#Android - Page 3
492 Stories
You can connect your AirPods with an Android phone via Bluetooth, and it works as well as any other wireless earphones. Features like ANC, transparency mode and gesture controls do work, but certain features like Spatial audio, audio sharing, device switching and Find My remain exclusive for Apple devices.
Android's recent feature additions make it hard especially for scammers to get away with their business. Some of them include OTP Autohide and Login protection, record a single app, and scanning for deceptive links.
Google Beefs up Android Security with Theft Protection, Live Threat Detection, and More
Anshuman Jain
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In this article, we will discuss upcoming security features on Android devices, including theft protection with factory reset requirements, offline detection, easier access to Find My Device, live threat detection for Google Play Protect, hidden content in screen sharing, and cellular network protection. These features aim to enhance user privacy and security, and will be available on Android 10+ devices later this year.
What Is Android 15’s Notification Cooldown Feature (& How to Enable It)
Anshuman Jain
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Android 15 introduces a new feature called "Notification cooldown". It slowly, gradually reduces notification volume and vibrations for repeat notifications from the same app within a short period. The feature is enabled by default, but users can disable it or enable it for specific conversation apps. This feature is a welcome addition for those who receive a lot of notifications and want to reduce distractions.
Google is working on a project called Ferrochrome which brings the ability to virtually run ChromiumOS right from your Android device. Since it's in very early stages, many things are broken, but as the project progresses, it should allow users to use desktop level apps on their Android devices.
Safe Mode in Android or any operating system boots the operating system with the bare minimum of apps and processes required for the OS to function. You can boot into safe mode by long pressing the power menu or using the physical keys while the phone is turning on.
Losing your Android phone is easily one of the worst feelings, as you risk your personal data getting into the wrong hands. Thankfully, Android's Find My Device experience has been overhauled, and it lets you find your Android device even if it's turned off or not connected to the internet.
Android phones are not impervious to issues and one of the most common issues is when an Android phone refuses to charge. Some of the reasons this may happen is due to a bad charger and cable, software issues, dirty charging port, phone heating up, and battery going bad.
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If you want to move your data from an Android to an iPhone, then MobileTrans by Wondershare is a convenient tool to do so. It can wirelessly transfer files, including photos, videos, music, contacts, messages, apps, WhatsApp data, and even WhatsApp business account data. It can also be used to send files over to your computer but note that it is a paid tool.
Google's new Find My Device network rolled out recently on Android, and it lets you find lost devices with ease. It uses other Android devices on the network as they act like beacons to communicate with each other and detect your device's Bluetooth signal and location. Here's how to effectively use it.
Hiding banking or other extremely private apps from prying eyes is essential, and a lot of Android UIs come built-in with the ability to hide apps. Here's how to hide apps in Samsung, Nothing, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and on any Android device with ease.
A recent finding suggests that Android 15 could add to the betterment of user experience by incorporating a better landscape mode experience on the lock screen and notifications panels. The lock screen and notification panel would then be able to use the extended space effectively.
Scanning documents on your phone is easy on Android, thanks to built-in and third party document scanning apps. Most manufacturers include a built-in document scanner, but third-party apps like Adobe Scan have more editing features to make your documents look the best.
5 Android Features That Make Switching to iOS Impossible (For Me)
Abubakar Mohammed
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There are some features on Android that make so much more sense, and they've been missing on iPhones for now. While naming them all could be challenging, here are my five favorite features on Android that stop me from making the switch over to iOS.
Google Play Store Finally Lets You Download Multiple Apps at Once
Abubakar Mohammed
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Google has finally started rolling out to the Play Store the ability to download multiple apps at once. Although parallel downloads are now possible, Google only allows you to download two apps at once. Additional downloads will wait in the queue until either one of the ongoing apps are installed completely.
For the apps that still don't have native dark mode support, Android 15 is adding an option to force dark mode from the Accessibility settings. The option called "Make all apps dark" is similar to the "override dark-mode" option in developer options but with wider app compatibility.
