Nova Launcher continues to push the boundary of features available to home screen launchers. While most users are waiting for their OEMs to send out the Android 8.0 update, Nova provides access to many of Android Oreo's features to the 99.8% of devices currently using an older version. However, Nova tries not only to add new features but to improve their design.
Trendy restaurants are fun, but waiting in line isn't. Too often, we arrive at a location to find a queue between us and our dinner. If only we could know when wait times were down so we could go out at the optimal time.
Samsung has finally rolled out the Android Oreo update for the Galaxy S8 and S8+. If you're just now getting the update, you'll be happy to know that your Galaxy just got upgraded with plenty of cool new features. Like previous updates, Samsung has improved upon its software by including a new look and new functionality.
The fifth developer beta for iOS 11.1 was released on Oct. 24, and the official iOS 11.1 update was pushed out to iPhones everywhere on Oct. 31. However, that isn't stopping Apple from seeding developers with the iOS 11.2 beta already.
Unlike traditional backlit LCD technology, OLED screens don't use any power to display black pixels. Many manufacturers have taken advantage of this by implementing an always-on display, which only lights up a few pixels here and there to show relevant info when your phone is locked. But this leads to extra battery drain, albeit small, and it increases the risk of screen burn-in.
The LG V30 is an amazing device that will contend for best smartphone of 2017. It has all the major features you'd expect from a high-end flagship, and it even includes what's become a rare commodity these days — a headphone jack. However, for the purists out there, the LG UX skin strays too far away from stock Android. Have no fear, for with the LG V30, you can have your cake and eat it, too.
The advent of ARKit and ARCore has strengthened the demand for development tools to build augmented reality experiences for compatible iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.
There's no denying the impact ride sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have made on our lives. With fares that undercut traditional yellow cabs, combined with the fact that your ride is just a tap away, these services have become the primary mode of transportation for many folks in urban areas. Thanks to iOS 11, booking an Uber or Lyft has just become a lot more convenient.
Two-factor authentication has been around since iOS 10. It's a handy option that adds an extra layer of security to your iPhone and makes its almost impenetrable security even stronger. This feature has remained intact in iOS 11 and iOS 12, and thanks to the straightforward nature of iOS, is relatively easy to enable.
Google's new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have a new camera mode called "Motion Photos." As the name implies, it's quite similar to Apple's Live Photos feature or HTC's Zoe before it. For every picture you take, a few seconds of video footage from before and after the shot was taken will be embedded in the file, which gives you two ways to relive that moment.
If you're like me, you change your wallpaper often. After maybe a week of looking at the same picture, you just have to have something different. Depending on the new wallpaper, you may spend another hour changing the background color of folders, the app drawer, and even Quickpage to match your overall theme. But you probably don't want to spend that much time tweaking your layout every week, so let me show you a way that reduces the time from an hour to a few seconds.
The new iOS 11 update provides an easy software-based solution to shut down your iPhone in case the power button, officially known as the Sleep/Wake button on all iPhone models except the iPhone X, goes bonkers. In addition to this, there's also a hidden setting that lets you instantly restart the device, and it's better than the "Bold Text" trick that's been around since iOS 7.
In its never-ending quest to innovate its flagships, Apple's newer iPhone models with Face ID do away with the iconic Home button present since the first iPhone back in 2007. That means screenshots, force-restarting, switching apps, Apple Pay, and the home screen all work differently on the iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max, 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max. One of the more important aspects, Siri, is also slightly different.
Chipmaker Qualcomm introduced the second generation of its Qualcomm Spectra image signal processor (ISP), which has gained capabilities that will enable smartphones to facilitate augmented reality apps.
One interesting feature hiding inside Apple's stock Camera app is a level that helps you take photos of documents and nicely plated food from a top-down perspective. Unfortunately, you'd never know it was there since it's not enabled by default and there is no obvious setting for it.
At the end of June, Unity 2017.1, the newest version of the popular 3D development engine, went live. And with that release, it brought out some very cool new features like Timeline and Cinemachine, to name a few. Now, for those of us that develop with Unity and follow the beta program closely, these features are not new at all. What is more likely the case is that we have spent a good deal of time using these features for a few months and even possibly helped iron out a few bugs.
Hyundai Motor Company says it will launch its driverless tech ahead of schedule, but the Korean carmaker will remain behind mainstream rivals, including General Motors (GM), Nissan, and Honda.
Mobile wallet Curve just released a new feature that lets you correct past mistakes. Sounds incredible, right? Unfortunately, the mistakes you can erase aren't things like forgetting to do an assignment in school, screwing up a job interview, or, well, your ex. However, you can switch the card you want to use to pay even after you've paid with Curve, and that's still pretty cool.
In case Google Photos didn't recognize your face enough, they're now rolling out a new AI feature who uses facial recognition for easy photo sharing.
