Latest news with #NickFernandez
Android Authority
4 days ago
- Android Authority
The best emulation frontend just added native Android game and app support
Nick Fernandez / Android Authority TL;DR ES-DE Frontend just launched version 3.3.0, with native Android game and app support. Previously workarounds required a separate file and a few extra steps. The update also added support for new emulators and four additional languages. When it comes to retro emulators on Android, organizing your files and emulators can be a nightmare. Even with a properly formatted microSD card stacked with your legally-ripped ROMs, it's still a pain to browse your games on most emulators. Emulation frontends solve this problem, and now one of the best, ES-DE Frontend, has finally incorporated native Android game and app support. Apart from touchscreen support, this was the main missing feature of the otherwise excellent Android port of Emulation Station. On previous versions it was technically possible to add Android apps and games to the menu, but it required a separate file download and some extra file configurations. Now, it will work out of the box. This feature is also available on Linux, Windows, and macOS to import desktop apps, Steam games, and more. Android apps and games are now automatically added to ES-DE Frontend. Version 3.3.0 adds support for new emulators, most notably the Sega Model 3 arcade platform. It also removes the MAME4droid 2024 emulator, replacing the entry with the new name, MAME4droid Current. You may need to change your default emulator in the Alternative Emulators section in settings as a result. Apart from that, ES-DE Frontend now supports four additional languages: Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, and Portuguese (Portugal). That brings the total supported languages to over 20. Check out the detailed list of updates in the official 3.3.0 changelog. The desktop version of ES-DE is available for free, but the Android version requires a one-time purchase on Patreon, costing roughly $5. If you're a fan of retro gaming handhelds from Retroid, AYN, ANBERNIC, and others, it's more than worth the price of entry. 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
30-06-2025
- Android Authority
Got a Galaxy phone? Samsung says you should turn on these security features now!
Nick Fernandez / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung has advised Galaxy users to activate a set of security features to protect their phones in case of theft. Most of these features made their way to Samsung devices with the One UI 7 update. The company says more Galaxy devices will get these features in the future. Samsung is asking Galaxy users to activate a set of security features on their phones. The company says that because phone theft incidents are rising worldwide, all Galaxy users must have the company's anti-theft features enabled to protect their devices. With the release of its Android 15-based One UI 7 update, Samsung updated a bunch of theft protection and anti-robbery features on its phones. These include the following: Theft Detection Lock: This is essentially an Android feature, available on devices with Android 10 or higher. It uses AI to detect if someone has snatched your phone from your hand and tried to run, bike, or drive away with it. Your phone's screen will instantly lock if Theft Detection Lock is triggered, protecting it from unauthorized access. This is essentially an Android feature, available on devices with Android 10 or higher. It uses AI to detect if someone has snatched your phone from your hand and tried to run, bike, or drive away with it. Your phone's screen will instantly lock if Theft Detection Lock is triggered, protecting it from unauthorized access. Offline Device Lock: Again, this is an Android feature and isn't Samsung-specific. Offline Device Lock automatically locks your screen to help protect your data even when your device is off the grid or in the wrong hands by detecting multiple failed authentication attempts. Again, this is an Android feature and isn't Samsung-specific. Offline Device Lock automatically locks your screen to help protect your data even when your device is off the grid or in the wrong hands by detecting multiple failed authentication attempts. Remote Lock: Remote Lock is also part of the Android suite of security features and lets you lock your phone screen with your phone number and a quick security challenge using any device. To enable any of the above features, navigate to Settings > Security and privacy > Lost device protection > Theft protection. Moreover, Samsung is also encouraging users to activate Identity Check, which ensures that biometric authentication is completed to change important security settings when your device is outside of a trusted location. Head to Settings > Security and privacy > Lost device protection > Theft protection > Identity Check to enable the feature on your Samsung phone. You can then add your 'Safe places,' which are essentially locations where your biometrics won't be required to change sensitive information. Samsung also highlighted Security Delay in its blog post. The feature is part of Identity Check and initiates a one-hour waiting period if someone tries resetting your device's biometric data, turning off Identity Check, changing lock screen settings, turning off Find My, or editing your safe places. This gives you time to lock your phone remotely in case of theft. Samsung says these features are currently available on the following devices, with more Galaxy phones in line to get them in the near future: Galaxy S25 series Galaxy S24 series Galaxy Z Fold 6 Galaxy Z Flip 6 Galaxy Z Fold 5 Galaxy Z Flip 5 Galaxy S23 series Galaxy S22 series Have you activated these security features on your Galaxy devices, or have you ever had to use any of them? Let us know in the comments section.
