Wow, another reskin from Niantic
The Pokémon Go developer Niantic has just announced its fourth game, and yes, it's another augmented reality title. Shocking, I know. Since Niantic has already reskinned its original AR game Ingress with a Pokémon theme and a Harry Potter theme, the studio has now...
Google is adding dinosaurs to its 3D search models
Life uh ... finds a way
You can use Google Search to find 3D models of animals, planets, astronauts, and even cell models and view them as though they were inside your own home. Now Google has announced a new entry to the ever-growing party — dinosaurs. Ten models are brought to you via a collaboration...
TikTok servers go down in India after government ban
Simply sideloading the app won't do the trick
After a large, sweeping ban of 59 Chinese apps was issued by the Indian government yesterday, the biggest and hottest name on that list is now officially down in India: TikTok. The app's servers are no longer active, and VPNs don't seem to be working for...
IFTTT resumes support for Tuya Smart Life and Wink, gains 22 other new services
It also lost compatibility with Seagate, Digg, and others
IFTTT is one of the most convenient ways to automate tasks at home by linking smart home devices and platforms together. The service is regularly updated with new additions and removals, and we just got our fair share of changes for the...
Google Pay Send mysteriously returns to Contacts, but is still unavailable in Assistant, Gmail, and Messages
You’ll have to use the Pay app to send money to your peers
Update
Updated to reflect that Pay Send has returned to the Contacts app for some people.
It looks like Google is silently removing the option to send peer-to-peer transactions via Google Pay Send from its apps in the US. This follows the...
Nearby Sharing — Android's AirDrop competitor — is rolling out now in beta
And here's how it works
Android's long-awaited Nearby Sharing may be just about ready. The feature, which allows you to share files between Android devices quickly, easily, and wirelessly, has been compared to Apple's AirDrop, and Google has confirmed to us that a beta test for Nearby Sharing is actively...
Big Google Photos update rolling out with fresh three-tab design, mapping feature, and new icon (APK Download)
Update
Rolling out
Google Photos is easily one of Google's most magical and indispensable services, and now it's getting a tasteful redesign. The app is getting a simpler three-tab interface, and the map view previously spotted in testing is now official. The new changes cover not just the app,...
Spotify to launch proper lyrics in 26 markets today
You can finally ignore 'Behind the Lyrics'
Spotify has been working on proper lyrics support for ages. It likely takes this long to implement the seemingly simple feature in part due to licensing issues surrounding songtexts, which already led to a lawsuit against Google. Spotify seems to have finally...
How to disable autoplay in YouTube’s home and subscriptions feeds
Take back control of your YouTube feed
YouTube’s silent autoplay feature—found in the home and subscriptions tabs—isn’t the most intuitive concept Google's ever cooked up. For starters, if a video autoplays for too long while you’re scrolling through your feed, the video gets added to your history,...
Google Opinion Rewards reaches 50 million installs on Play Store
A lot of folks doing a lot of surveys for Play Store credit
Most of our readers are probably familiar with Google's Opinion Rewards app, which earns you Play Store credit (or actual cash, if you're on iOS) for answering surveys. They're usually based on things like your recent location history or...
Google Photos will no longer back up images from WhatsApp, Messages, Kik, and other messaging apps by default
You can re-enable it again at any time, though
Google is disabling the Google Photos app's image and video backup for folders created by services like WhatsApp, Messages, and Kik. In essence, that means that by default, photos and videos from those services saved on your phone won't be backed up by...
Google Stadia: Subscription cost, games list, free games, compatibility requirements, and more
Everything you need to know about Stadia
Update
Four free games are coming to Stadia Pro in July: Crayta, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, SteamWorld Dig, and West of Loathing.
In fall 2018, Google made its interest in gaming known with Project Stream, a beta that let users play the high-end...
36 temporarily free and 43 on-sale apps and games for Monday
Don't miss out on the sales for XCOM: Enemy Within, Siege of Dragonspear, and Railways
Welcome to Monday, everyone. After a fantastic end to last week, it looks as though we're starting off this week with a bang. This means I have more than a few quality titles to share today, including the sales...
11 Weeks of Android: Privacy and Security
Posted by:
Charmaine D’Silva, Product Lead, Android Privacy and Framework
Narayan Kamath, Engineering Lead, Android Privacy and Framework
Stephan Somogyi, Product Lead, Android Security
Sudhi Herle, Engineering Lead, Android Security
This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid....
India bans TikTok, CamScanner, WeChat and 56 more popular Chinese apps in huge purge
If only Cheetah Mobile's Clean Master was banned everywhere
India has been attempting to reduce its reliance on trade with China for the past few years, primarily with the government's Made in India program. These efforts have escalated over the past few weeks, as India and China have been engaged...
Google's dreaded SafetyNet hardware check has been spotted in the wild
The end of an era — unless a solution is found
If you're part of the root and ROM Android enthusiast crowd, then you probably freaked out a bit back in March when it was revealed Google's SafetyNet check was getting a hardware-backed component with no easy workaround. Now, these changes have been...
Tencent is bringing a new Metal Slug game to mobile, and it actually looks decent
The question is, will Tencent ruin it?
SNK and Tencent recently announced a new Metal Slug game for mobile, and it will be developer by TiMi Studios, an incredibly hot Tencent subsidiary that worked on Call of Duty Mobile, and is also currently working on Pokémon Unite. So far we know that...