Tinder, marketed as a free 'dating' app, is no stranger to paid features. The company has long allowed users to step up their game by spending money on their 'Tinder Plus' service. Tinder would like more of your money, it seems, as it rolls out a new paid service with a highly-desirable premium feature — the ability to see who has swiped right on your profile, without having to match.
More video content is making its way to Facebook as the social network relentlessly tries to get its video platform up to par with YouTube. Now, they seem to be making more of an effort to improve their video tab, as new features have started to appear on some Android phones.
Finding the perfect lip color can be a difficult task, to say the least. Thankfully, we're living in a world with augmented reality, where it's possible to try on lipstick from different brands at home.
Attention iOS 11 Developer Beta users — Dev Beta 2 is now ready for a software update. If you're running the beta already, you're going to want to download this one because it combines two excellent features: much, much needed bug fixes, as well as Do Not Disturb While Driving.
Music has always been able to connect us. Spotify is now offering an innovative new way to do just that. The company announced today that they have launched a new feature in collaboration with the Messenger app that allows you to share and make playlists with friends.
There are a lot of exciting improvements in store for Siri in iOS 11. Apple showed off some of the highlights at WWDC, but there are five changes in particular that you don't want to miss.
If you've ever missed an important phone call because you're hands were too dirty to touch the screen, you won't have to worry much longer about it happening again. Apple is remedying this age-old problem on the iPhone with a hidden feature in iOS 11 that ensures you'll never miss another call again.
Nissan began to offer Level 2 driving capacities in a mainstream model when it debuted its ProPilot self-drive option for its Serena minivan in Japan last year.
With the hype surrounding the iPhone 8, Apple's announcement that it's developing driverless software, and the new iOS 11 beta out, it seems like the tech giant is constantly in the news. Today, Apple's continuing this streak with updates for its iWork app suite on iOS and macOS.
This week, augmented reality spawns in the world of online role-playing games with a soft launch down under from an indie game developer. Meanwhile, in Asia, another startup wins a coveted award for its AR headset. Finally, an established player in the mobile AR touches up its feature set with an app update.
With iOS 11, Apple is working hard towards breaking down language barriers to bring people closer together than ever before, as evidenced by Siri's newfound ability to directly translate words and phrases in different languages. In the near future, it's easy to imagine Siri as our very own real-life BabelFish.
Okay, I have a confession to make. I'm not a real New Yorker. I'm from the land of southern hospitality and steaks bigger than your newborn: Texas. I don't know how to hail a taxi yet, and I still smile at strangers on the street. I'm slowly learning how to fit in, but one thing I still haven't mastered is the New York City subway system. Every day, I struggle to determine where to find my train and how to stand on it without falling over. Fortunately, Google Maps appears to be making some of...
Arguably the most impressive aspect of the iPhone 7 Plus is its dual-lens camera, or better yet, the Portrait mode that comes with it. This mode creates a dramatically shallow depth of field behind a subject, and was pretty impressive as is. Now, in iOS 11, Apple is making it even better with support for more camera options.
Reports of Samsung's Galaxy Note 8 having an in-display fingerprint scanner have been circulating for the past few days. Fans have been excitedly discussing the potential of the phablet possessing this technology, as it would be the first phone released with these capabilities. Unfortunately, a Samsung official revealed today to Naver — a South-Korean web portal — that Samsung has decided to forgo incorporating the feature into the Galaxy Note 8 due to technical limitations and time constraints.
There are many impressive features in the new iOS 11 for iPhones, and the Maps app got a lot of love from Apple. This means it's finally about time you stop relying on Google Maps for all of your navigation needs, since Apple Maps is not only more accurate than it used to be, but it's way more helpful overall.
Google Photos just got a killer new feature that everyone should know about. Instead of one endless stream of every picture you've ever uploaded, there's now an "Archive" section where you can stash select shots.
At the Google I/O keynote presentation today, Clay Bavor, Vice President of Virtual Reality for Google, shared a number of new initiatives in virtual and augmented reality. This included new services for the Tango platform called visual positioning service, or VPS.
The keynote at this week's Vision Summit 2017, a two-day event put together by the Unity team in beautiful Hollywood, California, revealed a few new features coming to the Unity platform. They also previewed some of the beta features that are currently available for those less scared of the occasional hiccup.
Google's Allo is still a work in progress, but the innovations to the chat and messaging app just keep on coming. The latest update rolling out now includes chat backups and a group incognito feature that we're very excited about.
In the nascent AR/VR race, any release news is big news. For augmented reality, those invested in the new technology eagerly await the release of Microsoft's Hololens and any inkling of information that comes with it. If you're one of those folks, you're in luck, as new information has just been disclosed about one of Microsoft's partners on the project, Lenovo, and their Hololens; including its release date and price.
We know your time is valuable to you, so starting this week — and continuing every Wednesday — we are going to release weekly Dev Reports that quickly highlight important news and updates that augmented and mixed reality developers should know about.
