Tag: Android

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Mobile Syrup

Android Auto to look more like Apple CarPlay in upcoming update

A new version of Android Auto has been leaking online with a refreshed user interface (UI) that takes inspiration from Apple’s modern CarPlay interface — which in itself borrows a lot from the first version of Android Auto.

Competition is fun, isn’t it?

The new version of Android Auto, codenamed ‘Coolwalk,’ features a multi-card interface that allows users to interact with more than one app at a time. This means you can have maps, weather info, and playback controls all easily accessible simultaneously.

Image credit: regionrat91 (Reddit)

You might be asking yourself, “but Brad, can’t I already do that on Android Auto?” You’re right. However, the existing version squeezes music controls onto a tiny bar along the bottom of the screen and squishes the temperature and time into the top status bar. Neither are very pleasing to interact with.

At least in the leaks, the updated UI has completely gotten rid of the top status bar and instead appears to place everything in the bottom bar or the new side panels. 9to5Google also notes that the software is still in a beta stage and that it features several bugs.

Digging further into the code, a user on Reddit was able to find a new ‘Cast’ feature and a ‘reply to calls with a text’ button if you receive a call while driving. XDA Developers discovered three new wallpapers as well.

The new Cast controls are the most exciting addition and could place Google in a perfect spot to allow users to play media through their car’s screen while charging up an electric vehicle. Perhaps Google will also use it as a way for multiple people in a vehicle to queue up music from their own phones?

Beyond the new cards, the rest of the interface looks the same as the current version of Android Auto. Sadly, there’s no trace of Material You colours in these leaks, but hopefully, Google adds the new design elements to Android Auto once it reveals this latest update.

Image credit: regionrat91 (Reddit)

Source: 9to5Google, XDA Developers

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Mobile Syrup

Google shifts stance on tablets, thinks they’re ‘the future of computing’

Google may finally be giving Android tablets more attention.

According to reports from ComputerWorld and 9to5Google (via The Verge), one of Android’s original founders, Rich Miner, is listed as “CTO Android Tablets” on LinkedIn. Google confirmed to The Verge that Miner is “leading software development for Android for large screens” on the Platforms and Ecosystems team.

Coupled with several job postings uncovered by 9to5 (which include the very bold statement that Google “believe[s] that the future of computing is shifting towards more powerful and capable tablets”), it really looks like Google’s starting to care about Android tablets again.

It’s worth noting that Google already has efforts underway to improve Android tablets, namely the upcoming Android 12L release. Currently in beta, Android 12L is set to improve the large-screen Android experience. While some changes seem to target foldable phones, many can also apply to tablets as well.

This marks a shift for Google, which said its hardware team was done working on tablets back in 2019 after the Chrome OS-powered, Surface-like Pixel Slate flopped. It’s worth noting that the Pixel Slate had nice hardware, but failed as a tablet and as a productivity device. Plus, it cost way too much for what it offered.

Still, it’s a bit strange to see Google about-face on Android tablets. Despite issues with Chrome OS (and the Pixel Slate), it still seems like the obvious choice for a productivity-oriented tablet or 2-in-1 device. Android-powered tablets could work well as media consumption devices, but I just don’t see them beating Chrome OS on the productivity front (even with changes coming in Android 12L). And that’s not for lack of trying.

All that being said, my hope is that improvements to Android as a tablet OS will help manufacturers make something that can better compete with Apple’s excellent iPads. Moreover, I’m already hyped for an incredibly unlikely Pixel tablet, perhaps a ‘Pixel 7’ that resurrects my favourite Android tablet ever.

Source: ComputerWorld, 9to5Google Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE [SyrupCast 251]

This week on the SyrupCast, the crew talks about Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE.

To start the pod, Dean Daley explains to Patrick O’Rourke and Brad Bennett why Arceus is such a refreshing take on the Pokémon series. Next, the conversation shifts to Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE, a fan edition version of the S21 series that arrived on the eve of the S22 line’s release.

Next, as is SyrupCast tradition, the team talks about the video games they’ve been playing (or not playing), including Banjo-Kazooie, Apex and more.

As always, you can listen to the show on your favourite podcast platform or watch the video version on our YouTube channel.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Direct download link

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung’s latest S22 series will reportedly release in these four colours

We already know quite a bit about the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S22 lineup through leaks, including the fact that the S22 Ultra will likely feature less RAM than its predecessor.

