Google Play

Over a year ago, Google finally launched its response to Apple's Arcade subscription service. Going beyond just games, however, Google Play Pass also gives access to productivity and utility apps as well. Unlike Google's other apps and services, however, Play Pass doesn't always make it to headlines after its initial launch. Some might have the idea that the subscription service has quietly disappeared into the background but the company's latest update tries to convince you otherwise.

Continue Reading

This week the Google Play Hot Air Balloon offline mini-game launched into the wild. This game was in development for quite a while now, appearing in testing for months back in 2020 - now it would appear that it's ready to roll. If you'd like to give this game a go, make sure you've got the latest version of the Google Play store on your Android device - then disconnect from the internet.

Continue Reading

For the past year or so, Huawei has gained something like a reverse Midas touch, where every company and subsidiary under its name gets dragged into its US export ban. That included Honor, which has always been promoting itself as an independent but related brand from Huawei and has, to its credit, helped Huawei achieve the sales numbers it has been flaunting. That independence finally became complete two months ago when Huawei sold off its Honor business and that first fruit of that separation might be coming this week.

Continue Reading

Google has always advertised Google Play Store not only as the Android app store but also as a trustworthy and secure source of apps. That security, however, is only as strong as Google Play services itself and when the code behind that becomes open to security exploits, the house can easily come crumbling down. Unfortunately, while Google has already plugged up a recent security hole in its Google Play Core Library, app developers aren't doing their part and putting their own apps and their users at risk.

Continue Reading

Today Google released a list of games and apps for Android that they named "best" of the year 2020. Included in the mix were categories like Best Competitive, Indies, Pick Up & Play, Game Changers, Everyday Essentials, Personal Growth, Hidden Gems, "Best for Fun", and "Best Apps for Good". As it is each year, this list of lists makes for a good first place to look for the apps and games that have the best chance at allowing users to make the most of their smart device experience.

Continue Reading

Android app packages or APKs are a mixed bag, literally and figuratively. They are often large because a single APK may contain all the data applicable for all variants of the app, even if some variants or architectures don't need the other parts. At the same time, that kind of packaging makes it trivial to redistribute APKs and sideload them outside of Google Play Store. Things will be changing next year once Google starts to enforce its new Android App Bundles (AAB) format and while it's generally a win for most end users, it could give developers and some users headaches as well.

Continue Reading

This week Google Music will stop working for your devices, if it's not already stopped working today. Over the past year Google's phased out the Google Music ecosystem in favor of YouTube Music, they're alternative to each service offered by the former. The Google Music platform allows switching to a YouTube Music account, and costs are similar, but users will need to actively make the change to download the new app and log in.

Continue Reading

Today the folks at Sensor Tower delivered a list of top app store downloads for iOS and Android devices for the month of September, 2020. This list has a bunch of entries you'll likely expect, like TikTok and YouTube, but a few that you might've never heard of before, like Snack Video. Suffice to say - we're dealing with a COVID-19 universe in the app market right now: these lists make that very clear.

Continue Reading

Google Play fans in countries outside the US haven't always been able to access the Play Pass subscription service. The good news for some in European countries feeling left out is that Google has expanded into 24 additional markets. Previously, Play Pass was available in the US, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Continue Reading

Sonos filed a lawsuit against Google this week to further claims of patent infringement with smart speaker products. Sonos claims that a team-up between the companies with the launch of Google Play Music resulted in Google effectively copying Sonos technology for use in smart speakers they'd release years later. This claim comes just before Google's next major event in which the company is expected to reveal one more smart speaker and/or smart audio product that Sonos expects will continue what they consider the company's "disregard for IP."

Continue Reading

Google will enforce its in-app payments policy, insisting that developers making digital sales in software distributed through the Google Play store use the official billing system, in a crack-down that follows a high-profile lawsuit with Fortnite developer Epic Games. The announcement - word of which was leaked last week - comes alongside new news about third-party download stores that will be supported in Android 12.

Continue Reading

Google may be planning to pull Fediverse apps from the Google Play Store over concerns about hate speech, a new report claims. These apps are designed to connect users with federated servers in a way similar to forum apps designed to connect users to different forums. It seems these apps may have been targeted because they make it possible to access servers that host hate speech, prompting criticism from users.

Continue Reading