Android

You cannot add an external user to a Google Chat group message. That limit is unchanged. According to Google documentation cited for this article, Google has made generally available: guest accounts that bring non-Google users into Chat spaces, shared Drive files, and Meet calls, all inside your organization's security perimeter and without a full Workspace license.

Six Pixel 11 model numbers have appeared in FCC certification records, confirming MediaTek modem hardware across the lineup and ending the Pixel line's reliance on Samsung modems since the Tensor-powered Pixel 6 generation.

Samsung announced yesterday that Amazon Music will come preinstalled on millions of "select" Galaxy phones and tablets globally. New Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers, whether they have the app preinstalled or download it from the Galaxy Store, get a three-month free trial that auto-renews at $12.99 a month, or $11.99 for Prime members, unless canceled before the renewal date, per Digital Music News. What Samsung has not disclosed is which devices will ship with the app preloaded, what it...

Starting July 22, US Android users will be able to download rival app stores directly from Google Play. Not because Google chose to allow it, but because a court ordered it, Google ran out of ways to delay, and the settlement that would have softened the requirement collapsed this week. Google Play handled 95% of US Android app downloads as of 2020, according to the Ninth Circuit. Putting third-party app stores on Google Play's own shelves is not a symbolic gesture. It's the first time any...

Google has opened a limited Pixel Care+ enrollment window for U.S. owners of eligible Pixel 9 and Pixel 10 series phones who missed the standard 60-day signup period, Google announced on its blog this week. The window closes August 2. Android Police called it a rare second chance for owners who never enrolled and the word "rare" is doing real work there, since Google has not offered a comparable reopening on any announced schedule.

Samsung has pushed the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 July 2026 security update to devices across Africa, Asia, and Europe, closing 57 vulnerabilities in a patch that carries no new features and no UI changes. Five of those flaws are rated critical. According to Android Headlines, the rollout is staged, so availability varies by model, region, and carrier.

A documented bug in the Google TV Streamer causes the device to pair itself to a different remote than the one it shipped with, leaving the original unresponsive for no obvious reason. Google acknowledged this specific failure and committed to a software fix, per Android Police. That acknowledgment is now more than a year old, and no public confirmation of a shipped fix has appeared.

Samsung Health is warning users that withdrawing consent for AI training will cut off cloud sync and trigger deletion of previously synced health data, except data Samsung is legally required to retain. The toggle began reaching users this week, and the core question the Samsung Health AI training opt-out raises is one Samsung has not publicly answered: does "deleted" refer to your entire health history, or only the copy Samsung stores through account sync?

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Google Pixel gaming performance issues reported after last month's Android 17 update remain unresolved across multiple device generations, with neither the July security patch nor a follow-up Google Play System update this week resolving the complaints for affected users, Android Authority reported. Pixel 8, Pixel 9, Pixel 10 Pro, and Pixel 10 Pro XL owners are all among those affected. Google has not publicly acknowledged the problem or explained its cause.

Samsung posted a Spider-Man teaser this week that strongly suggests the Galaxy Z Fold 8 appears to have a shorter, wider shape than any previous Galaxy Fold. Galaxy Unpacked is set for July 22 in London, and Samsung's own tagline "A new shape unfolds" makes clear this isn't positioned as a spec refresh, The Verge reported this week.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G5 (G50SF) has dropped to roughly $340 in the US, a street price that simply didn't exist for QD-OLED gaming monitors until this year. That matters most for PC gamers running DisplayPort, who get the full spec sheet. Console users and anyone locked to HDMI run into a bandwidth ceiling the panel can't clear over that connection. The deal is real; it's just not for everyone.

Google this week launched Video Remix, an AI tool powered by Gemini Omni that transforms existing footage into polished clips within seconds, available exclusively to paying subscribers. The launch is the most visible sign yet of where Google Photos is headed.

Samsung has raised its Galaxy S26 production target for July from 1 million units to 1.5 million, a 50% mid-cycle increase, Android Authority reported today, citing ET News. The revision covers both domestic and global allocations, suggesting the demand signal is broader than any single market or promotion. Two things appear to be driving the Galaxy S26 sales surge: an aggressive promotional campaign that reportedly tripled sales during its active window, and growing consumer conviction that...