Android Authority
28-06-2025
- Android Authority
I'd give everything for a pre-configured Android gaming handheld
Nick Fernandez / Android Authority Retro gaming handhelds have come a long way in the past few years, but there's still one big sticking point: the setup. Every time a new handheld comes in for review, I have to spend hours installing emulators, fixing folder structures, and configuring a frontend. Once that's done, I still have to configure settings and shaders for each console individually, which requires arcane knowledge in popular emulators like RetroArch. Compared to Linux-based handhelds, it's a terrible experience. My TrimUI Smart Pro came ready to play out of the box: emulators, controls, and sketchy ROM files included. To get an even better experience, I just popped out the SD card and loaded CrossmixOS, which has everything pre-configured (including shaders). At this point, I've gotten pretty good at running through the emulator gauntlet for every new handheld. It's the long, unskippable cutscene before the game actually starts. Some firmware fetishists enjoy the process even more than the actual gaming, but I can't help but think there's a better way. With great power comes great headaches Nick Fernandez / Android Authority To be clear, Android gaming handhelds are generally better and more powerful than their Linux counterparts. I have yet to find a Linux handheld that can reliably handle PS2 emulation, with most capping off at Dreamcast and PSP. And yes, I know the Steam Deck is technically a Linux handheld, but I'd put that in a separate category. Although I will say that nearly all of my complaints about Android also apply to the main SteamOS competitor, Windows. But getting back to the point, Android gaming handhelds are more powerful because they're tied to Android. As Qualcomm and others develop new chips, they naturally make their way to gaming handhelds after a few years. We're even getting chipsets designed specifically for gaming handhelds in the Snapdragon G-series chips. Android gaming handhelds are more powerful than their Linux-based peers. While the chipsets have leapfrogged ahead, the software is still stuck in phone land. The multi-headed behemoth that is Android has barely figured out tablets, so it's not surprising that the gaming handheld experience hasn't evolved to suit the form factor. And that's really the rub: setting up an Android gaming handheld is the same process as setting up a phone. You'll probably only do this once every few years for your smartphone, but if you're as addicted to gaming handhelds as I am, you'll be repeating this side quest every few months. To make matters worse, many emulators are not available on the Google Play Store. You'll need to sideload them from various websites and GitHub pages, all while avoiding dodgy websites trying to fill your device with malware. Not quite ready, player one Nick Fernandez / Android Authority I want to call out some companies that are making some efforts to make the process smoother. The first is Retroid, which gives you a simple list of emulators to install during the setup process. You just need to tick the boxes, and the device does the rest. The problem is that the list is out of date. It recommends a few emulators that are no longer in active development, and excludes some of the best emulators on Android. This is confusing at best for new users, and at worst, it can have a serious impact on how well games run. It's a nice effort, but ultimately, I ignored it and installed everything manually. Android devices from Anbernic also frequently come with emulators installed, but the list can be hit or miss. For example, it might have AetherSX2 rather than the newer NetherSX2. It might use DraStic, a DS emulator which hasn't been updated in years, instead of MelonDS, which is now generally a better choice. I could launch games out of the box, but they always required a little extra tweaking. Other handheld makers, like the lesser-known KinHank, ship devices with the Android installation process complete and a few pre-installed emulators. The recently released KinHank K56, for example, solves many of the problems I listed above, and it's probably the closest you can come to a plug-and-play Android handheld. It has RetroArch and a few other emulators installed and (mostly) configured. It also has two frontends, including my personal favorite, ES-DE. The problem is that the hardware itself isn't particularly great. It's budget through-and-through, and not a device I would recommend. There are plenty of Linux devices that offer the same thing or more for less money. Most good Android handhelds ship with little to no emulation software installed or configured. The sad truth is that the best Android handhelds don't include anything. The AYN Odin 2 Portal and top-spec AYANEO devices like the Pocket EVO, DMG, and ACE have nothing pre-installed besides performance tools and maybe a middling frontend. The rest is up to you. ANBERNIC is another interesting case, since it makes both Linux and Android handhelds. Its Linux devices come largely pre-configured, but Android devices are much more bare-bones. There's a controversial (and probably illegal) pre-installed app to download ROMs, but nothing to help install or configure emulators. It's time to level up Nick Fernandez / Android Authority Having gone through the setup process countless times now, I understand why it's hard for OEMs to solve this problem. Things like legacy Android jank, fragmented emulator development, and potential legal pitfalls of emulation are outside of their control, but I do have a few suggestions. I don't expect OEMs to pre-install and configure every emulator (although they do on Linux handhelds), but if they only configured one it would save a ton of time during setup. And that emulator is RetroArch. RetroArch is the be-all-end-all emulator for most platforms, with cores for just about every system under the sun. Typically you have to install it (from the website, not the Play Store), download the cores, set up controls and hotkeys, find your ROM and BIOS folders, tweak settings for your display, and more before hopping into a game. The list of things RetroArch can do is virtually endless, which is a big part of the problem. Everything is hidden behind tiers of menus that require a full walkthrough to set up. What's more, RetroArch is extremely stable. Updates are few and far between, and they mostly tweak small settings or add new cores. There's no reason why a fully configured RetroArch won't work as well in three years as it does today. If every Android-based handheld had RetroArch pre-installed and configured, they'd nearly be plug-and-play. KinHank is the only company that's figured this out. Pre-configured RetroArch settings would make devices nearly plug-and-play. There is one asterisk here, and that's the BIOS. Most older systems don't need BIOS to play, but some emulators will require you to rip and upload BIOS from your own system. Like ROMs, you can download them online and some sketchier handheld makers will include them, but it's a legal minefield that most legit OEMs avoid. For emulators other than RetroArch, a simple guide would go a long way. There are tons of community-made guides to help, but none of them have been embraced by OEMs. Even Retroid's setup wizard feels like it hasn't been updated in years, while emulation development for newer consoles has been advancing at blazing pace. A New Game+ for Android handhelds Oliver Cragg / Android Authority Ultimately, it's still pretty early in the game for these types of emulation-focused handhelds. Sure, they've been around for a long time, but the industry really took off in the last four or five years. There are now handhelds to suit any budget, size, or design preference, which would make ten-year-old me shocked that I'm complaining at all. But with all the advances in chipsets, designs, and even emulation software, it's past time we entered a new era of Android-based handhelds. A New Game+, if you will. Most players pick up a handheld to play, not set up emulators. This time around, the grind shouldn't be part of the gameplay. We've got the power, the tools, and the user demand, but we're missing a little more care in crafting the experience. The next generation of devices could launch not just with better specs, but with better defaults: thoughtful software, plug-and-play emulators, and intuitive frontends that make setup optional, not essential. Because at the end of the day, most players didn't pick up a handheld to configure aspect ratios or fix file structures — they just wanted to play.
