Meta managed a surprise hit with the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and since then, we’ve seen renewed interest from the likes of Google and Samsung in Android XR to make smart glasses more popular. But Android isn’t the only platform in this space, as Apple is also building its own pair of smart glasses, expected to launch later this year.

Bloomberg reports that Apple is currently developing its own pair of smart glasses similar to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The glasses are internally code-named N50 and are expected to be unveiled at the end of this year or early next year, with an actual release in the pipeline for later in 2027.

The Nothing Phone 4a Pro is a great alternative to the Pixel 10a and Samsung Galaxy A57, and one of the best cheap Android phones of 2026. But how durable is it, though? Well, a trusted outlet has just put this to the test.

YouTube channel JerryRigEverything conducted a durability test on the Nothing Phone 4a Pro (see the video at the top of the page). Perhaps the most surprising finding concerns the phone’s IP65 rating. Host Zack Nelson found that accidentally inserting the SIM removal tool into the microphone hole, which is next to the SIM card tray, could have significant consequences for water and dust resistance.

Apple could be gearing up to set the next big smartphone color trend, and if history is any indication, Android brands may end up following its lead once again.

We’ve gotten very used to tall and narrow foldable phone designs over the past few years, but 2026 is shaping up to be the year that flips that script. With Apple and Samsung both expected to embrace wider foldable designs, the industry is clearly heading in a new direction. But before either one of them could make their move, another competitor has already shown its hand.

The OPPO Find X9 Ultra is finally arriving, and it’s a complete departure from the sleek, minimalist glass we saw on the Find X8 Ultra. Instead of following the “smooth-and-simple” trend, the X9 Ultra leans into a bold, tactile look that feels like a return to the series’ roots.

The biggest change is the return of vegan leather. After moving to matte glass with the X8, OPPO has brought back the two-panel aesthetic. The rear is split into a textured upper section for the massive camera housing and a matching lower section for the logo. In the hand, it feels much more premium and grippy —less like a slippery piece of tech and more like the Find X7 Ultra of old.

Google Maps’ new AI chat tool showed up just in time for my Mumbai trip. I had to plan long commutes from the northern side, where I stayed, to the south, and discover all the must-try places in between. It was the perfect opportunity to test out Ask Maps to its limits — because that’s what Mumbai does to you, too. I’m proud that I made the best of this handy AI feature, and I found some amazing ways to make it work harder for me.

Here are a few of those.

Not all note-taking apps are created equal when it comes to privacy. Google Keep, for example, isn’t as private as you may think. Sure, the chances of someone hacking into your account are minimized thanks to things like 2FA, but people seem to forget that Google has full access to the contents of their account.

I guess one could argue that it’s not a big deal, especially if your Keep account doesn’t store anything sensitive, like medical or financial records. Besides, Google has strict privacy guidelines, so it’s not like its employees are reading your notes during their lunch break — I hope. Still, the company can access your data if it wants to, so you have to trust that it won’t do it randomly on a slow Tuesday. It will, however, hand over your data if it receives a subpoena, as required by law.

The Samsung Galaxy 26 and Galaxy S26 Ultra are polar opposites. Only a few things, such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and One UI 8.5, tie the two models together. I’ve long been a fan of compact and thin phones; I spent my own cash on both the Galaxy S25 Edge and the iPhone Air, and I haven’t used an “Ultra,” “XL,” or “Pro Max” model as my daily driver in years. I’m not the target audience for the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but I can’t help but love it anyway.

I used both the 6.3-inch Galaxy S26 and the 6.9-inch Galaxy S26 Ultra for weeks, and spent some time using the two models side-by-side. For the first time, the bigger Galaxy S26 Ultra offers enough upgrades over the base model to justify the larger footprint and higher price.

I’ve been an iPhone user since the iPhone 5c, and switching to Android was never part of the plan — not even in my wildest dreams. I was deeply invested in Apple’s ecosystem, and I loved it to bits. It was the kind of experience where everything just clicked, especially features like AirDrop, which made moving files between my devices feel effortless.

But beyond that, the perfect experience started to feel a little less perfect. I began noticing a pattern. iPhones have a habit of catching up to features Android has had for years, and that habit has become harder to ignore. That’s when curiosity got the better of me, and I started using a few Android phones. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was reaching for my Android handsets more than I expected.

