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How to find your recently uploaded pics on Google Photos, even if they date back many years

Time (and your photos) keeps on slipping

Although I love Google Photos and recommend it to all my friends, I recognize that the service isn't perfect. The user experience could be improved in a lot of ways; for example, the ability to order photos in different ways is missing — you get reverse chronological and that's it. If you're only backing up recent images as you take them, that's not an issue, but if you're uploading older photos, it becomes near impossible to find those images and edit, share, or make albums of them.

How to find your recently uploaded pics on Google Photos, even if they date back many years was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

Facebook Messenger is learning to follow system dark mode settings

You won't have to manually switch from one mode to another when texting friends

After testing dark mode for a few months, Facebook Messenger rolled it out globally to all users in April 2019. Unfortunately, people had to manually turn it on or off in their app settings, meaning it couldn't follow your system preferences. This would have been particularly inconvenient for people who only turn on dark mode at night, for instance, as they would have to manually switch their Messenger settings as well.

Facebook Messenger is learning to follow system dark mode settings was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

Beloved app TV Show Favs is dead — this is what you should use instead

Lots of trakt.tv clients, but SeriesGuide takes the cake

The Venn diagram of people who watch TV series across various networks and services and people who obsess over tracking every little thing in their lives mustn't be all that big, but for those of us who fall squarely in the middle of these two categories, there's a real need for apps that track which episodes of any series you've seen, which ones you wanna watch, and what shows you've collected on DVDs or Blu-Rays.

Beloved app TV Show Favs is dead — this is what you should use instead was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

19 temporarily free and 39 on-sale apps and games for Memorial Day

Don't miss out on the sales for This War of Mine, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, and 911 Operator

Welcome to Monday, everyone. Not only is today the start of the week, but it's also Memorial Day. So even though things are slow thanks to the holiday, I still have more than a few standout sales to share with everyone. First up is This War of Mine, a fantastic simulation survival game that's very heavily discounted. Next, I have Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, which goes on sale often, but it still one of the best CRPGs ever made.

19 temporarily free and 39 on-sale apps and games for Memorial Day was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

Google Photos' free storage is ending — here's what you can do

Google is ending free unlimited (compressed) Photos storage tomorrow. The company first announced the move in November 2020 and later confirmed that even upcoming Pixel phones aren't going to be exempt from the adjustment later. But what does that change mean for you, and what can you do about it if you're not happy with the decision Google made? We've gathered some alternatives, some arguments for sticking with Photos, and everything else you need to know about the transition.

Google Photos' free storage is ending — here's what you can do was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:25 PM No comments

Hulu's latest app update adds a long-overdue tool for efficient binge watching

The 'skip intro' button for TV shows is finally here

There are plenty of TV shows with wonderful intros. But even the best ones will grate on you if you're watching your seventh episode on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Hulu realizes this, and has added a "skip intro" button to its interface on Android, as it's had on the web and at least some smart TV platforms for over a year.

This is where I'd show you screenshots of the skip intro button running on my phone.

Hulu's latest app update adds a long-overdue tool for efficient binge watching was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

15 new (and 2 WTF) Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (5/24/21 - 5/30/21)

Huntdown, The Longest Road on Earth, Lilulu, 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 fantastic run and gun game, an intriguing narrative-based puzzler, and a delightful exploration puzzle game that pops off the screen.

15 new (and 2 WTF) Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (5/24/21 - 5/30/21) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 9:25 PM No comments

Here's an hour of NieR Re[in]carnation in action, and it's better than you'd think

One of the most polished gacha RPGs yet

Earlier this week, Square Enix released a closed beta for NieR Re[in]carnation. So I've sideloaded the title not only to see how it plays but to record a lengthy gameplay video so that everyone can see exactly what's in store once the game is officially released in the US. To my surprise, even though NieR Re[in]carnation is a wave-based auto-battle gacha RPG, it's highly polished. Hands-down, the music is phenomenal, the art is stylish, and the story is intriguingly dark, making for one of the better gacha games I've played, something I definitely didn't expect.

