Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a remake of the 1989 Master System platformer Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. The developer Lizardcube has announced that the title will be coming to Android on May 30th. Once the game is launched, you'll be able to pick it up for $8.99, though if you'd like to...
Enter the GRID Autosport race early, private beta sign-ups now live
The Android port of GRID Autosport has been a long time coming. Back at the tail end of 2017, we learned that the Android version would be delayed until 2018, but then at the end of that year, Feral Interactive announced that GRID Autosport would officially land on the Play Store sometime in 2019....
Google Maps can suggest the most bustling, interesting, or popular neighborhoods around you
Whether you're momentarily traveling to or have recently moved to a new country or city, you'll probably look at Google Maps or other travel and discovery apps to find places to visit nearby. The same can be true if you're just planning a trip, or if you've been living somewhere for a while but still...
YouTube Music adds local in-app audio playback with new 'Device Files' tab
YouTube Music has been groomed as a replacement for Play Music ever since Google rebranded its YouTube services last year, though we haven't seen much movement in that regard. About a month ago, YouTube Music gained the ability to act as a media player for local files, though only through other apps...
Mammoth Tasker v5.7 update brings WaveNet voices, nav bar actions, and more [APK Download]
![Mammoth Tasker v5.7 update brings WaveNet voices, nav bar actions, and more [APK Download]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C1RJp6yebpw/default.jpg)
Automation mega-app Tasker has a new update out, and it's a big one. The app, which recently changed hands, is now on v5.7, bringing new NFC, keyboard, and nav bar actions, amongst other things.
With the new 'Say WaveNet' action, Tasker uses Google's WaveNet algorithm to bring natural-sounding...
50 temporarily free and 63 on-sale apps and games to finish April
Welcome to the final app sales roundup for the month of April. Time has flown by and we're coming up on Google I/O — so that's where that sense of impending doom is coming from. Anyway, today's list is very large to send off April, so have fun. And apologies for this being so late, but better that...
Google adds Material icons to Gboard settings page
Based on a handful of recent reports, Google appears to be testing some Material tweaks to Gboard's settings pane. Changes include new outline-style icons and the usual blinding white background.
Gboard settings in version 8.18 (left), and 8.22 (right).
Not all of our devices on 8.22 see the updated...
Google Calculator gets dark theme with update to v7.6
Regular readers will be well aware by now that Google is in the process of adding a dark mode to all of its core Android apps, including Phone, Contacts, Messages, and so on, supposedly in preparation for the holy grail — a system-wide dark mode. An app of slightly lesser importance is the Google...
[Update: Cheetah responds] Cheetah Mobile strikes again: QuickPic returns to Play Store, loaded with bugs and advertisements
Update 1: 2019/04/29 8:23am PDT
Cheetah Mobile reached out to us and said QuickPic was not previously removed from the Play Store due to click fraud — the company simply didn't want to maintain
There's always a sense of concern when a popular app is sold off to a new owner. Sometimes everything...
3 ways to message a number on WhatsApp without adding them as a contact first
One of the biggest annoyances of WhatsApp, which I have to explain to everyone new to the app (a number that's dwindling every day), is that you can only start chats with numbers that are saved as phone contacts. The only exception is if you receive a contact's number from someone else inside a WhatsApp...
ES File Manager vanishes from Play Store, possibly part of DO Global scandal
Earlier this week, BuzzFeed News reported how apps on the Play Store from Chinese firm DO Global regularly committed click fraud — automatically clicking on ads on behalf of users. Google has already removed apps and suspended accounts owned by DO Global, and it appears ES File Manager may be part...
Telegram X April update brings overhauled notifications, polls, and a whole lot more
Telegram X went through a period of radio silence, but it's recently returned with a vengeance. As we near the end of April, the app just received a big update to the stable branch – previously available (mostly) in the beta versions – a fairly typical thing when X is in healthy development. The list...
Cheetah Mobile strikes again: QuickPic returns to Play Store, loaded with bugs and advertisements
There's always a sense of concern when a popular app is sold off to a new owner. Sometimes everything goes well, but it's not uncommon for new ownership to lead to more aggressive advertising or other problems. QuickPic was a popular photo gallery app years ago, and it has returned to the Play Store...
30 best Android games released this week including Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns, Twelvesmith, and JJTAN
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. Today I have a new digital adaptation of a physical board game from Asmodee Digital, a premium number-based combination puzzler, and a quirkily minimal brick breaker....