Ever since it debuted on the Pixel 10 series last August, Take a Message has quickly become one of my favorite recent Pixel features. Essentially Google’s modern take on the voicemail box, Take a Message answers missed calls for you, shows real-time transcriptions, and makes those transcripts easy to read after the fact on the Phone app’s Home page. It’s great.

However, there’s just been one problem with the feature. Take a Message greets callers with a standard “The person you have called is not available, please leave a message after the tone,” with no option to create a custom greeting. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.

In one hand, I hold the Xiaomi 17 Ultra — a powerhouse driven by Qualcomm’s benchmark-dominating Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. In the other, Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL, powered by the latest Tensor G5 chip. On paper, Google’s latest flagship looks far less impressive in terms of raw performance, a fact Pixel fans have just come to accept over the years and one that’s a constant thorn in the side of those who love a bit of mobile gaming every now and again.

But benchmarks don’t always tell the full story — we seldom notice the extra 5% or 10% difference while browsing the web or scrolling feeds. Likewise, modern Android games aren’t always built to push cutting-edge silicon to its limits, and real-world performance often depends just as much on optimization and framerate caps as it does on brute force. So the question is: does Google’s Tensor still lag as far behind as the synthetic numbers suggest, or can the Pixel 10 Pro XL punch above its weight where it actually counts?

I didn’t intend to do this experiment, but my month-long trip away from home forced me to shut down my NAS for a good few weeks. What I expected to be a temporary inconvenience ended up feeling… normal. The NAS is such an ingrained part of my local file access workflow that I assumed I’d miss it immediately, but with a portable SSD in my hand and Google Drive practically moving everywhere with me, I had little reason to think about my home setup at all.

For the most part, everything just worked, although there were still a couple of moments where a local network storage solution would have been more suitable.

It’s a tale as old as time. iPads are better productivity machines than Android tablets. At least, that’s what people want you to think. As an iPad owner (2020 iPad Pro 11) and a Galaxy Tab S10 Plus user, I think the opposite is true. Aside from one or two specific uses, I can get more done on my Tab S10 than I can on the iPad for one reason: iPadOS 26 sucks. It’s bad enough that, after five years of enjoyment, I hate using my iPad now.

iPadOS 26 is a mess

Last month, I wrote about how I want to be a Pixel fan, but I’ve had pretty poor luck with the series over the years. Still, as Android 16 continues to evolve, I’ve admitted more than once that I’ve been tempted to give Pixels another try to experience the latest betas and more.

Recently, I finally decided to pull the trigger and am once again a Pixel owner. This time around, I’ve decided to give its budget range a try, as my family has been very impressed with the Galaxy S25 FE, and so I was curious how Google’s own mid-ranger might compare. So far, I’ve been using the Pixel 10a for almost two weeks, and overall, I’m impressed.

Earlier this month, Google lifted the lid on its latest and most powerful Gemma 4 AI models that you can run on your own hardware. Gemma competes on performance with other models like GLM5 and Qwen3.5, but its closed Gemini model remains the flagship to take on OpenAI and Anthropic. Still, the exciting news is that Gemma 4 has versions small enough to run on your smartphone.

Specifically, Gemma 4 E2B and E4B are distilled down to effective two- and four-billion-parameter footprints. At just 4.2GB and 5.9GB, these can more easily fit into phones with 12GB of RAM or more. These are also the foundations for Google’s next-generation Gemini Nano smartphone models — Gemini Nano 4 Fast and Nano 4 Full — scheduled to launch later this year.

A few days ago, Amazon emailed Kindle users to say that some older models are about to lose support. At first glance, it reads like routine housekeeping; devices age out all the time.

But these e-readers aren’t breaking or struggling — they still do exactly what they’ve always done: download, store, and display books. There’s no obvious reason these devices should be any less useful tomorrow than they are today.

It’s a big deal whenever Google redesigns one of its Android apps, and that’s especially true for an app as big as Google Wallet. We’ve been tracking evidence of a major Google Wallet update since as early as last September, and after months of waiting, it’s finally live.

Google began rolling out its Wallet redesign on April 10, and after using it on my Pixel 10a for about a day, I can confirm that the new design was worth the wait. Here’s what it looks like in action.

