Huawei P20 Lite leaks out with pair of rear cameras

On March 27, Huawei is hosting an event where the company is expected to announce not just one, but three new smartphones.

As is typical with this sort of thing, Huawei is going to announce one new handset and two variants. The Huawei P20 will be the middle device in this new lineup, with the P20 Lite filling out the bottom and the P20 Plus sitting high and mighty at the top. Each of the devices will boast different specs in key areas, helping to define each of the new handsets in their respective categories.

Those lines may get blurred a bit, though, as it sounds like the Huawei P20 Lite isn’t going to be a slouch of a device at all. Based on information obtained by VentureBeat, the P20 Lite is going to feature a 5.6-inch display with a resolution of 1080×2250, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of built-in storage. There will be an octa-core Kirin 659 processor under the hood to run the show.

Around back, there will be a pair of 16MP cameras, the battery will measure in at 3520mAh, and it will run Android 8.0 Oreo underneath Huawei’s proprietary EMUI 8.0 user interface. The handset will also have a notch at the top of the display, a growing trend for better or worse.

Up to this point, the expectations was that the P20 Lite was going to have a single camera system on the back, as the P20 itself has been pictured with a dual-camera system and the P20 Plus is said to feature three cameras on the back. But it turns out Huawei isn’t cutting many corners with the P20 Lite just because it’s the smaller of the options.

What do you think of the P20 Lite?

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Android and Me 11:27 PM No comments

Here are 34 temporarily free and 11 on-sale apps for your Wednesday

Welcome back to your thrice-weekly app sales. MWC is starting to wind down, which makes the smallish list today (though larger than Monday's) feel appropriate. There isn't much of true note below, but some of you may find something you like. Have fun.

Free

Apps

1. Phoenix for VK $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
2. Note Recognition - Convert Music into Sheet Music $2.49 -> Free; 3 days
3. Security Assessments $1.49 -> Free; 3 days
4. CrypDates - Get Notified $2.99 -> Free; 4 days
5. MatCon Pro $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
6. Thai phrasebook - Thai Talk Pro $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
7. Trueshot Swing Tempo $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
8. Incognito Browser pro adblock anonymous & private $4.49 -> Free; 5 days
9. Mexican Radio Online Pro $1.49 -> Free; 5 days
10. MSafe - Pro $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
11. UnitedCalc+ Indian Language Calculator (No Ad) $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
12. Business Calculator Pro $1.49 -> Free; 6 days
13. Decimal to Fraction Pro $1.49 -> Free; 6 days

Games

1. 4Goats $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
2. Blue Ball 6 pro $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
3. Naughty Deeds FreeStyle $1.99 -> Free; 3 days
4. Teach Your Monster to Read - Phonics and Reading $4.99 -> Free; 4 days
5. Animals $1.99 -> Free; 5 days
6. Mountain $1.99 -> Free; 5 days
7. Sea $1.99 -> Free; 5 days
8. SunnyFunnies: Hide and Seek – learning made fun $1.99 -> Free; 7 days
9. SunnyFunnies: Umbrellas – learning made fun $1.99 -> Free; 7 days

Icon packs & customization

1. Ancient Brotherhood 3D lwp $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
2. Tokyo Ghoul Wallpaper Anime $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
3. Oreo Z Flat Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 2 days
4. Zed Zooper $0.99 -> Free; 2 days
5. Bits - Icon Pack Oreo $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
6. Ciclo - Icon Pack for ADW/Apex/Evie/Nova launcher $1.49 -> Free; 4 days
7. Galaxy S9 Wallpapers, 4k Amoled - Darknex Pro $2.49 -> Free; 4 days
8. Flat Dark - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
9. Flox - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
10. Glos - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
11. Mumber - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
12. Nougat Square - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days

Sale

App

1. Multi-Screen Voice Calculator Pro $7.95 -> $1.99; 3 days
2. Auto TTS $14.93 -> $7.49; 7 days
3. Electronic Circuits Pro $2.49 -> $0.99; 7 days
4. My Dictionary: polyglot $3.99 -> $1.99; 7 days

Games

1. Fan Drafted - Mock Draft Simulator $2.99 -> $0.99; 4 days
2. Classic Sudoku premium(Ad free) $1.99 -> $0.99; 6 days
3. Lucius Demake $3.49 -> $0.99; 7 days

Icon packs & customization

1. Autumn Leaves in HD Gyro 3D XL Parallax Wallpaper $3.99 -> $1.49; 7 days
2. Chess Gyro 3D Parallax Live Wallpaper XLVersion $3.99 -> $1.49; 7 days
3. Water Touch Pro Parallax Live Wallpaper $3.99 -> $1.49; 7 days

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1. Most expensive app in 3d $399.99 -> Free; 6 days

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Here are 34 temporarily free and 11 on-sale apps for your Wednesday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:44 PM No comments

Google Play Games v5.5 adds Arcade tab to help you find your next game [APK Download]

When an update to Play Games v5.3 came out with a redesigned look back in November, it was missing one big element: Discovery. Users could check out their achievements, browse games they own, and even play some brand new mini-games, but there was barely anything in the app to help you find new games. With the release of v5.5, there's a brand new "Arcade" tab dedicated to just that.

