Latest news with #Android Authority
Android Authority
6 hours ago
- Android Authority
Google's AI Mode could soon get an important Gemini feature (APK teardown)
Tushar Mehta / Android Authority TL;DR Google is working on new ways that improve how you access AI Mode chat history inside the Google app for Android. The history of chats with AI Mode could soon be grouped under the Activity tab, alongside your regular search history and bookmarks. Google could also enable the option to share AI Mode conversations, which is currently not possible. Google has been fervently promoting Search's AI Mode alongside Gemini. After recently adding AI Mode to Circle to Search, Google Lens, and even in Chrome for Android, it could soon enhance the search-centric mode with a key Gemini feature. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. We recently learned that Google is revamping the way we access the search history, specifically for the AI Mode. In addition to the current button placement on the top-right of AI Mode — in its main screen and inside an ongoing chat, Google may soon merge it with the standard Search history and bookmarks under the Activity tab. We spotted these changes hidden in version 16.27.69 beta of the Google app on Android. Current way to access AI Mode history Current way to access AI Mode history from a chat Upcoming method to track AI Mode history As you can see above, the modified interface shows only the three most recent searches. The remaining list is tucked away on a separate page that can be accessed by tapping the ( > ) button. Besides clubbing AI Mode history under the Activity tab, Google may also revamp the expanded list. My colleague AssembleDebug informed me that while the current AI Mode shortcut directs you to a web page, Google might soon add a dedicated sidebar with the Google app's section for the mode. Current AI mode history view Upcoming AI Mode history view Upcoming link-sharing options for AI Mode history In addition to making it easier to access your conversation history, this sidebar could simplify the process of deleting conversations, even without exiting an ongoing search. Alongside changing how we access the interface, Google could also bring a key change that makes it easy to share your AI Mode conversations. In the beta build, we enabled a 'Manage Public Links' option, which allows you to share your chats using links or export them to Gmail or Google Docs, a feature that is currently not available. You can, however, export results both from Google's AI overviews and Gemini externally. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Android Authority
I absolutely love and recommend these 5 Android games to play with one hand
Tushar Mehta / Android Authority Despite hundreds of thousands of games on the Play Store, very few become comforting escapes from the harsh reality. Games that you can play anywhere and without any special skillset, with one motive: feeling relaxed instead of getting all riled up. With this in mind, I have handpicked games that require no prior experience in mobile gaming and can be picked up immediately. They don't need gaming chops and can be run on most Android phones or tablets. None of them require high-end hardware and or high-speed internet, but don't have potato-quality graphics. All of these games are free to play, though there will be some ads, mostly to earn in-game perks or accelerate progress. Which of these one-handed Android games have you tried? 0 votes Tennis Clash NaN % 2 NaN % Whiteout Survival NaN % Cell to Singularity: Evolution NaN % Mekorama NaN % None of them NaN % Tennis Clash Tushar Mehta / Android Authority I've never been good at meatspace sports, and so, I simulate feeling victorious by playing sports video games. Lately, I have been obsessed with a new sports game that I can't seem to detach myself from. Tennis Clash is extremely easy to play; once a game (of tennis) starts, all I have to do is swipe my thumb across the screen to direct the shot or tap somewhere on the court to move my player. I love the fact that those are the only two controls, and I can keep playing with one hand while using the other to organize my desk, finish up chores, or caress my dog. There's barely any learning required, and a trail of my finger's swipe ensures I hit the ball in the right direction. All matches happen against actual human players, and not bots, which makes it slightly more competitive. The game has the option to join clubs but not invite other members to a match, which is the only aspect I dislike about the game. Apart from that, Tennis Clash offers truly engaging graphics with detailed character movements, which keep me engaged in the gameplay, even with minimal input required. When I'm not actively playing, I can spend time unlocking new characters with special skills, decking them with the best gear, and easily lose track of time. 2 Tushar Mehta / Android Authority I find 2 bizarrely simple and highly addictive. The sole aim of the game is to occupy more territory by simply navigating a colorful cube across a plain white 2D map, starting from a small area and making closed loops of movement to envelop more space. Although I found steering the cube around by sliding my thumb across the screen slightly challenging