Are you looking to get some security cameras? Ring makes some of the most popular ones. It helps that they are both functional and pretty affordable, especially when they go on sale. Today, there is a large sale on a bunch of models. Let’s go over them together.

Buy the Ring Indoor Cam Plus for just $34.99 ($25 off)

If you’re looking to enhance your home security, the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus is currently available for $99.99, down from $149.99, offering you a 33% discount relative to the recommended retail price.

This doorbell boasts impressive features that make it a must-have for both home and business security. It provides Head-to-Toe HD+ Video, so you can see more of who’s there, day or night. Its Color Night Vision allows you to see clearly at night, and it provides alerts for packages and persons detected in specified zones, ensuring you’re always informed.

If you’re not satisfied with the default launcher that comes with Google TV, you can always install a third-party option. From Projectivy to ATV Launcher, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from. But if you want something with a sleek and simple interface, you may want to try out a new launcher called Arc.

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The Anker SOLIX EverFrost 2 58L will prove that coolers can be really cool. The thing is, these can get really pricey, but good deals come from time to time. Today, you can get it at the best price of the year, saving you a whole $300.

Buy the Anker SOLIX Everfrost 2 58L Electric Cooler for just $799.99 ($300 off)

Lenovo introduced the 8.8-inch Legion Tab Gen 5 (pictured above) at MWC last month. With a powerful chipset and a big battery, it looks like it’ll be an interesting option for people who take mobile gaming seriously when it hits US retailers later this spring. Now, Lenovo’s teasing another Legion-branded tablet that looks a lot like the Legion Tab Gen 5, but with a much larger physical footprint.

Brought to our attention by Notebookcheck, Lenovo Consumer Customer Marketing Director Song Yuezhu posted a photo on on Weibo showing what appears to be the relatively compact Legion Tab Gen 5 we’ve already seen next to a considerably larger model. The post doesn’t include any info about the bigger slate, but at a glance, it looks like it could feature a screen in the 11-inch neighborhood.

It has not been a great day for YouTube Premium subscribers, as the Alphabet-owned company announced a price hike. This price increase applies across the board, affecting the Individual, Family, and Lite plans. If you get a discount on Premium through Verizon, you’ll soon feel the increase as well.

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What have you managed to get done so far this month? A last-minute scramble to file your taxes? Finally taking your spring wardrobe out of storage? As productive as you may have been, you’ve still probably got nothing on NASA’s Artemis II crew, who are on their way back home to Earth now after a record-setting mission. And in just a few hours, you can watch their return, steaming live to your devices.

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The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is not waterproof, but it can handle a quick dip in some water with its IP48 rating. However, if you’re interested in taking some underwater photos, you really should protect it by placing the foldable in a submersible case. When you do, don’t forget to turn on Samsung’s Ocean Mode.

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Users have been reporting 90-second-long, non-skappable ads on YouTube’s TV apps this week, and as you might expect, they’re not happy about it. Today, though, YouTube says it’s rolling out a fix for the issue.

YouTube tells 9to5Google that this week’s reports stem from a bug that caused YouTube to show “higher, inaccurate timers” for ads that weren’t actually 90 seconds long, doubling down on its previous statements that the unusual behavior wasn’t intentional and wasn’t part of any test for new ad formats.

It’s been a while since we’ve covered any Motorola Razr Ultra 2025 deals. This is because the $799.99 sale is now common. Today, the foldable flip phone is even cheaper at $699.99, though, dropping to a brand-new record-low price we haven’t seen before.

Buy the Motorola Razr Ultra for just $699.99 ($600 off)

The obvious trust problem with cloud gaming is that if your games live on someone else’s servers, you’re ultimately at the mercy of whatever that company decides to do next. Amazon Luna users are getting a fresh reminder of that today, as Amazon strips back several of the service’s key features and pushes it toward a much simpler subscription model.

In a new Amazon customer help page, the company says Luna will no longer offer individual game purchases, third-party subscriptions, or third-party game stores starting April 10. That means support is ending for Luna-sold subscriptions to Bring Your Own Library, Ubisoft Plus, and Jackbox, as well as storefront integrations with EA, Ubisoft, and GOG.

