The smartphone in your pocket today makes whatever handset you had just two years ago look laughably bad. That's not just because of better sensors and better software; the apps that power them have improved in kind.
Apps often need permission to access other stuff on your phone to work. What is less obvious is the breadth of information collected, and why it gets scooped up. Vocativ put together a list of common permissions from popular Android apps, calling it a "barometer of what app makers think they can get away with."
Getting to and from your New Year's shindig can be an expensive hassle, even if you're not driving: you're either competing for a conventional (and thus costly) taxi or bracing yourself for the surge pricing of ridesharing services like Uber. Flywhee...
Did your Twitter app suddenly give you the boot or otherwise behave strangely? It's not just you. The social network has confirmed a sign-in problem that's kicking out hordes of users (so far, mostly on Android) and preventing them from logging back ...
Whether you're brandishing a brand new smartphone from a lucrative holiday haul or just looking to add some apps to your tired years-old handset, app developers have been busy through this gift-giving season to pump out some software you're going to want to try. Let's unwrap some apps.
OnePlus' plans for world conquest hit a roadblock when Micromax had the company's smartphones banned in India. It's reasoning was that they allegedly infringed on its exclusive right to use Cyanogen's custom Android software. However, it looks like t...
Amazon's celebrating Christmas Eve by giving away 40 premium Android apps via the Amazon App Store. The full list is below, and a lot of them are actually really popular apps, including Terraria, djay 2, and Plex.
Plenty of Brits will be unwrapping Android devices this Christmas, so as an extra festive treat Amazon has assembled another one of its free app collections to get you up and running. The new promotion is one of its highest value bundles to date, pac...
And just like that, the Rockstar Consortium's lawsuit campaign against Android is over. The patent holding group (backed by Apple, BlackBerry, Ericsson, Microsoft and Sony) has sold all of its commonly held patents to clearinghouse RPX for $900 milli...
Android/iOS: Paper books are awesome, but sometimes there's no beating the portability of an ebook on your phone or tablet. If you have a physical book you'd love to read on the go, BitLit may be able to get you an ebook version for free—all you need to do is take a photo.
Attention, meatbags: If you somehow missed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic the first three times it was released, now might be your chance to finally fix that. How so? Well, BioWare's excellent role-playing game set in a galaxy far, far away i...
On top of laser weapons, passenger jets and space stuff Boeing is also, weirdly, building an ultra-secure Android smartphone called "Black" (not to be confused with the Blackphone). According to the Telegraph, it's now enlisted BlackBerry's help to m...
You know that nifty little feature on the Nexus 5 and other Android handsets that let's you voice summon Ok Google from any screen? Well, according to Google's François Beaufort, you'll soon be able to do just that on your Chromebook as well.
Hello all you lovers of smartphone apps and happy holidays. Many of us are ready to travel to relatives abroad or even wait out Christmas alone. Whatever the circumstance, if you have a smartphone—presents came early. We have great apps this week including ways to give your Lumia smartphone touchless superpowers and an even simpler way to do your taxes. It is the best apps of the week. Get ready for some downloadin'.
Google's no stranger to tweaking your photos automagically, and now it's extending that expertise to video. By using Google+ and its auto-backup system for your media, Mountain View says it can adjust the lighting, color, stability and, soon enough, ...
Evernote's bringing Context, one of its more interesting announcements during its fourth conference in October, to Android and Windows. This feature, which was first made available to iOS and Mac users in November, pulls content (based on what you're...
Boeing's mysterious, self-destructing Black phone is getting help in the security department from none other than BlackBerry. During a conference call on Friday, BlackBerry CEO John Chen announced that the company is collaborating with the defense contractor to bake its end-to-end BES 12 platform into the long-gestating Android device.
The software running on the smartphone in your pocket has a bunch of options to help improve readability, and whether you have a serious problem with your eyesight or you just want to spend less time squinting, they can make a big difference to usability. Here's how to get text looking bigger and sharper on the latest versions of iOS and Android.
Google wants Android to be the brains inside your car, and its plans to accomplish that extend far beyond Android Auto. According to Reuters, the company is working on a version of Android specifically designed to serve as a car's central infotainment system. Right now, Android Auto is a layer that runs on top of existing in-car platforms from automakers — much like Apple's CarPlay. But Reuters makes it sound like Google ultimately wants to replace systems like Ford Sync and BMW iDrive rather than exist alongside them.
This direct integration would put Google's services like Maps at the forefront of crucial tasks like navigation. And since more cars are being outfitted with Wi-Fi and cellular radios, it's not hard to imagine checking...
If Reuters' rumors are true, then apparently the folks at Mountain View think Android Auto isn't going far enough. Citing unnamed sources, the details indicate an Android M initiative that builds directly into the cars -- no smartphone necessary -- a...
There are all kinds of reasons why you might want to filter tweets based on a location—from breaking news to travel tips—and new Android app Castround makes the process much simpler than it is on the Web. Here's how to use it and several alternative approaches you can try.