Android Authority
28-06-2025
- Android Authority
The ANBERNIC RG Slide is the Xperia Play I wish I had 15 years ago
ANBERNIC RG Slide The RG Slide is one of the most unique devices ANBERNIC has ever made, and it offers the right mix of nostalgic fun and solid performance to be a compelling choice for retro emulation. While many people are nostalgic for flip phones, sliders are the way to go for me. Sure, I had a basic flip phone in the early 2000s, but I didn't really get excited about phones until I got my first sliding phone with a full QWERTY keyboard in 2006. That satisfying THWOMP made me feel like I was a secret agent every time I texted my mom to pick up some more Mountain Dew and Cheetos. But when the PSP Go and Xperia Play brought that form factor to gaming, I just didn't get it. At that time, I didn't want to overlap my gaming devices with my phone. I still don't, but that's the unfortunate world we now live in. So when the ANBERNIC RG Slide was announced, I was skeptical. Clamshells like the Retroid Flip 2 had me hungry for more unique form factors in the retro gaming handheld world, but can this slider overcome my past prejudices? After unboxing the device and sliding it open, that familiar THWOMP immediately had me hooked. The RG Slide might not be perfect, but it's excited me about the future of handhelds in a way that few devices have in the past year. Big slide energy Nick Fernandez / Android Authority Apart from the slick sliding mechanism, the first thing that stands out about the RG Slide is its size. It is incredibly chunky. The 4:3 aspect ratio, 4.7-inch screen, and rounded design make it look like a phone from two decades ago, but the thickness reminds me of even older handhelds from the 90s — the kind that ate through AA batteries like I went through Mountain Dew. Once I got over the initial shock, I found that the size actually worked in its favor. Once I got used to the bulk, it was surprisingly comfortable to hold, and the thickness allows for inset capacitive sticks with a nice range of motion. The controls in general are fantastic, with a soft D-pad and quiet buttons. The triggers are very clicky, and the small power and volume buttons are discreetly tucked away on the side. Nick Fernandez / Android Authority There are two extra buttons, and they're found on either side of the screen. These are great for emulation hotkeys, and they make it so that I never really needed to touch the screen. That alone made it feel more like a gaming console and less like an Android phone. The screen itself is beautiful. The 120Hz refresh rate is certainly overkill for a device like this, but the colors and brightness are perfect. It's not an OLED panel, but I would have no complaints if Anbernic and other companies continued to use this screen on more devices in the future. However, it's pretty exposed on the outside of the device, so I'd definitely recommend using the included screen protector. The bright and speedy screen is a highlight of the ANBERNIC RG Slide. Taking another page from the book of older smartphones, it also has stereo speakers on either side of the screen. They sound great, and the placement means you'll never cover them with your palms. They actually make the RG Slide a solid media viewing device, especially for older, non-16:9 content. If I have one complaint about the design, it's that the screen is ever so slightly off center. It's not noticeable when the slider is open and you're playing games, but it is noticeable when playing touchscreen games. More on that in a moment. Sliding into high gear Nick Fernandez / Android Authority I was initially disappointed by the Unisoc T820 chipset on the RG Slide, since it felt like a device this unique should have something more powerful. The T820 has been used on many Anbernic devices in the past, though, and it's a solid performer for everything up to and including some PS2. Just don't expect to enjoy frontier Switch or PS3 emulation. I ran the device through our standard suite of benchmarks to get a general idea of what we're talking about. There's only one configuration available, with 128GB of storage and 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. You can increase that storage with a microSD card, and ANBERNIC sells the device with the option to include a 128GB or 256GB card, loaded with games of questionable legality. Check out the results of our tests above, pitted against two Retroid devices on either side of the RG Slide in terms of price. The Pocket Flip 2 has an aging, but capable Snapdragon 865 SoC, and the Pocket Classic has the new handheld-focused Snapdragon G1 Gen 2. Results are mixed, with the RG Slide falling somewhere in between the two Retroid devices in most tests. The newer G1 Gen 2 shows impressive performance for how cheap it is, but the Unisoc T820 still blows it away in GPU performance. Personally, I would love to see a follow-up to the RG Slide incorporate the mid-range Snapdragon G2 Gen 2 chip that's set to power the next Retroid flagship. ANBERNIC has never used a Snapdragon chipset in any handheld, though, so that may never come to fruition. The T820 chipset is reliable, but it's starting to show its limitations. In terms of actual emulation, the RG Slide handled everything I wanted it to. Retro systems obviously ran great, and the 4:3 screen is perfect for PS1, N64, and more. Unfortunately, 16:9 systems like the PSP feature pretty heavy letterboxing. Ironically, I wouldn't recommend snagging this PSP Go-shaped device to play PSP games. GameCube and PS2 are also playable, but you'll have to make some compromises. I couldn't get all games to play at full framerates, let alone upscaled. Without upscaling, PS2 games play at 640 x 480, which is half of the native resolution of the RG Slide's 1280 x 960 IPS panel, and it