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DC Comics sets its sights on Marvel Unlimited with the launch of DC Universe Infinite
No more video content, but Black Label and Vertigo comics are now available
Back in September 2018, DC Comics launched its subscription video streaming and digital comic service. This service was called DC Universe, and it was basically an all-in-one app for everything DC. Well, despite rough times for the company, DC has rebranded its DC Universe app into DC Universe Infinite to solely focus on the digital comic book side of the app. While all of the video content that used to exist in DC Universe has been moved to HBO Max, the comic book selection has expanded beyond the 24,000+ library to now include titles from the Black Label line as well as the Vertigo imprint.
Mind Leak shows you the stupid face you make when you doomscroll
Helping you snap out of it with the power of self-awareness
You're probably familiar with Digital Wellbeing and the likes from other manufacturers, but these tools are generally pretty restrictive. They set hard limits on how long you can use an app, and if you do happen to have to access an app that you've restricted, you'll have to jump into system settings first. For those who just need a nudge to be more mindful with their time, the newly released Mind Leak app might be the better tool. It monitors your app usage and shows you a lovely live view of your face or memes to remind you that you probably have better things to do than doomscrolling on Twitter or mindlessly swiping through TikTok.
Envato is a top marketplace to create and share creative assets for web development. They have several services to make the creation of websites easier, many of which require minimal experience to use. Milkshake is their newest tool, made to help you build websites specifically for Instagram, with no web development knowledge necessary.
As you may remember, Vine was a simple app with short looping videos. It gained immense popularity and was acquired by Twitter in 2013 but was unceremoniously discontinued late in 2016 amid strong competition from Snapchat and Instagram. If you're still mourning its loss, you'll be pleased to hear that the Vine founder is making another app.
The Settings menu/app on Android phones has evolved quite a bit in recent years. Starting in Android 8.1 it got a search bar that made digging for individual settings a bit easier, and in Android N it got suggestions to help encourage you to enable things like a lock screen, finish the setup process, or explore additional customization options. Google even reserved some secret sauce for search and suggestions on its Pixels, and now it's breaking that out into its own app called Search Suggestions.
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- We've now got the Uber Lite APK over at APK Mirror. We also have its Play Store link, though it's not live to the public yet. If you're in the US, don't bother downloading it; all you'll see is the screenshot below (with some rather poor English).
Scaled down versions of apps are nothing new; Google has made plenty of "Go" apps specifically for emerging markets where internet connections are unreliable, phones are generally less capable, and plans offer less data. Uber is now getting in on the act, too.
With mobile data getting faster and smartphones having larger storage, you'd be forgiven if you thought the need for slimmer and more efficient apps is dwindling. Quite the contrary, many developers are building bigger apps with overflowing features, which are not optimized enough for the lower-end devices and slower networks that are still found all around the world. To provide an alternative and avoid alienating this large user base, these developers are making "lite" versions of their apps — we've already seen this happen with Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Uber, LinkedIn, Skype, Shazam, and all of Google's Go apps. Instagram is now joining the fold with its own Lite app.
I'm a fairly satisfied Verizon Fios customer with a basic internet and TV package. Sure, it helps that the man who installed our setup somehow gave us a handful of channels we weren't supposed to get (shh), but I've come to prefer it over any of the previous providers I've endured. But one thing I haven't taken advantage of yet is the Verizon FiOS Mobile app, probably because I'm still a bit scarred by visions of the atrocious bloatware defecating all over my phones when I was a Verizon Wireless customer. Well, Verizon has just released a new app for Fios TV customers simply called Fios TV. It's a sleeker, refreshed version of its older Fios app, but it's not necessarily better on the whole.
Facebook's Internet.org initiative was designed to extend better internet access to developing nations, which it does via its Free Basics service in 63 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. The platform's latest app, Express Wi-Fi, aims to connect users to connect to public hotspots offered by the company for a fee.
