Android

Searching "new YouTube app icons" turns up a story that sounds bigger than it is. YouTube hasn't shipped a redesigned icon library. What's actually circulating is narrower: on a limited number of Android phones, YouTube is testing watch-page buttons, including Like and Share, with their text labels stripped off, according to Android Authority, which first reported the sightings about four months ago.

Samsung representatives confirmed the Galaxy S26 series runs a 480Hz PWM dimming rate, with no higher-frequency mode, no DC dimming option, and no reported flicker-reduction setting, Android Authority reported earlier this year. That confirmed rate is the entire backdrop for any discussion of Galaxy S27 Ultra PWM dimming, since Samsung's next flagship hasn't had its display detailed yet.

Google's search bar has a new look on Pixel phones, and it's a narrow one. 9to5Google reported earlier this year that Google rolled out a slightly taller pill-shaped search bar in the Pixel Launcher, along with larger Lens, voice search, and AI Mode icons, in Google app version 17.32 on the stable channel. The screenshots came from Android 16, so this Google Search bar new look is tied to the app itself, not a system update or an Android 17 requirement.

Samsung's next flagship smartphone lineup could introduce a Galaxy S27 Pro, giving buyers another premium option — and potentially another reason to pay attention to which version of a phone they're buying. New reports suggest Samsung is expanding production of its Exynos 2700 processor, which could power several Galaxy S27 models in some markets while other regions receive Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.

Google Messages removing per-contact RCS toggle control looks more likely after a beta teardown turned up interface strings warning that the setting "is going away." A recent APK teardown surfaced the strings two days ago, and Android Police reported on the finding yesterday, crediting the discovery to a beta analysis from Android Authority. The strings come from a beta build, not a public release, and Google hasn't confirmed, announced, or scheduled any change.

Some Pixel owners have been stuck in a bootloop since installing the March Android 16 QPR3 update, with phones hanging on the Google logo or failing to boot at all, according to a report from XDA Developers earlier this year. The reports span models from the Pixel 6 through the Pixel 10 and have surfaced across several Reddit threads, per the same report.

Every launch Googlebook keyboard turns F1, F2, and F3 into dedicated Android navigation keys, giving the Googlebook physical navigation buttons a permanent spot on the hardware instead of leaving them as onscreen taps. The layout is identical across every model currently on sale, according to The Verge's hands-on report from yesterday.

Code for a tool called Google Play Game Finder, built around a profile Google is internally labeling Gamer DNA, has surfaced inside Google Play Store version 53.4.34-34. The interface tied to that code is non-functional in the build where it was found, and Google has not announced the feature publicly, according to a report from We are the Frontier published today.

Google says the Android Auto squiggly line design in its media player is permanent, closing out months of back-and-forth over whether the wavy progress bar would get scrapped. The confirmation came last week in a Reddit post that also covered four other Android Auto media updates, according to 9to5Google.

The Google Pixel 10a price increase is already showing up at checkout. The phone's U.S. price jumped from $499 to $599 at the Google Store, and that new figure has spread to Amazon and Best Buy too.

No verified Google Pixel 11 Pro deal at $849 turned up in the sources reviewed for this article. The claimed Google Pixel 11 Pro for $849 remains unverified here, treated as an unconfirmed number rather than an active discount until a retailer page or price-tracking source backs it up. This is a deal-verification report, not a list of the best Google Pixel 11 Pro deals.

A single leaker claims Samsung has reworked how the Galaxy S27 Ultra manages power during a charge, producing a reported 2-3% improvement in Galaxy S27 Ultra charging speed over the Galaxy S26 Ultra. The phone is also rumored to pack a notably larger 5,700mAh battery, a pairing that puts the 2-3% figure to a real test: does it keep pace with more battery to fill, or does it just take the edge off a charging-time penalty, according to SamMobile (yesterday) and Android Headlines (yesterday)?

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 deal spotted by Tom's Guide puts the foldable at $1,649 on Best Buy's site, a price the outlet called $250 off, in a report published five days ago (Tom's Guide). That listing surfaced roughly two weeks before iPhone Duo preorders open on October 16, with Apple's foldable starting at $1,999 for the 256GB model (Apple Newsroom). If the Best Buy price still holds and both phones are matched on storage, the Fold 8 would land roughly $350 cheaper than Apple's entry-level...

