Android: Page 8

A new Google Pixel Watch 5 leak gives the clearest look yet at the smartwatch's four reported finishes, two sizes, and a pricing structure that would mark the first series-wide increase in Pixel Watch history. The renders, attributed to leaker OnLeaks via The Tide Chart and reported this week by multiple outlets, show four reported finishes across the lineup's 41mm and 45mm sizes.

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...

Samsung is set to reveal the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra, and Flip 8 at Galaxy Unpacked in London on July 22. Reporting from multiple outlets points consistently toward a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 price increase across at least some models, with the clearest jumps in the US Fold Ultra, Korean Flip 8 pricing, and high-capacity European tiers. The more complicated part: even where base MSRP appears flat, the effective launch-day cost could still be worse than last year if Samsung reduces the...

This guide covers whether turning off Google Play Protect is the right call for your situation, how to do it if it is, and the specific steps to take immediately after. Skipping that last part is where most people get into trouble.

Samsung's "Free Double Storage" pre-order promotion may be about to cost buyers money. A report from Korean outlet Chosun claims Samsung will replace the Galaxy Z Fold 8 storage upgrade deal with a 50% subsidy, leaving Korean buyers paying an estimated 126,500 won—about $90 or £65 at current exchange rates—for the 256GB-to-512GB jump.

Reviewed by: Y. Garcia

Samsung's 2026 smartwatch lineup makes the buying decision unusually clear. The Galaxy Watch9 is the better fit for most buyers because it shares the Galaxy Watch Ultra2's processor, software, core sensors, and announced health features but starts at $320 less in the US. The Ultra2 primarily justifies its premium through longer battery life, stronger water protection, a brighter display, additional storage, and tools designed for trail sports and recreational diving.

Spider-Man is currently fighting ninjas in Long Island City, Queens, and the image sits inside Google Maps exactly the way any other street-level photograph does. Google confirmed it staged five scenes at real New York City locations as part of a promotion for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, describing them as "custom Spider-Man moments staged and captured as the Street View car happened upon Spider-Man in action," per PCMag. The campaign also includes spideytracker.com, a dedicated microsite built...

Google's revamped Android 17 iOS migration tool for Pixel phones is live, and two Pixel generations that qualify for the OS can't use it. The updated Android Switch utility is limited to Pixel 8 and newer, plus a handful of Samsung foldables, leaving Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 owners with the OS update but none of the upgraded process's additional transfer capabilities. Pixel 8 owners fare only slightly better: they can access the tool exclusively during initial device setup.

In early June 2025, Google Home stopped recognizing one of the most basic thermostat commands its users could issue. Say "turn off the thermostat" and the platform returned an error then suggested trying "turn off the thermostat." Google fixed the Google Home Nest Thermostat hands-free control issue within days, posting a resolution via the GoogleNestCommunity Reddit account on June 10, 2025. No public explanation of what caused it was ever offered.

Google has brought Gemini Live to the original Home Mini and first-generation Nest Hub, the two oldest devices its October 2025 rollout skipped. The July 23 update puts these aging speakers in the same tier as the Nest Mini, Nest Audio, and second-gen Nest Hub. Two things matter before anything else: accessing Gemini Live on any of these devices costs $10 a month, and the underlying assistant has drawn sharp criticism from independent reviewers.

Until last week, the Pixel 11 price increase was a rumor. It isn't anymore. Google's VP of Devices and Services, Shakil Barkat, told 9to5Google that the entire Pixel family will see pricing "adjustments" rolled out "dynamically to match supply realities" and that phones already on sale could be affected too, with no timeline given. Google is announcing the next Pixel generation on August 12, per The Verge. Specific numbers come then. The policy behind them is already set.

Google Play Store's July 2026 update quietly added two search changes to Android phones: the search input box now expands to two lines, and the store will begin showing natural language queries. Both entries appear in the v52.4 release notes covered by 9to5Google this week. What's confirmed is the interface change. What isn't confirmed is whether the underlying search engine can actually do more with a longer, descriptive query than it could with two keywords.

The Galaxy S26 FE has turned up in the UL Demko certification database with confirmed support for 45W wired charging, a spec that would put Samsung's budget-oriented handset ahead of the base Galaxy S26, which is still expected to top out at 25W. The Galaxy S26 FE 45W charging leak covers six regional model numbers and aligns with Samsung's Super Fast Charging 2.0 standard, SamMobile and Android Headlines both reported this week. The same 45W ceiling appeared on the Galaxy S25 FE, meaning the...

No ID scan, no selfie, no document upload. Google's answer to the wave of age-verification laws sweeping U.S. states and international regulators runs entirely on settings parents already control inside their family's Android account. This week, the company announced an expansion of its beta Google Play Age Signals API, moving past an initial test in Brazil into a broader international rollout, Ars Technica reported.

Google Maps Platform opened a Private Preview yesterday for Google Maps Custom Satellite Embeddings, a service that lets organizations request AI-derived Earth data for specific regions on cycles as tight as every five days, according to Google Maps Platform. That's a sharp break from the annual dataset it builds on, but it is not a new feed of satellite photos.

The Galaxy Z Fold7 became Samsung's first book-style foldable to outsell its companion Flip model during a South Korean preorder period. Its share rose from roughly 40% in the previous generation to 60%, giving Samsung fresh evidence that buyers would choose the more expensive Fold when its design addressed the format's biggest usability problems.

A battery unit spotted in India's Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) database was an early piece of evidence pointing toward an unannounced Samsung earbud, according to an April report from Android Authority. Nothing in that listing, or in the app code that surfaced before it, confirms the Samsung ear-hook earbuds theory that has attached itself to the leak.

The Pixel Watch 5 has appeared in a Google Play Console listing under the codename "godric," adding to the evidence that Google's next smartwatch is nearing launch. The entry follows June regulatory filings for four probable Pixel Watch 5 models and reveals 3GB of RAM, up from 2GB in recent generations.

A leak posted today on X claims Samsung will open pre-reservations for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as soon as July 8. The tip comes from a single source, Abhishek Yadav, and Samsung has not announced it. But a separate report noted that this year's pre-registration window is reportedly compressed to just a few days before the expected July 22 Unpacked event, 9to5Google reported two weeks ago, so the compressed timing fits. What matters before acting on that is understanding which device the reservation...