Google launched Magic Cue as a headline feature of the Pixel 10 last August, describing it as "proactive support, tightly woven across your phone," per the launch announcement. Two months ago, the company introduced Gemini Intelligence as its new label for proactive AI across Android devices, using language that maps closely onto what Magic Cue already does. Google has not announced a rename. But taken together, the product descriptions, the rollout roadmap, and Google's track record with AI...

High-quality renders of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 leaked this week by Android Headlines offer the clearest look yet at a device that appears designed around a core problem no previous Galaxy Fold solved: making the phone usable when it's shut. The images show a wider, shorter body with a cover screen proportioned more like a normal smartphone than the cramped slabs on prior Fold models. According to Tom's Guide, the leaked images appear to line up with Samsung's own teaser imagery showing a...

The most reliable signal that Samsung is working on a new SmartTag isn't a leaked spec sheet it's a pattern. Before Samsung announced the SmartTag2, the device appeared first in the Bluetooth SIG database, then in an FCC filing, per The Verge's July 2023 coverage. Neither filing appeared for a successor in the sources reviewed for this article. When one does surface, the hardware specs will be the least interesting thing in it. The field that actually matters is the app requirement buried in...

The July 2026 Pixel update began rolling out Tuesday, marking Google's first monthly patch since Android 17 launched last month. The headline fix addresses a bug that could leave devices stuck in a restart loop, unable to load Android at all. A separate fix covers apps unexpectedly closing or refusing to launch across every supported device.

Gemini for Home will no longer stop mid-conversation to ask who you are. This week's Google Home Gemini update, reported by Android Authority and Android Police, removes voice verification prompts during Continued Conversation sessions and makes chained commands more consistent. It lands eight days after Google Home devices were reported taking up to a minute to respond, or timing out entirely, with no confirmed fix deployed as of that report.

Google Fi's promotion for the Pixel 10a offers the full $499 device cost back over 24 months in bill credits, stacked with $10 off Unlimited Premium service each month for the same period a total of $739 in credits, per the Google Fi promo terms. The Google Fi Pixel 10a deal is listed as available to "all new lines." That phrase is doing more work than it appears.

A Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold FCC listing has surfaced, and if the regulatory milestone is accurate, an August announcement sits roughly four to six weeks out. The hardware picture comes from a single leak published two months ago by Lowyat.NET; the FCC filing itself has been reported but not independently verified with model numbers or filing documents. What follows is the clearest available read on this device before an official reveal, not a confirmed spec sheet.

New Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8 renders surfaced today showing the phone in Cream, Graphite, and Pink. The silhouette is nearly identical to last year's model, the camera ring unchanged, and early leaks suggest the Flip 8 may actually measure 0.1mm thicker than its predecessor, SamMobile reported today. The renders are the least important thing that's happened to this phone in the past month.

Amazon has been discounting the Galaxy S26 lineup in the week after Prime Day, keeping promotional pressure alive on Samsung's newest flagship series. Whether any given Amazon Galaxy S26 deal represents genuine savings depends on which Samsung product you're looking at and on a broader pricing pattern that has made discount labels across much of Samsung's catalog harder to trust.

Something called "Memories Games" has surfaced in connection with Google Photos. The only information available in the supplied research is an unverified feature name. The research available here does not include a source attributing the teardown find to a specific outlet or app version, so treat the premise accordingly: this is a rumor.

Samsung is pitching the Galaxy S26 Ultra as more than a faster flagship. Its biggest selling point is Galaxy AI: tools that can suggest actions, summarize context, edit images, screen calls, and hand off limited tasks across apps. Some of those features are useful now. Others still need the right apps, accounts, permissions, and real-world reliability to be worth the Ultra price.

Duolingo overhauled its Korean course this week, adding new content, restructuring existing lessons, and extending the course's proficiency ceiling from roughly A2 to B2 on the CEFR scale, according to the company's blog. The Duolingo Korean course update affects one of the platform's largest learner communities. For new students, it's a more ambitious course than before. For the 1.9 million active learners already mid-path, it's the same destination with a rearranged route.

A growing number of Google Home Speaker owners are hitting a wall before the device ever plays a single note. The Google Home Speaker setup issue surfaced in reports Thursday, with buyers across multiple countries finding that the speaker fails to complete first-time onboarding and then loops through the same error when they try to fix it. Google has confirmed its engineering team is investigating but has no root cause, no working fix, and no timeline for resolution, Android Authority reported...