initially, especially since there's no virtual joystick, I was able to adapt quickly. While there is practically no graphic element other than the cubes and the surface they move on, the developer makes them engaging by embellishing these cubes with happy colors and interesting textures. In the image above, you see my cube is inspired by donut dressing, and that alone hacks my brain not to leave the game. But what has me truly hooked is the competitive gameplay; I have to be careful while treading on other people's territory or risk being easily eliminated, which happens when someone circles me or cuts off my trail before completing the loop. It's not the ease of playing but, in fact, the ease of getting eliminated that keeps me engaged. The embedded Super Mario effect makes me start another game immediately after. I can even brave through 30-second video ads, which, unfortunately, occur after every game, despite the displeasure. Since the only objective is to drive the cube around, I can play it with just one thumb or finger. Whiteout Survival Tushar Mehta / Android Authority Whiteout Survival is a city-building game with interesting elements. I'm certain it was borne out of Clash of Clans' frenzy and works similarly, except here, the clashing clans comprise humans living in frigid wilderness instead of beasts. But because it has human characters, the 'survival' aspect remains paramount. As the chief of your village, I ensure that everyone is warm, well-fed, and employed, constantly upgrade their living quarters, replace food with more nutritious ingredients, and rotate workers. Although my rating as a chief depends on my pupils' happiness, I wouldn't deny that being in control feels great even without it. Once in a while, I see complaints or rants in the mailbox, but so long as I address them, the village thrives. Although the game also has the option to explore the nearby areas and try to conquer them using a separate army, I don't like war and instead engage in ensuring healthy diplomatic ties with nearby villages. I also like being able to zoom into the tiny characters and observe them go about their routine. I treat them with special suppers once in a while to show my benevolence. I started playing it casually, but before I knew, I found myself taking active steps to ensure the prosperity and contentment of those tiny animated characters. Cell to Singularity: Evolution Tushar Mehta / Android Authority A few years ago, I randomly stumbled upon Cell to Singularity and subsequently spent the next several weeks playing this game exclusively every time I used my phone. While I'm not proud, I can't deny the game's addictive nature. In fact, I find it less suited to the description of a game, and more akin to an amalgamation of various science and psychology experiments. I like Cell to Singularity because I get to simulate an entire universe, which originates from a single cell organism in a petri dish. There's little player input for growing organisms, as most of the developments are automated. However, tapping with one hand increases activity in the system and eventually unlocks more organisms when there is enough currency (expressed as 'entropy'). It includes multiple milestones, as when organs combine to form an organism, the first time an arthropod walks out of water, the first flying dinosaur appears, multiple asteroids strike the prehistoric Earth, and the human race eventually appears. Each of these milestones features a beautiful cinematic cut scene, which I find to be the most gratifying part of the game. There are multiple concurrent realms, and I enjoy the level of control that comes with combining inorganic compounds to form more complex proteins, checking on the supercomputer running the simulation, or even fiddling with elements on Earth with the eventual goal of reaching the singularity. Every time I commit to this game, I quit without feeling enchanted by its unique approach. Mekorama Tushar Mehta / Android Authority I don't believe I have ever played a game more meditative than Mekorama. It's essentially an isometric puzzle game where you guide the robot through a complex and peculiar building. The giddy robot that displays jiggly body physics based on how you move it. While its gameplay might remind you of Monument Valley or Lara Croft GO, Mekorama lacks any melancholic elements, which I enjoy less about those games. All levels here are non-identical and get progressively more challenging, requiring me to spend several minutes or even hours trying to unstuck myself. For a game that's nearly a decade old, Mekorama has excellent graphics, which is also why it was later ported to Xbox One, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch. It even features a builder mode that lets you create custom levels. The most exciting aspect is that Mekorama works without an internet connection, so it can be played on a flight from takeoff to landing. I say this because I have done it at least a couple of times. I share recommendations after having spent dozens of hours playing these simple yet enchanting games personally. I am also curious to learn about the best Android games you have found and loved that offer a one-handed experience. Tell me if you enjoy any of these and share your favorites in the comments below!
