The new operating system is coming in October, sans one of its most exciting features
One of the most interesting announcements around Windows 11 was that Microsoft plans to support Android apps in its long-running OS, delivered and serviced by the Amazon Appstore. That's still true, but unfortunately...
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered now has controller and cloud save support on Android and iOS
Square makes good on a six-month-old promise, surprising everyone
Update
Square Enix just updated Final Fantasy VIII Remastered with controller and cloud save support
In 2016 Square Enix released Final Fantasy VII and IX on Android, but VIII was still missing from the collection, a point of contention...
Google Podcasts gets a fresh UI that simplifies sorting through your endless library of episodes
The 'Activity' tab is dead, long live the 'Library' tab
Google Podcasts might not be everyone's first choice in podcast apps, but it's become a pretty popular service with Android users nevertheless. Throughout the last couple of years, it's gained a proper playback panel and support for custom RSS...
Instagram pretends it doesn't already know when your birthday is
And it knows if you're lying, too
Instagram might ask you for your birth date the next time you open the app. Instagram, which I'll remind you, is owned by Facebook, one of the most prolific collectors and resellers of personal data on the planet.
C'mon, Instagram. You know my birthday. You know the...
Google allegedly offered Netflix a sweetheart deal to keep using the Play Store's payment system
The fallout from numerous antitrust lawsuits continue
The last couple of years have brought increased scrutiny on Google Play's power over Android developers, especially in the wake of its lawsuit with Epic. The company followed Apple's lead back in March, lowering its fees to 15% for the first $1...
Strava goes all-in on Wear OS 3, leaving older smartwatches without updates
Current watch owners can keep using the existing app
With Wear OS 3, it seems like Android-friendly wearables might finally be on the right track. Though there's no sign when non-Samsung watches will hit store shelves, Google has attempted to rectify this by bringing certain features to older watches....
SwiftKey's latest beta makes autofill a whole lot faster with smart suggestions
Passwords and replies now show up along the top of the keyboard
SwiftKey remains one of the best third-party keyboard alternatives on Android — especially if you're a dedicated Microsoft fan. With its latest beta update, the app is gaining a much-needed feature for managing logins, passwords, and...
Apps from Amazon and WhatsApp hit 500 million installs on the Play Store
Amazon Shopping and WhatsApp business are the latest to hit the milestone
Amazon is kind of a big deal: while building a gigantic retail sales empire, it managed to compete with Google on multiple fronts (Android devices, cloud services, online advertising). But that retail empire thing is still the...
26 temporarily free and 37 on-sale apps and games for Monday
Don't miss out on the sales for Bridge Constructor Portal, Dungeon Warfare, and Heroes of Steel RPG Elite
Welcome to Monday, everyone. It's been a busy weekend, and so we have a plump list of sales for the start of the week, including a few standouts. First up is a sale for Bridge Constructor Portal,...
Automate your whole day with the Assistant's new Daylong Routines
With different actions that can turn on at different times of the day
Google's Assistant has become an essential tool for anyone deep within Google's ecosystem. You can ask it to control your smart home devices, control your music, find information online, run timers and reminders, play content on...
Android modding tool Magisk is alive and well, MagiskHide not so much
Creator John Wu will continue to manage the project
Magisk is one of the most powerful Android mod tools around, and a godsend to users who buy a phone without a strong custom ROM community. But ever since its creator John Wu was hired by Google itself in May, its future has been somewhat fuzzy. Earlier...
18 new Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (8/22/21 - 8/29/21)
Northgard, MARVEL Future Revolution, Titan Glory, 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...
9 new and notable Android apps from the last week including Soosee, Camo, and Wear Installer (8/21/21 - 8/28/21)
Welcome 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 a slick app for checking common foods against specific dietary requirements or allergies, a new release that can turn your old phone into a webcam...
Signal begins testing Telegram-style broadcast groups
Closed groups where only admins can speak
Signal's been enjoying a massive uptick in users in 2021. This was, in part, thanks to WhatsApp's not-so-slightly invasive new privacy policy, which users rallied against in anticipation of it going into effect. Signal is an amazing option if your priorities...
