39 new and notable Android TV apps and games from the last 8 months (7/12/18 - 3/31/18)

Google's Emoji Scavenger Hunt is a browser-based game that tries to make machine learning fun and accessible

"Machine learning" and "neural network" are familiar terms to anyone who follows what Google is up to these days, but they may not be the most accessible or comprehensible concepts for the masses. And that's fine — you don't need to have a firm grasp of machine learning to enjoy better photos or keyboards, for instance. Still, Google has been quietly showcasing ways for users to get more hands-on with these concepts, and the latest such experiment is a game called Emoji Scavenger Hunt.

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Google's Emoji Scavenger Hunt is a browser-based game that tries to make machine learning fun and accessible was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Huawei discounts Mate 10 Pro and Mate SE for beginning of April

If you wanted to get your hands on Huawei’s latest US flagship, it’s about to be a good time. Huawei has announced a US sale on two devices that begins on April 1 and ends on April 14.

The Huawei Mate 10 Pro will be $649.99, which is $150 off. For a flagship with a brilliant Leica camera and a 4,000mAh battery, that’s a great price. The budget-oriented Mate SE will be $229.99, $20 off regular price.

You can buy either device for the sale price through places like Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg. Will you be picking up a new Huawei device?


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Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and S8 duo get GIF support for Always On Display

Samsung’s Always On Display feature is great both in the added functionality of always seeing important info and in customization. You can tweak the feature and add different clocks and even photos.

The company’s latest update to the feature now allows you to add GIFs. These GIFs don’t loop, but they play once when you lock the device. The feature has no practical use, but it allows for a bit of flair when setting your phone down.

This new feature has been released for the Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note 8. If you want to try it out now, you can hit the source link and download the APK. Let us know how you like it!


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[Update: Rolling out wide] Google Play Store may start showing an app's top chart ranks in its listing

  • While we've been seeing this feature since last fall, as we mentioned at the time, not everyone was getting access to it all at once. Google seems to have wrapped

Among the craziness of last week, we received one tip about a minor but welcome change in the Play Store that was showing up for some users: when browsing an app's listing, you might see a new line below the Install/Uninstall button that displays its current top chart rank, as shown for Spotify in the screenshot above.

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[Update: Rolling out wide] Google Play Store may start showing an app's top chart ranks in its listing was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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The Play Store mobile client now shows original release dates for apps

The Play Store has long shown the date an app or game was last updated, but now you get a bit more historical information. The Play Store mobile client has started showing the release date for apps. So, you're a few taps away from finding out how long most apps have been on the Play Store. I say "most" because a few are showing obviously incorrect dates.

The "Released on" date at the bottom of the listing when you tap on "Read more." Google's apps are, obviously, among the oldest with release dates around 2010.

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The Play Store mobile client now shows original release dates for apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Play Store site redesign now rolling out to everyone

Earlier this month, Google began testing a new design for the Play Store's website. While the larger screenshots and dedicated review pages were much-needed changes, there were a few annoying regressions. Google switched image formats (from WebP to PNG/JPEG), causing screenshots to load slower, and navigating through the site was more difficult.

Google seemingly halted the rollout just a few days ago, perhaps due to the complaints brought up. But now the new design appears to be live for everyone, with almost nothing changed from the initial rollout.

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Play Store site redesign now rolling out to everyone was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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[Bonus Round] Umiro, Lichtspeer, JYDGE, AZ Rockets, Jelly Copter, Heroes of Rings, and Honkai Impact 3rd

bonusroundWelcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got an artistic puzzle game, an arcade game about lightspear throwing, a twin-stick shooter, a minimal arcade game, an endless runner, a hero collection RPG, and a spectacle fighter.