However, leakers have been relatively quiet about the device’s colours — at least until now. Often-reliable leaker Evan Blass has shared several reported press renders that show the S22 series in its full glory.

Check out the images below:

 

The Samsung Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus will reportedly be available in the same ‘Black,’ ‘Dark/Olive Green,’ ‘Pink’ and ‘White’ colourways, while the larger S22 Ultra will offer the same shades and a darker pink variant.

From what we know so far, the Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra will feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and work with an S Pen. The other S22 models reportedly lack the S Pen support, sport an S21-like design with three cameras and feature the same Snapdragon 8 gen 1 chipset as the S22 Ultra.

While Samsung hasn’t officially announced a reveal date for the S22 series, previous leaks have indicated that we might get our first look at the device at Samsung’s Unpacked event on February 8th or 9th.

Image credit: @evleaks

Source: @evleaks 

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Mobile Syrup

Multiple U.S. states sue Google over alleged Android location tracking

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada – September 30, 2019: Google sign in the Google Canada Kitchener-Waterloo office.

Google has been sued again, this time around by attorneys general from three U.S. states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). The lawsuit alleges that Google deceptively collected location data on Android.

The Verge notes that the complaints build on a 2020 lawsuit filed by Arizona’s attorney general. The suit alleges that Google employed a “complex web” of settings that made it difficult to tell if users were sharing their location at a given moment. Moreover, the suit accuses Google of pushing Android users to share location data with “repeated nudging, misleading pressure tactics, and evasive and deceptive descriptions.”

In a statement, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine accused Google of falsely leading “consumers to believe that changing their account and device settings would allow customers to protect their privacy.”

Racine filed the lawsuit on January 24th alongside suits from attorneys general from Washington, Texas, and Indiana.

Google denied the claims, telling The Verge that “The attorneys general are bringing a case based on inaccurate claims and outdated assertions about our settings. We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data.”

It’s worth noting that many of the issues raised in the D.C. lawsuit pull from a 2018 story from the Associated Press that found many of Google’s apps on iOS and Android stored location data even if users enabled privacy settings that claimed to disable location data.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra will likely feature less RAM than its predecessor

Leaked European pricing for Samsung’s still-unannounced Galaxy S22 series courtesy of Roland Quandt (via Android Police), indicates that the S22 Ultra will cost as much as its predecessor despite featuring less RAM.

Quandt says that the S22 will start at 849€ (about $1,219.53), the S22+ will cost 1,049€ (approximately $1,506 CAD) and the S22 ultra will cost 1,249€ (roughly $1,794 CAD). For context, at launch in Canada, the S21 started at $1,129 CAD, the s21+ cost $1,469 CAD and the S21 Ultra cost $1,649 CAD.

Though the S21’s launch pricing is slightly less expensive than the converted Canadian pricing for the rumoured S22 series, the cost will likely be in this range (or at least, within $100 or so).

The interesting thing here is that Quandt’s leaked pricing mentions that the S22 Ultra will feature 8GB RAM instead of 12GB RAM like with the base-level S21 Ultra, but at a very similar price point.

Quandt’s tweet indicates that Samsung will still sell a 12GB RAM variant of the S22 Ultra with 256GB and 512GB of storage at 1,349€ (about $1,936 CAD) and 1,449€ (roughly $2,080 CAD), respectively. Last year, Samsung offered 16GB RAM in its 512GB version of the S21 Ultra, which started at $1,889 CAD.

Rumours indicate Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra will feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and compatibility with its S Pen stylus. The other S22 models reportedly lack the S Pen support, sport an S21-like design with three cameras and feature the same Snapdragon 8 gen 1 chipset as the S22 Ultra.

Samsung is expected to reveal its Galaxy S22 series officially during an upcoming February’ Unpacked’ event.

Source: @rquandt Via: Android Police, The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Android to iOS WhatsApp chat migration appears to be in the works

Transferring WhatsApp chats from iOS to an Android device has been possible since last year, but the Meta-owned instant messaging platform is now rolling out expanded chat migration that will allow users to move their chats from an Android device to an iOS one.

As spotted by WABetaInfo in WhatsApp beta ‘version 22.2.74’ for iOS, expanded chat migration tools will be available soon to Android users running Android 12. Users would also need to Move to iOS app on their Android device.

As seen in the screenshot above (via WABetaInfo), WhatsApp will ask you if you want to import your chat history when you open WhatsApp for the first time on an iOS device. If you skip the step here, you won’t be able to import chats later.

