#Android - Page 4
1265 Stories
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.
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.
Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi has launched its budget Android tablet offering, the Redmi Pad SE, in India. It comes with an 11-inch 90Hz display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 680, quad speakers that are Dolby Atmos supported, and a huge 8,000 mAh battery capable of charging at 10 watts.
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.
The latest spotting by Mishaal Rahman suggests that Google may revamp the volume panel in Android 15, which looks quite interesting. In the new revamp, the volume sliders are much thicker and the option to change the output device has been moved to the top and is now greatly visible unlike previously where it blended in the menu and was harder to spot.
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. 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 or a tool call Scrcpy.
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.
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.
Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2 is Soft-Bricking Pixels: Here’s How to Fix it
Abubakar Mohammed
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As soon as the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2 update landed, a few users on Reddit reported their Pixels were soft-bricked after sideloading the update. The attempts to restart Pixels once the QPR3 Beta 2 update is installed resulted in the device getting stuck on the Google logo. Fortunately, flashing the previous Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 update should restore your device to a working state.
What Is Health Connect on Android, How to Use and Supported Apps
Abubakar Mohammed
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Health Connect is a framework module in Android that syncs various parameters of fitness data across all fitness apps on your Android devices. For example, you could sync data between two fitness apps like Fitbit and Samsung Health since the data is stored and synced via the Health Connect framework.
Google has released the first Developer Preview of Android 15. You can install the same using Android Flash Tool and enabling USB Debugging on their Android device. You will also need a PC with Chromium-based browser with a USB-C cable.
Android 15 DP1 has landed and while the update doesn't bring significant changes, it should pave the way for future Developer Preview releases and Betas. Most of the changes in the build are related to privacy and security, and quality of life feature improvements.
There are chances that you may have uninstalled applications on Android which you might want to install again later but don't remember their name. Luckily, Google Play Store remembers all your previously installed apps and games. All you need to do to recover them is go to Manage apps in the Google Play Store and reinstall them one by one or in batch.
The Android Safe Browsing feature will alert you of potentially harmful websites, redirect links, or phishing links in supported apps. Safe Browsing uses Google's SafetyNet Safe Browsing API from the Google Play Services to weed out harmful links. It can be enabled by going to Settings -> Security and Privacy -> More Security and Privacy -> Android Safe Browsing.
According to a developer on Google's Android Open Source Project, the first developer preview of Android 15 could land on Februrary 15, i.e., tomorrow. The developer revealed the same, while speaking in the context of a supposed "feature" that will be released when Android 15 stable is finally out.
In the Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 update that Google released to all Pixels above Pixel 6, the Android 14 easter egg has changed from a circle to what looks like an inverted triangle now, hinting toward Android 15's launch soon in the form of first developer preview. The inverted triangle shows a 'V,' which is an indicative to the internal codename of Android 15 - Vanilla Icecream.
Read Aloud is an essential accessibility feature and Google has improved the functionality using the Reading Mode app on Android. You can install the Reading mode app from the Play Store for free, and it will read aloud the content on your screen effortlessly. It works on web pages and most apps like Gmail and WhatsApp, which is great. Alternatively, you can use Google Assistant's Read Aloud mode to read the contents of any webpage.
List of Motorola Devices That Will Get Android 14 Update Revealed
Abubakar Mohammed
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Moto has released an official list of devices in its portfolio that will get the Android 14 update. It includes their most recent foldable phones, the Razr 40 and 40 Ultra, alongside a few mid-range and upper-mid-range devices like the Moto G84 and G54. The update should arrive in the next few months, but we can't be sure as Motorola hasn't shared an official timeline.
Bluetooth Absolute Volume is a feature that acts as a middle-man between your Android's DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) and the audio that goes to your earphones. You can disable it by going to Settings -> Developer Options -> Toggle off "Disable Absolute Volume" option.
Earlier, third-party Android emulators like BlueStacks and Gameloop used to rule the roost, but with the introduction of Google Play Games on PC and Windows Subsystem for Android (WSA) by Google and Microsoft, things have changed for better. Google Play Games on PC consumes less memory and offers better performance. You can use WSA to use any Android app on your Windows 11 PC. It's about to be discontinued but still works.
Google Is Looking to Rebrand Android’s Nearby Share to ‘Quick Share’
Abubakar Mohammed
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Google is rebranding it's Nearby Share feature to Quick Share. The change was first spotted by tipster Kamila Wojciechowska in GMS version 23.50.13. Notably, Quick Share is the moniker used by Samsung. This suggests that Apple and Samsung are probably collaborating to merge the feature under Quick Share moniker.
You’d Soon Be Able to Remotely Uninstall an App from Your Android Device
Akshay Gangwar
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Tipster AssembleDebug found and enabled a feature flag in the Google Play Store that allows users to remotely uninstall apps from connected devices. The feature should arrive soon to all Android devices.
Nothing has started rolling out the Nothing OS 2.5 update based on the latest Android 14 for the Nothing Phone (2) with loads of new features like customizations, changes for the Glyph Interface, and more. This comes after the Carl Pei-led brand released the beta version of Nothing OS 2.5 update for people back in October. The Nothing Phone (1) will soon start getting the open beta of Nothing OS 2.5.
Repair mode, when enabled, reboots your phone to a factory state, without any essential, sensitive apps like Messages or Banking apps. If you're on the December Feature Drop, you can enable Repair Mode by going to Settings > System > Repair Mode.
Satyam Kumar
Beeper Mini is a trending app that emulates iMessage for Android. It allows for seamless communication from Android to Apple devices and is touted to feature 'end to end encryption'. However, Apple broke the app recently and essentially shut it down - and despite this, the developers of Beeper Mini have brought it back alive! After all, the dream of blue bubbles & green bubbles staying friends could come true.
The December Feature Drop for Pixel devices is here and it brings lots of new features such as Night Sight for Video, Timelapse, and the ability to use your Pixel camera as a Webcam for PC. The update also brings a few AI features that are exclusive to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.