Here's an hour of NieR Re[in]carnation in action, and it's better than you'd think was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 8:25 PM No comments

How I set up a self-hosted replacement for Google Photos

Synology Photos is a free Google Photos clone, but you'll need hardware to host it

With Google Photos discontinuing free unlimited photo backups starting next week, we've been taking a look at the various alternatives available on the market to replace the service. Both options we've looked at so far — Amazon Photos and Microsoft OneDrive — are cloud-based lockers, so today we're going to take another approach and check out a local storage alternative. Synology, the maker of the famous home NAS servers, has been testing its own photos management library for a while and in my experience, it's as close to Google Photos as you could ever get.

How I set up a self-hosted replacement for Google Photos was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:25 PM No comments

Google Pay keeps right on sailing past 3,000 US banks with another 8 more

That seems like too many banks, right? How are there this many?

Latest update
Latest 8

Since its initial release, Google Pay has come a long way, with a complete redesign now under its belt. Recently we crossed an eagerly anticipated milestone for the mobile payment app, with the service finally surpassing more than 3,000 banks in the US.

With 3,000 banks now in the rear-view mirror, we'll need to start counting down to the next milestone. Of course, with more than 5,000 total financial establishments in the United States, there's still plenty of room to grow.

Google Pay keeps right on sailing past 3,000 US banks with another 8 more was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:25 AM No comments

TWRP support expands to include even more Samsung, Motorola, and Sony phones

There's even an option for the 2019 Nvidia Shield TV

The last big release for the TeamWin Recovery Project was back in January, with the debut of TWRP 3.5. In addition to following some of the smaller tweaks to land since then, we've also been keeping an eye on the ever-expanding stable of devices that support the custom recovery solution. When we last checked in, that included some major handsets like the Pixel 4 and international Galaxy Note 10.

TWRP support expands to include even more Samsung, Motorola, and Sony phones was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 2:26 AM No comments

Google Maps Insights show just what a social butterfly you're becoming

Monthly travel stats derived from your timeline

Google Maps keeps track of your daily timeline, and though its level of accuracy can feel a little too invasive, it's an excellent tool for tracking vacations, road trips, and any other travel. Timeline is getting a fresh coat of paint, along with a couple of new features to help you track your activity on an even deeper level.

Insights is a new tab found in Timeline that keeps track of how you've moved throughout a period of time.

Google Maps Insights show just what a social butterfly you're becoming was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:26 AM No comments

Happy sixth birthday, Google Photos!

Young enough to throw tantrums, old enough to know it shouldn't

It's been six years, to the day, since Google Photos debuted at I/O 2015. A lot has changed since for me; I got married, I moved countries, and more importantly, the world is very different than it was back then. What hasn't changed, though, is how awesome and reliable Photos has been through it all. It has improved a lot, made some controversial changes, but it remains the smartest photo library I have ever used.

Happy sixth birthday, Google Photos! was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

Chrome Labs makes it easy to try out upcoming browser features

Google recently made Chrome Labs available for Chromebooks on the Dev channel

Update
Available for Chrome OS

Google regularly introduces new features in Chrome through 'flags,' toggles that are only accessible through the chrome://flags page. Even though the flags page is hidden, Google also sometimes enables experimental features automatically in limited tests, leaving some to wonder what changed. Now it seems Google is working on a more obvious place to try unfinished features.

The new functionality in Chrome Canary, named 'Chrome Labs,' adds a beaker icon next to the address bar.

Chrome Labs makes it easy to try out upcoming browser features was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

18 temporarily free and 42 on-sale apps and games for Friday

Don't miss out on the sales for Crashlands, Lock's Quest, and 9th Dawn III RPG

Welcome to Friday, everyone. We've had a busy week, so make sure to check out Wednesday's sales since the list contains every Dragon Quest title on the Play Store, and they are still on sale. I also have some solid sales to share today, as well as some great standouts. First up is Crashlands, a great survival game that sports a wicked sense of humor. Next up is Lock's Quest, a fantastic action RPG that made its way from the Nintendo DS to the Play Store.