What's New

Unofficial Changelog: (the stuff we found)

• New Arcade tab
• Visual adjustments

Arcade

A brand new bottom nav bar provides the entry point to the new Arcade page.

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Google Play Games v5.5 adds Arcade tab to help you find your next game [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 8:04 PM No comments

Amazon to purchase smart doorbell company Ring for over a billion dollars

Amazon will soon be purchasing Ring, a company that sells smartphone-connected doorbells with video cameras built in. This deal is reportedly going to cost Amazon over $1 billion.

The acquisition makes perfect sense for both companies. Amazon generally allows acquired companies to continue operating as normal, but Ring will now have Amazon’s resources available to it. Amazon gets another smart company to bolster its smart home offerings, something which both Amazon and Google have been pushing hard.

There’s also Amazon Key, a delivery service that allows a delivery person to enter your home to drop packages off with the aid of a camera and a support smart lock. Ring’s products and expertise could make this service safer and easier.

While we likely won’t see the fruits of this acquisition for now, we expect Amazon to take full advantage of owning Ring in the future.

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ASUS announces the ZenFone 5 series with an iPhone X lookalike flagship

ASUS has announced the new ZenFone 5 series at Mobile World Congress 2018. The lineup ranges from flagships to a budget device with a high capacity battery. But the flagships are noteworthy, and not only for the right reasons.

The ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z are similar phones that use the exact same body, and what a body it is. There’s an iPhone X notch in the 6.2-inch display, but it’s advertised as smaller than that on the iPhone X. There’s also a vertically oriented dual camera setup on the back. It’s no coincidence that it looks like an ASUS iPhone X.

The ZenFone 5Z uses a Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage while the ZenFone 5 tones it down with a Snapdragon 636. Both devices feature dual cameras, one regular and one wide angle, with OIS and AI features.

The ZenFone 5Q features a 6-inch 18:9 HD+ display and four cameras: a pair of regular and wide angle sensors on both sides of the phone, with the main sensor being 20MP on the front and 16MP on the rear. Inside is a Snapdragon 630 processor, a 3,300mAh battery, and a microSD slot.

The ZenFone Max M1 is the big battery-toting phone of the lineup, with a 4,000mAh battery inside. Specs are light on this device, but we know that it has a 5.5-inch display.

Info on price and availability isn’t yet available but we should find out when we can expect these devices soon. The ZenFone 5Z really looks like the only eye catching one here, but the iPhone-like design is a turnoff.

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Samsung may drop the ‘S’ branding for next year’s flagship

Now that the Samsung Galaxy S9 has launched, we can look forward to the next flagship from the company. Obviously because we can’t be content with the current offerings that aren’t even on the market yet. But what will it be called?

We don’t know, but it may not be called the Galaxy S10. Samsung head of mobile division DJ Koh says that the company is considering moving away from the S series. Let’s face it, the S10 doesn’t exactly look or sound great.

The entire lineup might get a change in name, but the Galaxy brand will definitely stick around. It’s not likely that the name change would change much else, but it might give Samsung a fresh start with branding. As for the effect on the everyday consumer, most people know their phones as a “Galaxy” anyway.

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Android and Me 5:12 AM No comments

Google Play Music updated with lockscreen album art toggle

Google Play Music for Android has been updated to v8.7 and the biggest change is not that big at all. Nonetheless, it’s a feature many have been asking for, and it should make our customizable, beautiful Android experience just a little better.

The new app version adds a toggle for the album art replacing the lockscreen wallpaper while music is playing. If you don’t want your low res or unattractive album art covering your beautiful wallpaper, you can now disable it.

Unfortunately, this feature only applies to Google Play Music and not any other music app. Still it’s a great addition to our favorite (and very flawed) music app.

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AT&T debuts new Unlimited Plus Enhanced and Unlimited Choice Enhanced plans

AT&T has decided 2018 is the right time to make some changes to its unlimited plan offerings and has introduced two new changes today which will go live on March 1.

Today, AT&T announced Unlimited Plus Enhanced and Unlimited Choice Enhanced plans. The Unlimited Plus Enhanced will cost $80 per month, which is a small decrease from the $90 per month that the original Unlimited Plus plan cost. This also includes 15GB of high-speed data for mobile hotspot (up from the 10GB offered before). The plan offers the standard unlimited data usage, with up to 22GB per month available for high-speed data; if you use more than that in a month’s stretch, your speeds may be reduced as a result during times of network congestion.

Unlimited Choice Enhanced will cost $65 per month (the original Unlimited Choice plan cost $60 per month). This is technically unlimited data, too, but the speeds are capped at 3Mbps for general data usage and 1.5Mbps for video streaming. And if AT&T sees network congestion at any time, your speeds may be reduced as a result, no reaching a data cap necessary. AT&T did say that for a limited time, it will be offering its Unlimited Choice Enhanced plan for $40 per month per line for four lines.

The big blue carrier also pointed out that if you want the advertised prices for these new plans, you will need to sign up for autopay and paperless billing. The prices will kick in after two billing periods.

One more thing; If you are a customer and sign up for these plans, you can get $15 credit towards one of AT&T’s video services. If you pick the Unlimited Plus Enhanced plan, you can get $15 towards DirecTV, DirecTV Now, or U-Verse. If you opt for the Unlimited Choice Enhanced plan, you can get $15 towards DirecTV Now.

