Home » Archives for 2021

220 awesome, ridiculous, and downright creepy Gboard emoji combos you should try out

When two emojis really love each other...

It's been more than a year since Google introduced the option to combine two emojis in Gboard to create a totally new mashup sticker that embodies both, and yet, I still find myself in awe when I discover a new combination that I hadn't come across before. This has quickly become my favorite Gboard feature — possibly even the favorite feature on any software keyboard I've every used, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

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220 awesome, ridiculous, and downright creepy Gboard emoji combos you should try out was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google's new wired Nest cam makes an early appearance in the Google Home app

Google recently announced four new cameras for its Nest lineup, but only two of them were actually available at the time of the announcement: The Nest Cam (battery) and the new Nest Doorbell (battery). The anticipated Nest Cam (wired) may have just reared its head, though. A recent version of the Google Home app is displaying the product name during the camera setup process, and might indicate a launch is imminent.

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Google's new wired Nest cam makes an early appearance in the Google Home app was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Northgard update brings online multiplayer support to Android and iOS, complete with cross-play

2v2, 3v3, and 2v2v2 modes supported

Back in June, the release date for the Android port of Northgard was revealed in a YouTube trailer. This popular indie strategy game had already made its way to iOS in April but is only just now landing on Android. Despite the late arrival, the Android port is pretty good, offering acceptable performance, a reworked UI for touchscreen play, and there's even optional DLC available for those looking to extend Northgard's RTS gameplay.

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Northgard update brings online multiplayer support to Android and iOS, complete with cross-play was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Russia threatens to block YouTube after it suspended a state news channel over COVID misinformation

Russia suspects that Germany is behind the ban, claiming the country is starting a media war

Russia and Google have never been best friends, but things are about to get much worse if the two parties can't find an agreement in the latest dispute. After YouTube deleted the Germany-based branch of Russia's state television network Russia Today (RT) over COVID-19 misinformation, Russia has threatened to fully block the video streaming service in the country if it doesn't re-instate RT Germany. The country has additionally threatened Germany it would block German media, suspecting the government behind YouTube's decision to ban RT Germany.

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Russia threatens to block YouTube after it suspended a state news channel over COVID misinformation was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Celebrated paranormal shooter Control is free for Stadia Pro subscribers in October

It's a good chance to grab it if you missed that Epic giveaway

Stadia Pro subscribers get access to a couple of free games every month, but they're usually not all that notable — Google sticks with smaller, cheaper titles if it's giving stuff away. But next month's additions include a critical darling from a couple of years ago: Remedy Entertainment's Control. This thoughtful action game cleaned up at the award circuit for its impressive storytelling mixed with competent shooting and metaphysical powers.

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Celebrated paranormal shooter Control is free for Stadia Pro subscribers in October was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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13 temporarily free and 31 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday

Don't miss out on the sales for Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins, ReactionLab 2, and Burly Men at Sea

Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. Despite a slow week, I have some solid sales to share with everyone, including a few standouts. First up is a sale for Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins, an enjoyable and engaging lost-phone game. Next, I have a discount for ReactionLab 2, a fun sandbox game where you'll combine elements to watch their reactions. Last but not least is Burly Men at Sea, a highly polished narrative adventure.

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13 temporarily free and 31 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Samsung Health's profile page is way more useful in One UI 4

There are also more gender options to choose from

Samsung Health has steadily been getting better over the years, with new features consistently being added and increasing diversity in the fitness data it can track. The app is getting even better in the latest update that's rolling out in the One UI 4 beta, which adds more gender options and statistics to your profile.

The One UI 4 version of Samsung Health got a fresh coat of paint with a new tabbed design that removed the old hamburger menu.

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Samsung Health's profile page is way more useful in One UI 4 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Gboard's selfie-based 'Mini' stickers are going the way of the dodo

Another Google project dying an early death

Gboard is jam-packed with extra features that augment the regular typing experience, particularly if you love using GIFs, stickers, and emoji when you communicate — Emoji Kitchen, in particular, is incredibly fun to play with. However, one of the most personal ways to communicate with stickers will soon no longer be available. Google has confirmed to 9to5Google that Gboard's "Minis" stickers will be booted off the app at the end of October, without providing an exact date.

