Google Android Gingerbread

Back in August, Google unveiled a new YouTube Gaming service meant to compete with e-sports streaming sites like Twitch. At its launch, the service was capable of broadcasting desktop PC gameplay, but when it came to the mobile segment, users were only capable of viewing strea ...more

With hordes of games populating the Google Play Store, it's grown increasingly difficult to find trending, non-gaming apps that you might find useful on your Android device. There are a few in the Top Charts pages, peppered in among the various games you'll never play, but oth ...more

Deep down inside, Kindle Fires are actually Android tablets — the only trouble is, Amazon has layered so much of a skin on top of it all that you can't normally use Android's main app store, the Google Play Store. The Amazon Appstore, which comes bundled with Kindle Fire devic ...more

There's nothing worse than driving up to your destination only to discover that there isn't a parking spot in sight — but thankfully, Google Maps will soon have you covered. Android Police reports that the latest beta version of Maps V9.5 will incorporate a number of handy to ...more

Apple's Live Photos is a cool feature that lets you turn ordinary pictures into a GIF-like animated photos. However, these images have some pretty big drawbacks: they live only in the iOS universe and can be shaky without a tripod. Google's taken Apple's idea one step further ...more

Collaborating with other people can be a pain, especially if you have to share one device between the entire group. Usually when you're creating a new design or trying to edit a mockup, you end up hunched around a single screen or end up emailing revisions back and forth, whic ...more

The Samsung Galaxy S8's almost bezel-less display is truly a sight to behold, especially when set to Immersive Mode. While transparent when on the home screen, the navigation and status bars on the S8 will often turn opaque depending on what app you're using at the moment. Thi ...more

If you've just ditched your Android phone for a new iPhone, you're in luck, because Apple has a way to make your transition as simple as possible with their Move to iOS app for Android. To help make things even easier on you, we've outlined the process of using Move to iOS to ...more

People like to cite the iPhone as the device that started the smartphone craze, but the truth is, smartphones had existed for years by the time Apple got into the game. The real groundbreaking feature that this device brought to the table was a multi-touch screen to go along w ...more

When you're driving, the last thing you need to be doing is messing around with your phone. But these days, people expect you to be available at all times, so the text messages continue to flow in while you're on the road. It's a terrible distraction, and one that is responsib ...more

When you're browsing the internet on a computer, you just need to hit Ctrl F (or Command F) and type something out to find all instances of that word in the webpage. It's a handy feature baked into most browsers (nearly all mobile browsers have a "find" feature, too), but unfo ...more

One of the biggest gripes I initially had with the LG G3 was the lack of options for the Shortcut keys, which are the volume keys that allow you to launch the camera or the QuickMemo+ app directly from the lock screen. I never use QuickMemo+, so having it as a shortcut was a c ...more

Since the days of Android Jelly Bean, Samsung has implemented an energy preservation feature known as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, or DVFS for short. What this essentially does is limit or adjust the frequency of the microprocessor to conserve power and prevent exces ...more

Netflix is more popular now than ever, but it still has a ways to go before satisfying everyone. Whether it's a lack of availability, buggy or unattractive apps, or just not being able to find anything to watch, lots of people have their complaints. But there is a way to make ...more

The New York Times has made a habit of publishing augmented reality stories throughout 2018, and now the media giant's magazine is getting into the act, too. As a tie-in to its annual "Great Performers" issue, which recognizes the top thespians of the year in the eyes of Time ...more

It's no secret that Google stores your search history in order to provide you with targeted ads when surfing the web. What's even more interesting (or freaky) is that your Google Now voice searches are also being stored, and you can actually listen to them right now. Don't Mi ...more

Before heading out on a hike, or any excursion for that matter, it would be wise to take a map with you just in case you get lost while on your quest. But let's be realistic, few people are going to use a physical map—or even know how to obtain or read one—in this digital age ...more

Smartphones have become such a big part of our lives these days that they're now closely associated with our personal identities. No longer is it Ford versus Chevy, rock versus rap, or PC versus Mac—now, you're either an Android person or an iOS person. Don't Miss: 10 Things ...more

Update: Google's new Pixel models have been released! Check out our full guides on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL to see all the details, but we'll leave the rumor roundup intact below for posterity. Although marked by initial scandals, many regard the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL as s ...more

On August 1, Google Play started requiring new app submissions to target at least Android 8.0 Oreo's API. Then, as of November 1, all updates to existing apps were required target the same API. While at first glance, this change may mean little to you, it will have a profound ...more

