Tag: Android

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Getting wet and wild testing Niagara Launcher at Niagara Falls

Android 12 looks great, but unfortunately those sexy visual updates are really only coming to Google Pixel Phones.

That said, if you want to make your phone feel brand new, a good way to do it is by customizing your UI using an Android launcher — and our favourite at the moment is Niagara Launcher.

If you’re interested in sprucing up your screen, check out the latest MobileSyrup YouTube video filmed on location at — and at one wild point, literally underneath — Niagara Falls, covering everything about the launcher and the features you can expect from it.

Overall, we really like the launcher for its simple design. For example, the way it makes Android home screens easier to access using just one hand feels really intentional and smart.

Even opting to pay for Niagara Pro feels fair, since the update adds some nice features to the launcher and doesn’t cost too much. Plus, the launcher is made by a one-person developer team, so it’s a nice app to financially support.

If you’ve been swayed and want to try out the launcher, you can download it for free here.

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Rogers’ confirms its Anyplace TV app will die on October 10

In a notice on its website, Rogers has confirmed that its Rogers Anyplace TV service included with Rogers Digital TV subscriptions will no longer be available as of October 10th.

According to the telecom giant, this means that Rogers Digital TV subscribers will no longer be able to view content on their computer or mobile devices through the Rogers Anyplace app or online streaming portal.

The complete statement from Rogers regarding Anyplace TV is available below:

“Since this service is accessed through an app and online streaming portal, you will no longer be able to view subscribed programming on your computer or mobile devices via Rogers Anyplace TV. Learn more about subscribing to Ignite TV and using the app to access TV, movies and music all in one place.”

Rogers notes that subscribers should shift to its Ignite TV platform that also offers a mobile app to continue to access the carrier’s TV, movies and music services on different platforms.

Source: Rogers 

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Huawei Mate V will reportedly feature its own V-Pencil

Huawei recently patented a new foldable smartphone with the codename ‘Mate V,’ and now it seems like the handset is getting its own stylus called the V-Pencil, according to LetsGoDigital. 

The stylus was patented at the European Union Intellectual Property Office with the description “electronic pen, computer stylus, touchscreen stylus.” This patent goes hand in hand with the Mate V device spotted on Weibo and first reported by @Panda.

According to its patent, the Mate V is a foldable flip smartphone similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 3, which would make it the first of its kind to work with a stylus. To clarify, while Z Fold 3 works with the S Pen stylus, the Z Flip 3 isn’t compatible with Samsung’s stylus.

Huawei is holding a product launch event in Austria, Vienna on October 21st, so there’s a possibility the China-based company could reveal the Mate V there.

Source: LetsGoDigital

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Sketchy leak claims Pixel Fold and Pixel Watch will launch alongside Pixel 6

First off, while the leak below likely isn’t accurate, it’s still a notable rumour currently circulating around Twitter. With this in mind, I think it’s important MobileSyrup still covers it.

Rumours first shared by AI (@AppleLE257) on Twitter indicate that Google’s fall Pixel 6 series event will also include the reveal of the often-rumoured Pixel Watch, Pixel Fold, and several new Nest smart speakers.

It’s important to note that AI has a tiny Twitter following and not much of a track record for posting accurate leaks.

While it’s well known Google will reveal the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro at its upcoming event, no other rumours have hinted that we’ll catch a glimpse of other devices.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen reports surrounding a folding Pixel smartphone, but it seems unlikely that we’ll see that handset at this October’s event since Google will want the media’s attention solely on the Pixel 6 series.

Jon Prosser previously leaked details regarding a Pixel Watch back in April. However, there haven’t been many recent leaks about the smartwatch, leading me to believe that it’s unlikely it will appear at Google’s October event.

Google’s Pixel 6 and 6 Pro will be officially revealed on October 19th at 1pm ET/10am PT during an upcoming streamed event.

Image credit: Waqar Khan

Source: AI (@AppleLe257) 

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Motorola’s new G Pure mid-range phone headed to Canada in the ‘coming months’

Motorola announced a new mid-tier smartphone called the ‘Moto G Pure’ set to be available in the U.S. starting October 14th and Canada “in the coming months.”

While disappointing to see Canadians once again get short-changed, I’m not sure too many people will be upset about a mid-range phone’s delayed arrival.

As for specs, the G Pure looks like a decent all-around option. It sports a 6.5-inch ‘Max Vision’ LCD HD+ display (1600 x 720 pixel resolution) with a 20:9 aspect ratio powered by a MediaTek Helio G25 processor with 3GB of RAM. The G Pure runs Android 11 out of the box and has 32GB of internal storage (expandable with up to a 512GB microSD card).