18 temporarily free and 42 on-sale apps and games for Friday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 9:25 PM No comments

Fitbit users who don't realize they snore are in for a rude awakening

Find out if you sleep like a bear or a dolphin

Fitbit wearables have been able to track your sleep for quite a while now. In essence, they use heart rate and movement sensors to measure your sleep cycles, providing insights as to how well you've slept. The company is working on further improving these measurements by monitoring ambient noise and even telling if you're a heavy snorer. This data could then be used to assess what type of or what "sleep animal" you are.

Fitbit users who don't realize they snore are in for a rude awakening was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 9:25 PM No comments

New Google Photos storage management tool is already rolling out

Pay for more space or manage the heck out of what you have

Update
Storage management tool is rolling out

We're about a week away from Google Photos turning off its most popular and unique selling point. Almost every user will soon lose out on unlimited backups and will either need to use up their existing cloud storage space or pay up for extra. As we approach this big change, there are a few smaller changes to look out for.

If you need a refresher, photo and video backups made in high (slightly compressed) or express (compressed to 3MP) quality will begin to count against account storage starting June 1 — that means anything that has already been backed up is safe.

New Google Photos storage management tool is already rolling out was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:25 PM No comments

Check your carrier's real-world 5G coverage with this new feature on Opensignal's apps

Time to compare network maps

There are plenty of internet speed testing apps out there, but Opensignal and its sister app Meteor have just received important updates that allow their users to see how their carrier's own 5G network coverage map stacks up against reports from the crowd. You know, in real life.

Screenshots from Meteor (left two) and Opensignal

The coverage map screens on each app now have a filter for 5G networks where users can see a plot of speed test reports for the carrier or carriers of their choice — Opensignal lists AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon while Meteor adds on the dying Sprint and potentially resurgent Boost Mobile (it's mostly on the back of T-Mobile's network at the moment).

Check your carrier's real-world 5G coverage with this new feature on Opensignal's apps was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 8:25 AM No comments

Apple Pay is a tap and a twist away from beating Google Pay

Two simple tweaks would make it the ultimate mobile payment platform

I admit it: I was a mobile payment naysayer for years. I always felt that the conversation around tap to pay was a lot of rigamarole — after all, how hard is it to get out your wallet? But, as credit card terminals slowly evolved around the US, so too did my troglodytian attitude about them. I had my phone out when I was in line to check out regardless most of the time, so why not?

Apple Pay is a tap and a twist away from beating Google Pay was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

OnePlus has a new live wallpaper to help you obsess over screen-on time even more

Well done, WellPaper

OnePlus recently put in more resources towards software development, but unfortunately, it isn't for what you might hope. These efforts, by the OneLabs team, are directed towards creating resourceful apps and experiences, the first of which we saw a couple of weeks ago — a cross-platform clipboard tool. The team's most recent attempt involves a live wallpaper app that visualizes your phone usage data.

Android already allows you to analyze your smartphone usage patterns via Digital Wellbeing, but the deep dive in settings required to access it might be a hurdle for some.

OnePlus has a new live wallpaper to help you obsess over screen-on time even more was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

Google Messages could soon get two new features WhatsApp and Telegram have had for years

Pinned conversations and starred messages

Google Messages is getting more intelligent and intuitive by the day, and Google seems to have a lot more in the pipeline. Shortly after the app started getting a redesigned emoji picker and nifty conversation categories, evidence of a couple of new handy features has cropped up.

The folks over at XDA Developers have managed to dig them out in an APK teardown. The first one is support for pinned conversations.

Google Messages could soon get two new features WhatsApp and Telegram have had for years was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 7:25 PM No comments

Firefox 89 comes to Android with sleek new interface elements (APK Download)

Subtle design tweaks make for a better experience, but we're still waiting for more add-ons

Update
Stable release

Firefox 89 for desktops comes with a brand-new interface dubbed "Proton" that brings along a simplified browser UI and toolbar, reorganized menus, a prettier new tab page, lighter iconography, and more consistent styling throughout. While Firefox for Android isn't seeing the same bold redesign as its desktop counterparts, a few of the new UI elements have still trickled down to the mobile version in Firefox 89, which has just started rolling out to phones.