As you may have heard, Fitbit is preparing to expand its wearable lineup with a Whoop-like fitness band. However, we know that Fitbit isn’t the only company looking to make its debut in this category. An earlier leak revealed Garmin also plans on launching a display-less fitness wearable called the CIRQA Smart Band. If you were hoping to learn more about this mysterious CIRQA band, a recent US trademark may be just what you were waiting for.

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Most of the modern smartphone industry has blessedly moved on from the numbers games that plagued its early days, when manufacturers would hype up their phones with the highest megapixel cameras, or most CPU cores. And while we’re much more focused on features and the experience today, benchmark numbers still manage to attract attention — especially when we’re dealing with performance-geared gaming phones. That’s tempted more than one company to game the system by artificially boosting those benchmark results, and today we’ve got some updates to share on the latest scandal to hit.

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Flagship Android phones can do some pretty amazing things with their camera setups these days, resulting in incredible shots. But the more fancy and niche photography tricks that get piled on, the greater the chance that something will go a bit wonky. That seems to be what’s happened with one Galaxy S25 Ultra camera feature, and Samsung says a fix is on the way.

Yesterday, a user on Samsung’s community forum (via SammyGuru) raised an issue with the updated Virtual Aperture feature in Samsung’s Expert RAW app. In the translated post, the user said the effect didn’t seem to be working properly on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with the subject separation and background blur looking off at 5x zoom.

It’s not exactly a great time to buy retro handhelds at the moment. A slew of brands, including AYN and Retroid, have been raising prices in response to the ongoing memory shortage. However, this may be the right time if you were already planning on getting one of AYANEO’s products, as price hikes are coming.

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The ongoing RAM and storage shortages have affected all electronics-related ventures, but the segment of Android gaming handhelds appears to be among the hardest hit. In recent months, we’ve seen numerous examples of companies making Android handhelds halting production of certain models or completely discontinuing even their best-selling products. One company, however, appears to be making the best use of the circumstances.

Retroid, a leader in the category, recently announced on X that it was bringing new color variants for its Pocket 5 handheld, including yellow and turquoise. These new colors add to the Pocket 5’s existing tally of color options, including black, white, and the two classic options.

RAMageddon is in full swing, and while there are some indicators that the worst might be behind us, the ripple effects are just about to reach our favorite products due to supply chain lag. We’ve seen the RAM crisis kill high-end Android gaming handhelds and even raise the prices of Android flagship phones, but a new leak now suggests the RAM crisis might outright kill a generation or two of Android’s Ultra flagships.

Leaker Digital Chat Station shared on Weibo that the next generation of Android Ultra flagships might have been discontinued.

Google has quietly removed a popular psychological horror game from Android, and the reason is content moderation.

If you’ve tried to download the psychological horror hit Doki Doki Literature Club! on your Android phone recently, you won’t find it. Google has officially removed the game from the Play Store, and now both the developer and the community are searching for answers.

All three of the big carriers will occasionally run special offers for free lines, though Verizon and T-Mobile engage in this practice way more regularly than AT&T does. T-Mobile takes the most aggressive approach here, regularly offering BOGO promotions that will let users add one paid line and get a second line for free.

As first spotted on Reddit, the latest T-Mobile BOGO offer is up. These two-for-one deals are particularly great for families that are considering adding their kids.

We’ve already seen renders of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, but one key member is missing from this party. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait any further, as OnLeaks has now shared the Galaxy Z Flip 8 renders via Mymobiles.

Google is expanding Fitbit’s AI features, and if you’re interested in your cardio fitness, there’s something new to check out. The company is now highlighting its VO2 Max insights as part of a wider public preview of its new AI-powered health coach.

The main change is the Personal Health Coach in the Fitbit app, powered by Gemini. It began as a limited preview but is now expanding to 37 countries and 32 languages, per Google’s blog post.

Plenty of streaming services have recently raised their prices, and YouTube Premium has finally joined the pack. Premium prices now start at $15.99 for individual monthly plans, a far cry from the $9.99 pricing of YouTube Red (2015) and the $11.99 launch pricing of Premium (2018). Upward changes are reflected across all YouTube Premium plans.