Mozilla outlines plan to replace Firefox for Android with 'Fenix'
Firefox for Android hasn't received much attention lately from Mozilla — but for good reason. The company has been working on a new 'Fenix' browser designed to eventually replace the current Android Firefox browser. As part of an effort to shift all resources to the new browser, Firefox for Android...
Action Launcher v40 adds improved device and web search functionality, plus a colorful new icon
The latest update to the ever-popular Action Launcher includes a new search feature that's been a year in the making. Version 40.0 includes Action Search, a powerful new tool that serves results from the web, your apps and contacts, your in-app search history, and your settings (from both your phone...
Chrome 74 adds dark mode, accessibility improvements, new Translate shortcut, and more [APK Download]
In this crazy world we live in, it's comforting to know that some things will never change — the sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and Google releases a new version of Chrome (roughly) every six weeks. Chrome v74 is now available on desktop and mobile platforms, and while it doesn't include...
[Update: It works again!] Google weather applet breaks with latest search beta
Update 1: 2019/04/26 10:19am PDT
The applet works on v9.78 beta/v9.72 stable
Why does Google have to break all the little things we like to use? For one, the company still hasn't re-enabled the ability for desktop-based Google users to set reminders — it hasn't even acknowledged the problem...
Chrome 74 adds Translate shortcut, improves accessibility, and more [APK Download]
In this crazy world we live in, it's comforting to know that some things will never change — the sky is blue, the sun rises in the east, and Google releases a new version of Chrome (roughly) every six weeks. Chrome v74 is now available on desktop and mobile platforms, and while it doesn't include...
Google Fi app dips its toes into a dark theme with new widget behavior
A black pall is being cast on many an app these days. But for many users, dark theming brings power savings on OLED displays and an eye-friendly nighttime aesthetic. So, for Google Fi subscribers who interface with its corresponding app, the latest update might give them a bit of a dark theme to look...
26 temporarily free and 44 on-sale apps and games, including doubleTwist and Chrono Trigger
Welcome, all, to the final app sales roundup of the week. Today's list doesn't star too much extraordinary – though, if you're into the retrowave/synthwave/outrun/80's culture like I am, the Nice Bowling game looks fun – so be sure to head back to Monday's and Wednesday's to check if anything there...
Google Contacts rolls out an App Slice that slides into view when you add a new person
Android P saw the introduction of App Slices, which allow developers to open intents within specific parts of other apps. While we haven't seen any examples of them in that version earlier, Q started to put steam behind the feature by adding common system settings as Slices, such as WiFi and Bluetooth...
Google Photos has been asking users to help improve its facial recognition grouping
Facial grouping in Google Photos is one of the most impressive features of the service. Not only can you see all pics and videos you've taken of a person or pet, you can also use that in search to find specific snaps like "me in Vienna" or "[person] and [other person/cat/dog]" or "[person] and food"...
Storytime, anytime: You can now ask Google Assistant to tell you a story from your phone
We all need a little storytime once in a while. And we're not talking about the true crime podcasts or the hardcore dramas on Netflix we like to binge, just the good 'ol time of having someone tell your kids or you (we don't judge) a story. Google Assistant already is able to do that through a Google...
Google Messages v4.3 prepares auto-reply for spam and RCS settings, continues Verified SMS and Assistant integration [APK Teardown]
The latest update to Google Messages is out and sporting much the same look as always. The major notes to be seen are in the teardown, which brings a few smaller details related to RCS settings and Verified SMS, hints at an auto-reply feature for spam messages, a change to the audio clip recorder,...
Android Q Scoped Storage: Best Practices and Updates
Posted by Jeff Sharkey, Software Engineer, and Seb Grubb, Product Manager
Application Sandboxing is a core part of Android’s design, isolating apps from each other. In Android Q, taking the same fundamental principle from Application Sandboxing, we introduced Scoped Storage.
Since the Beta 1 release,...
Google Earth Timelapse invites mobile users zoom through history
Google Earth Timelapse has grown since it debuted in 2013. It started off by giving us satellite windows into certain areas to see how they've progressed across roughly three decades. Since then, it has taken the entire world, made it zoomable and scrollable, and has given us an easy way to see it...
And the 2019 Google Play Award nominees are...
Posted by Purnima Kochikar, Director, Apps and Games Business Development, Google Play
Drum roll please! To kick off Google I/O this year, the 2019 Google Play Awards will take place on Monday, May 6th. We’re excited to highlight nine categories this year, some familiar and some new, to recognize...
