16 best new (and 1 WTF) Android games released this week including Human: Fall Flat, Graveyard Keeper, and Minit

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 quirky physics-based puzzle game, a dark life-sim all about running a graveyard, and an adventure game that takes advantage of an interesting time mechanic. So without further ado, here are the most notable games released this week.

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

16 best new (and 1 WTF) Android games released this week including Human: Fall Flat, Graveyard Keeper, and Minit was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Eaze removes in-app purchases following Google ban on marijuana delivery apps

Google changed several policies for the Play Store a month ago, and among them was a new ban on apps selling or facilitating the sale of marijuana. While applications that promote the use of the devil's lettuce is still allowed, the actual sale can't happen inside the app. 'Eaze,' one of the more popular weed delivery apps, has now been updated to comply with the new policy.

When you attempt to buy anything through the app, you are now directed to the company's website to make the actual purchase.

Read More

Eaze removes in-app purchases following Google ban on marijuana delivery apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

50 of the best Android games for kids between the ages of 2-8

10 new and notable Android apps from the last week including Firefox Preview, LastPass MFA, and Amazon Alexa Music, Cameras, & TV Control (6/22/2019 - 6/29/2019)

roundup_icon_largeWelcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have the open beta release of Firefox's newest browser, a multi-factor authentication app from LastPass, and an Amazon Alexa app that can connect to Sony TVs. So without further ado, here are the most notable Android apps released in the last two weeks.

Read More

10 new and notable Android apps from the last week including Firefox Preview, LastPass MFA, and Amazon Alexa Music, Cameras, & TV Control (6/22/2019 - 6/29/2019) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Google experiments with goofy Snapchat-style filters for Messages

As Google has culled its consumer-facing messaging options to focus on primarily Messages, it's unsurprising that the app has continued to pick up new features. Some, like RCS support, are pretty universally useful. Others are more for fun — like these in-development Snapchat-style video filters XDA Developers has uncovered.

In the feature's current implementation, a "Filters" option appears in the Messages app's camera viewfinder next to the ones for photos and video.

Read More

Google experiments with goofy Snapchat-style filters for Messages was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Tetris Royale will bring 100-player online battles to Android

N3TWORK has partnered with The Tetris Company to exclusively develop and publish new Tetris games for mobile, and the first game that will reach Android is called Tetris Royale. Much like the Nintendo Switch game Tetris 99, 100-player matches will be the focus of Tetris Royale so that mobile players can put their falling-block skills to the test to battle their way up the leaderboards each season.

So far details are rather light.

Read More

Tetris Royale will bring 100-player online battles to Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

32 temporarily free and 83 on-sale apps and games for the weekend

nexus2cee_fridayWelcome to our Friday app and game sales roundup, everyone. Today I have a bunch of premium games that are on sale, and while a few of them were already covered on Wednesday, I've carried them over to today's roundup to ensure that everybody can pick and choose the titles they want without missing out. So don't delay, because the sales won't last forever.

Free

Apps

  1. Italian-English Translator $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days
  2. Fourth grade Math skills - Division $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  3. Rec Recorder PRO $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  4. Reminder - Pro $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  5. Decimal to Fraction Pro $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  6. Fractions Math Pro $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  7. Private Browser Pro - Secure Incognito Browsing $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  8. QR/Barcode Scanner Pro $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days

Games

  1. Plug hug $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days
  2. iJuggle Pro $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  3. Balloons Pop PRO $2.19 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  4. ExtremeJobs Knight’s Assistant VIP $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  5. Hero Evolution2 : SP $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  6. Word Search Unlimited PRO $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  7. Buff Knight - Idle RPG Runner $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  8. Cash Knight Duo Special $9.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  9. Empire Warriors Premium: Tower Defense Games $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  10. League of Stickman - Best action game(Dreamsky) $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  11. Math Be Nimble + $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  12. Planar Conquest - 4X turn based strategy $4.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  13. Stickman Legends: Shadow War Offline Fighting Game $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days
  14. The House $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 7 days