To YouTube’s credit, this is the first major adjustment since July 2023. However, because this increase arrived without a formal press release or public warning, the “sticker shock” in the community is palpable.

I’ve been into tech for as long as I can remember, and have essentially been my family’s tech support go-to since I was about twelve years old. Nearly three decades later, I still find myself occasionally being asked to look at people’s computers, phones, smart TVs, and the list goes on.

As you can imagine, I’ve encountered a wide range of problems in that time. Some of them were real issues, others were a bit stranger. With that in mind, I wanted to take a look at some of the funniest, silliest, or just strangest tech problems I’ve encountered over the years. While most of these so-called problems were user errors, others were just funny glitches or mysteries that I have yet to solve even today.

I think it’s fair to say that Android is built upon layers and layers of nostalgia, unlike any other operating system available today. This is a great thing for Google, as it fosters a sense of community and ownership and helps, in part, to support Android’s huge fan base. However, it also stirs uproar from this same userbase when Google implements foundational changes, such as its recent clampdown on app installations.

Balancing the need for modernization and improvement while keeping the “soul” of the product intact is a delicate act, and Google has arguably been pretty brash in Android’s handling in recent months.

While I’ve used the Gemini app for a series of tasks, from restoring images to suggesting new music, I didn’t realize how useful scheduled actions could be until I tried them. As someone who is incredibly forgetful, getting the AI to perform certain actions without manual input has made a series of tasks easier for me.

What are scheduled actions in Gemini?

It looks like Samsung is aggressively shifting its production gears in April, as demand for the Galaxy S26 series is reportedly blowing past projections.

A report from ZDNet Korea says Samsung is raising its monthly production target to 3 million units, a 25% increase from its original plan of 2.4 million.

For as useful as virtual assistants and AI agents can be, all too often accessing them means being tethered to a data connection. On our phones, that’s not normally a deal-breaker, as cellular connectivity’s usually pretty good — and we sometimes even have options for running them locally without data at all. But smartwatches are a lot trickier, lacking the resources for local support, and often leaning on phones for data. If you’re wearing your watch but left your phone at home, you’re out of luck — or at least you have been.

That could soon change, though, based on some developments we just spotted in Google Gemini on Wear OS. Right now, when you try to do anything with Gemini on your watch without a data connection, you’ll see an error message:

DJI, popularly known for its drones and action cameras, also has another cherished product: the Osmo Pocket 3 portable camera for vlogging. But the Pocket 3 is now three years old and due for an upgrade. Thankfully for those anticipating a release, DJI has recently confirmed the launch of the Osmo Pocket 4 series, set for later this month.

A video teaser recently posted on DJI’s YouTube channel reveals that the Osmo Pocket 4 will be officially unveiled on April 16 at noon GMT (8:00 AM EDT). The teaser does not say much about the upgrades expected for the upcoming camera, except to suggest a nearly square CMOS sensor.

YouTube last raised prices for YouTube Premium in the US in July 2023, where the individual monthly plan increased from $11.99 to $13.99. It seems YouTube is finally raising prices again in the US, and doing so rather quietly this time.

Multiple users are reporting on Reddit (1, 2, 3) that they’ve received a price-hike email from YouTube (h/t Piunikaweb). According to these reports, the YouTube Premium Individual plan is increasing from $13.99 to $15.99. Paying annually goes up from $139.99 to $159.99.

The Galaxy A57 officially went on sale this week as Samsung’s latest mid-range Android phone. And you know what? It looks pretty solid. For $550, the A57 offers a big AMOLED display, a decent chipset, and a large battery with respectable charge speeds.

There are far worse Android phones you could buy than the Galaxy A57, but it’s also worth noting that there are better options, too. Whether you prefer a smaller phone, want better performance, or would like a flashier design, plenty of alternatives exist.

Credit: Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority

Running out of phone storage is one of those problems that never really goes away. You take a few photos, shoot some videos, download a couple of apps, and unless you splurged on a high-capacity phone, you inevitably end up with that dreaded “storage full” warning.

If that sounds like a problem you run into often, Google might be working on something that could fix this problem once and for all.

Late last month, we joined the dots on Android’s upcoming “Tap to Share” feature, as code for it appeared across One UI builds and Android Canary releases. We’ve now managed to activate the UI for the feature, giving us a better look at what to expect from Android’s AirDrop-style Tap to Share feature.

