Android 12 puts a new emphasis on widgets, and perhaps just ironically, Spotify is now preparing a brand-new homescreen widget.
As a part of the Spotify 8.6.40/42 update, the app is adding support for a brand-new homescreen widget that ditches the old look, adopting rounded corners and a color-matching theme that’s based on the album art of the song currently playing. That functionality seems…
Google TV home screen gains autoplaying video ads
June 26, 2021
One aspect of Google TV, and recent updates to Android TV, that fans haven’t been happy about is the addition of ads in the home screen. These ads on Google TV have now taken another intrusive step as they begin to autoplay a video right on your home screen.
Last year…
Here’s how the remote included with Walmart’s Android TV box works on Chromecast w/ Google TV
June 26, 2021
Walmart just launched a duo of Android TV streaming devices that are pretty standard but have two compelling selling points. For one, they’re both super cheap, and as a second point, the remote included with Walmart’s Android TV streamers looks really nice. In case you…
Last June, Google redesigned the Photos app with cleaner navigation, new logo, and a map view. In response to “user feedback and comments,” Google Photos is reverting one change to bring the “Sharing” tab back to the bottom bar.
Update 6/25: If you didn’t have this Google Photos revamp before, it should be widely rolling out now on Android.
Update 6/16: The updated navigation system…
Twitter may soon let you connect your Google Account
June 26, 2021
Twitter is working to make it possible to sign in to your account through a connected Google Account.
For years, Google has offered a way for apps to let their users sign up or log in with nothing more than their Google Account, saving the step of needing to fill in basic…
One of the hallmarks of the upcoming Material You design language, featured in Android 12, is apps theming themselves based on your current wallpaper. Signs have begun to point toward Chrome for Android preparing to support Material You color theming.
Update: A new flag…
Apps can request access to more RAM with iOS 15 entitlement, exceeding normal system memory limits
June 25, 2021
A newly documented entitlement will allow app developers to request privileged access to RAM on iOS and iPadOS. This system entitlement has existed in prior iOS versions as a private escape hatch, used by some internal processes.
The change from private to public means that third-party app developers will be able to take advantage of it where appropriate. This will be especially useful on the…
Apple Arcade launched with close to 100 titles and the service is seeing new games added regularly with over 180 games now in the library. Follow along with our guide on the latest from Apple’s gaming service.
New: The iOS hits Leo’s Fortune and INKS have arrived on…
iPhone has become an incredibly powerful device over the last fourteen years and the early days of the smartphone’s experience can feel like ancient history. Now a new speed test looks to quantify how much faster the iPhone 12 is compared to the original iPhone.
While an…
Over the past few weeks, Google has introduced standalone preference pages for various Assistant features. The latest sees Google Assistant settings for the Android “Lock screen.”
The new “Lock screen” menu is grouped under “Popular Settings,” like Voice Match, Languages, and Routines, before the full alphabetical list. On first launch, you get a splash screen about using Assistant…