Icon packs & customization

  1. Tree Village 3D Pro lwp $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 10 hours
  2. 3D Stonehenge Pro lwp $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 1 day
  3. Erosion - Icon Pack $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 1 day
  4. Fantasy World 3D LWP $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days
  5. Glass HD - Icon Pack $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 3 days
  6. Modo - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 3 days
  7. Mogon - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 3 days
  8. Sagon Icon Pack: Dark UI $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  9. Sixmon - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  10. Sugox - Icon Pack $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days

Sale

Apps

  1. Calligrapher Pro $2.99 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 2 days
  2. Money Manager in Excel (pro) $7.99 -> $3.99; Sale ends in 2 days
  3. G-Stomper Studio $12.99 -> $7.99; Sale ends in 3 days
  4. E Numbers Pro $1.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 4 days
  5. Electrical Calculations PRO Key $2.49 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 4 days
  6. Flashlight "Power Button" $1.49 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 4 days
  7. Lighting Calculations PRO Key $2.49 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 4 days
  8. RaspController PRO Key $2.49 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 4 days
  9. Video Player All Format - OPlayer $4.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 5 days
  10. Folder Lock Pro $3.99 -> $1.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  11. Fluid Simulation - Trippy Sandbox Experience $2.69 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  12. GeoExpert - Spain Geography $4.99 -> $2.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  13. Moon Writer Pro Key $1.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  14. Plant Identifier $4.99 -> $1.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  15. WiFi Router Manager(No Ad) - Who is on My WiFi?
Read More

32 temporarily free and 83 on-sale apps and games for the weekend was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Gmail API changes are about to break apps like SwiftKey, SMS Backup+, Nine, and Kiwi for Gmail

Over the last year, Google has been instituting sweeping changes when it comes to app permissions to help protect user privacy. It imposed new restrictions when it came to SMS and phone permissions, and plenty of app makers found themselves caught in the Google support machine. Now developers found in violation of recent Gmail API changes are left out in the lurch, and the list of affected apps includes SMS Backup+, Nine, Kiwi for Gmail, and even SwiftKey.

Read More

Gmail API changes are about to break apps like SwiftKey, SMS Backup+, Nine, and Kiwi for Gmail was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Plex adds server notifications in latest update

Until now, there was no way to know what was going on in your Plex server without actually opening Plex. Now, that all changes with the addition of notifications. With just a few taps, you can get pings whenever someone adds files, loads a video, and more. Although, you'll need a Plex Pass to check out notifications right now.

The Plex team says notification support has been on the agenda for years, but it's finally a reality.

Read More

Plex adds server notifications in latest update was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Google Maps can now predict how miserable your public transit experience will be

Public transit is easier on your wallet and the environment than driving or taking an Uber, but it's also frequently a frustrating, crowded experience. Google can't necessarily fix that, but the company is working to at least prepare you for it: starting today, Maps will show real-time traffic delays for buses and crowdedness predictions for trains.

Google already relays information about bus delays in many cities where transit authorities provide details directly, but Maps will use real-time traffic data to give warnings in other areas, too.

Read More

Google Maps can now predict how miserable your public transit experience will be was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Medieval cemetery management sim Graveyard Keeper is out on Android

The comparisons of Graveyard Keeper to the fan-favorite farming life simulator Stardew Valley are many, and rightfully so, because both games look and play very similarly. Of course, Graveyard Keeper offers a much darker theme since you'll spend the majority of your time maintaining a graveyard while facing the many ethical dilemmas the fall upon the position of a cemetery manager living in the middle ages.

Graveyard Keeper comes from Lazy Bear Games, the indie developer behind titles such as Punch Club and Swag and Sorcery.

Read More

Medieval cemetery management sim Graveyard Keeper is out on Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

[Update: Out now] Devolver Digital's 60-second adventure game Minit is available for pre-registration on the Play Store

Devolver Digital is bringing its 60-second adventure game Minit to Android. Initially, the studio published this stylish black and white video game on consoles and PC back in April of 2018, and even though it's been known that the title would be coming to Android, now that the pre-registration listing is up on the Play Store we are most likely nearing the official launch.