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[Bonus Round] Umiro, Lichtspeer, JYDGE, AZ Rockets, Jelly Copter, Heroes of Rings, and Honkai Impact 3rd was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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[Update: APK Download, linking works but contacting doesn't] Google looks nearly ready to link Duo with your Google account

  • We're still waiting for Google to flip the switch on this new feature from the server end, but with a little app manipulation, one of our readers was able to
  • When we told you this change felt imminent, we weren't kidding, and there's a new Duo 31 release out now that adds the ability to link Google accounts. You can

Google Duo is a little unusual among the company's apps, as it identifies users not based on the Google account that connects you to everything from Gmail, to YouTube, to the Play Store, but instead uses your device's phone number.

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[Update: APK Download, linking works but contacting doesn't] Google looks nearly ready to link Duo with your Google account was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Always On Display update for Galaxy S8/S8+ and Note8 adds GIF support

Samsung's Always On Display made its debut on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge over two years ago now. Since then, the company has steadily been adding features here and there, which it's been able to do since the feature itself has its own APK. Always On Display's newest addition is GIF support, which lets you add a little action to the otherwise-dull clock and time.

Samsung has long allowed themes to be used with the Always On Display to make things a little more interesting, more recently also permitting photos to be added, but GIF support is new.

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Always On Display update for Galaxy S8/S8+ and Note8 adds GIF support was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Huawei isn’t giving up on the U.S. market yet

For those in charge of Huawei, 2018 was going to be a banner year: They were going to get a flagship smartphone onto a wireless carrier in the United States and finally make some inroads with U.S. customers.

Huawei has had its sights set on expanding into the U.S. wireless market in a major way for years. Way back in 2010, for instance, Huawei said that wasn’t giving up on the untapped market. But, much like back then, it doesn’t look like Huawei has an easy road ahead of it.

This time around, Huawei is actually losing any support it might have in the United States, all thanks to pressure applied by the United States government, citing national security concerns. That started with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro getting its launch at AT&T canceled, and subsequently, every other major wireless carrier in the U.S. opting out of working with the smartphone manufacturer based out of China as well.

Another big blow came when it was confirmed that Best Buy was removing Huawei-branded products from its store shelves as well. There aren’t many retailers still selling Huawei products, which doesn’t give Huawei a lot of wiggle room to achieve its long-gestating goals.

That doesn’t mean they’re giving up, though. In an email sent to CNET, Huawei’s CEO of the consumer business group, Richard Yu, said:

“We are committed to the US market and to earning the trust of US consumers by staying focused on delivering world-class products and innovation. We would never compromise that trust.”

According to Yu, the United States government’s warnings about Huawei are “groundless suspicions”, calling them “quite frankly unfair”. Huawei says it’s open to conversations with the U.S. government as long as the talks are “based on facts”.

Huawei has been working for so long to get into the U.S. market, but this latest road block is the biggest yet. The argument that Huawei should simply continue to focus on markets where its handsets and other devices are readily available seems pretty sound, especially considering how large a presence Huawei is internationally. In the U.S., the fight against Apple, Samsung, and even the likes of HTC, LG, and Motorola might prove pretty tough.

What do you think? Would you buy a Huawei smartphone like the P20 Pro or Mate 10 Pro if it were available on your carrier?


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ZTE’s Tempo Go now available to buy in the U.S.

Last month, ZTE officially announced a pair of phones: the Blade V9 and the Tempo Go, with the latter option being an Android Go handset destined for the wireless market in the United States.

ZTE stuck to the playbook, as the company has just launched the ZTE Tempo Go for Android Go in the U.S. You can pick up the new handset directly from ZTE’s online storefront, and you’ll have to fork over $79.99 to make it yours. It comes with free standard shipping.

As for what you get for that $80, the Tempo Go has a 5-inch 854×480 touchscreen display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of built-in storage. There is also a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 32GB. The battery measures in at 2200mAh, there’s a 5MP camera on the back, and there’s a 2MP front-facing camera on the other side. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack and a fingerprint reader.

For the price, what do you think of the ZTE Tempo Go?