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Gboard's selfie-based 'Mini' stickers are going the way of the dodo was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Netflix's gaming program expands to two new countries with three new games

It’s still very small though

Netflix games

Netflix kickstarted its mobile gaming ambitions by launching two games based on its popular Stranger Things series in Poland in late August. A month later, the company is expanding its mobile gaming initiative with three new games, now available in a total of three countries: Shooting Hoops, Teeter Up, and Card Blast.

Netflix has not developed any of the new games, and they are not related to any of its series or movies, either.

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Netflix's gaming program expands to two new countries with three new games was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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How to send disappearing messages with WhatsApp

It’s a neat feature, albeit with a few too many caveats

Despite several recent controversies questioning its integrity, WhatsApp continues to be surprisingly privacy-conscious, with end-to-end encryption available by default across all chats. The messaging app even took a step further in that direction when it introduced disappearing messages for everyone late last year. With this new ephemeral option, it's even easier to shield your most private conversations and media. It seems that not a lot of people use disappearing messages in WhatsApp yet, perhaps because they don't know it exists.

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How to send disappearing messages with WhatsApp was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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You can now annoy your coworkers with Google Meet video backgrounds on the go

With six available options to start

Millions of workers are still relying on video calls to stay in touch with their co-workers each and every day. To help with daily routines, Google Meet has continued to improve and advance, offering live translations for captions while giving your lighting situation a much-needed boost. In June, video backgrounds arrived on the web to compete with Zoom. If you take most of your calls on the go, you can finally customize the  backdrop on Android starting today.

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You can now annoy your coworkers with Google Meet video backgrounds on the go was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Watch me get wrecked for 25 minutes straight in Battlefield Mobile's multiplayer alpha test

Is this a mobile shooter for the hardcore?

With the success of Call of Duty Mobile, it was only a matter of time before Electronic Arts found someone to develop a mobile version of Battlefield. We've known since April that Battlefield Mobile was in development, with a fresh Play Store listing that popped up at the beginning of September. This listing was published in preparation for the first alpha test launched in Indonesia and the Philippines this past weekend.

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Watch me get wrecked for 25 minutes straight in Battlefield Mobile's multiplayer alpha test was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Docs comments are getting a little extra breathing room

Customizable watermarks are also on the way

Some of us prefer 4:3 or even 3:2 aspect ratios for our PCs. If you aren't watching a movie or playing games, square displays are perfect for productivity. Apps like Google Docs are perfectly centered on-screen, barely making use of all that white space along the left and right sides. Unfortunately, most laptops and monitors are still designed with 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratios, but that doesn't mean developers can't design with this in mind.

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Google Docs comments are getting a little extra breathing room was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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You can now test Chrome for Android's permanent Desktop View switch

It's working in the latest Canary release

Most websites (like this one) adjust their formatting automatically to account for screens of different size and density. But on tablets (and foldables), formatting often has the tendency to go weird and switch you to mobile view, and you just gotta pretend you're on your proper desktop computer to get the full website experience. If you haven't switched to a different browser to achieve this globally yet, Chrome is about to make your life easier.

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You can now test Chrome for Android's permanent Desktop View switch was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Garena Free Fire MAX brings a graphics and gameplay overhaul to the popular arena shooter

There's also a new patch available today

Garena Free Fire is an older arena shooter that aped PUBG's gameplay a year before PUBG Mobile was released on mobile platforms. As you can imagine, an arena shooter from 2017 that was rushed out the door to beat PUBG Mobile to market hasn't aged very well, and so the developer has updated the shooter with new HD graphics and gameplay optimizations. This newly-updated version is known as Garena Free Fire MAX, which is officially available starting today.