Tap to Share, in its current state of readiness in Google Play Services v26.15.31, looks like this:

For the past few months, Google has been testing a few key interface upgrades for the Wallet app to make important or most frequently used passes easier to access. While we’ve brought you early previews of these features from tinkering with the app internally, Google is now officially rolling out these visual upgrades.

Following its upgrade to version 26.14.895964528, the Google Wallet app is switching to a grid layout for the home page. The new design arranges favorites in a more palatable structure and reduces the amount of scrolling required to get to important passes.

OpenAI has introduced a new $100-per-month ChatGPT plan, driven by the growing popularity of its coding tool, Codex.

Google has been steadily pushing Scam Detection as part of its broader AI suite. It uses Gemini to analyze calls in real time and warn users about potential fraud. The feature first appeared on Pixel devices, where it works on-device to preserve user privacy while still identifying shady and suspicious patterns in conversations.

Competition in the gaming earbuds market is pretty fierce, so it helps to have a unique and genuinely useful feature to stand out. That seems to be what Razer is going for with the new Hammerhead V3 HyperSpeed, a pair of wireless gaming earbuds whose charging case also doubles as a 2.4GHz wireless receiver for ultra-low-latency audio.

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If you’re like me, an explanation isn’t always enough. It’s often easier to understand a concept when you can visualize it. Since many people turn to Gemini to understand complex topics, it only makes sense that Google is rolling out this new feature.

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In the age of the RAM crisis, phone prices creeping upward is becoming an irritating little theme this week, and Samsung now seems to have picked up on the idea. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was already a wallet-bruising purchase, but the company appears to have quietly raised the US price of two models anyway.

As 9to5Google spotted, Samsung’s US product page now lists the 512GB Galaxy Z Fold 7 at $2,199.99 and the 1TB model at $2,499.99. Those are both $80 higher than their launch prices, which were $2,119.99 and $2,419.99, respectively. The 256GB Galaxy Z Fold 7 is still showing at its original $1,999.99 price, so Samsung seems to have limited the bump to the two higher-storage tiers rather than nudging the whole range upward.

Google has spent years enhancing Pixel phone features with AI tools like Call Screen and Hold for Me. Last year, it introduced Take a Message, a modern, on-device voicemail with real-time transcriptions.

Since launching on the Pixel 10 last fall, the experience has lacked a fundamental personal touch: the ability to record your own voice. Instead, callers have been greeted by a sterile, automated Google Assistant. That is finally changing.

Whether you hate them or love them, comments are a core part of the YouTube experience. That’s not just the case for the YouTube app; it’s also true for YouTube Music. And now there’s one more place where you can share your thoughts in the Music app.

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The Google TV Streamer dropped by 20% during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, and then the deal stuck around for a bit until a few days ago. Don’t feel like you missed out, though. The deal is back!

Buy the Google TV Streamer for just $79.99 ($20 off)

YouTube is funded primarily by advertising, so Google’s incentivized to strike a balance between the ad strategy that generates the most profit possible and one that users won’t find too obtrusive. Reports this week that users had been seeing non-skippable, 90-second-long ads on YouTube’s TV app seemed to show that the company was struggling to thread that needle — but now, Google says these super-long ads aren’t intentional.

Early this month, multiple users reported that YouTube’s TV app was showing them longer non-skippable ads than the service’s ad format rules allow for (YouTube ads can get quite long, but those that can’t be skipped are officially capped at 30 seconds). Today, the TeamYouTube account on X acknowledged the reports, saying that the behavior isn’t intentional and that YouTube is looking into the offending ads.

The Logitech MX Vertical still stands strong as the most popular mouse in its category, despite launching all the way back in 2018. It’s still an awesome mouse, and the good news is that older products tend to get better discounts, such as this one.

Buy the Logitech MX Vertical for just $74.99 ($45 off)

Credit: Megan Ellis / Android Authority

If you’re frustrated by the way that the Galaxy Watch locks out certain features depending on your region or smartphone, you’ll be glad to hear that there’s a new app that aims to address this — along with providing an on-device companion that summarizes your wellness data.