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Galaxy Note 8 Oreo update available for Sprint and Verizon customers

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 users on Sprint and Verizon are reporting the Android 8.0 Oreo update is now arriving for their devices. The news comes from the r/GalaxyNote8 subreddit, where users started spotting the update after midnight local time. Though neither carrier has made an announcement regarding the launch of the update, it’s clear that it is now rolling out to users. Those with a Note 8 on Sprint and Verizon can wait for an update notification or head into Settings>About Phone>Check for Update to see if you can prompt it immediately.

Android 8.0 Oreo contains plenty of new features including faster boot times, minimized background activity to improve performance and battery life, picture-in-picture (a way to use two compatible apps at once), and notification dots on app icons, allowing users to see a quick preview of the app’s notification(s). There are also redesigned emojis, increased security features, and plenty of battery improvements.

Drop a comment down below if you’ve received your update!

Source: Reddit (Sprint), (Verizon)


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Top 10 Android app updates this week: Trello, Reddit

Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most frequently upgraded apps for the week. We’ve found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to find the ones that are actually being updated by the developers rather than selecting the apps with the most installs. As in the past, we’re going to filter out minor updates for the super-popular apps that have over 10 million installs, but we’ll make exceptions for apps that have had significant updates. We hope you enjoy this weekly feature and that you discover some apps that end up being useful.

ARCore – Version 1.1.0

 

ARCore

What’s new in this version:

  • This is ARCore version 1.1. Developers can use this version to start building and publishing apps and games build with ARCore.

 

Google Play Movies & TV - Version 4.2.6.13

 

Google Play Movies & TV

What’s new in this version:

  • Discover something new in just a few taps
  • Add thumbs up or down to get personal recommendations based on what you like to watch
  • See which streaming apps offer the show or movie you want to watch

 

Trello - Version 4.8.1

 

Trello

What’s new in this version:

  • Custom fields have landed! Activate the custom fields power-up to add new fields to cards.
  • You asked (years ago), we answered: you can now sort cards!
  • Mark notifications read or completed right on the notification itself! You never have to open the app again.

 

Mirror Emoji Keyboard - Version 1.1.33

 

Mirror Emoji

What’s new in this version:

  • improved automated detection of makeup, earrings, glasses, beards, hairstyles, lip color, skin color and hats!
  • hundreds of new manually selectable options of all of the above (including wacky options – make your hair pink!)
  • our emoji now appear >2x faster than before!

 

Reddit – Version 3.0.0

 

Reddit Official

What’s new in this version:

  • New account drawer for faster account switching
  • Pony and Trees themes are now available
  • AMOLED night mode is now available
  • Updated bottom navigation bar
  • Faster scrolling on the Browse tab (the one with all of your subscriptions)
  • Lots of UI improvements
  • Fixed crashes and a few minor bugs

 

Daily Yoga - Version 6.2.41

 

Daily Yoga

What’s new in this version:

  • New Workshops of Fertility, Prenatal and Postnatal are released, designed by top coaches.
  • 5 series of Audio Service are launched. We offer Guided Meditation, Love & Happiness, Mantra, etc. to help de-stress, to offer calmness, to cure depression and to retain happiness at anytime.

 

Moto Display - Version Varies

 

Moto Display

What’s new in this version:

  • Now you can read grouped notifications individually
  • Bug fixes and stability improvements

 

Elevate – Version 5.2.0

 

Elevate

What’s new in this version:

  • Share Achievements you earn with friends and family
  • Improved content for Brevity, Clarity, Spelling, and Expression

 

Write on PDF - Version 2.4.15.10

 

Write PDF

What’s new in this version:

  • Go to page
  • Add to shortcuts
  • Pin page

 

Android Auto – Version 3.1.581054

 

Android Auto

What’s new in this version:

  • Android Auto now works with any car! Use it directly on your phone screen
  • Just say “Ok Google” to use voice commands, don’t need to touch the screen first
  • Scroll through song lists more easily with the new letter jump feature
  • Swipe to dismiss cards on the homepage screen

 


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Google Pay v1.55 prepares automatic reload for prepaid accounts [APK Teardown]

The Android Pay name has been dead for weeks, replaced by Google Pay for the foreseeable future. With the rebranding out of the way and the adjustment period starting to fade, it's time to get back to business as usual. The latest update looks a bit like a bug fixer since there don't appear to be any immediately visible changes after installing. However, a teardown gives a view of a new feature coming for prepaid accounts that will ensure they never run low on funds.