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Garena Free Fire MAX brings a graphics and gameplay overhaul to the popular arena shooter was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Stadia vs. Xbox Cloud Gaming: Which is the streaming champion?

Can Google compete with the gaming giant that is Xbox?

If you'd told me five years ago that one day I'd be able to reliably stream video games to my device over the internet in the same way we do videos on YouTube, I'd have laughed. Services like OnLive had given it a go, but it still felt like it was a long way from going mainstream. Then came Google in 2019, promising the world with Stadia and under-delivering in a way only Google can.

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Google Stadia vs. Xbox Cloud Gaming: Which is the streaming champion? was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Meet's captions are starting to get their promised live translation support

It's almost like being bilingual

Google Meet is among the biggest video conferencing apps at the moment. One of its most useful features, at least for me, is automatic call transcriptions. Up until now, though, the feature didn't support live translations, unlike captions in apps like YouTube and Translate. Google is finally changing that, as previously announced during Google I/O 2021.

A select few on certain Google Workspace editions are now able to enjoy Translated Captions, a beta feature that transcribes spoken English into French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

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Google Meet's captions are starting to get their promised live translation support was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Skype hopes its latest overhaul is enough to win you back

A visual redesign, performance boosts, and much more

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft has spent the last year and a half focused on making Teams as great as it can be. It's not the only messaging tool the company owns, of course. Skype might not be what you turn to in the age of Meet, Duo, and — yes — FaceTime, but it's still a massively popular tool for communicating with your friends and loved ones online. Microsoft is working hard to modernize the once-dominant video chat app, starting with an all-new redesign in its latest update.

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Skype hopes its latest overhaul is enough to win you back was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Old Android phones are breaking today, so get ready to play tech support for your elderly relatives

You can no longer sign into Gingerbread devices with your Google account

If you're reading Android Police, it's safe to say you're a tech-savvy person. You might even be the person your friends turn to for smartphone recommendations. Not everyone keeps up-to-date with the latest technology, though, so if you know someone still rocking a smartphone running Android 2.3.7, tell them it's time to buy a new device.

Earlier this year, Google warned us that account sign-ins would no longer be accepted for its apps on devices running Gingerbread, and it's kept good on its promise.

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Old Android phones are breaking today, so get ready to play tech support for your elderly relatives was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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WhatsApp's working on a big improvement to multi-device support

Sync messages without your primary smartphone

Believe it or not, WhatsApp didn't support multiple devices before this summer, requiring your phone to be turned on and connected to the web at all times — even when using the web client to send messages. While that's no longer necessary, the app is still incapable of allowing you to message from more than one mobile device. If you've been feeling the limitations of "partner" devices over the last few months, there's finally a sign that true multi-support is coming to WhatsApp.

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WhatsApp's working on a big improvement to multi-device support was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Looks like Google has put the old Android TV Remote Control app out of its misery

It's been taken off the Play Store unless you downloaded it previously

Google has dropped visibility for the "old" Android TV remote app from the Play Store, following the rollout of the new Google TV app-based solution, which landed last week. For many, the Android TV Remote Control app listing no longer appears on either the Play Store's desktop site or when navigating to the listing via an external link in the Play Store app on mobile. With Google recently rolling out a method that replaces the old app, we have to assume the removal was intentional.

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Looks like Google has put the old Android TV Remote Control app out of its misery was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero's Bonds launches on Android today

Servers set to go live later today

Square Enix revealed Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero's Bonds last year, but at the time, the game was only slated for a Japanese release. As of this morning, we now know the game is coming to the West with an English translation in tow. It's already listed on the Play Store for pre-registration, and a closed beta will kick off on April 7th, which you can sign up for on the official website.