Android Auto users are gaining access to another electric charging network
More ways to find available stations near you
Ever since Google opened up third-party API options for Android Auto apps, we've seen plenty of new experiences come to in-dash displays. Specialized navigation tools may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're planning on going off-road any time soon,...
Square Enix is bringing more classic Final Fantasy titles to Android
Final Fantasy Legend I, II, and III are coming to Android next month
Square Enix is notorious for its awful naming schemes, and Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend is one of the worst names yet. Luckily the games within this collection are pretty good. All three RPGs were released on the...
Chrome 94 Beta has some beautiful Material You tweaks to show off (APK Download)
Desktop Chrome is also in for interface changes
Chrome 93 hasn't reached the stable channel yet, but Google has already released Chrome 94 as a beta. That's because it's the first Chrome release on the company's speedier four-week release cycle that's replacing the oh-so-slow six-week rhythm of old....
Chrome 94 Beta is now available (APK Download)
Complete with beautiful Material You tweaks
It feels like Google is bumping up Chrome's version number every other day, with one release following right after the other, but things are about to get even worse. As the company announced in March, new Chrome releases will come to our devices every four...
23 temporarily free and 41 on-sale apps and games for Friday
Don't miss out on the sales for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Rebel Cops, and She Sees Red
Welcome to Friday, everyone. After a slow Wednesday, things are picking up for the weekend, and so I have more than a few sales to share with everyone, including some standouts. First up is a significant...
These ROG Phone 5s live wallpapers won't make your Pixel a gaming phone
But they will make your launcher look pretty
The ROG Phone 5s is the latest gaming phone from ASUS, and being part of the ROG lineup (arguably one of the biggest PC gaming brands in the world right now), the smartphone comes with the same kind of fluff, bells, and whistles you would see from the brand's...
Tesla app update brings all you futurists new controls for your increasingly electric existence
It's not on the Play Store yet, but you can grab it on APK Mirror
Cars and home energy are two very different markets, unless you're rich enough to be a repeat customer of Tesla. If that's the case, you can manage your car (or cars) and your home's energy output from the same app. The combined Tesla...
Netflix begins its official (and very small) gaming program
Don't get your hopes up
Update
Live in Poland
Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Sony, Nvidia — all of them are trying to dominate the early and emerging market of streaming games, hosted from powerful servers and broadcast directly to players' screens without the need of a gaming PC or console. But it...
Pokémon GO developers listen to players and bring back pandemic tweaks
The boosted distance for gyms and stops is here to stay
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pokémon GO developer Niantic was met with a conundrum: how do you keep people playing a game that's all about going outside and congregating in specific places when doing so will literally kill people?...
WhatsApp voice messages get a new look in the latest beta
Waveform look incoming
Update
Now rolling out
WhatsApp's interface is starting to look dated, especially now that Google has announced the latest iteration of its design guidelines during its developer conference, Material You. But the messenger app is making small adjustments here and there to...
Formula suggestions, new for Google Sheets, will save us all
=SUMIF (AAAAA:AAAAA, LOL420, D:D)
Spreadsheets: you build them up with data points, make the rules by dropping down formulae, then watch them not make sense when an exception occurs. We can't help with you that, but maybe Google Sheets can make the interminable process more tolerable with its new...
Google Photos is testing mini previews in place of the Top Shot suggestion chip
A more visual way of showing recommendations
Top Shot is one of the most useful Google Photos features, as it allows you to choose a better photo from a selection of similar images you've taken. It's been around since the Pixel 3 launched, and there's also a little suggestion chip that pops up to...
Pixel Buds update adds a handy widget for quick access to settings
Tweak things around in your Buds with just the tap of a button
Google's Pixel Buds are cool, even if they're not the absolute best in the market or the most feature-rich. The second-gen Pixel Buds made them fully wireless, and the Pixel Buds A-Series made them affordable. All these models integrate...
Google's helping you complete tasks by reminding you why you created them in the first place
Don't miss any detail
Google Chat's been replacing the aging Google Hangouts, even if not everyone's a fan. But for teams who really give it a chance, it can work amazingly, with support for abilities like creating and assigning tasks à la Asana or Basecamp. While you can add details to a task, sometimes...