When Google rolled out the 5.0 Lollipop update for Android Wear, it brought with it a number of cool features, not least the ability to install any watchface from Google Play (rather than just the ones pre-installed on your device). What's more, you can now manage them from your smartphone more easily. Here's how to change the look of your smart wristwatch.
Talking to your smartwatch to dictate a text or Hangouts reply is one of the less fantastic things about Android Wear; even when it's reliable, it always looks awkward. But now there's a new app that can fire off hundreds of canned responses — and you don't need to do any talking. It's called Coffee and is available starting today for free. Coffee lets you swipe through replies for nearly any scenario, including the old standbys like "Can't talk right now" and "I'm running late." And if the included responses don't feel like you, there's also the option to enter in your own custom text replies. Coffee's developers say the app and its user interface were designed from the ground up for Android Wear, and the images we've seen do make...
Provided you're somewhere with a stable internet connection, it's now perfectly possible to replace your old-fashioned radio set with a tablet. Most stations have a dedicated app these days and it's easy enough to connect a pair of headphones or a ch...
A new service called Prime Now is launching today, which will let Prime members order "tens of thousands" of "daily essentials" for immediate delivery. Once you download the new app (on Android or iOS), you'll get the option of picking a one- or two-...
You've been able to catch up with episodes of Jersey Shore through MTV's iOS and Android apps for around a year. But, if you wanted to gasp along with the action as it was broadcast, you'd have to make an appointment to take over the family TV. Thank...
Casio just announced its SynchroShot app that allows photographers to control up to seven Exilim EX-100PRO cameras from an Android tablet. The company claims enough accuracy (500µ seconds) for high-speed videos or continuous photos to be synchronized.
You may have to give up a few things from Gmail to use Google's task-oriented Inbox email app, but smartwatch support isn't one them. The company has updated the app (on Android) to bring Android Wear support, letting you check mail, send replies and...
Tile's promise to track your stuff with small Bluetooth squares last year made it one of the biggest crowd-funded successes ever, raising nearly $2.7 million worth of orders in just a month. What's taken the company a lot longer is making enough tiles for all the people who bought it, as well as getting them to connect to something other than Apple's iPhones and iPads. Today the company says both those problems have been solved, with it fully catching up on preorders, and with a new app for Android users that lets them connect with their tiles.
Microsoft's Xim is an awesome way to share photos across devices, no matter whether you're on Android or iOS or even Windows Phone. Now it's getting even better. The newest update to Microsoft Xim adds Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Xbox One, and web browsers to the mix. That means you can share photos from virtual any mobile device to virtually any TV. That's awesome.
Microsoft's Xim photo sharing app debuted in October from the company's research labs, and today it's getting a big update. Available across Windows Phone, iOS, and Android, the latest version of Xim lets you share photos to an Apple TV, Chromecast, Fire TV, or Xbox One simultaneously, alongside existing mobile devices. Microsoft is making use of the various wireless sharing protocols that each device uses to get content into the living room and on TVs. It's one of the first times that Microsoft has provided support for Apple TV or Chromecast in its iOS apps.
Xim is Microsoft's take on photo sharing and slideshows. A group Xim allows up to 50 photos to be shared between friends via their mobile number of email address, and Microsoft...
Google has opened a section to the Play Store dedicated to serving new watch faces for Android Wear smartwatches. Until this new debut, which accompanies a significant software update for the Android Wear watches themselves, the only choices available were the standard ones preloaded by Google, a few extras provided by manufacturers like LG, and a few from grassroots fans who made their own. Now Google has an official development kit for new faces and a whole bunch of options already...
Calendar notifications are nice, but speaking for, er, other people, not so much if you also forgot to keep your phone nearby. Most or us at least remember to put our watches on, though, and productivity app Todoist now supports Android Wear with loc...
You know that thing where you try and get as much work done as you can before the end of the year? Tie up loose ends so that you can start the new year with a clean slate? That seems to be the mindset over at Google: After adding Office-file conversi...
Instagram's photography thrives on filters, so it's only fair that you get as much control over those filters as possible, right? The developers clearly think so. An update rolling out today to Instagram's Android and iOS apps lets you reorganize and...
What's a little startup like Pebble to do when there are so many Android Wear smartwatches out there? Two things: cut the price, and make the watches as useful as possible. After recently adding apps for Dominos Pizza and PayPal, the company is updat...
We love the idea of orientation gestures (used by Samsung, HTC and Moto phones and apps like Tasker), but they aren't natively supported on iOS, Android or Windows Phone yet. Microsoft seems ready to buck that trend with the launch of a Gestures Beta...
Netflix has taken its sweet time bringing its Android app up-to-date, but at least it's bearing extra nice gifts for you and your inner circle. You can now privately endorse shows to Facebook friends without clogging their news feeds -- a feature tha...