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Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai: A Hero's Bonds launches on Android today was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Soon you can use your third-party controller with Stadia on your Chromecast Ultra

You can connect to your phone for wired or Bluetooth controllers, or use touchscreen controls

When Stadia launched it was only available on TV via the Chromecast Ultra, and when going that route, you could only play it with the Wi-Fi powered Stadia controller. Google seems to have realized that was a bit limiting, especially since you can use Bluetooth and wired controllers with Stadia on your phone, a Chromebook, or a Windows or MacOS-powered PC. To help spread controller support to more TVs, Google is allowing the Stadia app on your phone to act as a bridge for controls on your TV, including third-party controllers like those for the Xbox and PlayStation.

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Soon you can use your third-party controller with Stadia on your Chromecast Ultra was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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11 temporarily free and 25 on-sale apps and games for Monday

Don't miss out on the sales for Ashworld, Pandemia: Virus Outbreak, and Sudoku Ultimate

Welcome to Monday, everyone. It looks like things have cooled off since the weekend. Thankfully I still have some quality sales to share with everyone, including a few standouts. First up is a sale for Ashworld, an enjoyable action-adventure game from OrangePixel. Next, I have Pandemia: Virus Outbreak, a new virus outbreak game that's on sale for the first time this week. Last but not least is Sudoku Ultimate, which is currently available for free.

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11 temporarily free and 25 on-sale apps and games for Monday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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What's new in Chrome 95, now rolling out to the beta channel (APK Download)

Secure Payment Confirmation, Eyedropper support, web app improvements, and more

Just a week after Google released Chrome 94 to the stable channel, the company is back at it again with Chrome 95, which it has just promoted to beta. Since Google accelerated the release schedule to a four-week cycle, we'll see Chrome 95 go in mid-October already. The new strategy apparently also leads to fewer features being introduced with each version, but let's dive into the most important changes coming to us with Chrome 95.

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What's new in Chrome 95, now rolling out to the beta channel (APK Download) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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WhatsApp payments could soon earn cash back

But don't get your hopes up: it's not very much

WhatsApp is pushing hard to get a slice of that money transfer pie, introducing mobile person-to-person payments in India and Brazil. And what's better than sending your friend a fast food combo's worth of money to cover that time you left your wallet in the car? Well, lots of things. But getting a tiny, tiny portion of that payment back in credit is probably one of them.

A deep dive from WABetaInfo reveals that the feature is currently being developed for future versions of the app, though the framework is visible in the code.

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WhatsApp payments could soon earn cash back was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Check out Google Keep's new Material You widgets

Material You Keep me hangin' on

Google Keep is one of the most useful apps in Google's ecosystem. I personally use it a lot, since the ability to take quick notes on your phone and accessing them from any device is really convenient. And now, it's getting even better, since it's joining the list of apps that will be using Material You. Ahead of the final release of Android 12, which is due soon, Google has worked on updates to most of its apps to make them adhere to Material You and its UI changes, as well as its headline dynamic theming feature, and Google Keep is joining this list.

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Check out Google Keep's new Material You widgets was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Hey Google, get ready for a Material You refresh for Assistant

The staged rollout is starting on Android 12 beta

Assistant is a key part of Google's app ecosystem. Since it was first introduced in 2016 with the first Google Pixel smartphones, Google has made it central to the Pixel experience and to Android in general. And being so important to Google, it was just logical for it to be one of the next apps to get its respective dose of Material You redesign. A redesign for the Google Assistant, complete with dynamic theming, is now rolling out.

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Hey Google, get ready for a Material You refresh for Assistant was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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19 new Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (9/19/21 - 9/26/21)

Actraiser Renaissance, Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend, Pokémon UNITE, plus more

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's list is broken up into several segments, ranging from best, average, to mediocre. So whether you're looking for the best games of quality or are simply looking for the latest free-to-play gacha titles, you're covered. This week I have a good port from Square Enix, a lazy port from Square Enix, and a greedy pay-to-win Pokémon game.

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19 new Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (9/19/21 - 9/26/21) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Zoom brings 'mute' to your eyeballs with video feed blocking

So you can stop seeing that one coworker's ironic coffee mugs

Virtual meetings over Zoom have become all too popular over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and they're potentially going to be a big part of life going forward. Already supporting virtual meetings with up to 100 people, Zoom gets constantly updated with new features. Now the Zoom app is getting another feature drop with a handful of quality-of-life improvements that aim to make it a little more enjoyable to use.