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Google Pay v1.55 prepares automatic reload for prepaid accounts [APK Teardown] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Finish up March with 28 temporarily free and 26 on-sale apps, including The Room 2 and Trine 2

Welcome to the final Friday of March, and with it, the last round of app sales for the week and the month. Today's list feels similar to Wednesday's, with some excellent games on sale. Those will be bolded down below, meaning that I highly recommend them. Whether or not you celebrate Easter, I hope that you all enjoy your weekend. See you all in April.

Free

Apps

  1. Quick Volume Controls - Quick Volume notification $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
  2. Cute Calendar PRO $2.49 -> Free; 3 days
  3. Kids Commission: A Reward System App for Families $0.99 -> Free; 3 days
  4. Digits $0.99 -> Free; 5 days

Games

  1. Numberflow $0.99 -> Free; 2 days
  2. Math Puzzles PRO 2018 $2.99 -> Free; 3 days
  3. Jungleverse: Tiki Cups Kids $0.99 -> Free; 6 days

Icon packs & customization

  1. Clear Green Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  2. Clear Teal Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  3. Fairy Colors Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  4. Lap Green Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  5. Lap Orange Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  6. Lumber Stock Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  7. Majestic Weather's Komponents Kustom $2.99 -> Free; 4 days
  8. Neo Blue Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  9. Neo Orange Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  10. Red Ash Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  11. Sam Spring Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  12. Spatter Green Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  13. Spatter Orange Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  14. Spatter Weather's Komponents Kustom $2.99 -> Free; 4 days
  15. Spatter Yellow Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  16. Stacks Chromatic Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  17. Yellow Ash Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
  18. Zeal Orange Icons Pack $1.49 -> Free; 4 days

Sale

Apps

  1. File Explorer Pro - Access files on PC, Mac & NAS $2.99 -> $0.99; 3 days
  2. DoorSec Quick Door Security $2.49 -> $1.49; 5 days
  3. E Numbers Pro $1.99 -> $0.99; 4 days
  4. Pipedata-Pro $15.99 -> $8.99; 4 days
  5. Forager's Buddy GPS Foraging Pro Key $2.49 -> $1.49; 5 days
  6. Travel Interpreter Phrasebook $9.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
  7. VIP Notes - password manager and files holder $4.49 -> $2.49; 6 days

Games

  1. 꽃들판에 피어나는 덧없음 $7.49 -> $4.99; 1 day
  2. 10monkeys Bubbles | Subtraction $2.49 -> $1.49; 1 day
  3. Thimbleweed Park $9.99 -> $4.99; 1 day
  4. Bridge Constructor Portal $4.99 -> $2.99; 3 days
  5. Quadropoly Pro $7.99 -> $2.99; 4 days
  6. Acidra Tears - Dungeon Action RPG - UNLIMITED $1.49 -> $0.99; 5 days
  7. Iron Marines $4.99 -> $2.49; 5 days
  8. The Room Two $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
  9. Baseball Highlights 2045 $3.99 -> $0.99; 6 days
  10. Lichtspeer $3.99 -> $1.99; 6 days
  11. Nimian Legends : BrightRidge $3.99 -> $0.99; 6 days
  12. Table Tennis Touch $3.49 -> $0.99; 6 days
  13. XCOM: Enemy Within $9.99 -> $4.99; 6 days
  14. OTTTD : Over The Top TD $3.99 -> $0.99; 7 days
  15. The Guides $2.99 -> $1.99; 7 days
  16. Trine 2: Complete Story $16.99 -> $2.99; Time left not specified (Shield TV)

