in "the next few days," Google says the Google Home web app is getting support for additional connected camera features, including in-browser video playback and history.
I can't stop listening to these weird, overpriced earbuds
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are my favorite gadget of the year so far
The Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are very weird. They clip onto your ears rather than sticking in them, a design meant to let in environmental sound. Open earbuds aren't a new product category, but they are pretty niche, and premium open earbuds more niche still. At $299, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds are indeed extremely niche. Before I got my hands on them, I'd already all but dismissed them as a novelty — but a month into using the things, I'm hooked.
If you already have the latest and greatest smartphone, tablet, and laptop, you may be looking for the next gadget to keep these tech selections as cutting-edge as possible. What might be missing is a terrific pair of wireless earbuds.
I've used the same 'indoor' Philips Hue bulbs outside my house for over a year
An ongoing experiment in operating limits
I'm pretty firmly entrenched in the Philips Hue lighting ecosystem; over the years, my collection's grown to include lights in every room of my home. When I moved from an apartment into a house in late 2022, though, I was dismayed to see just how expensive Hue's bespoke outdoor lighting is: fixtures like the company's Econic Outdoor Wall Light go for a searing $170 apiece and require some elbow grease to install. Fortunately, I found a much easier and cheaper alternative.
Google Fi just raised its prices for some unlimited plans
Simply Unlimited group plans are getting a little less simple
MVNO Google Fi is raising its prices for certain unlimited plans. According to new Google Fi support documentation, Simply Unlimited group plans with three or more members are getting more expensive. Prices aren't changing for plans with one or two members, and the features on offer are the same as before.
Nothing Phone 2a review: Nothing you're missing out on
In an about-face from Phone 2, Nothing's latest is made for Europe and Asia
The Nothing Phone 2a is a decent budget device with a unique look — par for the course for Nothing. For an asking price of $350 or so, the 2a offers Nothing's striking design, a nice display, long battery life, and more-than-good-enough performance.
Signs of another new Chromecast appear in the Google Home app
We don't know anything about it, but it does seem to exist
We've been following rumors about a Chromecast refresh for quite some time, and now, we've got another one to throw on the pile: 9to5Google reports that yet another new Google TV device identifier has appeared in code for the Google Home app. It's not a whole lot to go on, but it does show that Google is working on new Chromecast hardware in some capacity.
I tried this bootleg Google Weather app so you don't have to
Frog Weather is a bald-faced rip of the Google app's old weather interface so shameless I almost love it
Early one morning, shortly after switching from the Pixel 8 to the Galaxy S24+, I opened up the Play Store and searched Google Weather. I was looking for the Weather app that got its own Play Store listing and app drawer icon on Pixel phones late last year, forgetting at the time that it was a Pixel exclusive. So of course I didn't find it, but I did stumble upon an endearingly low-quality copycat app listed under the name "Frog weather forecast."
Keeping smartwatches charged is a pain. It's different for proprietary watches from the likes of Garmin, but even the majority of the best Wear OS watches need to be charged about once a day, and their chargers are hardwired to USB cables, which means traveling with a smartwatch requires packing yet another spooled-up cord.
OnePlus Watch 2 review: Worth it for the battery alone
With two chipsets and two operating systems, the OnePlus Watch 2 offers revelatory battery life — but not much more
OnePlus's first smartwatch wasn't very good. The OnePlus Watch had slick hardware and great battery life, but its proprietary software was a little janky, and its activity tracking was flaky at best. Unlike the first generation, the new OnePlus Watch 2 runs Wear OS, including access to the Google Assistant, Google Wallet, and tons of other apps through the Play Store. It also sets a new record in Wear OS battery life, going up to four days on a single charge even with features like always-on display and sleep tracking enabled.
Two weeks in, I'm still conflicted about Gemini as a digital assistant
Google's AI chatbot is an incredible app, but it's hard to get fully on board
A couple of weeks ago, Google released a standalone app for its AI-powered assistant, Gemini. After a few hours messing around with it, I concluded that while Gemini is very promising, it's still not quite ready to replace the Google Assistant.
Dead Zebra will carry the coveted Android figure that sold out on Google's shop
New 3D bugdroid 'The Bot' gets an official collectible, available next month
If you missed your window to grab that new Bugdroid Bot collectible that briefly popped up on Google's official merch shop, you're in luck: prolific Android collectibles peddler Dead Zebra has listed the figure as coming soon. It's the first Dead Zebra figure to reflect the little green guy's 2023 redesign, and while there's no specific release date yet, it should be available for purchase starting next month.
Best OnePlus phones in 2024
We'll help you get a sense of OnePlus's lineup and which of its phones is still worth buying
OnePlus phones have long been a favorite among Android enthusiasts thanks to their flagship specs at affordable prices. While we struggled to recommend the OnePlus 9 and 10, the company has recently begun to offer fantastic value phones again, starting with the OnePlus 11.
What we know about the Galaxy Fit 3, Samsung's upcoming fitness wearable
With lots of leaks in rapid succession, it seems like the Galaxy Fit 3 is coming very soon
We think a lot about upcoming wearables at AP: we're keeping a close watch on developments around flagship watches like the Galaxy Watch 7 and Pixel Watch 3, both of which we expect to be released sometime this year.