Gemini user experience could soon get better with the ability to respond over other apps. The current Gemini experience is tardy because whenever you ask questions, the app force switches and takes you from whatever app you have opened to the Gemini app to show the results
New Android 15 Privacy Feature Could Protect You from Screen Recording Scams
Abubakar Mohammed
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Recent additions to Android's code suggest that Android 15 could soon use ways to protect your sensitive information when screen recording. A new option has been found inside Android 15's Developer Options called "Disable screen share protection". The feature could help you disable system protections for sensitive app content during screen-sharing.
Do you want to run AI models locally on your Android phone? Well, with the MLC Chat app, you can now download LLMs like Gemma, Phi-2, Mistral, Llama 3, etc., and chat with them natively on Android devices. The token generation is slow though, especially on older Snapdragon-based Android devices.
What Does Google’s AI-Hardware Merger Mean for Your Next Android Phone?
Abubakar Mohammed
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Google has decided to merge AI and Hardware teams, and for those wondering, here's what this decision could mean for Android. This could mean users will get faster updates, better ecosystem features on Pixel, better AI features, and improvements to existing AI features.
Android 15 Will Let You Keep Tabs on Your Phone’s Storage Chip Health, Here’s How
Abubakar Mohammed
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Google recently added support for APIs that can get your device's battery health and is now bringing to Pixels, the ability to check the health of your phone's NAND flash storage. When the DeviceDiagnostics Storage Health API is called, it returns a number which is the percentage of health remaining on the chip.
How to Use Phone as Webcam for Streaming or Video Conferencing
Arjun Sha
Abubakar Mohammed
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Desktop and Laptop cameras have hardly improved in decades and offer laughable video output. Hence, you might want to use your phone's cameras to take video calls or record videos. We'll explain how you can use your Android phone as a webcam via Android's native "Device as Webcam" feature. There are also third-party apps that you can use to do the same on both iOS and Android.
List of Trackers Compatible with Android’s New Find My Device Network
Abubakar Mohammed
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If you want to start using the latest Find My Devices, some of the best trackers that work with Android's new Find My Device network are Pebblebee Clip, Card, and Tag, and Chipolo One Point and Card Point. Other supported devices from Eufy and Jio will soon land in the market.
Every Android device comes with an in-built screen recorder these days. However, in some phones like the Pixel series, you don't get a lot of control over the screen recorder. You can't tweak the screen recording quality, frame rate and other settings. This calls for reliance on third-party screen recording Android apps, like XRecorder, AZ Recorder and Mobizen. These are free too, with only certain features like recording at over 60 FPS being locked behind a paywall.
The Android Ecosystem Is Fractured: Here’s Why It Can’t Catch up to Apple
Anshuman Jain
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In this article, I discuss the state of the Android ecosystem in 2024, highlighting the lack of a unified ecosystem. Going over some aspects of why it is that way and what can be done to change or fix it and whether there is a future for a well connected Android space just like Apple's.
Android 15 Beta 1 is out and it comes with the option to change the default wallet app from the settings menu. This will facilitate NFC payments for your preferred app that you use regularly for making transactions. The feature only works with a limited number of apps as of now depending on the region but wider support should be available later down the line.
Google has released the first Android 15 Beta and while it doesn't bring many new features, it brings a few improvements over Android 15 Developer Preview 2. Some of the highlights of this update are the WEP toggle, new Predictive back gesture animations, and TalkBack support for Braille displays that use HIDs via USB or Bluetooth. Besides, Google has replaced the NFC stack with a project mainline one.
Secret codes on Android devices let you access hidden settings and information. These codes are entered through the phone's dial pad, can be divided into two categories: MMI (Man Machine Interface) codes, which are specific to the device's manufacturer, and USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) codes, which are used to connect with the mobile service provider.
Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Benchmark Comparison
Arjun Sha
Sagnik Das Gupta
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We recently got our hands on the Xiaomi Civi 4 Pro from China which is powered by Qualcomm's newly launched, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset. We tested the SoC on several benchmarking apps and compared the scores with the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. We have performed various tests including Geekbench, AnTuTu, CPU Throttling, Geekbench GPU, and more.
Qualcomm has delivered a powerful mid-range chipset in the 7-series segment. In our benchmark tests on the OnePlus Ace 3V, which is powered by the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 chipset, the SoC performed consistently on all fronts, be it the CPU, GPU, modem, or memory. It has officially defeated MediaTek's Dimensity 8300 Ultra and stands as the top performer in the mid-range segment. You can read our detailed article to find all benchmarks, including Geekbench, AnTuTu, CPU throttling, 3DMark, and more.