Finally, AT&T is offering up some city-specific deals. Here is how those break down:

• Chicago: If you switch to AT&T and sign up for the Unlimited Plus Enhanced plan, you can get AT&T’s in-home internet option for free for life. That internet plan will include speeds up to 50Mbps. If you want a faster plan, AT&T will give you a $30 monthly credit towards your bill.
• Los Angeles: If you buy “one of the latest smartphones” on AT&T’s Next monthly installment plan, you can get another one for free on a second line as long as you add it as a new line of service.
• New York City: If you opt for either one of the new unlimited plans being offered by AT&T, then you can get the DirecTV Now’s base subscription option, “Live A Little”, for free for 12 months. If you want to sign up for one of DirecTV Now’s other streaming options, AT&T will give you a $35 monthly credit towards your bill.

What do you think of AT&T’s new unlimited plans?

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Rayark International's rhythm game 'Cytus II' is available for pre-registration

Cytus II has been officially available since January of this year for iOS, but as always Android will get the game sometime later. It's at least reassuring to know that the sequel to the largely popular rhythm-based game Cytus is finally coming to to the Play Store. Well, that is if today's pre-registration listing is anything to go by.

Since Cytus II has been out on iOS for a bit, there is no guessing as to what the title will contain.

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Rayark International's rhythm game 'Cytus II' is available for pre-registration was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 3:49 AM No comments

Samsung plans to launch Bixby 2.0 with Galaxy Note 9

It has been several months since Samsung announced Bixby 2.0. At the time, it wasn’t known when Samsung planned on launching the big upgrade to the digital assistant/interface, but we have a launch window now, thanks to ZDNet and comments made by Samsung Mobile CEO DJ Koh.

According to the chief executive, as long as everything goes well behind-the-scenes, he believes the Samsung “will be able to unveil Bixby 2.0 when we launch the Galaxy Note 9″.

He also confirmed that Samsung began taking applications from companies to test out Bixby 2.0 back in December of last year, and since then, over 800 companies applied and are now testing the software ahead of a public launch.

Bixby 2.0 is a massive overhaul of the feature, basically making it open-source and giving access to the Bixby SDK to third-party companies and developers. The goal here is to broaden Bixby’s availability, expanding from smartphones to other devices like refrigerators, televisions, and more.

Are you eager to try out Bixby 2.0 later this year? Are you a fan of the feature at all?

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Android and Me 3:07 AM No comments

PlayStation Video for Android v3 adds Chromecast support

Sony's PlayStation Video for Android service is another option in a sea of content consumption choices. PS Video is great for those who live their lives in the PlayStation game consoles, with an Android companion app to keep things going while you're away from your PS4 (or PS3).

If you subscribe to the service, then you'll be happy to know that the app is finally getting Chromecast support. As always, the changelog is below.

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PlayStation Video for Android v3 adds Chromecast support was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 3:04 AM No comments

Bandai Namco's free-to-play fighting game 'Tekken Mobile' has been officially released

Well, how about that? It would appear that Tekken Mobile has come out of soft-launch today to finally release for the majority of Play Store users. It is, of course, a fighting game, but more along the lines of the mobile version of Injustice 2 than anything previously found in the Tekken franchise. So yes, this means you can expect collectible cards (in a fighting game no less), horrible controls that force you to use those collectible cards, and a plethora of in-app purchases that are of course used to buy all of those collectible cards.

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Bandai Namco's free-to-play fighting game 'Tekken Mobile' has been officially released was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 2:49 AM No comments

24 new and notable Android games from the last week (2/21/18 - 2/27/18)

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Games

Street Fighter IV Champion Edition

Android Police coverage: And the battle begins, Street Fighter IV Champion Edition is here

Street Fighter IV Champion Edition recently landed on Android.

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24 new and notable Android games from the last week (2/21/18 - 2/27/18) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:49 AM No comments

Google releases first beta of its 'Flutter' UI framework

Developing for both Android and iOS usually involves working with two codebases, two UI frameworks, and two different design languages. There have been a few efforts over the years to remedy this problem, but they usually result in apps that don't work well and don't look particularly native. Google unveiled its 'Flutter' framework at Google I/O last year, which allows developers to quickly create native iOS and Android apps.

The first beta version of Flutter is now available, signaling that Google thinks the project is ready for more widespread use.

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Google releases first beta of its 'Flutter' UI framework was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:19 AM No comments

Google Clips now on sale for $249

Google introduced its Clips stand-alone camera Clips back in October of last year. The device uses machine learning and more to snap motion photos all on its own, letting you set Clips down and have it handle the hard work of capturing memorable moments.

In January, Clips actually went up for sale for a very brief point of time, but the camera went back to a waitlist soon after. Google appears ready to open up the floodgates again, as the company is now listing Google Clips as being available to buy again. You’ll need to fork over $249 to get one for yourself.

Google Clips, thanks to machine learning, will learn faces and pets in its effort to snap motion photos, which do not feature audio but last for several seconds. The Clips camera features a three-hour battery life and 16GB of built-in storage. It even features something called “lens occlusion detection” so that when the lens is blocked by something, you’ll get a notification on your phone letting you know.