Firefox 89 comes to Android with sleek new interface elements (APK Download) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 3:25 PM No comments

Philo is raising its price, because that's just what streaming TV services do now

It's jumping from $20 to $25 next month with some extra DVR time

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to reap. A time to increase the price of a streaming TV subscription, and that time is all the freakin' time. The time has come for Philo, a service that's practically built on being cheaper than pretty much every alternative.

Philo is raising its price, because that's just what streaming TV services do now was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 AM No comments

Google finally has a smart way to deal with people who insist on emailing photos

But it only works with JPEGs at launch

Most of Google's apps work pretty well together — as long as you ignore all of its various messaging clients. Gmail has allowed users to save attachments to Google Drive for years, but with Photos and Drive no longer as intertwined as they once were, adding an option for Photos makes total sense. Any images in Gmail can be uploaded directly to Google Photos beginning today, though not without a few catches.

Google finally has a smart way to deal with people who insist on emailing photos was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 AM No comments

Hide the shame of skipping leg day with Fitbit's new two-factor authentication

Unfortunately it's not showing up in the app yet, at least for me

It's been more than a year since many of us got more acquainted with our webcams than we ever wanted to be. You've used the excess of personal time to invest in your personal health, right? Right? Well whether you have or haven't, keeping your health info to yourself is probably a good call. To that end, Fitbit now supports two-factor authentication (2FA) for its user accounts.

It's kind of strange that the company didn't already offer this basic security feature, since people are (understandably) protective of any information relating to their personal health.

Hide the shame of skipping leg day with Fitbit's new two-factor authentication was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 2:30 AM No comments

Don't miss Huntdown's campy '80s shooter action, now available on Android

A solid run-and-gun that shouldn't be missed

You may not have heard of it, but Huntdown is an excellent retro-futuristic run-and-gun title that's found tons of success on consoles and PC. It offers a slick '80s theme where you'll blast your way through hordes of enemies, and as of today, it's available on the Google Play Store. Huntdown is free to try, and if you like what you see, then you can unlock the rest of the title through a single in-app purchase.

Don't miss Huntdown's campy '80s shooter action, now available on Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:25 AM No comments

NieR Re[in]carnation enters into its first closed beta, but only for a short time

If you got into the beta you have a week to check it out

Latest update
NieR Reincarnation's English closed beta test begins on Android

Square Enix has been hinting at a Nier spinoff for mobile titled NieR Re[in]carnation since March (2020), but up until recently, it was unknown if this Japanese-developed title would make its way West. Well, thanks to a recent announcement at the Tokyo Game Show 2020, we now know the game will also come to the US and Europe with an English translation in tow.

NieR Re[in]carnation enters into its first closed beta, but only for a short time was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

12 temporarily free and 35 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday

Don't miss out on Dragon Quest's 35th anniversary sale

Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. In case you didn't know, today is Dragon Quest's 35th anniversary. This means every Dragon Quest title on the Play Store is on sale today, and these RPGs are definitely my top standouts in today's roundup, though I certainly have many other sales to share. As always, I've highlighted all of the interesting titles in bold green text in order to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 12 temporarily free and 35 on-sale apps and games for the middle of the week.

12 temporarily free and 35 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

It's been 6 years and Backdrops is still my favorite wallpaper app on Android

Original and beautiful artwork for every style

There was a time, a decade ago, when I was obsessed with customizing my phone's homescreen down to the tiniest details. Wallpaper, icons, widgets, everything had to match to perfection, and each few days I'd spend several hours putting together a new style from scratch. I don't have that much free time or patience now, and my homescreen setup is as simple as it gets: two rows of folders and the Google search bar on the bottom, plus the Pixel widget on top.

It's been 6 years and Backdrops is still my favorite wallpaper app on Android was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

Here's what's new in Chrome 91

Prettier buttons, OTP autofill improvements, battery-saving optimizations, and much more

Update
Stable launch

Chrome 91 has just hit the first few phones, and while you might not notice too many differences on the surface, there are quite some things going on if you know where to look. The most significant visual changes you'll see on Android are probably the redesigned website buttons and forms, like those you can see in the weekend polls of our own website. But there's more going on.