Dante63, whom you may know as the developer who created a patched version of Samsung Health Monitor to unlock certain features in unsupported regions, has released a new app called GeminiMan Wellness Companion. While still in its early stages, the app supports a variety of useful features.

It’s been almost a year since the CMF Phone 2 Pro was launched. As such, there’s a good chance that its successor could arrive in the very near future. While we wait for the announcement, a new leak has shed some light on what to expect from the CMF Phone 3 Pro.

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Ever get overwhelmed when you open up your favorite music streaming app, only to find mountains of podcasts, videos, and more? Spotify is now giving users control over video content, allowing them to switch between more visual and audio-only experiences with new content controls.

Spotify’s new update focuses on “intentionality,” and tries to move away from passive consumption models seen on other platforms. According to the company, the new toggles offer a much-requested layer of customization. Whether you want to save data, lower battery drain, or just keep focus on your music, you can now choose what works for you.

Are you looking for a powerful power station that’s also portable enough to take on your adventures? I have this one, and it is becoming one of my go-tos for when I need mobility. As awesome as Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station is, its $799 retail price isn’t as accessible. Here’s a deal that will slash it by nearly half!

Buy the Anker SOLIX C1000 Gen 2 Portable Power Station for just $428.99 ($370.01 off)

Motorola’s cooking up new versions of its Edge 70 phone. The company quietly dropped the Edge 70 Fusion in Brazil last month, but even more are on the way. Courtesy of a fresh leak, we’ve now seen the upcoming Motorola Edge 70 Pro in several finishes — including one that’s got us a little nostalgic for Moto’s phones from the 2010s.

YTECHB has published a handful of previously unseen renders of the Edge 70 Pro, showing off three colorways. There’s a matte-finish maroon color, a blue variant that’s apparently got a “nylon-like” finish, and a brown model with simulated woodgrain that calls to mind Motorola’s Moto X line, which was available with a selection of genuine wood back covers.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 series got its first discount only a couple of days ago, saving you up to $200 on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Well, it just got even cheaper! Amazon is now offering the Black model of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for just $1,079, which is equivalent to a $220.99 discount.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra for just $1,079 ($220.99 off)

In case you missed it when reading about the rumored July 22 date for Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked, the same report had another interesting claim tucked away in it. Samsung may be getting ready to bring the S Pen back to one of its next foldables.

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Today, Samsung expanded the One UI 8.5 beta to older Galaxy devices, including the Galaxy S23 series, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and S23 FE. Along with the expansion, the company also rolled out some One UI 8.5 beta updates. These updates finally bring AirDrop support to more Galaxy phones.

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As the number of rechargeable devices we take on flights continues to grow, so does the number of power banks. Unfortunately, that means the number of power bank-related fires on planes has also gone up. To minimize the potential of in-flight fires caused by power banks in the future, Southwest is adjusting its policy.

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Photomoji, the Google Messages feature that lets you turn photos into reusable stickers or message reactions, has been acting up lately. User reports say that for the past week or so, Messages has been showing an error message when photomoji is opened. Google’s already on the case, though, with a fix in progress.

As spotted by PiunikaWeb, Messages has been showing an unhelpful error dialog when users try to accessing photomoji, only saying that “Something happened” with the feature and instructing the user to try restarting the Messages app. Users say following that instruction doesn’t solve the problem. The latest beta version of Messages does seem to resolve the issue, indicating that a solution should be around the corner for the stable release version of the app, too.

Samsung’s Now Brief is a good concept, but not everyone is convinced by it just yet. In fact, one Android Authority writer recently called it “nothing but a glorified weather and news app, and a bad one at that,” in his less-than-favorable assessment. The latest One UI 9 leak suggests Samsung may at least be trying to improve the weather aspect of the app.

According to SammyGuru, Samsung appears to be testing a weekly weather forecast inside Now Brief for One UI 9. Right now, the feature only gives you a quick look at the current day before sending you to weather.com for a fuller forecast. Based on the screenshots shared with the outlet, that could be changing, with the week ahead shown directly inside the briefing.

TCL officially announced plans to launch the NXTPAPER 70 Pro in the US market earlier this week, but now it’s finally available at T-Mobile and Metro.