For anyone tempted by the Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+ who wants to learn more about what it can do, there's an app for that. The Experience app for Galaxy S9/S9+ does exactly what the name suggests. It can be downloaded on most Android phones (Marshmallow 6.0 and up) and it gives you a sense of what it would be like to own Samsung's latest flagship.
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Back at I/O in May last year, Google announced the Android Go initiative; a less intensive version of the OS optimized for cheap phones with little RAM. This was launched in December and to go with it we've seen a number of Google apps get the Go treatment to make them smaller and less memory-hungry.
Here in the UK, you get used to the convenience of catching up on any BBC show using the fantastic iPlayer app. It hasn't been so easy for Stateside users, even though the BBC iPlayer Radio app is available outside the UK. BBC America has just released its very own app, so US viewers can get some of the same benefits as we do this side of the Atlantic.
There are plenty of apps on the Play Store if you want to check your credit score, but how many of them would you trust? Intuit is a company people have come to depend on for financial services, with popular apps like QuickBooks and TurboTax. So while we might not normally highlight an app of this kind, Turbo is probably worth a mention.
Google has just unveiled a brand-new app designed for sharing inspiring stories between users who make up local communities. By giving every user the same platform, Bulletin hopes to unearth and highlight interesting news that would otherwise go unheard.
Oh Ellen, it's stuff like this that could make me love and respect you just a little bit less. Boy, what am I saying? I'm joking, I swear. You'd have to do a lot more than ignore Android for 3 years to annoy me, and I do work for Android Police. We could have arrested you for this unforgivable offense and had you on trial for ignoring the majority of smartphone owners. That'd make a good skit actually, we'd be dressed in Android policemen and policewomen costumes, we'd barge in on you during the show... Oops, I got carried away.If you're wondering, ellentube launched on iOS in October of 2014 and you'd be forgiven to think the app would have come to Android a little later. Try as we might, we couldn't find any trace of it on the Play Store, but we did find it on the Amazon Appstore. Based on the screenshots though, that seems to be ignored and stuck on v1 of the app, while it has since been updated numerous times on iOS to reach v4.0Without digressing again, ellentube has officially made its way now to the Play Store. It has the same look as v4 on iOS and seems to offer the same features: access to clips from Ellen's show, fan videos, and ellentube original videos, plus the option to upload your own clips for Ellen's challenges, grab tickets to attend the show, and so on.
Those of us with a library card now have another means of easily accessing the local library’s free eBook and audiobook collection. OverDrive, a long-time manager of eBook collections for libraries, recently released their new Android app Libby.
We've all heard of contextual launchers - launchers which change what they do or show based on time of day, weather, your calendar, your location, or any other context. However, ts-apps, the maker of AppSales, has a new app in an unreleased, beta state, named Contextual App Folder (CAF), which is a folder that uses context to determine what to show. But what makes it special is the fact that it is a widget, for any launcher or situation.
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- The program has gone nationwide in October 2016. Sam's Club provided us with the following statement:
Walmart (the parent company of Sam's Club) has been testing a service called Shop & Go for several years now. The idea is that you shop normally, scan in items with a barcode app, pay from the app via a credit card/debit card/store payment system, then just walk out the door - no need to go through a checkout line at all. Previously the program was limited to only a few hundred stores and it only worked on the iPhone, but it looks like the company is ready to put a more widespread version out for the Sam's Club bulk retailer stores.
The Force Awakens is approaching a year old, but by Star Wars standards, the merchandising is only just beginning. A particularly new offering is the Star Wars Force Band, which lets you control Sphero's tiny BB-8 droid that has been rolling around since the film hit theaters. But instead of doing so using an on-screen interface, you use the Force.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/8GGYO5vdrnI[/EMBED_YT]In this case, the Force responds to wrist movement detected by Sphero's band. You can signal BB-8 to move away from you or have it follow you. A nearly 300MB companion app offers a minigame that helps you learn how to steer the toy around.The app also provides additional use for the band that isn't dependent on also owning a BB-8. In a nod to Pokemon Go, you can collect digital holocrons in the environment around you.