Phone Arena
2 days ago
- Phone Arena
Galaxy Watch 8 gets a new setting most users will want to turn on
There's a new "battery protection" feature on the newly announced Galaxy Watch 8 series that's designed to extend the timepiece's battery longevity. We all know that not many people upgrade their smartwatches every year. And upgrades are not always huge from one year to the next, so many people opt to keep their current smartwatch until a bigger upgrade comes along, or it starts experiencing issues. One issue that many smartwatches experience over time is battery degradation, though. Despite that, most timepieces don't have serious battery protection features, so you have limited options to protect their battery longevity. Well, now it seems smartwatch makers are starting to pay attention to this issue, and Samsung is also eyeing battery longevity with a new feature coming with the Galaxy Watch 8 lineup. In other words, the feature keeps your Galaxy Watch battery between 85 and 90% of its maximum capacity when charging. Image Credit - Android Authority Previous Galaxy Watch models had only two options in the "Charging" section of Battery settings. You had "show charging info" and "auto power on". The first one controlled whether your device would show its battery level while charging, and the other one basically determined if your watch would automatically power on when connected to a charger. This new feature brings things to the next level. You may know that having smartwatches (or any device with a lithium-ion battery) consistently at 100% charge can shorten the battery's longevity. The 100% charge comes with a stress level for the battery because of the high state of charge. Nowadays, many new smartphones have similar protections, like limiting the charging to 80%. For the Galaxy Watch 8 , it's 90%. Understandably, although 80% is better than 90%, smartwatches have smaller batteries, so Samsung likely didn't want your smartwatch to run out of juice when you're out and about. It's not clear at this point whether the feature will come to older Galaxy Watches with the One UI 8 Watch update, or it's just reserved for the newer models. Meanwhile, Apple has a similar feature on the Apple Watch. I've noticed it on my Apple Watch SE 2 – an automatic behavior where the watch limits its charge if I haven't been using the full battery and I charge it every night. It's likely part of the Optimized Battery Charging feature, but instead of timing the charge to finish right before I take it off the charger, it simply caps the battery before it reaches 100%. But unlike Samsung's new feature, this one is automatic and triggered in certain conditions only (like charging every night). Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Android Authority
3 days ago
- Android Authority
I was wrong about Obsidian: Here's why it's actually a powerful app
Bogdan Petrovan / Android Authority Obsidian sat unused in my app drawer for months. I tried playing around with it when I first set out to ditch big tech from my digital life, but I found it far too intimidating and clunky. I'd poke around in it every now and again, and then scurry back to Google Keep. Obsidian clearly wasn't for me. Then, something subtle shifted that made me reconsider the purple app. So now I'm doing something I never thought I would: singing the praises of Obsidian. Now, I no longer stare blankly at the screen and then close the app. Instead, that initial confusion has turned to genuine appreciation for all of its intricacies, and even some of its quirks. Obsidian has become an indispensable part of how I organize my digital life. Do you use Obsidian? 0 votes It's my main note-taking app. NaN % I've tried it but it didn't stick. NaN % I've heard of it but never tried it. NaN % I've never heard of it. NaN % I dismissed Obsidian at first Obsidian's community plugins A Daily Notes template A messy Obsidian setup The name itself is intimidating compared to other note-taking apps: Evernote, Keep, and Samsung Notes. These apps sound helpful, even friendly. The name Obsidian sounds like a rock monster from a fantasy novel. Opening the app felt less like starting a new note and more like being dropped back into 1993 with only a DOS system and a blinking cursor waiting for input. It felt cold and unwelcoming. I tried to use it nevertheless. I'm familiar with markdown, so there was no problem there. What turned me off was the app's almost aggressive lack of structure. Unlike Notion, with its clear page hierarchies and thousands of templates, or the simple tagging system of Evernote, Obsidian was a vast, empty space. I dove into Obsidian's plugins. The sheer number of extensions promised customization, but that led to a sense of overwhelm. Daily notes, Templater, Dataview, mind maps…each one fragmented the app. The name Obsidian sounds like a rock monster from a fantasy novel. Ultimately, the very customizability that is touted as Obsidian's strength became its biggest weakness for me from the get-go. It morphed from a completely blank slate into a messy digital sandbox. My notes were practically impossible to locate in this mess, if I even knew where to start one in the first place. What finally made it click Nathan Drescher / Android Authority I still wasn't happy with using big tech. I appreciated Obsidian's indie roots and that it was a Canadian-made app, so I forced myself to give it another try, but this time, I did something counterintuitive. I got rid of all the plugins. That endless tinkering had been holding me back from just using the app. I had been trying to mold Obsidian into something I didn't need it to be, like some feature-rich behemoth to