Here's what's new in Chrome 91 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 6:25 PM No comments

Google Weather is killing the hamburger menu

Dropping hamburgers faster than McDonalds

The arrival of gesture-based navigation on Android hasn't boded well for hamburger menus, and Google is now actively doing away with them. The Google Play Store recently killed the hamburger menu, and now the Google Weather app is following suit.

Spotted by the folks over at 9to5Google, the weather section of the Google app has been redesigned to fit in with this newer, simpler style. The hamburger menu that allowed switching between different Google accounts and the toggling of temperature units has been replaced by a menu that shows itself when you tap the profile icon.

Google Weather is killing the hamburger menu was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 6:25 PM No comments

Google Chrome 91 is now available for download (APK Download)

Coming with better visuals for websites using forms and buttons

Update
Stable release

Like clockwork, Google has just published the latest Chrome release, version 91. It brings a slew of visual changes to websites using fillable forms and buttons, a GravitySensor interface so web apps can more easily implement motion-controlled interactions, and a lot of other, smaller changes. You can download the latest version of the Android browser right here, over at APK Mirror.

Chrome 91 doesn't seem to change too much on the surface, but if you visit a site or an article with forms or buttons, you might instantly notice the more modern look.

Google Chrome 91 is now available for download (APK Download) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 PM No comments

Google Pay cruises past 3,000 US banks to add another 12 more

That seems like too many banks, right? How are there this many?

Update
12 more

Since its initial release, Google Pay has come a long way, with a complete redesign now under its belt. Recently we crossed an eagerly anticipated milestone for the mobile payment app, with the service finally surpassing more than 3,000 banks in the US.

With 3,000 banks now in the rear-view mirror, we'll need to start counting down to the next milestone. Of course, with more than 5,000 total financial establishments in the United States, there's still plenty of room to grow.

Google Pay cruises past 3,000 US banks to add another 12 more was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 5:25 AM No comments

Chrome for Android is getting a Material You tweak — here's how to enable it

Subtle UI tweaks that make the experience more consistent

Google unveiled a brand new design language for Android 12 last week at this year's I/O conference. It's dubbed Material You, and it employs humanistic principles like pastel color palettes and creative shapes. Google intends to apply its playful design everywhere by next year, and we hope that the transition won't be rough. It looks like the company wants to start off strong, as evidence suggests that Chrome for Android may be in line to get a Material You makeover.

Chrome for Android is getting a Material You tweak — here's how to enable it was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 AM No comments

WhatsApp's privacy policy war is over, and WhatsApp lost

For now, anyway

A couple of weeks ago, news broke that WhatsApp would start encouraging users to agree to its problematic new privacy policy. And by "encourage," we mean that they would start disabling some of the app's features for users that refused to agree. It was, to put it lightly, a big freakin' deal in an increasingly ugly saga of WhatsApp transitioning to a less user-focused service. A new report indicates that WhatsApp is backing away from this contentious behavior.

WhatsApp's privacy policy war is over, and WhatsApp lost was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 AM No comments

The latest Google Photos Memories collections showcase group photos and your favorite cup of joe

All of the good times with family, friends, and the adventures you've had

Latest update
Blissful buzz and Memories together

Since late last year, Google Photos has been using a streamlined, but powerful algorithm to generate bunches of themed slideshows from users' libraries of photos and videos — including some back-of-the-catalog deep cuts. These collections of so-called Memories have been popping up from time to time and we've been keeping track of them as they've appeared.

Here's a list of specially-titled collections Google has generated so far along with a short description of what was captured in the media.

The latest Google Photos Memories collections showcase group photos and your favorite cup of joe was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 3:25 AM No comments

Destiny 2 cross-play beta officially starts today on Stadia, but only for a limited time

You have until the 27th to check it out

Update
After a false start, Destiny 2's cross-play beta drops today

One of the more persistent problems with Stadia is that, due to a relatively low amount of players versus established platforms like Xbox, PlayStation, and PC, its multiplayer games can sometimes feel a little empty. Destiny 2 will fix that problem sometime this fall ... or right the hell now, because the developers accidentally turned on crossplay a little early.