Demystifying A/B Partitions: A Look at Android’s Seamless Updates
Abubakar Mohammed
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Seamless updates make OTA updates install quicker on Android. Traditionally, upon receiving an update, your Android device would require a restart to start the installation process. However, with seamless updates and what Google calls A/B partitioning, the updates are installed parallelly without interruptions and would only need a restart once installed.
OnePlus has launched its mid-range Nord CE 4 smartphone so we benchmarked the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset to evaluate the performance of CPU, GPU, 5G modem, etc. Its CPU performed fairly well and in the CPU Throttling test, it sustained a high workload without dropping performance. In the 3DMark GPU test as well, the Adreno 720 GPU offered exceptional stability. You can go through our article to find more benchmark numbers of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3.
While there may not be any small phone launches in the future, since they've only recently been discontinued, you can grab the existing models and use them for years to come. Some of the best small phones you can buy right now are the ASUS Zenfone 10, Galaxy S24, Pixel 8, and Galaxy S23.
Big Tech Is Using ‘Powered by AI’ as a Marketing Gimmick, and It Needs to Stop
Anshuman Jain
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There is a new trend used by Big Tech to plaster the term "AI-powered" in their marketing for features that are iterative improvements of features we have seen before. This tactic is being used quite freely by manufacturers to highlight of their new smartphones, catch attention and sell more phones. I took a deep dive into this matter and here are my thoughts on it.
Android, no matter which skin it features, comes with an in-built screen recorder to make use of. All you have to do is swipe down from your home screen to enter the Quick Settings panel and tap on the screen recorder icon to start recording. Some devices allow you to tweak the recording settings but devices like the Pixel series do not. In such cases, you can use the XRecorder app to record your device's screen.
You Can Now Install Any Extension on Edge Canary for Android; Here’s How
Arjun Sha
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If you are on Android, you can install browser extensions on Edge for Canary. With the latest update, it now lets you install any web extension on Edge. You just need to paste the extension ID and Edge will install it for you. While the experience is somewhat buggy and it crashes the browser often, the availability of extension support on Android is quite promising.
Kanika Gogia
The answer is no. AirTags do not work with Android. There's simply no way to set up an AirTag using an Android device. An AirTag uses Apple's Find My network for precision finding and location tracking. However, an Android phone can be used to scan for unwanted AirTags. This way, you can ensure that you aren't being tracked without consent.
Setting Custom Contact Ringtones on Android is Now Easier Than Ever
Abubakar Mohammed
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Google is rolling out a new feature in the Contacts app that allows users to set custom contact ringtones for different contacts on Android. The previous flow to add custom contact ringtones wasn't as intuitive as the latest one. You can now add a custom contact ringtone by going to the Contacts app > Fix and manage tab > Contact ringtones.
If your Android device struggling to hold a charge, there it's important that you identify the apps that are draining your battery and take control. To prevent excessive battery drain, you can enable Adaptive battery, restrict apps from running in the background, force-close apps you're not using, uninstall apps you no longer use, and update them to their latest available versions from the Play Store.
AirPods don't play well with Android devices but if you want to enjoy certain features that are exclusive to iOS, apps like MaterialPods, AndroPods, Assistant Trigger should help. These apps offer features like pop-up animations, Google Assistant integration, battery status, in-ear detection, and more to enhance your AirPods experience on Android.
The Files by Google app on Android is now getting the ability to scan documents. To use it, open the app -> tap on the floating scan button -> point your phone at the document you want to scan -> once it automatically scans, tap one. This feature gives you additional options like crop & rotate, filter and clean. Also, note that the documents are automatically saved in the PDF format.
In a surprise move, Microsoft has declared that it is ending support for Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA). The feature was first introduced with Windows 11 and allowed users to run Android apps via the Amazon Appstore without taking to third-party emulators. Microsoft is now doing away with it and won't allow users to download new Android apps via Amazon Appstore, starting March 5, 2025. Moreover, from March 6, 2024, users will not be able to search for any new apps on the Appstore. Those that already have Amazon Appstore apps will be able to use it till the support cutoff date.