Icon packs & customization

  1. Bubbles Live Wallpaper $2.49 -> $0.99; 5 days

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  1. Detectify Hidden Device & Camera Detector Ad Free $2.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
  2. Total Manager for Android $7.99 -> $0.99; 6 days
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Finish up March with 28 temporarily free and 26 on-sale apps, including The Room 2 and Trine 2 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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MyFitnessPal from Under Armour suffers data breach affecting 150 million users

According to American sportswear giant Under Armour, user data from its health app MyFitnessPal has been compromised. Data including the usernames, email addresses, and scrambled passwords from approximately 150 million accounts was stolen last month in one of the biggest attacks of its kind.

Other information such as social security numbers, driving license numbers, and details from payment cards were thankfully not affected, but email addresses and passwords alone have the potential to cause harm in the wrong hands.

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MyFitnessPal from Under Armour suffers data breach affecting 150 million users was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Voice v5.9 prepares to allow voicemail greetings to be recorded in-app [APK Teardown]

Good things are happening with Google Voice. While the app normally stays fairly quiet, the last few months have shown a lot of positive attention is going into the service. The surface-level changes in this update aren't too major, but a teardown shows that users will soon get a vastly improved voicemail system that features on-device recording and support for multiple messages.

What's New

A look through the latest Google Voice doesn't appear to bring much in the way of changes, but there are a few curious tweaks to the text visible in Settings.

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Google Voice v5.9 prepares to allow voicemail greetings to be recorded in-app [APK Teardown] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google looks nearly ready to link Duo with your Google account

Google Duo is a little unusual among the company's apps, as it identifies users not based on the Google account that connects you to everything from Gmail, to YouTube, to the Play Store, but instead uses your device's phone number. Pretty much ever since it launched, we've been wondering if that situation would ever evolve. Now it looks like that's finally happening, as Google updates its Duo support pages in anticipation of the change.

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Google looks nearly ready to link Duo with your Google account was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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You can now share Twitter (and Periscope) live videos with timestamps

So, you want to share a live video you found on Twitter? You no longer have to waste your precious characters telling people where in the video you want them to watch. Now, you can set a timestamp before sharing. It'll work on both Twitter and Periscope videos, and it starts rolling out today.

To access this feature, just hit the "share" button on a live video. There's a new slider where you can choose a splot in the video, then you add your text and let it fly.

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You can now share Twitter (and Periscope) live videos with timestamps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Play audiobooks get new features like Smart Resume and more

Back in January, Google officially rolled out built-in audiobook support in Google Play Books, adding a bit more competition to the market against Apple’s iBooks and Amazon’s Audible.

Now the service is getting a bit better. Announced today, Google is adding new features like the ability to resume where you left off at the beginning of a sentence, speed up or slow down narration, and more. The new features are available now, so audiobook listeners should be able to take advantage of them immediately.

As far as the new features go, there is Smart Resume, which will allow you to quickly jump back into the book you are listening to by intelligently rewinding where you left off. So if you stop in the middle of a sentence or word, the software will backtrack to the beginning of the sentence or word, depending on the situation.

In addition, audiobooks now support Bookmarks, so you can go back to a certain point in the book that catches your attention. You will also be able to speed up narration to up to 3x or slow it down to 0.5x.

The last new feature is the ability to add an audiobook to a Google Assistant routine. That means you can quickly start listening to their audiobook as part of you morning routine or later in the day if you prefer.

The new audiobook features are available on Android, iOS, and with devices that use Google Assistant.

Google also confirmed that audiobook support is expanding to 13 additional countries: Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Chile, Mexico, Japan (audiobooks only), and South Africa.

Have you tried out Google Play’s audiobooks feature yet? If not, which service do you use instead?


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