You don’t need an internet connection to use Google Clips.

Google is offering a bundle, too, with the Clips camera, the Clips stand, and the Incipio Mount Case, which will add an additional $14.99 to your $249.00 base price.

Are you planning on picking up Google Clips?

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T-Mobile will begin building its 5G network in 30 cities this year

Back in May of last year, T-Mobile was already talking about its plans to implement its 5G network across the United States. It’s a wide-ranging plan that involves multiple steps, but one the wireless carrier believes will be implemented for its customers by 2019.

Today, during Mobile World Congress — and following hot on the heels of Sprint’s own 5G-related announcement — the Un-carrier officially announced that it will begin building out its 5G network this year, beginning with 30 U.S. cities. Customers in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas will be able to use the 5G network first when the first 5G-capable smartphones launch in early 2019.

T-Mobile reiterates that its 5G network will be taking advantage of the 600 MHz spectrum and that it will also begin building out the 5G network using millimeter wave spectrum in 2018.

The Un-carrier’s goal is to have the first nationwide 5G network in place ahead of the other three major wireless carriers aiming to launch their own 5G networks in 2019.

Are you getting excited for 5G networks?

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YouTube Music v2.21 prepares to add streaming audio quality settings for Wi-Fi and Cellular, possibly first step toward absorbing Play Music [APK Teardown]

It's no mystery that YouTube will be absorbing Google Play Music – that much we've known since July – but seven months later and we still don't really know any details outside of some rumors about a rebranding to YouTube Remix. The latest update to the YouTube Music app might shed a little bit of light on what we can expect regarding the apps we'll actually be using.

Teardown

Disclaimer: Teardowns are based on evidence found inside of apks (Android's application package) and are necessarily speculative and usually based on incomplete information.

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YouTube Music v2.21 prepares to add streaming audio quality settings for Wi-Fi and Cellular, possibly first step toward absorbing Play Music [APK Teardown] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 12:14 AM No comments

Samsung’s Bixby speaker will arrive in the second half of 2018

Samsung‘s smart speaker, which will have the company’s digital assistant Bixby on board, was first reported on way back in July of last year. Not long after that, another report suggested the company wasn’t making such a device after all.

By the time December rolled around, though, Samsung was ready to talk about their upcoming Bixby smart speaker, with expectations that they’d have it ready for the mass market by sometime in the first half of 2018. But changes are afoot yet again, as a new report from The Wall Street Journal reveals that Samsung is now planning on launching their smart speaker in the second half of this year.

Unfortunately, while the launch date information is there in this report, not much else is. We still don’t know what the Bixby smart speaker will look like, what features Samsung will be promoting when it does arrive, or even how much it will cost. Some rumors have speculated it will retail for around $200, though.

It’s likely that Samsung will want to position the smart speaker as a central hub to its own smart home initiative, under the SmartThings banner. It’s probably a safe bet that it will handle things like reminders, news updates, and playing music, too.

Depending on price, are you already expecting to pick up Samsung’s smart speaker when it arrives?

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Android and Me 12:07 AM No comments

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon 700 series platform

For those who like specifics, you can typically tell what “level” a phone is at in the mass market depending on the series number of the Qualcomm processor under the hood.

For the entry-level handsets, there is probably a Snapdragon 200 or 400 series processor inside. Within the mid-range, most devices are rocking a Snapdragon 600 series chipset. And for the top-tier, premium handsets, the Snapdragon 800 series bears the majority of the work. Today, Qualcomm is adding a new series to the mix that grabs some key features from the high-end 800 series.

The company has announced the 700 series of Snapdragon processors for smartphones and other mobile devices. According to Qualcomm, the 700 series will offer twice the AI performance that can be found on the best of the 600 series chips. What’s more, Qualcomm states that the 700 series will retain most of the LTE-connectivity speed, Kryo CPU, Adreno GPU, Hexagon DSP, and Spectra ISP technical specifications that can be found in the 800 series processors.

Qualcomm also states that the 700 series will offer “up to 30% improvements in power efficiency, and better performance and battery life across numerous applications compared to the Snapdragon 660 Mobile Platform”. The 700 series will also support Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 4.0 technology.

For smartphone manufacturers, the 700 series won’t be as expensive as the 800 series, but appears to be offering most of the features one would expect to find in that higher bracket of chipsets. Qualcomm states the new chipset will debut either late 2018 or early 2019.

It will be interesting to see which smartphone manufacturers take advantage of the 700 series.

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In case you missed it: Android announcements at Mobile World Congress

Android 11:11 PM No comments

Sprint reveals first wave of 5G-ready markets

Earlier this year, Sprint revised its 5G network rollout to announce that it would be ready in the first half of 2019 rather than the later part of the year. To get there, the Now Network has to work with a steady release schedule that will build up to 5G wireless services for subscribers.

That will begin in April of this year, as announced today by Sprint at Mobile World Congress. The wireless carrier has now revealed which markets in the United States will begin the 5G rollout by being the first areas where Massive MIMO radios will be deployed.

Those markets are:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Chicago, Illinois
• Dallas, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Los Angeles, California
• Washington, D.C.

