News and notes on the latest from Google.
Back in November, Russian tech blog Rozetked posted some hands-on pictures of an unreleased device, calling it the ‘Pixel 3 Lite.’ While we didn’t expect it to make it to the US, according to a new report from Android Police, Google intends to launch two new Pixel smartphones, the Pixel 3 and 3 XL Lite, on Verizon in early spring 2019.
Continue reading “Google may launch the Pixel 3 and 3 XL Lite on Verizon in spring 2019”
2018 is almost over. There’s been a lot that’s happened in the past year. Google announced many new products, made some major changes to existing products, and shut down some products. To end 2018, let’s “rewind” by taking a look back at what all Google has been up to in the past year.
Continue reading “Google Rewind 2018: Here’s what all happened in the past year”
Back when Fortnite for Android was nearing its release, there were rumors, followed by a confirmation, that it would ditch the Google Play Store. After its release, you could download the game from their website or Samsung’s Galaxy Apps Store. Apparently, that wasn’t enough for them. Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, is planning to launch its own game store for Android, PC, and Mac.
Continue reading “Epic Games is launching its own game store for Android, PC, and Mac”
Despite being an Apple product, Apple Music has started to integrate with Android much better now. It has partial Google Assistant integration and they previously made it work with Android Auto. Although Android tablets aren’t all that popular anymore, Apple Music will now support them.
Continue reading “Apple Music beta v2.7 adds tablet support and a bottom navigation bar”
Google Photos can store all your photos in full resolution in the cloud. It can end up using a lot of data if you’re not careful, though. Currently, it lets you pick between two backup modes: original quality and high quality. However, for Indian users, Google will roll out a new backup mode called “express.”
Continue reading “Google Photos will get a new express backup mode to limit data usage”
Android Pie hasn’t even made a dent in Android’s distribution numbers despite Google, Essential, and OnePlus being the first manufacturers to offer it. Google and Essential rolled out very close-to-stock versions of Android Pie, but OnePlus changed a bit of the UI and added some of their own additional features. Did OnePlus make this release of Pie better than Google? Or did they eat our Pie just as they had eaten our Oreo? Let’s find out.
Continue reading “Stock Android 9 Pie vs. OxygenOS Pie comparison: Which is better?”
The share menu on Android has always been a nightmare. With every Android update, including Pie, there’s been no major change. It takes time to load, it’s bloated with apps, and is one of the most inconsistent experiences on Android to date. Finally, Google is working on a redesign.
Continue reading “Android’s sharing menu will finally be redesigned and be much faster”
Google announced Duo, its consumer-oriented video calling app, way back at I/O 2016. Now, Google’s doing more to invite other users to the platform. If you’re in India, you can invite others to Duo and earn cash rewards in Google Pay.
Continue reading “Google will now reward you for inviting people to Duo in India”
Waze has been a competitor to Google Maps for quite a while. In addition to simply routing you somewhere, Waze provides information about traffic, construction, police, crashes, and more in real-time. Google had bought Waze, but none of its features have been assimilated into Google Maps ever since. However, according to a report from Android Police, Google is testing crash and speed reporting in Maps, a subset of the features Waze offers.
Continue reading “Google is testing crash and speed trap reporting in Maps”
Android, the operating system that runs on 88% of all smartphones today has turned eleven years old. Today marks the 11th anniversary of the first Android beta to the public. A week later, the SDK and a ton of information about the OS came out.
