Android

Google confirms that blood-pressure and insulin-resistance trend tracking are included free with Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, while the same two tools require a Google Health Premium subscription on Fitbit Air and the newly released Fitbit Edge.

There's still no confirmed Samsung Galaxy T1 earbuds release date, price, or official product name. But the unannounced SM-R545 has now cleared wireless certification in two countries within about a month, evidence that the product is moving through Samsung's regulatory pipeline rather than sitting idle, according to SammyGuru.

Samsung has started rolling out One UI 9.0 based on Android 17 to the Galaxy A16 5G on Verizon.

OnePlus has already started rolling out Android 17-based ColorOS 17 ahead of its original Oct. 29, 2026, schedule.

Samsung Community goes offline on Oct. 30 for about 72 hours, and the platform migration behind the shutdown could leave users without direct messages, drafts, bookmarks, or subscriptions they haven't backed up, according to Samsung's official notice.

A blue indicator has started showing up in the status bar on Samsung Galaxy phones running One UI 9, and it has one job: flagging when an app is actively accessing your location.

A working fork of the open-source Aves gallery app, posted to GitHub about a month ago, demonstrates something readers trying to search Android photos without cloud upload have been asking for: typed description search and visual similarity matching that run entirely on the phone, with photo indexing and search described by the developer as running locally, without uploading photos, videos, or search queries.

Samsung has started pushing a second Galaxy S26 October 2026 update, and so far only phones in South Korea have been reported receiving it, according to Android Headlines and SamMobile. The update covers the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra, weighs about 580.37MB, and arrives without a public changelog explaining what it does.

So, how much are old Samsung phones worth? In an Oct. 23 snapshot, a like-new 256GB Galaxy S23 Ultra could bring a top cash buyback offer of $291, compared with a reported average completed sale price of $404 on Swappa, before fees. That's a $113 difference for handling the sale yourself instead of accepting a buyback offer, according to Engadget.

Google Meet's real-time voice translation jumped from six languages to 63 this week, powered by a new Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model that automatically detects which language someone is speaking instead of locking a call into one fixed pair. This expansion brings Google's Gemini 3.5 Live Translate model to Meet's web and mobile apps, and it removes the old meeting-wide language-pair limit so each participant can pick their own translation language. Most people will still need an eligible paid...

Creating a password-protected ZIP on Android starts with choosing a file manager that supports encrypted archives. Files by Google can create ordinary ZIP files, but its documented compression workflow doesn't include a password option. That's a limitation of Files by Google, not Android as a whole.

Google has confirmed that Find Hub will add Left Behind notifications, alerting users when a tracked device separates from their phone, but the only hardware with a committed launch date so far is Pixel Tag, Google's own tracker arriving November 11 for $29 solo or $99 for a four-pack.

Passports, birth certificates, and Social Security cards don't fit inside a Bluetooth tracker, but Google's Find Hub now gives them a place anyway. Its new Remembered tab lets you tell Gemini where you stored a document, then ask for that location later, whether you're digging through a closet or preparing for a trip.

Samsung has begun releasing a second October 2026 update for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Flip 8, following the earlier security patch that expanded from South Korea to Europe and India.

A developer named Ismail Shah announced on LinkedIn three weeks ago that he built the Knit Easy Android app to fix a problem he says plagues knitters and crocheters working from printed or PDF patterns: losing track of the row mid-stitch. The post describes a row highlighter, linked counters, and fully offline operation, and includes a Google Play link. However, the app's current listing details, including its price, permissions, and user ratings, have not been independently verified.

Google revised its privacy policy on Oct. 16 to say that data shared between Gmail, Google Photos, or Drive and certain other Google services may now be used to personalize content, including ads. The update adds an exception to language that previously ruled out using content from those apps for ad personalization, according to The Verge and Ars Technica.

Score a last-second win in a mobile game with no recorder running, and a Google headline from 2024 suggests the moment might not be lost. The Google sources reviewed here do not establish whether a 30-second retroactive recording feature is currently available on Android.

Samsung's next budget fitness tracker is coming into focus, and anyone expecting a dramatic redesign may be disappointed. Newly uncovered Galaxy Fit 4 renders show a device that looks remarkably similar to the Galaxy Fit 3, with Bluetooth 5.4 emerging as the clearest documented upgrade.

Samsung's One UI 9 update is bringing an unwelcome surprise for some Galaxy S24 and S25 owners: battery life that suddenly falls short of what they're used to. Complaints range from faster overnight drain to phones needing several charges throughout the day.

Googlebook OS may soon stop making owners rebuild their workspace from scratch every time the laptop restarts. Code strings discovered by Android Authority in Android 17 QPR3 Beta 2 point to an unreleased "App restore on reboot" setting for Googlebook OS.