The first of the bunch to get Massive MIMO radios will be Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles, helping to bridge the Now Network’s wireless capabilities towards the 5G future, which is still on schedule to deploy sometime in the first half of 2019. For customers with supported devices, Massive MIMO will mean they will see faster network speeds and the network itself will see better overall capacity.

Atlanta, Houston, and Washington, D.C. will see the same network build-up sometime later this year.

Sprint confirmed that customers will need a 2.5GHz (band 41) device to see the benefits of the Massive MIMO rollout.

Sprint is also working with Qualcomm and smartphone manufacturers to launch 5G-capable devices in the first half of 2019, in line with the Now Network’s 5G network rollout plans. Sprint is one of the carriers that is fully supporting the Qualcomm X50 5G wireless modem.

Are you excited to see what 5G speeds look like on your smartphone?

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Android and Me 11:07 PM No comments

Amazon adds AR view to help you see products in your environment before you buy them

Visualizing furniture and products before buying them is one of the most reasonable uses of AR technology. Lots of buyers have difficulty imagining how things would fit in their home; when we were furnishing our apartment, we used tape on the floor to denote the limits of most things we had our eyes on before going back to purchase them because we needed to see how they'd fit. Augmented Reality makes this easier and better by putting the object there in front of you, and several retailers have used the technology before in their apps.

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Amazon adds AR view to help you see products in your environment before you buy them was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 9:14 PM No comments

[Hands-on] Chromer becomes Lynket with plenty of additions for version 2.0

The idea behind Chromer, when it first launched, was that it would open all links you clicked on in a Chrome Custom Tab. At the time, not many apps had implemented Custom Tabs so Chromer avoided their built-in browsers, and it also saved your device from having to open the full Chrome browser while still giving you the benefits of its rendering, security, and saved passwords. Now with Custom Tabs being used by more and more apps, the benefit of Chromer is a little less clear.

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[Hands-on] Chromer becomes Lynket with plenty of additions for version 2.0 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 7:14 PM No comments

Samsung Connect app rebranded to 'SmartThings'

We've known for a while that Samsung is consolidating its 40+ smart home apps into the SmartThings app, and the company confirmed yesterday that the revamped app is coming next month. Now it appears the Samsung Connect application, which is one of many being folded into SmartThings, has itself been rebranded to SmartThings. That's not confusing at all.

A new version of the Connect app was uploaded to APKMirror today, with the version number 1.7.

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Samsung Connect app rebranded to 'SmartThings' was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 8:29 AM No comments

Google Clips app pops up on the Play Store ahead of the camera being delivered to anyone

Google's interesting little Clips camera still hasn't been arrived at anyone's doorstep since its announcement alongside the Pixel 2 back in October, but the company has just published its companion app to the Play Store. Clips went up for sale late last month, though delivery dates were slated for early March, and the Google Store sold out pretty quickly.

The app features what you'd expect a companion app for a little camera to.

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Google Clips app pops up on the Play Store ahead of the camera being delivered to anyone was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 7:59 AM No comments

Essential Phone camera app updated with Tiny Planet feature

Having a snap on 360-degree camera is awesome, but we missed the Tiny Planet feature we used to play with when Google released its 360-degree panorama feature many years ago. Luckily there are third party apps to turn your 360-degree image into a tiny planet.

Essential saw this void in the feature list and has updated the camera app for the Essential Phone with a Tiny Planet mode. The feature is in beta but still very welcome. Also added are a selfie flash and stability fixes.

Essential is quickly making their smartphone experience better and bolstering their software with new features. It’s great to see a manufacturer, and a new one at that, working so hard to improve its current product rather than banking on the next one being better. Head to the Play Store to update the camera app!

Get your selfie look ready. We just released an update to Essential Camera app that adds flash for the selfie camera, Tiny Planet mode (beta) for 360° photos and videos, and stability fixes. Download it now: https://t.co/zXoZ765GHF pic.twitter.com/TJpTMUtFVv

— Essential (@essential) February 26, 2018

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Android and Me 7:12 AM No comments

Nokia announces Nokia Pro camera app for devices with Carl Zeiss optics

Nokia used to be famous for its smartphone cameras. The high end Lumia series of devices had some of the best smartphone cameras on the market, and the company introduced a full manual mode before any of the major companies did. Of course, the golden age of Nokia is over, but the company is making a comeback.

Part of its comeback is the new announcement that the company will be bringing back the old camera app as the Nokia Pro camera app. It will feature a fully manual mode, a new interface, and some familiar old features. Hopefully this will also mean better image processing and faster shutter speeds in low light.

The camera app will be coming to devices with Carl Zeiss optics like the upcoming Nokia 7 Plus and Nokia 8 Sirocco, but it’s unknown if it will come to the older Nokia 8.

With software processing playing such a critical part in smartphone photography these days, this new app is a very welcome change. We love what we’re seeing and we hope Nokia’s comeback under HMD Global will keep bringing us better and better phones.

Via: Android Police
Source: Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus

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Android and Me 7:12 AM No comments

Xiaomi teases upcoming Snapdragon 845-powered Mi Mix 2S with Antutu score

The famous Xiaomi Mi Mix series is getting another update, and Xiaomi’s global spokesperson took to Twitter to tease it. Not only did we get another detail about the device, we also got its Antutu benchmark score.