Read More

[Update: Out now] Devolver Digital's 60-second adventure game Minit is available for pre-registration on the Play Store was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Mozilla's next-generation Firefox for Android enters public beta

The current Firefox for Android browser is feature-packed, with tons of security features and support for extensions, but it has never quite matched the performance that Chrome offers. Mozilla has spent the past few months working on a brand new browser for mobile, nicknamed 'Fenix,' and now it has entered public beta.

The new Firefox for Android has already been publicly available for a few months, under the name 'Firefox Preview.' Mozilla says the browser is up to twice as fast as the current Firefox for Android, and it offers protection against tracking scripts by default.

Read More

Mozilla's next-generation Firefox for Android enters public beta was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall is a collection-based RPG that's available for pre-registration

Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall is a new collection-based strategy RPG that's coming to Android this summer, and it's already available on the Play Store for pre-registration. Player's will take command of the Night's Watch to defend Westeros by collecting notable characters that will be useful in the game's strategic battles. The story takes place a few decades before the timeline of the books and TV show, which means this upcoming release will serve as a prequel of sorts.

Read More

Game of Thrones Beyond the Wall is a collection-based RPG that's available for pre-registration was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Pokémon Masters features strategic real-time battles, and it's coming to Android this summer

In May we learned from a DeNa financial briefing that the developer had teamed up with The Pokémon Company to release a smartphone game based on the Pokémon license, and today the studio has unveiled new details about this upcoming title. It's called Pokémon Masters, and apparently, it's a 3v3 real-time strategy battle game that will land on Android sometime this summer.

If you enjoy collecting digital content, then you're going to love Pokémon Masters, but instead of collecting Pokémon, you will have to obtain many different trainers.

Read More

Pokémon Masters features strategic real-time battles, and it's coming to Android this summer was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

TV streaming service Philo expands to Android phones and tablets

Cable cutting is a full-blown trend in America, as Internet TV companies often offer better deals and the freedom to access your favorite channels on a multitude of devices — just consider YouTube TV. Philo, another online TV service, has had apps for Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku for some time now, and recently added support for Android TV, too. Now, the company added proper support for Android phones and tablets.

Read More

TV streaming service Philo expands to Android phones and tablets was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Waze and SpotHero team up to help you find your pre-booked parking spot

Waze is slowly but sustainably turning into a hub for everything related to your car journey. You can control playback from your preferred music apps right inside the navigation interface, and about a year ago, Waze was integrated into Android Auto. Wednesday, Waze and SpotHero announced a cooperation that allows SpotHero users to use Waze to navigate to their pre-booked parking lots with one tap.

SpotHero is a service that helps US Americans and Canadians search for, compare, and book parking spots before starting their journey, ranging from lots at airports to monthly parking subscriptions and downtown garages.

Read More

Waze and SpotHero team up to help you find your pre-booked parking spot was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

WhatsApp will let you share your status with Facebook, Instagram, and other apps

Despite WhatsApp's near-ubiquity in my region, its Status feature has failed to gain much traction even though it's been available for over two years. Some of my friends love it and post multiple updates per day, but they're a clear minority. Yet, WhatsApp seems to think there's hidden potential in statuses and has already announced that ads would be coming to it in 2020. Another feature now rolling out in beta is the ability to share a status to other apps, most notably Facebook.

Read More

WhatsApp will let you share your status with Facebook, Instagram, and other apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

OneDrive's new Personal Vault puts extra security on your sensitive documents

You can pretty much stick a file manager interface onto any app you want. But when it comes to actual personal storage apps, be it local or in the cloud, developers could always go further by installing an enhanced-security enclave — where particularly sensitive files can be stored and accessed only through further authentication. Microsoft recently decided to give OneDrive customers such an extra layer, branding it as their own "Personal Vault."

OneDrive users can assign their media — documents, photos, videos, whatnot — to be uploaded directly into their Personal Vault so that they can spend less time on their phone.

