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Mobile Syrup

Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost mobile game is dead

Dragalia Lost, one of Nintendo’s less popular mobile titles, is shutting down as of today, November 30th.

The game first launched back in 2019 and was heavily criticized for its gacha mechanics. Nintendo announced Dragalia Lost would shut down back in March 2022. The game’s campaign ended earlier this year, and after November 30th, it will no longer be accessible on Android or iOS.

Rather than being developed directly by Nintendo, Cygames, best known for Granblue Fantasy, is behind the title. It’s unclear how much money Dragalia Lost earned during its lifespan, but given it’s being shut down, it’s unlikely the game has come anywhere near earning as much as Fire Emblem Heroes, which made $1 billion USD (about $1.36 billion CAD) in revenue as of June 2022, according to Sensor Tower.

Like Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and Super Mario Run, Dragalia Lost is free to play, unlike Super Mario Run’s outright cost of $13.99. Nintendo also shut down Dr. Mario World, another one of its mobile games, in 2021.

Back in 2017, rumours circulated that Nintendo was working on a mobile version of The Legend of Zelda, but the game has yet to be officially announced.

Source: @DragaliaLostApp Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Android will prompt users to update an app when it crashes

It’s never a fun time when an app crashes on your smartphone, especially if you can’t figure out what’s causing the problem. Well, Android may soon offer a solution when an app crashes.

The November 2022 Play Store system update changelog includes details about a new feature that will “help users to resolve app crashes with new update prompts.” Mishaal Rahman, a senior technical editor at Esper, tweeted details about the feature as well, noting that the Play Store will be able to send prompts to users to update an app if it crashes. The prompt would only surface if an update were available.

Moreover, it appears users will be able to update the app right from the prompt or offer a Play Store link to update the app later. That would be especially helpful if users encounter a crash when they’re away from a solid internet connection.

Overall, it seems like a small but handy update that should help people resolve issues with apps on their Android smartphone. Ideally, users wouldn’t have to deal with app crashes at all, but having Android automatically surface potential solutions is a good alternative.

The feature is part of Google Play Store version 33.2, which was updated on November 15th.

Source: November 2022 Play Store system update, @MishaalRahman Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection enters public beta

Privacy-oriented search company DuckDuckGo announced that its App Tracking Protection service for Android is now available in public beta, meaning anyone with an Android phone can use it.

The shift comes roughly a year after DuckDuckGo launched App Tracking Protection in a limited beta. Previously, people wanting to try out the service needed to join a private waitlist for the feature (although in my experience, the wait wasn’t very long).

Since the limited beta launch, DuckDuckGo says it added new features, like the ability to see what personal data trackers try to collect before DuckDuckGo blocks them. The company says it also improved performance, reduced the number of app exclusions, and made the blocklist publicly available.

Since I’ve written at length about App Tracking Protection before, I’ll keep it brief here. The service works by using Android’s built-in VPN functionality to filter network traffic and block trackers from apps. The process happens entirely on-device and doesn’t route data through DuckDuckGo’s servers.

A common comparison is to Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, although there are some fundamental differences. Namely, DuckDuckGo’s App Tracking Protection actually blocks trackers, while Apple’s system only blocks access to a user’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). Reports have detailed how apps can bypass App Tracking Transparency and perform tracking without using the IDFA. Moreover, Apple’s own apps don’t adhere to anti-tracking settings.

If you haven’t tried out App Tracking Protection yet, I’d recommend giving it a go. It’s improved over the last few months and is now easier than ever to try out. Plus, it’s free — all you need is DuckDuckGo’s app. You can learn more about App Tracking Protection here.

Source: DuckDuckGo

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Mobile Syrup

Google Chrome is testing Material You colour theming

Chrome is the latest product from Google to adopt the company’s trendy ‘Material You’ theming engine. However, since the design rules for Material You are half-baked, I can foresee some issues arising with this in the future.

To test out the new feature, you need to get Google’s beta browser, Chrome Canary. This browser is essentially the same as standard Chrome, but it gets new features first for beta testing. You also need to ensure you’re on Canary version 110 or newer.

From there, you need to input chrome://flags/ into your search bar to get into the secret Google settings panel. Once it loads, search for ‘Customize Chrome Color Extraction’ and enable it.

The first major limitation of this browser extension is that it takes its colour choice from the wallpaper you set on your new page screen on Chrome. I’d have rather it take the colour from the wallpaper on my computer, similar to how it works on Android phones. It also only seems to work with stock Google wallpapers. Any custom uploads don’t seem to change colours in my testing.

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This is where things get a little convoluted since there are no well-defined rules for how Material You should work. I was hoping that Google would attach the Material You-themed colours from your phone to the rest of your Google products. Ideally, this would establish a colour profile for each member of your family, and when they interacted with things like Google TVs and smart displays, those devices would adopt that colour to unify and personalize that person’s software and hardware.

However, Google seems to be taking more of a nearsighted approach to implementing the feature. I can see this as being strange for people running Chrome OS in the near future if Material You gets rolled out there with more consistency. Are we expected to have both Chrome and Chrome OS adopt different colours based on separate aspects of the ecosystem?

As Google builds towards the Pixel ecosystem with the launch of the Pixel Watch and Buds, the company needs to spend more time thinking about how to connect all of its devices, not how to fracture them.

Via: Android Police 

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Mobile Syrup

Leaked Galaxy S23 Ultra sample photo reveals quality improvement over S22 Ultra, Pixel 7 Pro

Despite not being officially revealed yet, a sample shot comparing Samsung’s Galaxy S23 to the S22 Ultra and the Pixel 7 Pro has already appeared.