The upcoming device will feature a Snapdragon 845, and if history repeats itself, a nearly bezel-less design. The previous generation Mi Mix models featured minimal bezels on three sides and a front facing camera on the bottom chin (avoiding an Essential-like notch).

The Antutu score of 273,741 is an impressive one, and though benchmark scores don’t mean too much in the real world, it’s a nice way to compare hardware. Qualcomm’s new flagship processor should be an impressive one.

The device is launching on March 27th so stay tuned! Unfortunately it’s unlikely we’ll officially get it here in the US.

Mi MIX 2S will use the next generation flagship processor Snapdragon 845. Launching on March 27th! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/XoOdmmcDO2

— Donovan Sung (@donovansung) February 25, 2018

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Android and Me 5:57 AM No comments

Google Play Music v8.7 adds option to disable album art on the lock screen [APK Download]

If there was any one common statement to be made about the subjects of music and smartphones, it's that they're both very personal to each of us. In the same way that some people prefer listening to metal, there are also those that insist on a very sparse homescreen. We might listen to EDM just like we might set up our wallpaper to cycle every hour. If you've taken the time to tailor your phone experience, you might not be happy about a common feature of music players that allows them to temporarily replace your lock screen background with album art.

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Google Play Music v8.7 adds option to disable album art on the lock screen [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:29 AM No comments

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Automatic Purge URL Cache for: http://ift.tt/2yxFHAW Error: Invalid zone

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Android and Me 4:12 AM No comments

BlackBerry Ghost leaks out ahead of launch in India

While TCL and BlackBerry Mobile have been getting the lion’s share of attention when it comes to designing new BlackBerry-branded devices, there are actually two additional companies that have the license to build those handsets, too.

The rules for this situation dictate that some companies can build BlackBerry handsets in some regions. The other two companies are BB Merah Putih and Optiemus Infracom, and we have finally seen what the latter of the two has been working on thanks to a new leak from Evan Blass (@evleaks) on Twitter.

BlackBerry 'Ghost': a bezel-less, premium Android handset from licensee Optiemus; coming soon to India. pic.twitter.com/KTAvKbDl5v

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 26, 2018

There isn’t a lot of information to go on here. Blass does confirm that the handset will be released by Optiemus and that it will be landing in India at some point in the future. He also confirms that the handset will be “bezel-less”, and it will indeed be a premium BlackBerry-branded handset for that regional market.

No information on any specifications, or how much the phone will cost when it does arrive, or even a launch date at this point. Still, we get a pretty clear look at a sleek looking BlackBerry handset.

Based on looks alone, would you pick up the Ghost if it launched in another market outside of India?

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Android and Me 3:37 AM No comments

Google announces auto-captions and new chat features for YouTube Live

Google announced a smattering of updates to YouTube Live today, the biggest among them being automatically-generated English captions for live videos. Other touch-ups include location tagging for live videos and improvements to the platform’s live chat.

Live auto-captions will be rolling out in the coming weeks, Google says, and will use what the company calls “LASR” (that’s live automatic speech recognition) technology to fabricate captions when manually-created ones aren’t available.

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Google announces auto-captions and new chat features for YouTube Live was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 2:42 AM No comments

Vivo Apex concept phone features a pop-out selfie cam and more

Concept phones are pretty great, especially the ones directly from the manufacturers that focus on exciting new features for future devices. But today we get to see one from the Shenzhen-based Vivo, which has three new features to showcase.

The Vivo Apex is a concept phone that features a trio of new features that the company is excited to bring to market at some point in the future. We’re getting a look at the handset from CNET, which appears to have walked away from their hands-on demo with the handset fairly impressed.

The first new feature is a selfie camera that actually pops out when you want to use it (pictured above). This is a requirement for the Vivo Apex concept phone because Vivo has minimized the bezels on three sides so much (down to 1.8mm on the top and sides, and 4.3mm on the bottom). As such, there isn’t any “notch” or room for a selfie camera, so the company worked out a way to have the selfie camera pop out from the top of the phone. It apparently takes 0.8 seconds for the camera to appear, and it’s an 8-megapixel shooter. (There is a dual camera setup on the back of the Vivo Apex, if you’re curious.)

The second standout feature is the ability for the Vivo Apex to read two different fingerprints on the display. This is the company building upon the in-display fingerprint reader technology it introduced with the Vivo X20 Plus UD in 2017.

The fingerprint reader target actually takes up the bottom half of the display, rather than just a small circle near the bottom bezel. This allows for the phone to support scanning two different fingerprints at the same time. It also means you can put your finger down on the bottom half of the display and unlock it, rather than trying to find a specific location on the screen.

The last of the three new features is what Vivo calls “SoundCasting”, which means the phone will vibrate to give physical, haptic feedback for when audio is playing. This will happen when you’re playing games, when a call arrives, or when you’re playing other media on the phone. It’s a feature that sounds similar to what Sony just introduced with the Xperia XZ2, and what Xiaomi did in the Mi Mix.

Here are the rest of the specifications for the Vivo Apex concept phone:

• 6-inch OLED display with minimal bezels
• 1080×2160 screen resolution
• 8MP front-facing camera
• Dual rear cameras
• In-screen fingerprint reader that supports reading two prints

There’s no word on when Vivo might want to bring the Apex smartphone or something similar to market. So we’re just going to have to keep waiting to see a pop-up selfie camera.

