Android

A December 2025 Chromium commit adds support for chrome.tabGroups.get(), an extension method that lets developers query tab-group data, on a surface the commit itself calls "desktop Android." That term doesn't appear defined anywhere else in the supplied commit, so every claim in this piece about where it applies stays tied to that exact phrase (Chromium commit). It's a narrow addition to the list of Chrome for Android features extension developers might want, and it's worth being precise about...

Google says its latest Gemini for Home update makes timers and alarms faster and more accurate. It's the third time since May the company has made close to that same claim, following updates on May 11, May 28, and June 23 (9to5Google, 3 months ago; Android Police, 2 months ago; 9to5Google, 6 weeks ago). The cited reports provide no performance figures for any of the three updates, and no independent review available for this article tested alarm accuracy after the June update shipped.

Preliminary settings text and pre-launch reporting describe a narrow trigger for HiLight, the rumored back-of-phone light feature headed to Google's Pixel 11 Pro: calls from favorite contacts, not notifications in general. That distinction separates a revival of the old blinking-LED notification light from something built directly on top of how Google Contacts already organizes your people, specifically its Favorites designation (9to5Google, 5 days ago).

Samsung's new Galaxy Z8 lineup set a preorder record in South Korea, and the standard Fold8, not the pricier Ultra, carried most of it. That's the story behind the Samsung Galaxy Z8 preorder record set this week: Samsung said the lineup drew more than 1.44 million preorders in South Korea during the seven-day window that ended Monday, Aug. 3, the highest preorder total for any Galaxy phone the company has ever released, foldable or not, according to The Korea Times.

Some Pixel owners are reporting laggy, stuttering gameplay in lightweight titles like Clash Royale and Brawl Stars after installing Android 17, with the slowdowns seemingly tied to restricted GPU performance (9to5Google, last month). It's a small story on its own, and the report doesn't pin the blame on any specific Pixel generation. But it's a useful reminder that Pixel 10 GPU performance issues never fully went away, despite months of driver updates aimed at fixing them.

Google is testing a redesigned Android voice search button that turns the familiar mic icon into a swipeable toolbar with four modes: Search, AI Mode, Search Live, and Song Search, replacing what used to be a single-purpose transcription tool (9to5Google, reported this week; corroborated by Android Headlines).

Google has spent the past several months steadily expanding what the Gemini overlay can do, and the latest round of Gemini overlay new features makes the strategic intent hard to miss. The overlay the assistant panel you pull up from any Android screen is gaining video generation, music creation, Canvas, and Guided Learning directly on its surface. Taken together with a persistent floating bubble still in testing and a Gemini Live redesign that eliminates its own dedicated screen, the changes...

As of this week, a Samsung Messages alternative app called Messages by OzarksMade is undergoing closed testing through Google Play, with a public launch set for 14 days after its testing Google Group hits 12 members and a post-launch price of $0.99. Treat that as a snapshot, not a finished product. Betas shift, thresholds get hit or missed, and pricing plans change before launch.

Google's Pixel 11 series is set to be unveiled on August 12, continuing a design that looks a lot like last year's Pixel 10, according to a 9to5Google leak from three months ago. What's changing, if that leak holds up, is what's inside: a Tensor G6 chip built around a modem swap aimed at Pixel's most persistent weak spot. Pixel 11 battery life is the question hanging over this launch, and the leaked battery figures suggest Google isn't trying to answer it by simply making the cell bigger.

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.

A Samsung device with model number SM-X848U appeared in the FCC database today, with Notebookcheck reporting that the identifier reportedly corresponds to the US 5G variant of the Galaxy Tab S12+, citing 91mobiles. That mapping comes from third-party leak reporting, not from the FCC filing itself. The listing arrived eighteen days after two related variants cleared Safety Korea certification, and together the three filings across two regulatory bodies point toward a fall 2026 release that...

An unfamiliar app called Android Developer Verifier has been quietly appearing on Android phones worldwide. The package com.google.android.verifier is a legitimate Google system service, not malware, and for most users it is currently dormant. Android Authority reported today that the rollout is underway and advises leaving the app installed.

Google-backed researchers at the University of California, San Diego are building a 2,000-device computing cluster from retired Pixel smartphones, with the full system due to launch this fall. The target workload is narrow and specific: giving university students affordable access to compute resources for coursework in parallel programming and systems classes. A 20-device pilot has already produced benchmark results, and the architecture is set. This has moved past the whiteboard.

Galaxy Watch owners are flooding Reddit with the same complaint for the third time this year: their watches are hemorrhaging battery life for no obvious reason. The latest wave of Galaxy Watch battery drain reports surfaced today, according to Android Authority, hitting Galaxy Watch 6, 7, and 8 owners just as Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Samsung has not publicly acknowledged the problem at any point during this cycle.

Days before Google's Pixel 11 launch event, code teardowns show the company finalizing onboarding screens for a feature called Proactive Assistance, currently gated to Pixel 11 hardware only, according to Android Authority. The discovery gives the clearest look yet at a feature that could become one of the more visible AI additions on Google's next flagship, and at how far the company is willing to let Gemini reach into a user's inbox, calendar, and text messages before being asked.

Chinese leaker Digital Chat Station says Oppo is testing a camera system for the Find X10 Pro built around two 200MP sensors, one for the main camera and one for the periscope telephoto, both allegedly using large 1/1.3-inch-type formats, according to GSMArena. If it holds up, the Oppo Find X10 Pro 200MP camera sensor setup would put matching resolution on both ends of the phone's zoom range, not just the telephoto lens.

The European Commission today fined Google roughly $1 billion for manipulating search results to disadvantage rivals and blocking app developers from steering users toward cheaper deals outside its Play Store, then ordered the company to overhaul both products within 60 days, according to Axios.

When Samsung brought back the flip phone in 2020, the product practically marketed itself. The clamshell form factor carried decades of cultural memory, and Samsung packaged that nostalgia into a premium device that felt genuinely different. For a few years, the Flip was the clear winner in Samsung's foldable lineup, according to SamMobile, a remarkable result for what was, structurally speaking, a phone that folded the wrong way for productivity.

Leaked specifications circulating this week indicate Samsung is splitting its Galaxy Z Fold 8 lineup into two distinct display tiers. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra screen size is reported at 8 inches for the main panel and 6.5 inches for the cover screen, matching the current Fold 7's dimensions. The standard Fold 8, by contrast, drops to a 7.6-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch cover screen. Android Authority, Notebookcheck, SamMobile, The Verge, and Trusted Reviews have all reported on the...

Samsung launched the Samsung Health Assistant beta Tuesday, opening its first fully integrated AI-powered health tool inside Samsung Health to eligible U.S. users. Rather than presenting biometric data as graphs to decode, the assistant lets users ask questions about their health, check their daily Energy Score, and receive personalized health guidance across five wellness pillars: sleep, activity, nutrition, mindfulness, and vitals. The shift Samsung is positioning here is from a dashboard you...