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The Pixel 11 series will be here in a matter of months, and some details about Google’s upcoming flagships have already started making their way out into the world. A report published today sheds a little light on the phones’ display panels, which will they’ll purportedly share with this year’s high-end iPhone models.

Korean-language publication ETnews reports that both the Pixel 11 series and iPhone 18 Pro models will use Samsung’s upcoming M16 OLED panels. The latest panels should mean upgrades to brightness, color vibrancy, and power consumption, the report says.

For the past year, running a high-end flagship AI model entirely on your device was a task largely reserved for developers and first adopters who wanted to try the next big thing. That changed this week. Google has officially launched its AI Edge Gallery to both Google Play and the App Store, allowing anyone with an Android device or iPhone a chance to run the all-new Gemma 4 mode entirely offline.

Until now, testing Google’s “Edge” AI required sideloading APKs and navigating complete setup screens. By moving AI Edge Gallery to the mainstream, Google is signaling that on-device AI is ready for prime time. It’s no longer a science experiment; it could quickly become an important AI tool for everyone.

Switching phone brands can be a challenge, especially if it’s forced on you. My colleague Hadlee Simons was put in that very position recently, when he jumped to the Galaxy S23 Ultra after his Pixel 7 Pro was stolen.

Although both phones from both brands run Android, there are stark differences in hardware, physical design philosophy, software experience, and unique value-adds. A phone from Samsung couldn’t be more different than a phone from Google.

Android gaming handheld maker AYN’s new Odin 3 was initially pitched as the first device of its kind to ship with Qualcomm’s high-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. Earlier this week, though, AYN rolled back that claim, clarifying that while it the handheld does feature a beefy Qualcomm chip — the Dragonwing Q8 — it’s not the Snapdragon 8 Elite, strictly speaking. Now, the company’s explained the confusion.

In emails to Android Authority, AYN tells us that the two chipsets in question here are functionally nearly identical, sharing key specs and the same high performance. The Dragonwing chip in the Odin 3 lacks cellular connectivity capacity, but as that’s not a feature offered on the Odin 3, users won’t notice a difference.

Google Pixels have not one but two “At a Glance” implementations — one available on all Android flagships and one Pixel-specific. The Pixel-specific At a Glance was updated last month to bring sports scores, finance information, and commute information. We’ve now spotted Google working to bring two new features to Pixel’s At a Glance: Nearby Passes and Restaurant Insights.

Android System Intelligence vB.23.885134531 includes code for “Passes Nearby” and “Restaurant Insights.” We managed to enable the feature toggles for both of these, though we couldn’t get the actual feature to work.

Meta is back in the AI race after a tough Llama 4 launch. The company’s new model is small, fast, and designed for your Instagram feed.

The company has introduced a new AI model called Muse Spark, along with a major restructuring now known as Superintelligence Labs. Muse Spark is part of a complete overhaul of how Meta creates and launches AI. The company says its new Superintelligence Labs will bring together research, product development, and infrastructure, breaking down the internal barriers that slowed progress before.

Samsung Galaxy phones are among the best you can buy for enterprise use, thanks to features such as hardware root of trust via Knox Vault, an irreversible e-Fuse to detect firmware tampering, and the Knox Suite for managing devices at scale. But over the past few months, non-enterprise users have been encountering a “digital brick” scenario that weaponizes some of these very features, effectively locking them out of their own phones.

The “This device isn’t private” trap

We’ve spotted several Galaxy S22 Ultra owners complaining (1, 2, 3, 4) that their phones are allegedly locked after a factory reset.

The US government may soon expand its crackdown on electronic devices made outside of the US. In line with this effort, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on the instructions of US President Donald Trump, will soon decide whether electronics tested in “foreign countries that have not signed agreements to recognize American test labs and certification bodies” should be banned in the US.

The FCC recently announced that it would vote to stop recognizing foreign laboratories from testing devices to be sold and used in the US. The Commission has reasoned that 75% of all the devices sold in the US are tested in countries that refuse to “commit to reciprocal treatment of U.S.-based labs.” While the agency did not explicitly name any country, Reuters suggests the move specifically targets devices certified by Chinese labs. While it does not immediately ban or restrict the sales of products by Chinese companies, it does complicate the process of becoming eligible for selling in the US.