Android News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

A Pokemon GO player seems to have hit the jackpot by catching an extremely rare shunundo Bagon. While nundos might not be as useful as the much-coveted hundos in Pokemon GO, the fact that they are much rarer makes them a prized possession for collectors.

Originally released for iOS on April 3, 2014, Monument Valley quickly became a classic for its unique use of optical illusion gameplay. The game, known for its mind-bending landscapes and visual design inspired by classical art and architecture, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile players can currently claim the 5.11 Stryker Skin for free as part of a collaboration with clothing and gear brand 5.11 Tactical. At the time of writing, the skin is exclusive to Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile, unlike most items available in the trio of current Call of Duty titles.

Using the Solar Eclipse as a backdrop, Pokemon GO teases the debut arrival of the highly anticipated Legendary psychic creature known as Necrozma. Ultra Beasts, special extradimensional creatures, first appeared inside of the Pokemon Sun and Moon games, giving players new and incredibly powerful creatures to collect. These Ultra Beasts made their debut in Pokemon GO in 2022 during the Go Fest celebrations that summer, including Nihilego.

Now that Android's Find My Device network is off the ground, Chipolo is launching a pair of AirTag-like tracking devices that are specially designed for wallets and bags. The Chipolo ONE Point and CARD Point arrive May 17th, just in time for summer vacation.

Last year, I boarded the Google One train when my sister's 15GB storage tanked. Initially, I opted for the 100GB "Basic" plan, confident that it would provide me with ample benefits. But that didn't last long, and I realized that for a service called "Google One" it's sorely lacking in its inclusiveness.

Amazon Fire Tablets are loved for their extremely low prices, but bargains don't come without sacrifices. That's why people have been manually installing the Play Store on Fire Tablets almost since the beginning. It's 2024 now, and some things have changed. Is this still a reliable hack?

A Honkai: Star Rail leak has revealed details about a new weapon that belongs to one of the starter characters, March 7th. This four-star Preservation character has been part of the game's main storyline since the beginning and players can add her to their roster for free.

A talented artist has shared an interesting concept that combines Genshin Impact's Yelan with Aventurine from Honkai: Star Rail. These two HoYoverse titles have similar anime-like art styles thanks to their cel-shaded graphics that often inspire players to create their own concepts that combine the two games' characters.

Update 1.6 recently launched for Stardew Valley on PC, and it was a much more significant one than you’d expect to see for an indie title that released eight years ago. With 8-player multiplayer support, new Festivals and endgame content, and more, Update 1.6 added a hefty chunk of new content and features, following which the game saw a significant boost in player numbers on Steam– but when exactly will the update become available for players on other platforms?

A new Genshin Impact leak has revealed information about an upcoming boss fight that will feature Arlecchino, a character who is also scheduled to join the playable roster in Version 4.6. Arlecchino plays the role of the main villain of the whole Fontaine arc, and she's portrayed as an intelligent and cunning character.

A Pokemon GO player has made many in the community quite jealous after catching an extremely rare shundo in their first few days in the game. The fact that many Pokemon GO fans highlighted that they have been playing the game for years but still couldn't get one speaks volumes about the importance of the feat.

An accidental upload from Pokemon GO's official Brazilian Twitter account may have just revealed Bellsprout as the featured Pokemon for April 2024's Community Day. The massively popular monster-catching mobile game from Niantic offers plenty of ways for players to catch their favorite Pokemon within the game, often running exclusive events. Events like Pokemon GO's Community Days provide the chance to capture tons of a specific Pokemon, offering increased rates for fans to find Shiny Pokemon as well. Now, April's Community Day might have just been leaked.

A new leak from Genshin Impact is hinting at a pair of characters planned to come to the game with the Version 4.7 update, including the long-awaited release of Clorinde. As the HoYoverse RPG passes the midway point of its Fontaine cycle, the game has already welcomed a plethora of new characters to the roster with its newest locale. Fontaine has seen the debut of several powerful new additions to Genshin Impact's roster, including Furina, Neuvillette, and Chiori among others. Now, leaks are hinting another long-teased character will be joining the game soon.

Phones today don't seem to hold a charge much longer than old ones. Phones have gotten much better in many other ways, so what gives?

The best writing tool is the one you have on you. For me, that's my smartphone, but it's no good without the right app. After searching high and low, I finally found an app that just about does it all. If you haven't yet heard of Obsidian, it may be the best note taking app for you, too.

A new leak from Genshin Impact is teasing a major change coming to the game's Treasure Compass Gadgets, completely reworking the functionality of the in-game item. Genshin Impact's sprawling open-world offers plenty of hidden secrets for players to discover scattered throughout its five playable regions, alongside its main story and quests. The game's world is littered with treasure chests, offering both in-game resources and Primogems, as well as Genshin Impact's regional Oculi collectibles providing special bonuses and upgrades. Now, finding treasure chests in a player's world is going to be a bit easier.