Facebook Messenger celebrates a full decade of being the only way your extended family can reach you
Group games, sending birthday money, sharing contacts, and more are incoming
We're all familiar with Facebook and its main messaging service, Messenger. It started life as the messaging component of the Facebook social network, and while it still is, it's now its standalone service as well, can be...
15 temporarily free and 28 on-sale apps and games for Wednesday
Don't miss out on the sales for Cubasis 3, Hook, and Peppa Pig: Holiday
Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. It's a slow day for sales, but I still have a few standouts worth sharing. First up is a sale for the digital audio workstation app Cubasis 3, which is currently $9 off. Next, I have a fantastic...
YouTube Music soft launches Wear OS app, exclusively supporting the Galaxy Watch4 series
Which means nothing if you don't have the watches yet
For a second there, it looked like Google was just about done with Wear OS. That was until the roadmap started unfolding with plans for, among other things, a new YouTube Music app and, later on, the big reveal of new Samsung smartwatches running...
The next Final Fantasy pixel remaster will land on Android soon
It's the first time Final Fantasy IV will offer pixel graphics on mobile, arriving September 8th
Last month Square Enix released the first three pixel remasters for the Final Fantasy series on the Play Store. These remasters aren't cheap, and seeing that the first two replaced games many of us...
Microsoft is ending support for Android Office apps on Chromebooks
Time to switch to a web-based editor
Do you use Chrome OS's Android app powers to run Microsoft Office apps on your Chromebook? Well Microsoft would like you to stop, please. And starting in September, the company will do more than ask. Office apps originally intended for Android will no longer be...
The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War is a new kingdom builder from NetEase, now available for pre-registration
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...
OnlyFans drops plan for porn ban
Explicit content will remain for now
Last week the creator platform OnlyFans announced that it would be getting rid of explicit content on its site as of October of this year. The announcement was akin to the ocean announcing that it was totally over this whole "water" thing. After instant backlash...
Marvel Future Revolution looks so premium that you can almost excuse the F2P nonsense
Until you're asked to pay, of course
At the end of last month, it was revealed that Marvel Future Revolution would land on mobile on August 25th. That day is today, and so Marvel's latest free-to-play RPG is finally available on both Android and iOS. Much like how Genshin Impact, NieR Re[in]carnation,...
WhatsApp message reactions are on the way
🥳 🎉 🔥
If you spend enough time using social apps, you get used to certain UX patterns. One example is the ability to react to a message or post — think Instagram or Twitter DMs — but you don't see it so much with more traditional chat apps. WhatsApp would like to change that, however, and is working...
Google Maps is trying to be painfully clear about how crowdsourced data powers navigation
And you'll need to agree to it if you want to keep using it — but you were already doing it anyway
Google Maps has become an essential tool in our lives, be it for getting around or just knowing places. The navigation features, including turn-to-turn navigation, allow us to drive to places and not...
Destiny 2 crossplay is now live across Stadia, PC, Xbox, and PlayStation
After a shaky start, it's finally ready to go
Latest update
It's live, for real this time
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...
Spotify finally gets around to adding download support for Wear OS
It should be working on most recent Wear watches
Latest update
Rolling out now
One of the more appealing factors of owning a smartwatch is being able to leave your phone behind and enjoy listening to music via earbuds. Unfortunately, after the death of Google Play Music, the platform lacked a single...
Embrace your inner Viking with the launch of Northgard on Android
This Android port holds its own against CIV 6
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...
Google Meet is about to do away with those annoying echoes
It'll alert the offender so they can rectify the problem
As video conferencing has become more popular over the last year and a half, there's one thing many of us have come to dread — echoes. An Echo is just one of a bad batch of issues that still plague video calls. Thankfully, Google is setting...
Play Store ratings will soon reflect the experience of users more like you — yes, you
The incumbent Viewers Like You contingent will also be pleased with this
After plenty of feedback from app developers and their users alike, the Google Play Store will soon begin letting everyone filter reviews and ratings based on where users are. Publishers will also be able to better track ratings...
WhatApp's making it easier to send money with payment shortcut in chat bar
The feature's in beta testing in select markets
Mobile payment apps are super popular these days, but no one really wants to install a separate service to manage their money. WhatsApp has slowly been expanding its own built-in payments feature over the last year or so, and with the release of its...