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Zoom brings 'mute' to your eyeballs with video feed blocking was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Square Enix brings Actraiser to the Play Store with a remastered take on the Super Nintendo classic

A surprise release from Square Enix, but a welcome one

Square Enix released Actraiser Renaissance during a recent Nintendo Direct, surprising everyone since this remaster was also revealed for the first time during the Direct release announcement. Great news for Nintendo Switch owners, but even more surprising, Square has launched the game on just about every platform, including Android, which means Actraiser Renaissance is now available on the Google Play Store.

The above trailer offers a quick look at what the remaster version of Actraiser has to offers.

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Square Enix brings Actraiser to the Play Store with a remastered take on the Super Nintendo classic was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Viber racks up one billion installs, even without your help

You might not be using it, but a lot of people are

When you think of messaging apps, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and any of Google's 47 attempts likely come to mind. As mainstream as those services might be, they aren't the only options you'll find for texting your friends and loved ones. Viber isn't as recognizable a name, but it's been quietly popular for years now. Today, it passed the one billion installs milestone, marking its place among other ultra-successful apps like Google Messages and Snapchat.

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Viber racks up one billion installs, even without your help was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Battlefield Mobile's gameplay leaks online, and it actually looks great

Please EA, don't screw this up

Earlier this month, we learned that Electronic Arts would begin rolling out playtests for the mobile version of Battlefield in autumn. Now that fall is here, the game has entered into early testing in Southeast Asia, so gameplay videos have started to leak online, providing the first look of the Battlefield Mobile in action. So if you've been eager to see what the early alpha gameplay for Battlefield Mobile looks like, we have several enlightening videos to share.

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Battlefield Mobile's gameplay leaks online, and it actually looks great was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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34 temporarily free and 55 on-sale apps and games for Friday

Don't miss out on the sales for Dead Cells, Titan Quest, and Atom RPG

Welcome to Friday, everyone. It's almost the weekend, and so I have a plump sales roundup to share with everyone, including some quality standouts. First up is a sale for Dead Cells, a fantastic roguelike platformer that's currently discounted in celebration of a new DLC release. Next, I have Titan Quest, a solid action RPG that offers controller support. Last but not least is Atom RPG, an indie RPG often compared to classic CRPGs like Fallout.

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34 temporarily free and 55 on-sale apps and games for Friday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Wallpaper Engine is a popular live background tool that's making its way from Steam to Android

It will be free-to-use, but to take full advantage of it, you'll need the Windows program

Google offers a few live wallpapers, but if the pre-installed selection on your phone just doesn't cut it, you need to look into other alternatives. These could soon be joined by a gaming community favorite — Wallpaper Engine has just announced that it's in the process of creating an Android app.

Wallpaper Engine is a beloved piece of software because it's so diverse. On Windows, it allows you to create video-based live wallpapers or select the one you like the most from a collection of community-created assets on Steam Workshop, complete with option to personalize all aspects of the animations you could wish for.

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Wallpaper Engine is a popular live background tool that's making its way from Steam to Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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If installs were currency, Google Pay would have 500 million in the bank

Seems like mobile payments are as popular as ever

Mobile payments are the way of the future (or so I've been told), and it seems Google's well aware of that. The company has spent the last year completely renovating its Pay app to be far more advanced than anything that's come before. Spending habits, sending and requesting money from friends, and rewards programs are all part of the relaunched effort, and with its latest installs milestone, it seems to be paying off for Google (no pun intended).

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If installs were currency, Google Pay would have 500 million in the bank was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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YouTube receives minor design update, but it's not Material You

Finally, some more consistency for the YouTube app

YouTube is a bit of a weird outlier when it comes to Android app design. While there are some interface inconsistencies among all Google apps, YouTube has long stood out as the app with a much shorter app header, a dated gray status bar, and more diversions from the norm. While its header retains its height for now, YouTube has at least finally added a seamless white status bar to its light theme.