Google appears to be rolling out a Play Store redesign that changes the look and navigation of the Apps and Games tabs. The update adds pill-shaped sub-tabs, moves Top charts and Categories into separate pages, and makes personalized recommendations the default view when you open either section, Android Authority reported July 8.

Google is adding a dedicated back button to the Chrome for Android three-dot menu as Chrome 150 rolls out, bringing the Android browser in line with what Chrome on iPhone has offered for some time. The Chrome for Android dedicated back button sits alongside the existing forward arrow in the menu's top row, but it arrives as part of a broader reorganization that touches more controls than the headline feature suggests.

Google pushed a significant Google Photos Android redesign this week: a floating pill-style bottom bar that makes the Create tab a top-level destination, plus a new Gemini-powered Video Remix tool that transforms library clips into stylized, shareable video in seconds. The redesign arrives on Android about five months after iOS users got it. The more interesting context, though, isn't the platform gap. It's what Google was apparently willing to do a year ago when it didn't yet have a native...

Samsung published its July 2026 security maintenance release on July 7, listing 57 vulnerability fixes for Galaxy phones and tablets, including five critical Android flaws.

The conventional wisdom used to be that Android users were a restless bunch. More willing to chase a better deal, less attached to any particular brand, generally more open to switching than their iPhone counterparts. A large Android user loyalty survey published earlier this year suggests that picture is increasingly out of date.

Samsung's Bixby assistant has reportedly been speaking in voices users never selected since a recent update, and the company's response so far stops well short of confirming a bug or offering a fix. The reports, first surfacing in the Samsung Members community forum four months ago, drew wider attention this week when Android Authority covered Samsung's reply to affected users.

The Google Store currently advertises "up to $1,040 back in total" on the Pixel 10 Pro, with a note that reads: "Offer applied. See final price at checkout." That gap between the headline and the checkout screen is what this piece maps. The actual Pixel 10 Pro discount any given buyer receives depends on which of three mechanisms applies: a direct sticker cut, a trade-in credit, or carrier bill credits distributed over two years. Each works differently, and the numbers don't combine the same...

Google has carved out a slot in the Android status bar for AI agents, and right now there is no confirmed way to hide it. Android Halo, announced at Google I/O in May and explained in more detail this week, gives Gemini and other supported agents a fixed, dedicated location at the top of the screen, visible across apps while an agent is active. The Android Halo status bar indicator is designed to stay put. Whether users will have any say over that is the question Google hasn't answered.

Google is adding volume sliders directly inside the ringtone, alarm, and notification sound pickers on Pixel phones, eliminating the current need to bounce between two separate settings screens to audition a sound at the right level. Android Authority recently found the feature in an unreleased build of the Sounds app included in an unreleased Sounds app build found within Pixel 11 firmware.

Code surfaced inside the Google Home iOS app this week suggests the upcoming Home Display may be less a Nest Hub successor than a Google smart display with camera features borrowed directly from Nest Cam. The latest Google Home Display Nest Hub Max camera findings, analyzed by Android Authority, describe recording tiers that mirror existing Nest Cam subscriptions exactly: a free event-history window, with longer event history and continuous recording tied to Google Home Premium tiers.

A Dealabs leak reported this week by both Android Authority and 9to5Google has put what appear to be final retail names on the Pixel 11 color lineup. The standard model gets Light Sterling, Midnight Haze, Fuchsia, and Moss. The Pro and Pro XL share Light Fog, Midnight Haze, Dune, and Pine. The Pro Fold gets just two options: Midnight Haze and Pine. With the Pixel 11 colors leak now surfacing polished retail-ready names rather than placeholder descriptors, the picture is coming into focus and...

Samsung's next Galaxy foldable may depart from the tall shape that has defined its book-style phones.

Six Pixel 11-series model numbers have appeared in FCC certification records recently, a sign Google is nearing launch ahead of its August 12 event in New York City, 9to5Google reported. The filings arrived after what 9to5Google describes as "a pretty big retail leak," with regulatory certification now adding to a cluster of pre-launch signals. Buried in the band tables is the filing's most durable detail: Google has swapped its modem supplier, replacing Samsung's Exynos parts with a MediaTek...