Destiny 2 cross-play beta officially starts today on Stadia, but only for a limited time was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:25 AM No comments

AutoVoice 4.0 combines Tasker and Alexa to automate your entire home

And you don't even need an Echo device to use it

Tasker's a capable tool for power users, but it's not the only app developed by João Dias. AutoVoice is one of the easiest ways to sync your smart home gear with Tasker and Google Assistant, adding custom actions, routines, and more. The app has lost its Assistant support time and time again, but with AutoVoice 4.0, it can now use integration with Alexa to automate all of your home routines.

AutoVoice 4.0 combines Tasker and Alexa to automate your entire home was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 1:25 AM No comments

Could Microsoft OneDrive be your Google Photos replacement?

It's far from great compared to Photos, but it can serve as storage for your images if you need it to

Google Photos will get rid of its free storage tier starting June 1, which is when the company will flip a switch and any new image uploaded will count against your Google account storage. While we argue that Photos will still be well worth the money, many people are starting to look for better or cheaper alternatives, and Microsoft OneDrive could be one. After all, Microsoft provides its office apps with 1TB of storage at an attractive price.

Could Microsoft OneDrive be your Google Photos replacement? was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 11:25 PM No comments

This app will count literally anything you show it

'CountThings from Photos' is an industrial analysis tool that counts all the things

Humans aren't especially good at counting things. That's why we invented math to make it easier and harder at the same time, then we invented computers to do math for us. Thousands of years of societal achievement have now reached their natural conclusion in the CountThings from Photos app. We're all done here, everybody can climb back into the trees.

What's that, Slack notification?

I still have to actually write this article?

This app will count literally anything you show it was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 10:25 PM No comments

Gboard's rounded Material You redesign is starting to roll out more widely

You probably need to be on the beta to see it

Google has been testing different Gboard redesigns for quite some time, but it seems some of these changes are now coming to more people. No sign yet of the updated typeface — Google Sans Text looks like it will be replacing Roboto eventually — but rounded buttons are being spotted that align with the big Material You update coming with Android 12.

From the tips we've received, it appears that the new design is rolling out more widely with the latest beta version of Gboard (10.6.03.371892758-beta), although it's still limited so not everyone will see the new changes.

Gboard's rounded Material You redesign is starting to roll out more widely was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 7:25 PM No comments

Google Docs is getting the hottest new feature of Word 97

Images can now be placed behind and in front of text

Google Docs is a pretty good word processor, especially considering you won't have to drop a dime to use it. It's not quite as fully featured as Microsoft Word, but most users find it perfectly acceptable for notetaking, writing essays, and working collaboratively with friends and colleagues. However, a handful of quirks have kept Docs from being crowned king of docs. Google is finally fixing one of the weirdest inabilities in the app, with images now able to be positioned in front of or behind text.

Google Docs is getting the hottest new feature of Word 97 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 6:25 AM No comments

Microsoft just gave the maligned Surface Duo new life as an intriguing game-streaming machine

An update to the Xbox Game Pass app gives its lower screen dedicated touch controls

Admit it, Nintendo fans: when Microsoft revealed its first official Android-powered smartphone, all you saw was a $1400 Nintendo DS Pro. With its newfound focus on streaming games in the Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft is reevaluating how it approaches them on the Surface Duo. With the latest version of the Android app, controls on the Duo can be entirely assigned to one screen in your hand, leaving the second screen free for gameplay.

Microsoft just gave the maligned Surface Duo new life as an intriguing game-streaming machine was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 4:25 AM No comments

Google Photos unlimited backups are dying, but here's how you can avoid some of the pain

Pay for more space or manage the heck out of what you have

We're about a week away from Google Photos turning off its most popular and unique selling point. Almost every user will soon lose out on unlimited backups and will either need to use up their existing cloud storage space or pay up for extra. As we approach this big change, there are a few smaller changes to look out for.

If you need a refresher, photo and video backups made in high (slightly compressed) or express (compressed to 3MP) quality will begin to count against account storage starting June 1 — that means anything that has already been backed up is safe.

Google Photos unlimited backups are dying, but here's how you can avoid some of the pain was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Apps , Apps/Games – Android Police – Android News , Games , Phones , reviews , Tablets 2:25 AM No comments

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