The phone has a 4,000mAh battery and supports 10W rapid charging. Around back is a dual-camera system with a 13-megapixel main shooter boasting phase detection autofocus (PDAF) accompanied by a two-megapixel depth sensor. The G Pure also has a five-megapixel selfie camera.

Moreover, the G Pure offers fingerprint and face unlock options, and comes in ‘Deep Indigo.’

Motorola said the phone will retail for $159.99 in the U.S. but did not confirm Canadian pricing. $159.99 USD is about $200 CAD — barring any significant price hikes, the G Pure should be relatively affordable when it comes to Canada.

You can learn more about the G Pure on Motorola’s website.

Image credit: Motorola

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Samsung Galaxy One UI 4.0 beta is rolling out in the U.S. with tons of new features

Samsung’s One UI 4.0 beta has rolled out in the U.S, but unfortunately, Canadians have once again been left out.

The beta is available for Samsung Galaxy S21 series smartphones only and runs on top of Android 12 with ‘Material You.’ Google’s Material You allows your smartphone’s wallpaper to match its background theme. It’s unclear when Samsung plans to bring the update to its other devices.

Other One UI 4.0 updates include the ability to add two emojis together and create a new animation, customizing the list of apps to share when you’re sharing photos, an ‘extra dim’ accessibility feature, a lock screen widget for voice recording, the ability to set the always-on display to turn on whenever you get a notification, and more.

There are even new Bixby features… yay.

You can check out the list of all 60 new features in SamMobile’s video round-up available below.

Source: Sam Mobile 

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Samsung Galaxy Flex Note patent renders show off wrap-around folding phone

It looks Samsung could have plans to release a very unique smartphone with a wrap-around display.

The patent, which outlines a smartphone called the ‘Galaxy Flex Note,’ showcases a foldable device with a wrap-around display and a stylus dock.

Graphic designer Technizo Concept created a 3D product rendering based on the patent in collaboration with LetsGoDigital.

According to the report, the Flex Note offers an expansive screen size when unfolded. However, there’s no separate front display like with Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Z Fold 3. Instead, the phone sports a wrap-round screen that runs across the smartphone’s body.

This means that when it’s folded and in its most compact form, the front, right side and half of the back features a display.

This phone doesn’t fold inwardly like the Z Fold 3, but outwardly, similar to the Huawei Mate X series.

Additionally, the Galaxy Flex Note supports a clamp-like dock for Samsung’s S Pen stylus and not an inward compartment like the Note series.

Further, the patent features two variations with a triple camera setup on the rear with an under-display camera. Another variation offers a double punch-hole camera in the top right corner.

This patent was submitted by Samsung to the China National Intellectual Property Administration and was published on September 21st.

As with all patent filings, it’s unclear if this smartphone concept will ever see the light of day. That said, if these renders are accurate, it seems like a pretty cool device.

Source: LetsGoDigital, Technizo Concept

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Google Pixel 6 Fall Launch scheduled for October 19th

After months of leaks and rumours about Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 lineup and the Mountain View, California-based company going all out with its marketing, Google has just announced its Pixel Fall Event set to take place on October 19th at 1pm ET/10am PT.

Google is expected to fully detail the new devices during the event and show what its in-house Tensor chips are capable of.

“On October 19th, we’re officially introducing you to Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro—the completely reimagined Google phones. Powered by Google Tensor, Google’s first custom mobile chip, they’re fast, smart and secure. And they adapt to you,” reads Google’s invite to the event. The event will be broadcasted live on the Pixel Event website and its YouTube channel with ASL interpretation.

While the Pixel 6 lineup will be officially unveiled at the October 19th event, we still aren’t sure when the devices will be available for the public to pre-order or purchase.

From what we know so far, the Pixel 6 Pro is expected to have a curved screen, similar to the S21 Ultra and Samsung’s ISOCELL GN1 50-megapixel sensor. The ultra-wide camera will use a 12-megapixel IMX386 sensor, while the 4x optical telephoto camera on the 6 Pro will use a 48-megapixel IMX586 sensor.

The phone will reportedly support up to 20x zoom with photos and videos (except 4K, where zoom is capped at 7x) and 4K/60fps video recording. However, we still don’t know how the new cameras will perform when paired with Google’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) models.

Further, the new Pixel devices will reportedly be capable of 33W wired charging. For reference, Google’s Pixel smartphones currently only support cable charging up to 18W.

If you can’t tune in live on October 19th, make sure to follow along with MobileSyrup. We’ll have the latest news and updates from Google on our homepage as well as on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Source: Google 

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How to add a proof of vaccination shortcut to you Android home screen

Earlier this month, MobileSyrup published a guide on creating a shortcut on an iPhone to quickly access your vaccination record for when people needed to verify their vaccination status.