With the release of the Nexus 5 back in 2013 came the Google Now Launcher, which has become the go-to choice for many Android users, especially those who prefer the Nexus line. With its integration of the Google Now page and the always-listening hotword detection, you'd be har ...more

Our smartphones are full of personally-identifiable information. So much of what we do with these devices is tracked and recorded to make our experience more streamlined and personalized. For many users, that's a fair trade — but for privacy-minded folks, it's a raw deal. And ...more

Most newer Android devices manufactured in 2014 or later have a built-in pedometer for tracking your fitness activity. This step counter is a great way to keep yourself in shape and motivated, but developer Leonardo Cavaletti has come up with an even better way to put it to us ...more

Sometimes it's the smallest feature in your smartphone that makes the biggest difference in user experience. Take screen timeout, for instance. You can probably think of plenty of times when your handset's display blacked out while you were in the middle of something. You coul ...more

Magic Eraser was one of Google's big selling points for the Pixel 6 and 7 series smartphones, and it's finally made its way to other Android devices. It's even available on iPhone and iPad with the latest Google Photos app. The tool lets you easily remove or camouflage unwant ...more

Google released the first build of Android 12 almost exactly one year after dropping Android 11, which is remarkable in the midst of a global pandemic. But you can tell the Android engineers have been hard at work while quarantining, because the latest OS version is absolutely ...more

Over a billion people use WhatsApp, which makes it the most popular standalone messaging service out there. But if you're one of the many people whose group of friends relies on WhatsApp for all communication, chances are, you have several years-long messaging threads with all ...more

On Thursday morning, May 28th, Google announced an upcoming version of Android—and within a few hours, a preview build of this so-called "Android M" release was made available to select Nexus devices. If you're one who likes to stay on the cutting edge, this build offers lots ...more

As great as the Internet is, it is not without its dangers. Hackers at any time may be breaking into your online accounts and compromising your sensitive information. Last year, hackers broke into Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter and made off with 2 million stolen passwords. It's ...more

Figuring out exactly which apps on your phone are eating through resources and battery life can be a difficult task. Though some information can be found in Android's battery menu, the charts and graphs provided here pale in comparison to what's offered by the GSam app. If you ...more

A mustachioed Italian plumber collects coins and battles bullets, plants, fish, mushrooms, and turtles in strange environments to save a princess held captive by a crazy, spiked-shell, bipedal tortoise. It's insane to think that Mario saved the video game industry—but he did. ...more

For some strange reason, Google left several of the Pixel's best software features disabled by default. One of the more interesting tweaks that fall into this category is a gesture that puts your fingerprint scanner to use after you've unlocked your phone. This gesture is cal ...more

If you're using an up-to-date version of Google Maps on your Android device, there's a little-known feature you can use to apply stickers to saved places, making them visually easier to find while you're looking at the map. This is by no means a groundbreaking feature, but it ...more

The Chromecast TV streaming lineup from Google is one of the more popular products in the category, primarily due to its low price tag and broad app support. With more than 430,000 reviews on the App Store, Chromecast has even found fans of those in the Apple ecosystem. The l ...more

Life can get busy. Between work, school, and all the extracurricular activities, weekly chores like making a grocery list can get pushed to the back burner. But with a little help from the Google Keep app for Android or iPhone, you can at least make one thing easier. Say your ...more

Smartglasses maker Vuzix rushed out of the gate to be the first company to announce hardware powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 for augmented reality wearables, but now the company is buying time until the product is ready to ship. On Thursday, at the Augmented World Expo ...more

With Android 5.0, Google introduced a new "Heads Up" notification system for incoming calls and messages. While the new incoming call interface seems to be a rousing success, the rest of the Heads Up system has been met with much less enthusiasm from users. For one, the notif ...more

Galaxy S8 preorders have begun arriving at doorsteps, and some websites seem to be enamored by Samsung's latest visual revamp of TouchWiz — but don't buy the hype, it's a trap! From TouchWiz to Grace UX to Samsung Experience, no matter what the name is, it's still the same old ...more

The Nextbit Robin, the world's first cloud-oriented smartphone, is on sale at Amazon for $299 plus tax, a savings of $100. You'll have to act quick though, as the deal only runs through May 10th while supplies last. Nextbit Robin, an unlocked SIM phone, was just updated last w ...more

One of the main talking points at the Google I/O was Android Wear, an there are actually two smartwatches already available, the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. While these watches are very reasonably priced, you'll want to make sure your phone can work with them prior to ma ...more