Based on the information available so far, there’s no timeframe as to when the feature will finally make its way to Android devices, but the fact that it showed up in an upcoming update’s beta indicates that WhatsApp is clearly working on it.

Image credit: WABetaInfo

Source: WABetaInfo

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Mobile Syrup

How to use Android’s built-in Google TV/Android TV remote

Google has finally built a reliable virtual TV remote into Android.

This is how to use it:

What you need

  • An Android phone with the Google TV app
  • A device running Android TV or Google TV

If you’re not familiar with these devices, we have a longer article that outlines them here.

Instructions

The first thing you’ll need to do is make sure you’ve updated the Google Play Movies and TV app to Google TV. This is basically the same app, but the Google TV update adds more browseable sections, a watchlist, a store, your library and the virtual remote.

I will note that with my OnePlus 9 Pro, the Google TV app still features the Play Movies and TV icon, but besides that glitch, it works well.

If you open the app, you should see a small remote icon floating in the bottom right of the screen. Tapping on that should connect you to any Android/Google TVs that are on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone. After you pair with them, you’re good to go.

If you have the Google TV app, you can even add a shortcut directly to the remote to make it easier to access. Swipe down to open the notification shade, then pull down further to access the quick toggles at the top of the screen. If none of your buttons say ‘TV remote,’ try tapping on the pen icon on the bottom left, and customize these icons to your preference.

If you’ve used an Android/Google TV recently, the virtual buttons should be very familiar to you since they mimic the actual layout of the Chromecast remote. The main control space is a swipe-based touchpad as well. This makes its control kind of similar to an older Apple TV remote. However, you can change this to a classic D-pad by tapping on the three-dot menu in the top right.

If you have more than one Android/Google TV on your network, you can quickly swap between television sets by tapping the name of the TV in the top left corner of the remote interface. If you tap on a search box with the virtual remote open, it will prompt you to fill it in with the on-screen keyboard.

You can download the Google TV app here.

Quick explanation

If you’ve updated the Google Play Movies and TV app into the Google TV app, you should be able to add a virtual remote to the Android quick toggles in the notification shade.

How it stacks up to other virtual remotes

I haven’t used LG or Samsung’s virtual remotes in a long time and don’t even know if they’re still competing. However, I use both versions of the Apple virtual remote and the Roku version.

This new Android remote stands up well against the Apple TV remote, but it’s a little barebones for my liking. The Roku remote has cool features like the ability to transmit TV audio through your phone. This is admittedly a niche feature, but one that I find cool nonetheless and would love to see Google adopt.

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Mobile Syrup

Montreal-made Monopoly Tycoon launches on Android and iOS

A new Monopoly game has launched on Android and iOS.

From Montreal-based Nvizzio (RollerCoaster Tycoon Touch) comes Monopoly Tycoon, a 3D city-building simulation game.

The game features three famous Monopoly locations, Atlantic City, Paris and London, across which there are over one thousand buildings and decorations that players can collect, build and upgrade. Meanwhile, Monopoly board staples like Go, Community Chest and Chance will offer various benefits to your real estate business.

Monopoly Tycoon is now available to download for free on iOS and Android (with in-app purchases).

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Mobile Syrup

Samsung accidentally shares images of the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra

We’ve seen Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra renders in the past, but none come close to the image Samsung mistakenly leaked on its Bixby support page that shows the tab sporting a notch.

Image credit: 91Mobiles

The leaked image, first spotted by 91mobiles, shows what seems to be an S21 Ultra using Bixby voice assistant, and in the background sits the large Tab S8 Ultra.

While Samsung has since removed the image from its Bixby support page, according to 9to5Google, the photo is still present in the web page’s source code. It’s worth noting that this is the same company that criticized the notch four months ago — I guess it all comes back full circle.

 

From what we know so far, the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra features a 14.6-inch 2,960 x 1,848 pixel resolution AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and S-Pen stylus support. The tablet is reportedly expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, two rear cameras (13-megapixel, 6-megapixel ultrawide), Dolby Atmos quad speakers and 5G.

It’s unknown when Samsung will officially reveal the Galaxy Tab S8 series, but it’ll most likely be shown off alongside the company’s Galaxy S22 series, which is rumoured to be unveiled at the company’s ‘Unpacked’ event on February 8th.

Source: 91Mobiles