take on Evernote and Notion. Simplicity, I discovered, was the key. Instead, I created a few basic folders to organize my notes, set up a master note outlining my hashtag structure, and stopped fidgeting with all the other bells and whistles. I signed up for Obsidian's official sync service rather than mess around with building third-party cloud setups. Obsidian transformed from an intimidating mess into a powerful tool. What Obsidian does well My clean Obsidian setup. My Obsidian tag list. An article clipped to Obsidian from the web. I appreciate Obsidian's fundamental focus on content. The app allows me to concentrate purely on my thoughts and ideas once it is stripped of all those excessive options. The simplicity of writing in plain markdown means there are few distractions, with the text itself the primary element. This is a surprisingly liberating writing environment. This simplicity extends to how Obsidian handles my content in the background. Unlike other markdown note-taking apps like Bear (over on the Apple side of things), Obsidian stores my notes locally. There's no vendor lock-in, no walled-off ecosystems. My notes are easily accessible and, more importantly, portable. It also became surprisingly easy to navigate and find information once I embraced basic folders and a tagging system. There's no vendor lock-in, no walled-off ecosystems. Obsidian's web clipper extension is also useful. It works like Evernote's web clipper, parsing the information and stripping away all the noise to create a text-only note, complete with related information like URL, site name, and date and time of capture. The web clipper is free and is available for Chromium browsers like Edge and Chrome, and as an Android app that appears in the share sheet. I think I'll keep using Obsidian Nathan Drescher / Android Authority Obsidian isn't a flawless app. There's a definite learning curve that can be a hurdle for newcomers. The lack of built-in guidance might scare off some of the less tech-savvy who first open the app. However, my simple, content-focused setup has truly won me over. It's not the flashiest note-taking app out there. But it excels at organizing thoughts, connecting ideas, and capturing notes. Obsidian has earned a permanent spot in my digital toolset. I was looking for a powerful yet simple way to manage information that wasn't linked to a big tech conglomerate, and I can confidently say I finally found it in Obsidian.
Gizmodo
4 days ago
- Gizmodo
Samsung Cares About Competing Again. Tri-Fold Phone Coming by End of Year
Despite various rumors and even an alleged leak, there was no 'one more thing' teasing a tri-folding phone at Samsung's Unpacked event last week, where the tech company announced the impressively thin Galaxy Z Fold 7, Z Flip 7 with an edge-to-edge cover screen, and two stylish Galaxy Watch 8 smartwatches. But the tri-fold phone is real and it's coming soon. See Galaxy Z Fold 7 at See Galaxy Z Flip 7 at Speaking to the Korea Times, Roh-Tae-moon aka TM Roh, Samsung's acting head of its Device Experience Division, said the company is 'working hard on a tri-fold smartphone with the goal of launching it at the end of the year.' There's no name for the tri-fold—rumors claim it'll be called the Galaxy Fold G—but it's nearly finished, said Roh. 'We are now focusing on perfecting the product and its usability, but we have not decided its name.' Android Authority shared the below video and several images and animations, mined from the latest version of Samsung's One UI 8 software, showing off what it believes is Samsung's tri-fold phone. I'll have a review for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 on Gizmodo this week, but it's safe to say that Samsung has finally created the book-style foldable it set out to make in 2019. The Z Fold 7 is basically as thin and light as a Galaxy S25 Ultra and has the top-notch performance and cameras you'd expect from a flagship phone—features you can't cheap out on when you're asking $2,000 for the device. With the Z Fold now virtually perfect, it's the right time for Samsung to look at even bolder phone form factors. A tri-fold phone with two folds instead of one, which allows for an even larger tablet-sized screen when unfolded, would be a first for Samsung and play catch up to Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate. Like all of Huawei's phones, the Mate XT Ultimate is not available in the U.S. because of Chinese restrictions, which is a problem that Samsung wouldn't have. While tri-fold phones are eye-catching and would put Samsung back at the top as a tech innovator, the company's first such device will almost certainly cost even more than the Z Fold 7. Huawei's Mate XT Ultimate carries a 3,499 euros starting price (roughly $4,000 at today's exchange rate). That's not surprising since you're getting a phone that functions as a regular glass slab when folded up, a tablet when one fold is unfolded, and then a really big tablet (or laptop-sized screen) when fully unfurled. Releasing a tri-fold phone won't be without its own challenges. More folds gets you the biggest screen you can fold up into your pocket, but it also requires bigger and heavier batteries and thickness balloons with all the folds. Durability might be a concern, too—there's more display area to get damaged, especially on the sides where the creases fold over. Still, it's good to see Samsung hasn't lost all of its fight after giving in and making all of its bar-style phones essentially look like iPhone bricks. I'd love to see Samsung come back and wallop its competitors instead of phoning things in year in and year out. See Galaxy Z Fold 7 at See Galaxy Z Flip 7 at