Google's G Suite collection of premium cloud services and apps have become popular with business customers, with more than six million subscribers now. For those who use Google accounts for business and personal use, this can create some workflow issues. For instance, while G ...more

Pokémon, Google, and augmented reality go together like wasabi, soy, and ginger, and the trio has come together again for the release of the latest game from the Pokémon universe. As Nintendo released the eagerly-anticipated games Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield for the Swit ...more

Alongside its official unveiling of the lower-cost Pixel 3a smartphone at Google I/O, Google took the opportunity to extend its early preview of AR walking navigation in Google Maps to all Pixel devices. After introducing the capability at last year's Google I/O Google began ...more

In Android 10, Google is letting you adjust the accent colors to give your phone a bit of flair. When combined with the new system-wide dark mode, you are looking at eight different color combinations. That is seven more than we had in the previous version and seven additional ...more

The status bar is an omnipresent force on our Samsung Galaxy S3s; always there to give us that vital information about battery life, date and time, Wi-Fi access, and much more. But there's just something about that default black bar that's so...boring. When Google launched An ...more

Like what iMessage is to iOS, Google Hangouts is to Android—allowing users to share messages instantly, as if quickly wasn't good enough. With Google Hangouts, you can share locations and send maps, receive and send SMS, share animated GIFs, make video calls, and chat not only ...more

Sending Christmas cards via snail mail is so passé. Why spend the time and money for a bougie photoshoot, saccharine card design, and postage when you can use augmented reality to instantly dress up photos and videos to send to friends and family instead? Luckily, there is a ...more

With more and more phones using OLED displays, the need for dark mode is at the highest it's ever been. Since dark backgrounds reduce battery consumption on these displays, the Android community has been begging Google to include a system-wide dark mode. Instead, Google gave u ...more

| Updated February 11, 2019 with new phones. When will my phone get Android Oreo? That's a question still being asked by many, even this late in 2018. Most OEMs have answered this question in one way or another, either releasing a stable OTA or confirming their device won't b ...more

Google recently announced the beta release of a developer tool called ARC Welder for Chrome, which allows developers to run and test their Android apps on any computer with the Chrome browser installed. Outside of developers, ARC Welder can be run by everyday users to bring A ...more

You know your infant is advanced. Maybe you want to give her or him a head start at learning things like writing code to develop the next big Fortnite game. Or maybe you just want to play Fortnite with your infant. But the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages screen time ...more

Cinemagraphs are basically artistic photos that have been turned into a GIF to showcase a bit of subtle motion and give them life. Unlike regular GIFs, which can sometimes loop with a jarring cut at the end, cinemagraphs give the illusion of perpetual motion, like water drops ...more

Many Android users woke up on January 10 to discover that their phone's performance took a nosedive overnight. Battery life is draining fast, overall performance has been sluggish, and devices seem to be overheating for no apparent reason. Not to worry, this isn't happening be ...more

Starting with Marshmallow, Android added a built-in theme engine called "Runtime Resource Overlay," or RRO. This theme engine was intended to be used only by smartphone manufacturers, not end-users, so unlike Cyanogen's CM Theme Engine, owners can't use it to change the look a ...more

Google just dropped the new Android 9.0 Pie update for Pixel devices, and it's packed with cool new features. There's notch support, a new screenshot button, and even a way to edit screenshots after you've taken them, just to name a few. But one feature that's easy to overlook ...more

Good news for those of us who are both directionally impaired and like to hold our own concerts while driving: Waze and Spotify are teaming up to make your drive easy to navigate with a sweet soundtrack. The new Waze and Spotify update gives you the option of getting directio ...more

Theming is one of the many facets of Android that gives it a leg up on its iOS competition. With the right home launcher and icon theme, you can completely change the look and feel of your device in just a few minutes. Don't Miss: How to Make Your Android Unique & Theme Every ...more

UPDATE April 4, 2019: We had high hopes for the ZTE Axon 9, but it won't be releasing in the United States. If you're in another area of the world, you can look into the ZTE Axon 9 Pro, but we cannot recommend this device to American readers due to carrier incompatibility. Bel ...more

After poor sales of last year's HTC 10 and the terrible reviews their first 2017 flagship received, HTC really needs the HTC U11 to succeed. But they're not taking things lying down, as they've come up with some interesting tech for their latest handset. The biggest new featu ...more

When they were purchased by Google back in 2011, Motorola underwent a sweeping change in software philosophy. All throughout the UI on their flagship devices, edgy design patterns were replaced by clean, minimalist interfaces akin to vanilla Android. This philosophy has contin ...more