YouTube added six new educational Playables games built with Khan Academy, Veritasium, TED-Ed, Math with Mr. J, Black Girls Code, and The Jed Foundation, turning STEM, music, and mindfulness concepts into short interactive games, according to YouTube's announcement published today.

Google Photos now packs a Redact tool into its Markup editor, letting Android users blur license plates, account numbers, and other sensitive details before sharing a photo or screenshot. The Google Photos Redact tool started rolling out globally on Android last month, with no beta sign-up required.

The Glowbar, the light strip built into the lid of Googlebook laptops, normally shows information such as battery status and Gemini activity. A hidden system app called Glowbar Disco turns that same strip into a customizable, music-reactive light show, and figuring out how to find Glowbar Disco on Googlebook means digging past the regular app launcher into the system settings menu.

Full Android Auto work profile support doesn't exist yet, and this new discovery doesn't change that. It does suggest Google is quietly building toward it.

ITavisen reports that Google's own support documentation confirms phone number verification is enabled by default on Android, automatically verifying a number and adding it to every Google account signed in on that device. That covers current and future accounts and phone numbers, not just the one account used to set up the phone in the first place.

Samsung's internal testing reportedly found the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 overheating and throttling in Galaxy S27 Ultra prototypes, fueling talk of a switch to Samsung's Exynos 2700 chip.

Google began rolling out Gemini Personal Intelligence on Android Auto on October 20, letting the assistant use information from connected Google services, including Gmail and Photos, to personalize responses and assist with tasks such as navigation. The feature is rolling out to eligible personal Google accounts, though Google has built in enough restrictions on region and account type that not everyone with Android Auto will see it right away.

Google's 120x Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 11 Pro sounds like a spec-sheet gimmick, and at its most extreme setting, much of what you see can come from generative AI reconstruction rather than detail resolved by the lens.

Google AI Plus is losing Pro model selection. Google has begun emailing subscribers to say the option will disappear from the $4.99-a-month plan starting November 13, 2026, according to 9to5Google.

Google Maps on Apple CarPlay can now surface Gemini mid-drive, letting U.S. users ask multi-step questions and chain follow-up commands without leaving the map screen. It's the first time Google Maps has put a conversational voice assistant inside CarPlay itself, rather than confining that experience to the iPhone's own display, according to 9to5Google.

Samsung's foldable phones could look considerably different in 2027. A new leak suggests the company is preparing six Galaxy Z devices, including three versions of the Galaxy Z Fold 9, a second-generation TriFold, and a phone with a screen that slides outward instead of unfolding.

Learning how to use AI Network Guard on Samsung One UI 9 won't turn your phone into a systemwide ad blocker, but it can prevent new ads from loading inside certain offline-capable apps.

Apple spent this week shipping something Google has only sketched out in app code. On October 13, Apple announced HomeView, a $299 smart display built for shared households, with facial recognition for up to six family members, Siri AI, and controls that adapt as someone walks closer. Pre-orders are open now, and the device starts shipping November 13.

Samsung has started pushing the Galaxy S26 October 2026 security update to the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26+, and Galaxy S26 Ultra, marking one of the first maintenance updates for the lineup since One UI 9.0 (Android 17) went stable, according to SamMobile. The patch addresses 62 security issues, per the same report.

Google built Googlebook to run on Android, then quietly defaulted several of its biggest apps away from it. That's the short answer to why Googlebook apps run as web apps instead of native Android experiences: Gmail, Docs, Calendar, Sheets, and YouTube all open as Chrome-based web experiences on these laptops, not the Android apps that ship on phones. Google Keep is the one confirmed exception, running natively on Android Authority's test unit, though a single result doesn't prove every...

Google is bundling free AI Pro trials into several hardware and carrier deals right now, including the Pixel 11, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Chromebook Plus, and select Verizon plans. Those free accounts don't match the paid $19.99-a-month plan feature for feature. Google AI Pro trial restrictions are in Google's own product documentation.

Google's search bar has a new look on Pixel phones, and it's a narrow one. 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, according to 9to5Google.

Samsung representatives confirmed earlier this year that the Galaxy S26 series uses 480Hz PWM dimming, with no higher-frequency mode, no DC-like dimming option, and no dedicated flicker-reduction setting, according to Android Authority.

Google began rolling out Universal Cart across Search and the Gemini app in the U.S. yesterday, giving shoppers a way to save products from different retailers in one running list instead of juggling browser tabs and screenshots. The feature also sends alerts when saved items drop in price or come back in stock, built on top of Google's Shopping Graph of more than 60 billion product listings.

Google is testing a new Google Nest speaker firmware update, version 3.79.550760, but for now the rollout is limited to people enrolled in Google's speaker Preview Program. The build currently covers four older speakers, the original Google Home, Home Mini, Nest Mini, and Nest Audio, according to 9to5Google. The supplied reporting does not include a Google announcement describing the update.