As first reported by Ice Universe, Samsung’s next high-end smartphone will reportedly feature a 200-megapixel primary sensor. This report is backed up by several photographs of pumpkins showing off the S23 Ultra’s clear camera quality upgrade over the S22 Ultra’s and Pixel 7 Pro’s shooter in terms of sharpness and colour vibrancy. These images first appeared on the China-based social network Weibo.

The Galaxy S22 and Pixel 7 Pro images feature far softer focus and less vivid colour than the S22 image. Even the S22 shot looks better than the Pixel 7 Pro’s, even though Google’s smartphone features a 200-megapixel main sensor compared to the S22 Ultra’s 108-megapixel sensor.

As is often the case with Ice Universe’s leaks, the leaker also shared details regarding the S23 Ultra’s various sensors and the resolution of photographs.

Of course, with the Galaxy S23 still several months away from its official reveal, Samsung’s plans regarding the high-end camera could quickly change.

Image credit: Weibo

Source: @UniverseIce, Weibo Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

ChromeOS to add GIF support for screen recording

ChromeOS’s built-in screen recorder is set to become a lot more useful.

ChromeOS allows users to record their whole Chromebook screen, a single window, or a specific section on the screen. The screen recordings are saved in the WebM format, which offers a balance between video quality and size, though compromises due to lack of support with other phones, computers and applications.

Now, as first spotted by 9to5Google in a newly posted code change, Google is looking to add support for GIFs in ChromeOS screen recordings. “Enables the ability to record the screen into an animated GIF image from the native screen capture tool,” reads the code.

GIFs are supported in a majority of devices and applications and are relatively easy to share. Having both WebM and GIF as recordable formats is sure to give ChromeOS users flexibility when screen recording, depending on the length of video they intend to record. GIFs would work better for shorter recordings, because of their larger file size, while users would prefer WebM for larger recordings.

It’s worth noting that support for GIFs in screen recording isn’t live yet. The feature is reportedly still in development. “It will likely be quite a few weeks before we see GIF screen recording support on any real Chromebooks, let alone see the feature launch to stable,” says 9to5Google.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Latest Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 update might still brick your phone: report

A recent update has caused the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic to stop working. Samsung first stopped the update from reaching more devices, but now has released a new patch that should fix the issue.

The new update, version ‘GVK4,’ comes with bug fixes and improvements, the November 2022 security patch, and a “power operation-related stabilization code.” However, unfortunately, GVK4 doesn’t seem to fix the problem, and there are more reports of dead Watch 4 devices.

It’s still unclear how widespread this problem is.

However, if this gets as bad as the previous update (GVI3), Samsung might have to pull the update once again. That said, there are some users who have downloaded the new update without any issues, but definitely download it at your own risk.

A Reddit user says that Samsung will offer a free repair or a $210 credit towards the new Galaxy Watch 5 Pro for those that encounter this problem.

Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Stadia refunds are causing user Play Points to go negative

Now that Google has begun refunding users after shutting Stadia down, it appears some users who paid for Stadia titles via Play Store credits are seeing a massive influx of refunds along with a negative Play Points balance on their accounts.

Google has made it clear that it will process refunds back to the source of the payment. If that isn’t possible for any reason, Google will email you on the Google account used to make the purchase with more information.

One of the ways users paid for games was through Play Store credits, which could have been redeemed through Play Points, by answering Opinion Rewards surveys, or via gift cards. According to 9to5Google, users frequently funded their Play Store accounts with gift cards, and subsequently made Stadia purchases. Now, these users are stuck with massive amounts of refunds as Play Store credits.

Google is unable to transfer these funds anywhere else.

Further, credits earned through Google’s Opinion Rewards surveys normally expire a year from the survey completion date. Users are noticing that the refund coming in is marked with the original expiration date, which might mean Opinion Rewards credit earned and spent over a year ago might not qualify to be refunded.

Elsewhere, all Play Points earned for purchasing games on Stadia’s Android app are being deducted from user accounts as Stadia refunds roll in. In a statement received by 9to5Google, Google said, “We are aware of the Play Points balance issue caused by Stadia refunds that is impacting some users in the US. We are working on a resolution for this issue.”

Source: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Huawei unveils Pocket S clamshell foldable smartphone

Huawei has announced a new clamshell foldable, the Huawei Pocket S, a device that offers the same form factor as the P50 Pocket.

It features the same circular 1.04-inch notification display and camera bump with a 40-megapixel and 13-megapixel ultrawide on the outside but compared to its predecessor, it lacks a third camera. The new handset also offers a lower-end processor, at a lower price tag, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G compared to the Snapdragon 888 in the P50 Pocket.

The Pocket S also features a 6.9-inch foldable display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 2790 x 1188-pixel resolution and can reportedly survive 400,000 folds.

This device, like other recent Huawei handsets, likely won’t release in Canada or the United States. It’s set to launch in China on November 10th.  Canada due to U.S. sanctions.

Via: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Expanded forecast ‘At a Glance’ widget starting to show up on Pixel 6 series

The Pixel 7 and 7 Pro’s expanded weather forecasts feature is making its way to older Google handsets. Many are saying that they’ve started to see the feature on their Pixel 6 home and lock screens, according to Android Police.

The expanded forecast in the ‘At a Glance’ widget shows the current weather condition, and temperature, as well as the day’s highs and lows. It will also appear on the user’s lock screen with an option to expand for more details.

The tipster says they also saw the forecast widget on their Pixel 6 running Android 13.

While this isn’t a huge update from the previous widget, it’s nice that Google is bringing some features to its older handsets.

Source: Android Police