Here is a video that Vivo India shared about the concept phone:

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Android and Me 1:02 AM No comments

Moto E5 Plus leaks out again with rear fingerprint reader

Back in January, the Moto E5 found its way online long before Motorola intended, showing off a handset with a few refined design elements.

Now a different version of the E5 has surfaced, courtesy of serial leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks). The Moto E5 Plus is in a light blue color scheme with rounded corners, and the handset isn’t going down the minimized bezels route just yet, leaving plenty of room for the Motorola brand to show up on the bottom chin.

Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of details to go on here. We can see that there is a fingerprint reader on the back of the handset. Motorola is sticking the company’s logo on top of the reader, too, which is a nice touch. We can also see that there is a USB Type-C port on the bottom and physical buttons for the power and volume rocker on the right side.

There appears to be a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the phone, too.

Otherwise, the rumor mill has been pretty quiet about the Moto E5 Plus so far. Some rumors have hinted that the handset will be outfitted with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor under the hood, but it certainly won’t be the high-end Snapdragon 845.

Based on looks alone, what do you think of the Moto E5 Plus?

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Android and Me 1:02 AM No comments

Pixel Visual Core update rolling out on Play Store

The 'Visual Core' is a custom chip in the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, designed by Google. Not only does it speed up HDR+ image processing, but it also allows third-party apps to use the technology. Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and other apps were updated earlier this month to use the Visual Core, and now the chip's service is being updated through the Play Store for the first time.

We've received multiple tips that an update for the Visual Core Service is rolling out on the Play Store.

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Pixel Visual Core update rolling out on Play Store was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 12:24 AM No comments

Sony unveils Xperia Ear Duo wireless headphones with Google Assistant

Hot on the heels of announcing two new smartphones, Sony is also showcasing a pair of truly wireless headphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress.

This new accessory is called the Xperia Ear Duo, and one of its biggest features is the fact that Sony is aiming to bridge the music listening experience with the world around the listener at the same time. Sony calls it the “dual listening experience”, saying that the headphones will combine your music with the environmental sounds happening around you.

This is how Sony is marketing this idea, as well as the technology that allows for the wireless headphones to deliver music into your ears:

“The Spatial Acoustic Conductor, developed by Sony’s in-house technology incubator Future Lab Program, allows the sound generated behind the ear by the unit ́s driver to be transmitted directly into the ear. The specially designed ring supporter surrounds the ear canal so your music can blend seamlessly with sounds from your environment.“

The end result should be that the music itself should be more ambient, at least compared to other headphones out there. So you should be able to carry on a conversation with someone without having to take off one of the Xperia Ear Duo headphones.

The Xperia Ear Duo also supports Google Assistant if you’re using an Android device, and Apple’s own Siri digital assistant if you are using an iPhone.

As far as the battery goes, Sony says the Xperia Ear Duos will run for about four hours of listening and that the charging case will provide up to three additional charges.

The truly wireless headphones will go up for pre-order on Amazon today and they will be priced at $279.99. They will begin shipping sometime in “late May”, according to Sony.

What do you think of the new Xperia Ear Duo?

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Android and Me 11:37 PM No comments

Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact now official

Late last week, the newest smartphones from Sony leaked, just days before their official unveiling at Mobile World Congress 2018.

Sure enough, that leak turned out to be spot on. Sony has officially announced its two newest smartphones, the premium flagship Xperia XZ2 and the smaller XZ2 Compact. Both handsets share plenty of similarities in features and specifications, with the biggest change being the size in display.

First, the Xperia XZ2 (pictured at the top of this article). It has a 5.7-inch Full HD+ (1080×2160) HDR TRILUMINOS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and an 18:9 aspect ratio. There is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor under the hood, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of built-in storage, and a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 400GB. On the back there is a 19MP MotionEye camera with the ability to record 4K HDR videos. There is a 5MP front-facing camera on the other side, and the handset is rated IP65/68 for water and dust resistance.

The Xperia XZ2 has a fingerprint reader on the back, the battery measures in at 3180mAh, and it supports features like Quick Stamina, Qi wireless charging, and Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 3.0 technology. It has a USB Type-C port, and the Xperia XZ2 also boasts a “new haptic experience” which adds a “perceptual sense of touch so you can feel your viewing experience”.

The XZ2 will be available in Liquid Black, Liquid Silver, Deep Green, and Ash Pink when it goes on sale. No word on pricing just yet, but the XZ2 will go on sale globally in March.

Meanwhile, the Xperia XZ2 Compact (pictured just above) has a 5-inch Full HD+ (1080×2160) HDR TRILUMINOS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and it is rated IP65/68 for water and dust resistance. The Snapdragon 845 processor is under the hood, and the XZ2 Compact boasts 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage. It also supports microSD cards up to 400GB in size.

The camera on the back is the same 19MP MotionEye camera with “4K HDR Movie” recording, and there same 5MP front-facing camera is also present here, too. There is a fingerprint reader on the back, the battery measures in at 2870mAh, and it supports Qi wireless charging, Stamina Mode, and Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0. It also has a USB Type-C port and Android 8.0 Oreo.