Samsung is going bigger again with the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra, a 14.6-inch Android flagship built around a massive OLED display, an included S Pen, expandable storage, and desktop-style multitasking. Samsung will release the tablet in the US on Oct. 7, 2026, putting it directly against Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro M5 at the top of the premium tablet market.

Anyone who delayed a flight purchase waiting for a "magic" weekday can stop checking the calendar. Google's latest breakdown of its own booking data answers the best time to book holiday flights question bluntly: buying on the cheapest day of the week saves about 1.4% compared with the most expensive day, a gap too small to matter next to the two levers that actually move prices, choosing the right travel days, which can save around 14%, and skipping a nonstop for a connection, which saves...

Start with one question: did tap-to-pay ever work right on this phone, or did it work fine for weeks and then suddenly quit? That answer determines whether you're dealing with a setup problem you can fix yourself or a newly reported bug that no amount of settings-tweaking will touch. Working through that distinction first is the fastest way to fix Google Wallet not working on Pixel without wasting time on steps that don't apply to you.

Google Find Hub NFC tracker support is rolling out via Play services version 26.39 and later, changing what happens the moment someone finds a lost tag. Tapping an NFC-compatible phone against an NFC-compatible Find Hub tag can surface its details and settings, or help identify a lost tag, according to 9to5Google. The same release lets owners name a tracker, assign it a category, and turn on Left-Behind Reminders during initial setup instead of circling back into the Find Hub app later, per...

Google may be testing location as a new signal for Pixel Launcher app suggestions. Android Authority spotted interface text yesterday that swaps "routines" for "location" in the wording Pixel Launcher uses to describe why certain apps surface on the home screen or in the app drawer. Nothing beyond that text has turned up, so this reads as an early signal, not a confirmed feature.

TechRadar reported recently that Google is rolling out a batch of Google Home updates addressing errors with Nest cameras and doorbells, Matter device status, Find My Phone, and Automations, based on September 30 release notes from Google. The Gemini voice-assistant changes are labeled Early Access. Google does not apply that label to the separate Google Home app fixes.

Samsung raised prices across the Galaxy S26 lineup in the US, UK, Canada, and Europe this week, pushing the base Galaxy S26 from $899 to $999 and the top-tier 1TB Galaxy S26 Ultra to $1,999 (9to5Google, 4 days ago). The Galaxy S26 price increase took effect October 1 and followed earlier increases in India and South Korea (SamMobile, 3 days ago).

Galaxy devices running One UI 9 will wipe themselves after 13 failed lock screen attempts, a hard limit confirmed by a Samsung support document and reported by Android Authority today. Not a temporary lockout. Every photo, app, and setting on the device gets erased, accounts are signed out, and the phone returns to factory condition.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google €403 million, about $463 million, over how it processed location data through three features: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy. The regulator also ordered Google to bring its processing into compliance with GDPR within six months.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 bend test that JerryRigEverything ran this week threw the toughest thing a durability channel can throw at a foldable: reverse-direction flex, the failure mode that has cracked hinges and popped screens loose on lesser phones. The Fold 8 didn't crack, and nothing popped loose (JerryRigEverything, this week).

Some Pixel owners are still waiting for the Google Wallet fix that should have landed automatically. If your phone is showing a "Device doesn't meet security requirements" warning every time you open Google Wallet, it hasn't been compromised and your cards are fine. A stalled update rollout left a specific group of beta opt-outs stranded on a software build that Wallet's security checks no longer recognize as certified.

Samsung's own documentation confirms that specific Galaxy S24 Ultra zoom shots and Motion Photo frame extractions can save as 12MP files, not the 50MP or 200MP number printed on the spec sheet. What the company's public materials don't confirm is what happens to an ordinary photo shot at 1x, when Samsung's "24MP fusion" processing is doing its work in the background. Those are two different claims, and mixing them up is where the confusion starts.

Android apps that ship with home screen widgets do not always make that feature easy to discover. No signal on the Play Store listing page, no prompt after install. For apps that do not promote widgets elsewhere, the launcher's widget picker may be the only obvious confirmation, and that requires you to already own the app and know to check.