looks pretty muddy on the 4.7-inch display. It's playable, but it's far from ideal. Nick Fernandez / Android Authority As a sidenote, I abandoned my beloved ES DE frontend for the sake of this review, sticking to ANBERNIC's homegrown RG launcher. It took a little work to get it to recognize the games in my microSD card, but once it was set up, it was surprisingly great. The console comes with many emulators pre-installed (although I ended up swapping some for more updated versions), and you can select which emulator to launch right in the launcher settings. There's a toggle in the notification shade to change the default launcher, so you can play your games without ever seeing an app icon. With everything configured properly, the RG Slide becomes a bonafide gaming console rather than an Android phone pretender. There's even an option to lock and unlock the device with the sliding mechanism, which is indescribably cool. Mobile-first games in portrait also play well on the RG Slide. Native Android games don't show up in this menu, but they're also great on this device. I typically only play controller-compatible Android games on these gaming handhelds, but on this device, I also enjoyed portrait touchscreen games. It looks and works just like a chunky phone when the slider is closed, so it didn't feel awkward to play mobile-first games like Monument Valley, Clash Royale, or Subway Surfers. As mentioned above, the off-center screen is glaringly noticeable when holding the device vertically. The last note here is battery life, and for the most part, the 5,000mAh cell goes the distance. Depending on the settings and systems I was emulating, I got anywhere from five to 12 hours of battery life. The downside is the charging speeds, which top off at 10W. In my testing, it took roughly two hours to fully charge, so don't expect a quick top-off between matches. ANBERNIC RG Slide review verdict: Is it worth it? Nick Fernandez / Android Authority While the RG Slide is a fascinating device, it's also fairly expensive. It starts at $189.99 for just the console, which puts it in a strange place in terms of value. The middling chipset and mixed PS2 emulation make it a hard sell at that price, but it makes up for it with a design that's a cut above the competition. That's a relatively new position for ANBERNIC. The brand isn't exactly known for innovation, but rather for incremental improvements on existing designs and ideas. The RG Slide might be the device to turn that reputation on its head. The RG Slide is completely unique, which is unusual for ANBERNIC. If you are looking for more performance, you'll have to look at a different form factor. The Retroid Flip 2 ($229 at Manufacturer site) is one option, and it offers quite a bit more performance for PS2 emulation, but it also costs quite a bit more, starting at $229 before shipping and taxes. Otherwise, you're looking at more standard vertical or horizontal handhelds, which frankly don't hit the same as the RG Slide. If you have any nostalgia for sliding devices like the Xperia Play or PSP Go, this device might scratch that itch. Of course, you would also wait for ANBERNIC to do its thing and iterate on this device. If it were just a smidge smaller and a hair more powerful, it would be an absolute slam dunk. ANBERNIC RG Slide Unique sliding design • Beautiful screen • Solid retro performance MSRP: $189.99 A worthy spiritual successor to the Xperia Play. A sliding gaming handheld like we haven't seen in decades. See price at Manufacturer site Positives Unique sliding design Unique sliding design Beautiful screen Beautiful screen Solid retro performance Solid retro performance Good for touchscreen games Cons Middling PS2 performance Middling PS2 performance Chunky Chunky Off-center screen
Android Authority
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Android Authority
These retro SEGA games are now free on Android until they disappear forever
Nick Fernandez / Android Authority TL;DR Nine retro SEGA games ported to mobile are now free without ads, but will lose support soon. You can still download them, and they will likely remain in your account forever. Free games include Crazy Taxi Classic, Shining Force Classics, Streets of Rage 2 Classic, and more. SEGA has a long history of supporting its retro titles, with many ported directly to Android and iOS as part of the SEGA Forever program. However, the company will soon pull support for nearly its entire remaining catalog of mobile ports, including classic Sonic, Crazy Taxi, and Shining Force games. There's no telling how long they will remain on the Google Play Store, but the good news is that they've all been made free. Previously, most were paid titles costing roughly $2, or were playable for free with IAP to remove ads. The announcement came not via any official channels, but rather via an in-game popup in the affected titles. It reads: 'Support for this game will be discontinued, but you can continue playing offline! If you'd like to learn more about great SEGA games to play, please click the link below.' The link leads to the SEGA homepage. This message implies that the game will still be playable after it's removed from the Play Store, provided you have claimed it on your account. This was the case for previous SEGA Forever titles that were pulled a few years ago, which included games like Phantasy Star Classics and Vectorman Classic. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before the rest of these games lost support. The SEGA Forever program was discontinued in late 2023, and the last port was added to Android way back in 2019. While the ports didn't always live up to emulation, they did have full controller support, with many getting tens of millions of downloads. 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.