The XZ2 Compact will be available in Black, White Silver, Moss Green, and Coral Pink when it goes on sale globally in March. There’s no word on pricing.

What do you think of Sony’s newest smartphones?

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Android and Me 11:37 PM No comments

Kick off MWC with 19 temporarily free and 16 on-sale apps

MWC is officially here. So while you read about the Galaxy S9 or the Xperia XZ2, take a break to look through today's very small list of app sales. Enjoy the fun, and I'll see you all Wednesday.

Free

Apps

1. Explore Skye - Visitors Guide $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
2. Autoharp for the Blind Pro $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
3. Root/SU Checker & Busy Box Pro $1.49 -> Free; 3 days
4. Shot on Watermark on Photo - Like Shot On one plus $0.99 -> Free; 6 days
5. Thai phrasebook - Thai Talk Pro $0.99 -> Free; 6 days
6. Drugs Dictionary $0.99 -> Free; 7 days

Games

1. Logicube $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
2. Play Phone: Visual Stimulation $1.99 -> Free; 8 hours
3. Clean up - Photographic Coach for Kids $1.49 -> Free; 1 day
4. Duck Warfare $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
5. Infinity Dungeon VIP $0.99 -> Free; 4 days
6. Aliensome: Outta Space Race $0.99 -> Free; 5 days

Icon packs & customization

1. 3D Waterfall Pro lwp $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
2. Tree With Falling Leaves Live Wallpaper $0.99 -> Free; 8 hours
3. Cartoon Farm 3D Live Wallpaper $0.99 -> Free; 1 day
4. Titanic 3D Pro live wallpaper $0.99 -> Free; 2 days
5. Rulix - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; 5 days
6. Oval - Icon Pack $1.49 -> Free; 7 days
7. Pillow - Icon Pack $1.49 -> Free; 7 days

Sale

Apps

1. SpeedLearn English word power $15.99 -> $8.99; 5 days
2. EcoDrive One Speedometer $1.99 -> $0.99; 6 days
3. Childhood diseases $2.99 -> $0.99; 7 days
4. Diseases Dictionary $2.99 -> $0.99; 7 days
5. ICD-10 Diagnoseschlüssel $2.99 -> $0.99; 7 days
6. Medical terms (OFFLINE) $2.99 -> $0.99; 7 days
7. Noise Maschine Premium $1.99 -> $0.99; 7 days

Games

1. Divinerz: Sudoku $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
2. Number Place $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
3. Spider Solitaire 3D $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
4. Warrior Chess $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
5. Z.O.N.A Project X Redux $1.99 -> $0.99; 5 days
6. Dungeon Adventure: Heroic Ed.

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Kick off MWC with 19 temporarily free and 16 on-sale apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:39 PM No comments

HAL Laboratory's Android debut 'Part Time UFO' is officially available in the West

HAL Laboratory is best known as the creator of Super Smash Bros. and Kirby's Adventure. Part Time UFO is their first foray onto Android, and oh boy does it look just as charming as their previous console efforts. You get to play the part of an adorable UFO that has just arrived on Earth in order to help the planet's citizens with its handy extendable claw. Essentially you pick up odd jobs from random citizens to then use your claw crane to grab, move, and stack different objects on a designated platform.

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HAL Laboratory's Android debut 'Part Time UFO' is officially available in the West was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:39 PM No comments

Huawei P20 image leaks, shows off pair of rear cameras

Earlier in February, Huawei let out the word that it was going to announce its newest smartphone on March 27. Since then, the rumor mill has been hard at work showing off that device ahead of the big announcement.

We’ve seen the Huawei P20 and the P20 Plus revealed in renders, and most recently we got to see an early prototype of the P20 with its dual rear camera setup. Interestingly enough, that prototype also suggested the handset may boast a “virtual volume key”, instead of the physical buttons we’ve come to expect over the years.

Now serial leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) has taken to Twitter and published a new image of the P20. There are a few things to take note of here. First, there is a notch on the top of the display, which would be in line with Android “embracing the notch”.

The image also shows us that the Huawei P20 is going to have a pair of cameras on the back, not three, as we have come to learn over the last couple of weeks. The P20 Lite is expected to have a single camera on the back, the P20 equipped with two rear cameras, and the P20 Plus expected to boast three cameras on the back.

There is also an Oreo cookie in the image, suggesting the P20 will be running Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, and the name “Shirley” also appears on the back of the handset where the Huawei brand has been seen in previous renders.

This image looks quite a bit different from the prototype we saw earlier, so it will be interesting to see what the P20 looks in its final design next month.

Are you getting excited for the Huawei P20?

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Android and Me 10:37 PM No comments

Android Messages adds RCS support for dual SIM phones

A few months ago, Cody discovered in a teardown of Android Messages that the app would start supporting RCS on dual-SIM phones. Up until recently, if you had a device with a dual-SIM slot, you couldn't get the RCS features to work in Messages even if you had only one SIM inserted and it came from an operator who already implemented RCS. Now, support is finally rolling out to them.

We were first alerted to this by tipster Truls Monsen who was able to activate RCS in Android Messages 2.9.051 on a Moto G5 and G5 Plus for the first time, both unlocked devices with dual SIM support and having a SIM from Telenor.

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Android Messages adds RCS support for dual SIM phones was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 9:14 PM No comments