Read More

OneDrive's new Personal Vault puts extra security on your sensitive documents was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Google Task 1.6 gets new FAB, app shortcut, and rudimentary Photos integration [APK Download]

Tasks has long been one of the forgotten, deprecated services at Google, but with the impending death of Inbox, new life has been breathed into the to-do manager, probably to replace Inbox's native ability to assign tasks to emails. Since then, the service is seeing a plethora of updates, and it only recently received timed reminders, recurring events, and proper integration with the Gmail Android app. The latest version, 1.6, brings smaller UI and UX improvements that further round out the experience with Tasks.

Read More

Google Task 1.6 gets new FAB, app shortcut, and rudimentary Photos integration [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

8 temporarily free and 23 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday

We're halfway through another week, so here are some app sales for you. Today's list is small, so it shouldn't take you too long to get through it.

Free

Apps

  1. Equalizer FX Pro $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 1 day
  2. Maki Plus: Facebook and Messenger in a single app $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 1 day

Games

  1. The Lost Lands:Dinosaur Hunter $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days
  2. Stories: Your Choice (more diamonds and tickets) $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  3. Tap N' Drop: Ball in Basket $1.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  4. Learn Mandarin - HSK 1 Hero $8.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days
  5. Space Block Crush (NoADs) $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days

Icon packs & customization

  1. Sagon Circle Icon Pack: Dark UI $1.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days

Sale

Apps

  1. ColEm Deluxe - Complete ColecoVision Emulator $3.99 -> $1.99; Sale ends in 6 days

Games

  1. Forest 2 Premium $2.49 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 4 days
  2. Door Kickers $3.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  3. Eight-Minute Empire $4.99 -> $2.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  4. Fort Sumter: The Secession Crisis $6.99 -> $3.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  5. Istanbul: Digital Edition $6.99 -> $4.89; Sale ends in 6 days
  6. Nobunaga's Shadow (Ninja RPG) $4.99 -> $2.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  7. Nomads of the Fallen Star $7.99 -> $5.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  8. Star Nomad 2 (Oreo+) $7.99 -> $4.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  9. Steam: Rails to Riches $4.99 -> $2.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  10. The Room Two $1.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  11. The Room Three $3.99 -> $1.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  12. The Room: Old Sins $4.99 -> $2.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  13. Three Kingdoms: The Last Warlord $9.99 -> $4.99; Sale ends in 6 days
  14. Urban legend : Shin Hayarigami – Blindman $2.99 -> $1.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  15. Crossroads: Roguelike RPG Dungeon Crawler $4.99 -> $2.99; Sale ends in 7 days
  16. Dealer’s Life - Pawn Shop Tycoon $2.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 7 days
  17. DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition $4.49 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 7 days
  18. Star Traders RPG Elite $2.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 7 days
  19. Talisman: The Horus Heresy $1.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 7 days

Icon packs & customization

  1. Circulus - Icon Pack $2.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 4 days
  2. Secret Mission - Watch Face $11.99 -> $5.49; Sale ends in 6 days
  3. X Launcher Prime: With OS Style Theme & No Ads $1.99 -> $0.99; Sale ends in 7 days
Read More

8 temporarily free and 23 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

YouTube announces new tools to customize your video recommendations

With billions of videos available about every topic you can think of and then some, YouTube is, statistically, filled almost entirely with content you don't want to watch. The platform has always tried to narrow what it suggests to each user down to videos they're likely to click — and today, the platform announces several new ways of doing just that.

English-speaking users of YouTube's Android app will start seeing buttons appear on the Home screen and in Up Next videos, giving the option to narrow suggestions by topic and channel.

Read More

YouTube announces new tools to customize your video recommendations was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

YouTube Music will download up to 500 liked songs for offline playback automatically

Google's move from Play Music to YouTube Music is still unresolved — especially since the final transition of libraries and uploaded content between the two still hasn't happened — but the latter is picking up a new feature to help with offline playback. "Smart Downloads," as it's called, will pull down up to 500 songs that you've "liked" via that button, intelligently selecting and downloading them over Wi-Fi for later enjoyment.