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YouTube receives minor design update, but it's not Material You was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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There's a new The Lord of the Rings game on the Play Store, and it takes place in the movie universe

IAPs are back on the menu, boys

At this point, you'd think free-to-play developers like NetEase would have run out of brands to slap on top of the typical free-to-play genres we're all familiar with, and then a new disappointing announcement comes rolling in. It would appear that NetEase is working on a licensed The Lord of the Rings game, which just popped up on the Play Store for pre-registration.

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There's a new The Lord of the Rings game on the Play Store, and it takes place in the movie universe was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Material You styling is en route to Google Maps

Navigate around these sharp corners

Pastel color schemes that adapt to your taste and buttons with low-radius corners are the hallmarks of the Material You design scheme for Android and it's been taking over Google's apps one by one. We're now seeing a drip and a drop of its essence coming down to Maps.

The Russian-based Telegram group Google Pixels has picked up on a new navigation bar design with chip-shaped highlights indicating which tab a user is currently on — as seen today, the icons are colored-in.

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Material You styling is en route to Google Maps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Search can get you into the Statue of Liberty (and some other neat places)

If only there wasn't a thing called COVID-19 making travel harder

The first thing people usually do when looking for activities to do on a trip is to look up places or tourist attractions in Google, just as one often looks up pretty much anything in Google. The company already has a hub for all your travel needs, which is called Google Travel, but just looking up a tourist attraction or destination on Google Search can already give you crucial info on that place, including reviews, opening and closing times, and even some rough insights on what the busiest times usually are for stopping by.

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Google Search can get you into the Statue of Liberty (and some other neat places) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Discord is getting a replacement for those music bots YouTube killed

Watch Together is a poor substitution for Groovy and Rythm

Discord was undoubtedly popular pre-pandemic, but in the time since, it's become a go-to application for virtual hangout sessions among friends who can't get together in person. One of the things that makes the app stand above similar services is third-party bots, which add new features to your servers to enhance your time in the app. Groovy and Rythm were two of the most popular bots online until they were killed by YouTube a few weeks ago, and now the video giant has returned with a "replacement" of its own.

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Discord is getting a replacement for those music bots YouTube killed was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Photos canvas prints are getting a big bump in price

Google's now shipping prints directly, and adds new size options across the board

Google Photos has always been about giving users a reliable resource for storing all their memories, special pictures, and videos in the cloud. And to that effect, it has worked amazingly — your pics in Photos are easily accessible from any device, anytime you want. But if you're more into having non-digital memories, Google has also offered the option to have your pictures printed out in a book and sent to you, or get individual prints through partners like CVS.

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Google Photos canvas prints are getting a big bump in price was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google boldly decides not to introduce all-new messaging solution, brings Chat to Calendar instead

A truly revolutionary move

We're sure we don't need to tell you why seeing "Google" and "messaging" in a single sentence will make some people cringe a bit. Google has always had problems when it comes to streamlining its messaging solutions — big problems, to be fair. And ever since it started trying to get rid of Google Hangouts, those problems have only gotten worse — Google hasn't even managed to stick to a unified messaging solution, with services like Google Photos and Google Docs all having their own internal ones.

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Google boldly decides not to introduce all-new messaging solution, brings Chat to Calendar instead was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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Google Pay growth continues to explode, with dozens upon dozens of new banks signing on

No, YOU'RE a bank

Google Pay has come a long way over the years, most recently with a complete redesign now under its belt. Not too long ago we crossed an eagerly anticipated milestone for the mobile payment app, with the service finally surpassing more than 3,000 banks in the US, and now it's adding even more.

With 3,000 banks now in the rear-view mirror, we'll need to start counting down to the next milestone.

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Google Pay growth continues to explode, with dozens upon dozens of new banks signing on was written by the awesome team at Android Police.


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