Google kills 'safe folder' feature in Files by Google app before it was ever released
Just a few weeks ago, a new "safe folder" feature was spotted in development for the Files by Google app, allowing you to move files into a PIN- or password-protected folder where they would be encrypted and inaccessible to other apps. Although the feature was never formally released to consumers,...
Google Photos adds a mute toggle when watching videos
It's rolling out server-side
Google Photos is rolling out a small but useful change to its application, irrespective of its big UI overhaul that was announced last week. This slight improvement lets you quickly mute videos with an on-screen toggle without fiddling with your phone's main media volume...
Google is working on a bottom tab switcher strip for Chrome on Android
Resurrecting the idea of Chrome Duet
After years and years of experiments, Google recently killed Chrome Duet, its take on a bottom bar for its mobile browser. But the company doesn't seem to be entirely opposed to adding elements to more reachable spots, as a new test has emerged in Chrome for Android....
Google appears to be caving in and bringing back Play Store app update notifications
You likely won’t have to rely on workarounds anymore
In a rather annoying move late last year, Google got rid of the Play Store notifications that showed up after your apps got automatically updated. The confusing removal process at first looked like a bug plaguing a handful of users, but Google soon...
How to transfer your uploaded songs on Google Play Music to YouTube Music
Get familiar with the new streaming service before Play Music dies later this year
Google announced a migration tool for taking your library from Google Play Music library of uploaded songs and getting them onto its new YouTube Music service back in May. Now, it's rapidly becoming more widely available...
30 new Android games from the week of June 22, 2020
Death Come True, Pokémon Café Mix, Kingdom Hearts Uχ Dark Road, and more
Welcome to the roundup of the 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 boatload of games, and I mean a boatload. For example, I have titles from Square...
6 Android productivity apps designed to help you work from home
Keeping your routine and sanity while you’re stuck in your apartment
When it comes to working from home, as so many of are learning, distractions are everywhere. Be it your kids, partner, or simply the opportunity to walk out the front door at a moment's notice, it can be hard to maintain a sense...
Google Stadia 101: How to get the best performance and reduce lag
Cloud gaming can be complicated
If you're trying out Google Stadia while you wait for the latest and greatest consoles from Sony and Microsoft to drop, you're not alone. But gaming in the cloud via a video stream is a lot different technically than playing something on a box plugged into your TV....
The best free and open-source alternatives to Gmail on Android
Managing your inbox doesn't need to be locked to your email provider
There are a lot of reasons you might want to use an open source alternative to an app like Gmail. Privacy, security, and supporting open source development top the list, but the simple fact is that an app like Gmail, at the end of...
How to activate dark mode in the Google Play Store app
It's available on Android devices with and without system-wide dark mode
Despite arriving system-wide on Android 10 back in September 2019, dark mode has been slow to find its way to Google's family of first-party apps. Even the Play Store, one of Google's most essential Android applications, only...
The ultimate guide to using Windows Your Phone with Android
The A to Z of bringing your Android phone and Windows PC closer together
No matter how much we slam Apple for its closed ecosystem, many of us often find ourselves raving about how well coordinated the iPhone and Mac are. Then we turn to Android, which just can't do all those tricks, leaving us feeling...
Samsung Internet still doesn't fully support Android's Autofill API — what gives?
No, I don't want to store my passwords in yet another account
Samsung's Internet web browser is one of the company's few apps that people don't even own Samsung phones actively seek out. It's one of the best browsers available on Android — it offered extensive dark mode support long before Chrome,...
14 new and notable Android apps and live wallpapers from the last week including DontKillMyApp, ARCore Depth Lab, and Lines of Play (6/20/20 - 6/27/20)
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have a fantastic tool that can report precisely which background processes are being killed by your device, and two new releases...
Full spectrum of on-device machine learning tools on Android
Posted by Hoi Lam, Android Machine Learning
This blog post is part of a weekly series for #11WeeksOfAndroid. Each week we’re diving into a key area of Android so you don’t miss anything. Throughout this week, we covered various aspects of Android on-device machine learning (ML). Whichever stage...
Here are 460 apps and games available on Google Play Pass right now
A good-faith effort to list all the apps you can get for free on Play Pass
Google Play Pass, a program that gives subscribers no-charge, ad-free access to premium apps and apps with premium features, launched last year with over 350 titles on its roster. Thing is, though, Google doesn't make it easy...
28 temporarily free and 94 on-sale apps and games for Friday
Don't miss out on the sales for Asmodee Digital, Fireproof Games, and Nomad Games
Welcome to Friday, everyone. I had thought this past Monday's roundup was a big one. Boy, was I wrong. Today I have a giant list of sales, and the majority are games, with some very big hitters in the bunch....
Widely hated Commander Keen Mobile reboot is very likely dead
The Play Store listing is still live, but social channels have been shut down
It looks like Bethesda has canceled the widely hated Commander Keen mobile reboot. The resurrection of the 1990 classic was announced at E3 2019 a year ago and was instantly slammed as a weak free-to-play cash-grab reinterpretation...
Firefox Preview is adding support for three new add-ons
Baby steps, but add-on support is expanding
Firefox Preview has only received a significant update with version 5.2 with improved tab management and voice search a few days ago, but Mozilla is already working on the next feature-filled update. The unstable Nightly now supports three new add-ons and...
YouTube is experimenting with a language selector in voice search
Helping out multilingual people
Shortly after starting to test an all-in-one record-and-publish function in the YouTube app, its developers have added another experiment that'll be useful for those of us who'd rather only watch videos. They're working on a button that lets you switch voice search...