Read More

YouTube Music will download up to 500 liked songs for offline playback automatically was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Advanced in-app billing: handling alternative purchase flows

Posted by Oscar Rodriguez, Developer Advocate

When designing and developing an app or game, at some point you may ask yourself if you want to monetize it.

If you choose to do so by selling products via Google Play, you will most likely have a store screen that shows available items for sale, and use the Google Play Billing Library to display dialogs that allow your users to complete their purchase.

While there is a more detailed explanation in the documentation and in the Billing Library TrivialDrive samples, the general flow is as follows:

  1. Call the launchBillingFlow() method from the UI thread to launch the Google Play purchase dialog.
  2. If the purchase was successful, Google Play calls the onPurchasesUpdated() method to deliver the result of the purchase operation.
  3. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  4. Acknowledge the purchase either with consumeAsync() for consumable items or with acknowledgePurchase() for non-consumable items.
  5. Finally, grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

If your app is still using the Google Play Billing AIDL API, it is also possible to perform the same task. Keep in mind that the AIDL API is now deprecated, so we strongly recommend you migrate to the Google Play Billing Library as soon as possible.

If you are using the AIDL API, the flow is very similar:

  1. Send a getBuyIntent() or getBuyIntentExtraParams() request to specify the item to purchase, and then call startIntentSenderForResult() to launch the Google Play purchase dialog.
  2. When the purchase dialog finishes, Google Play sends a response Intent to your onActivityResult() method, where you can verify if the purchase was successful.
  3. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  4. If the purchase was successful, call the getPurchases() method to retrieve a list of owned items that are still not consumed. For consumable items, call the consumePurchase() method to make the item available for purchase again.
  5. Finally, grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

Nevertheless, just implementing the above mentioned flow is not enough to correctly handle all types of purchases. There are two main cases in which purchases will not be correctly handled by this flow.

The first case happens when the purchase flow is interrupted before it finishes. The app may have crashed, the user may have killed the app, or the user’s Internet connection may have been lost. In any case, it is possible for the app not to have delivered the item to the user even though Google Play has already processed the payment. In this case, the item is in limbo, because Google Play will not allow an item to be re-purchased until it is consumed, but the app or game won’t consume the item outside of the flow mentioned above.

The second case happens during alternative purchase flows, such as in-app promotions, the recently announced out-of-app subscription surfaces, promo codes for subscriptions, or other promotions in collaboration with Google. In these cases, a user gets an item directly on the Play Store app, while the target app or game may be paused, not running, or even not installed.

For these cases, the Google Play Billing Library and the Google Play Billing AIDL API offer a mechanism to detect purchases that are not acknowledged or consumed.

When using the Google Play Billing API, do the following:

  1. In your app’s onResume() callback, call the queryPurchases() method to retrieve a list of items, so you can determine which ones are unacknowledged.
  2. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  3. If there are owned but unacknowledged items, acknowledge the purchase either with consumeAsync() for consumable items or with acknowledgePurchase() for non-consumable items.
  4. Grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

For the Google Play Billing AIDL API, do the following:

  1. In your app’s onResume() callback, call the getPurchases() method to retrieve a list of owned items that are still not consumed.
  2. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  3. For consumable items, call the consumePurchase() method to make the item available for purchase again.
  4. Finally, grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

In either case, when you detect and process an unconsumed item in this manner, users will expect the app or game to communicate about it. We suggest that you display a dialog, message box, or notification that tells the user that they have successfully received their item.

Keep in mind that your app’s onResume() callback will be called when its process is started, as well as when it is brought to the foreground, regardless of which screen the app or game was in before it was paused. For example, a game with a home screen, a store screen, and a game screen might get its onResume() called from any of those screens. For an optimal user experience, we suggest you make it so your app or game handles unacknowledged or unconsumed items regardless of the screen you display when onResume() gets called. Thorough testing of this process in each screen is crucial to deliver a great user experience.

Finally, there is one more case your app must handle: when a user acquires an item from the Play Store app, and both the Play Store app and your app are visible at the same time with multi-window mode.