While helpful for iPhone users, the guide didn’t have anything for Android users — this new guide should help in that regard. That said, if you’ve landed on this page and you own an iPhone, you should click here to head to the iPhone guide.

Okay, now that it’s just us cool Android users, here’s how you can create an easy shortcut to access your vaccination document on your phone. To be clear, this isn’t a replacement for a vaccination certificate app or similar technology — it’s just a convenient way to carry a digital copy of your vaccination receipt for if and when you need to verify your vaccination status.

Download your vaccination receipt

Before anything else, you’ll need to get a digital copy of your vaccination status. For Ontario residents, you can do that using this website from the Ontario government. You can click or tap here to access the website, then select ‘Get your vaccine receipt.’ If you don’t live in Ontario, you can follow the same steps but you’ll need to get your proof of vaccination from your province’s/territory’s/country’s website instead.

Scroll to ‘To download your proof of vaccination or book an appointment’ and check that you’ve read the terms of use, then press ‘Continue.’

On the next page, you’ll need to enter some personal information, including health card number, postal code and date of birth. Next, the site will let you access a PDF copy of your proof of vaccination. You’ll want to download that to your computer or phone. Those doing this on their computer will then need to move the PDF to their phone (if you use a service like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive, you won’t need to upload the file from your phone later).

Choosing an app to use

iPhone owners can use a helpful app called ‘Shortcuts‘ to create an app icon that links directly to a digital copy of their vaccination status. While Shortcuts isn’t available for Android (it’s an Apple app, after all), there are several similar solutions. Perhaps the easiest, if not necessarily the best, is using a file management or cloud storage app to quickly access the proof of vaccination PDF via a home screen shortcut generated by a cloud storage or file management app.

Realistically, this same strategy should work with any app that lets you create home screen shortcuts to specific files — Google Files, unfortunately, does not let you do that as far as I can tell, which is why I chose to use a cloud storage app instead.

I tested this on Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox and it works on all three platforms. I recommend using whichever one you already use as that’s easiest. However, I found Google Drive worked a little better than the other two because it let you link directly to the PDF file.

More tech savvy people could probably use an app like Tasker to create a shortcut to the PDF. However, Tasker costs $4.59 in Canada and can be rather complex (I found myself struggling to figure it out, and I’m usually pretty good with this stuff). I also tried IFTTT but couldn’t find a way to make it do what I wanted.

Ultimately, the approach I detail below is a think a good balance of accessible and convenient. However, if you’ve got other solutions, we welcome you sharing them in the comments below. Finally, it’s worth noting that some online services offer tools to turn your proof of vaccination PDF into a scannable QR code. While certainly helpful, not all businesses or locations are equipped to scan those codes and verify them — you may need to have your proof of vaccination (digitally or physically) ready to go too. The steps below should help you get that set up.

Creating your home screen shortcut

Start by uploading your vaccination PDF to the cloud service of your choice. On Google Drive, that’s all you need to do. With OneDrive and Dropbox, I found you couldn’t create a shortcut to a specific file, so I recommend putting the PDF into a folder instead. And, for bonus efficiency, tap the three-dot menu button next to the PDF file and set it to be available offline — the app you’re using will download the file and store it locally for you.

Then, go to the home screen on your Android phone and do the following (note that some steps may differ slightly depending on the phone you have, Android version and other software):

1. Press-and-hold on an empty home screen space and select ‘Widgets’ from the menu.

2. Find the section for your app of choice (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.).

3. Press-and-hold on the ‘shortcut’ widget, then drag it to the home screen.

4. Follow the steps to select a file or folder (Note that Google Drive will ask which account you want to use if you have multiple accounts).

5. Select the vaccination PDF file (Drive) or the folder you put the file in (OneDrive, Dropbox).

Once that’s done, you should have a shortcut on your home screen. When you tap it, it will open either the PDF file or the folder you keep the file in, letting you quickly access it from your home screen.

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BlueStacks X emulator brings Android games to the cloud

Notable Android app emulator BlueStacks X has stepped into the world of game streaming with a new service that lets users play several Android games on the web.

So far, there are ten games available to stream, and in my brief test playing Merge Dragons!, the platform seems responsive enough to provide an adequate gameplay experience.

BlueStacks X also says it’s running on Amazon Web Service Graviton Servers, which Amazon rates highly on the AWS website. If you don’t feel like cloud streaming, you can use the regular BlueStacks X emulator to play one of the 200 other games the company offers.

In the future, the platform hopes to move all of these titles over to cloud streaming. Pre-roll ads currently support the service, but the company is considering offering a subscription service, reports The Verge.

If BlueStacks X can keep its latency reasonable, this could be a convenient way to play mobile titles without an Android smartphone. That said, like with other cloud gaming services, if you have an Android device that can play games locally, you’re likely better off taking that route.

Via: The Verge