Google closed its Pixel 11 launch event in New York on August 12 the way it opened: with Trevor Noah on stage. Near the end, Rick Osterloh, Google's hardware chief, joined him, apparently to wrap things up, after a lineup expected to include Alex Cooper, Steph Curry, PinkPantheress and Ayami Nakajo, according to Engadget's live coverage of the show. It made for solid television. It made for a thinner night of proof.

Google Photos has added a floating camera button inside its AI editing tools, letting people snap a fresh photo without leaving the app and feed it straight into an edit. The new Google Photos AI camera button shows up inside Photo Remix and Photo to Video, part of a wider push to add camera access to tools in the app's Create tab.

A hidden screen tucked inside a Google Messages beta build caps pinned chats at six, well below the 20 conversations the app currently lets most users pin. The find points to a broader Google Messages pinned chats redesign that would show pinned chats as large contact icons in a row at the top of the inbox, replacing today's smaller pin treatment.

Samsung's stable One UI 9 update is now reaching the Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy Z Fold 7, and Galaxy Z Flip 7, with the rollout confirmed live in South Korea, according to Android Authority. It's the next phase of a staged rollout that started with the Galaxy S26 family, and it puts Samsung's 2025 flagship lineup on the same Android 17 build already running on the newer S26 and Z8 devices.

Samsung is boosting compensation as engineers weigh offers from rival SK hynix, but the gap between its memory and foundry businesses remains wide.

Xiaomi has now launched the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in China, locking in the camera hardware that was being teased before their Sept. 23 debut. Samsung, meanwhile, hasn't officially revealed the Galaxy S27 Ultra camera system yet, and leakers are still disagreeing over parts of its telephoto setup.

Samsung budget Galaxy phone price hikes in the US have landed on four models that are already on sale, not a new generation revealed at launch. The Galaxy A17 5G, A27 5G, A37 5G, and A57 5G all carry higher Samsung.com prices this week than they did before, according to SamMobile and Engadget, which both reported the new figures.

Samsung recently unveiled the Galaxy SmartTag3, and for the first time in the SmartTag lineup, the tracker supports iPhone finding and sharing alongside Galaxy devices. T

Fantastical, the calendar app that spent 13 years as an Apple exclusive before reaching Windows two years ago, is reportedly rolling out to early Googlebook users today. Techritual reports that access is already live for a limited group, while Android Authority describes the broader Fantastical Googlebook launch as an announced plan rather than a finished release (Techritual, today; Android Authority, today).

Google Photos' Wardrobe feature may be getting fixes for two of its biggest gaps: a way to add new clothes without wiping the digital closet, and a way to redo item images that come out looking wrong. Android Authority found both controls in an unreleased Google Photos build, version 7.95, enabled through manual tinkering rather than any Google announcement, according to its regeneration report and refresh report. Neither control is public, and the cited reports don't describe either as a live...

Samsung raised official US prices on every Galaxy A phone it currently sells: the A17 5G, A27 5G, A37 5G, and A57 5G. Notebookcheck reported yesterday that Samsung's US site now lists higher prices across the full lineup, putting the Samsung Galaxy A series price increase into effect for anyone shopping Samsung.com right now.

A fresh APK teardown suggests the Pixel Search app coming to older Pixels might finally go official, though Google still hasn't said a word about it. Code inside Pixel Search version 1.0.983036833 points to support for Pixel 6 and newer, a Gemini-powered suggestions feature, and new privacy controls, Android Authority found. Only one of those three things is actually live right now: the privacy toggles. The rest is still buried in code.

On the same day Google's new Googlebook laptops went on sale, the company admitted that Intel-based models may stumble on certain Android apps (The Verge). In a statement to Android Authority, Google described the affected group as a "small handful of complex apps or games" that need developer tuning to run their best on Intel platforms (Engadget).

A small shield sitting next to your battery percentage looks exactly like the kind of alert you shouldn't ignore. It isn't one. If you're wondering what the shield icon means on Samsung Galaxy phones, the answer is simple: Battery Protection is active. Samsung says a Battery Protection indicator may appear in the status bar while the feature is limiting charging.