To support this scenario with the Google Play Billing Library, do the following:

  1. Google Play calls the onPurchasesUpdated() method to notify your app that there is a new pending item.
  2. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  3. Acknowledge the purchase either with consumeAsync() for consumable items or with acknowledgePurchase() for non-consumable items.
  4. Finally, grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

For the Google Play Billing AIDL API, do the following:

  1. In your app’s onResume() callback, register a PurchasesUpdatedListener to receive the com.android.vending.billing.PURCHASES_UPDATED intent. Also, in your app’s onPause() callback, unregister the listener.
  2. If your app has a server, we strongly recommend that you verify the purchase from your server by using the Subscriptions and In-App Purchases API.
  3. Google Play calls your listener to notify your app that there is a new pending item. Inside it, call the getPurchases() method to retrieve a list of owned items that are still not consumed. For consumable items, call the consumePurchase() method to make the item available for purchase again.
  4. Finally, grant entitlement to the purchased item inside the app.

Just as before, you should display a dialog, message box, or notification that tells the user that they have successfully received their item.

If you follow these steps, your app or game will be better prepared to robustly handle purchase flow interruptions and alternative purchase flows.


Android Match

Human: Fall Flat is a chaotic physics-based puzzle game, and it just landed on Android

Last week we learned that No Break Games' quirky physics-based puzzle game Human: Fall Flat would be coming to Android on June 26th, and thankfully the developer has stayed true to its word as the title is now officially available on the Play Store for $4.99.

Human: Fall Flat is an odd puzzle game with imprecise controls, and that's by design. You can expect both a single player mode as well as multiplayer content where you can group with up to 3 other friends.

Read More

Human: Fall Flat is a chaotic physics-based puzzle game, and it just landed on Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

TripIt integrates with Assistant and Alexa to get you quick updates about your next flight

For those of us who only travel occasionally, Google search and alerts about upcoming flights are more than enough. But if you're a frequent traveller, you likely use a service like TripIt to stay on top of every detail regarding your flights. Starting today, you won't need to open the app on your phone to do so, you can simply ask your Google Home or Echo speaker and get the answer.

TripIt is now integrated with both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Read More

TripIt integrates with Assistant and Alexa to get you quick updates about your next flight was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

[Update: Official] Google Maps keeps you safe by alerting you if your taxi goes off-route

  • Google has officially announced this feature and said it's aimed toward users in India. It also explained what you can do when your taxi deviates from its route, namely,

When you're traveling to a new country, region, or even an unfamiliar part of your own town, and hailing a ride, you may be suspicious of the driver taking advantage of your cluelessness to charge you more or for more nefarious reasons.

Read More

[Update: Official] Google Maps keeps you safe by alerting you if your taxi goes off-route was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Duolingo helps you learn the difficult but beautiful Arabic language

Being a native Arabic speaker, it never occurred to me how complicated the language is compared to many others. I learned to speak it, read it, and write it ever since I was a kid, so I rarely notice its idiosyncrasies and instead simply think of all of it as second nature. If you come from an another background though, Arabic can be a daunting language to learn, but that's exactly what Duolingo has taken on.

Read More

Duolingo helps you learn the difficult but beautiful Arabic language was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Rebranded Beats app lets you easily control and update your Bluetooth headphones

Beats, the headphones brand now owned by Apple, has rebranded its Android app. Previously dedicated to the Beats Pill+ speaker, and therefore called "Beats Pill," the app now services several of the company's headphones too and has thus been renamed to a simple "Beats."

The five Bluetooth headphones it now supports are the Studio3 and Solo3 headsets, the Powerbeats3 and BeatsX neckbands, and the true wireless Powerbeats Pro.

Thanks to their integration with the app, you can speed up discovery and pairing of your headphones, check battery life and overall status, download and install updates, and control the Active Noise Cancellation on the Studio3.

Read More

Rebranded Beats app lets you easily control and update your Bluetooth headphones was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Microsoft may launch a dual-screen, foldable Surface that runs Android apps and iCloud

As Samsung and Huawei attempt to re-engineer their foldable phones so that they don't break so easily once they limp to market, we're left with smartphones with tack-on screens, laptops, and convertible or so-called 2-in-1 tablets. Microsoft seems to have mastered the folding aspect of its hardware with its Surface lineup of PCs, but it may be stretching to produce a new "foldable" tablet that will run, of all things, Android apps.

Read More

Microsoft may launch a dual-screen, foldable Surface that runs Android apps and iCloud was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

23 temporarily free and 28 on-sale apps and games to start the week

Welcome to the final week of June. Today's list of app sales isn't all that impressive, but some of you might something you like.

Free

Apps

  1. WiFi Mouse Pro $4.99 -> Free; Sale ends within the hour
  2. Uprice Light - fast offline currency converter $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 2 days
  3. Quick Reminders - Notification Notes & Reminders $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 3 days
  4. Pro Mp3 player - Qamp $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  5. Gallery Pro: Photo Manager & Editor $2.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 6 days

Games

  1. When Silence Fell - A Dark Interactive Story $2.49 -> Free; Sale ends within the hour
  2. INTO THE ABYSS $2.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 4 days
  3. Dungeon X Pixel Hero VIP $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  4. Hero's 2nd Memory : Shooting RPG $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  5. Space Shooter: Galaxy Attack (Premium) $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  6. Soul Warrior: Sword and Magic - RPG Adventure $0.99 -> Free; Sale ends in 5 days
  7. Super God Blade VIP : Spin the Ultimate Top!
Read More

23 temporarily free and 28 on-sale apps and games to start the week was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Google Camera takes page from iPhone playbook, preps wide-gamut imaging — maybe to debut on Pixel 4

The camera in Google's Pixels has always taken some of the best photos in the world of smartphones, but they might be getting some expanded color chops soon — if not in existing hardware, then maybe in the Pixel 4. Google may be gearing up to add P3 wide color gamut support to the Pixel's first-party Google Camera app. According to some code dug up and enabled by developer cstark27 and subsequently tested by XDA Developers, Google has already integrated at least some of the required changes, and they were able to turn it on for testing.

Read More

Google Camera takes page from iPhone playbook, preps wide-gamut imaging — maybe to debut on Pixel 4 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Chrome OS will soon show cloud storage apps natively in Files — but no Dropbox

Fans of third-party cloud storage providers will be excited when Chrome OS 75 finally reaches the Stable Channel. The update will deliver an optional flag which enables storage services other than Drive to finally integrate into the Files app in Chrome OS via Android apps — though not all third-party storage solutions are compatible.

Included in Chrome OS 75 is a new "ARC Documents Provider integration" flag. When enabled, it allows Android applications which include the DocumentsProvider API to appear as mounted devices in Chrome OS' Files application, as visible below, though they do take a bit to be mounted/show up after a restart.

Read More

Chrome OS will soon show cloud storage apps natively in Files — but no Dropbox was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

You can now use your new Bank of America debit card before it even arrives in the mail

There are few things more frustrating than being unable to access your checking account while you wait for a debit card to arrive in the mail. Bank of America is mitigating that particular headache for its customers by allowing for use of a "digital debit card" before the physical one arrives in the mail.

The change seems to boil down to giving the customer early access to the information on their yet-to-be-delivered card in the Bank of America app, and allowing it to be added to wallet apps like Google Pay.

Read More

You can now use your new Bank of America debit card before it even arrives in the mail was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match

Koush’s new Scrypted app is like Tasker for home automation, integrates with Google Home, Alexa, and HomeKit

 

There are a plethora of different home automation platforms like SmartThings, HomeKit, Wink, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and many more. Some of them play together nicely, but once you're mixing and matching, you're going to end up with a bunch of apps and hubs to control all of your devices, and some features just won't work with the provided software. Koushik Dutta (or Koush), the developer of beloved tools like ClockworkMod, has run into these limitations.

Read More

Koush’s new Scrypted app is like Tasker for home automation, integrates with Google Home, Alexa, and HomeKit was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


Android Match