A new leak from Honkai: Star Rail confirms a major nerf for upcoming five-star character Boothill, expected to release during the game's Version 2.2 update. The launch of the game's newest world of Penacony has introduced a wealth of new and upcoming characters to the HoYoverse sci-fi RPG, featuring plenty of cast members within the world's Trailblaze Mission. Version 2.0 saw the debut of three new characters, while the recent launch of Version 2.1 brought the highly-anticipated launch of Acheron within Honkai: Star Rail. Now, Boothill is one of the next characters planned for the game.

One extremely unfortunate Pokemon GO player managed to lose all three Galarian Legendary birds in just a couple of minutes. Their exceedingly unlucky streak later emerged on social media, adding to the ever-growing list of such ill-fated Pokemon GO experiences.

Roblox developer Roblox Studio has released an official statement responding to previous allegations of the company using child labor with connection to its user-created games. Since its debut in 2006, the sandbox game platform has become one of the most popular games within the online space. Alongside the wealth of games available through the platform, the game offers a variety of creation tools allowing users to code and develop their own games, with larger games able to monetize their Roblox creations. Now, the developer is responding to some serious accusations.

A Pokemon GO player found the «perfect» use for their Master Ball, and it wasn't to catch the Galarian birds. When Pokemon GO first launched, it did so with only three types of Poke Balls for trainers to use when trying to catch Pokemon: regular Poke Balls, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls. However, different Poke Ball types have been added to the augmented reality mobile game in the years since it first released.

Sunbird, once infamous for its security flaws while attempting to bring iMessage to Android, is making a comeback. Despite its troubled past, Sunbird has announced its plans to relaunch its iMessage for Android services on April 5.

A fan-made Honkai: Star Rail chart ranks characters based on their overall performance in the Pure Fiction mode. Honkai: Star Rail's Pure Fiction, having met with a mixed reception, received an update in version 2.1 to fix several issues and introduce new enemies to its roster. From what players have said, the latest version of the mode is now a bit harder to complete.

Most people don't talk on the phone or get calls as much as they once did, but spam and unknown calls are rampant. Thankfully, Google is busy testing a new "Lookup" feature on Pixel phones, allowing users to search various apps and services to try and identify a number.

You may have seen the stories or even noticed for yourself—small phones are dead. Standard phones are much bigger than they were ten years ago, and you're more likely to see new larger "pro" variants than tiny ones.

There used to be a time, several years ago, when a lot of us would actually turn off Bluetooth if we weren't using it. Bluetooth wasn't as essential of a tool as it is today, and some users assumed that it would drain their phone's battery. Nowadays, though, most people keep Bluetooth on all the time. And as Bluetooth becomes even more essential, Google is making it harder to turn off.

Apple has lifted its restriction on retro game emulators on the iOS App Store.

A Minecraft player has shared what they call a «simple» Dirt tower that includes an impressive amount of crops. Dirt is one of the first resources that Minecraft players will receive, and this may be one of the most effective uses of the resource.

Pokemon GO's new Evolve button has received a mixed reception from the community, with fans questioning its purpose. While players are always excited about the release of new Pokemon and research events, the introduction of new features in Pokemon GO has often been a tough path to tread for Niantic.

A Red Dead Redemption 2 fan has succeeded in making the game run on their Android phone, and the results are surprising. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive game that's optimized for consoles and PC.

Dead by Daylight has released a new community survey in order to get player feedback on a variety of major titles, like Helldivers 2 and Five Nights at Freddy's. Player satisfaction surveys for Dead by Daylight have helped developers get direct feedback on ways to improve the game, and this new survey could give some insight into some potential new content.

Niantic reveals a new raid event for Pokemon GO centered on the arrival of Mega Heracross, which brings with it exclusive rewards and other bonuses. While Pokemon GO may not be as popular as it once was in the years that followed its launch back in 2016, the mobile title continues to support a large player base. The continued success is largely due to how often the game updates and refreshes its content through seasons, new events, as well as constantly expanding the roster of Pokemon to catch.

The sus team of voice actors for Among Us' upcoming animation is complete.

Square Enix has released a free demo for SaGa Emerald Beyond, the next mainline title in the unorthodox role-playing game series. It’s available for PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch, allowing players to control Tsunanori Mido, one of six playable characters. Check out the release trailer below.

The long-serving top producer of legendary RPG series Dragon Quest has stepped down from the role, according to sources that spoke to RPS Maw tribute site Bloomberg. Yu Miyake, who has been involved with numerous DQ games since he joined Enix in 1989 as marketer on DQ books, is moving on to head up Square Enix’s mobile games.

Samsung no longer provides monthly security updates for Galaxy S20 or Note 20 smartphones. These devices have been demoted to quarterly updates, with support ending in March or April of 2025.

All things considered, Amazon Fire Tablets have a lot to offer for their toy-like price tags. However, one thing they don't offer is multiple browser options. You won't find Google Chrome in the Amazon Appstore, but that doesn't mean you can't install it yourself. We'll show you how.

The jump from USB-C 2.0 to USB 3.2 may seem small, but in reality, they are worlds apart for data transferring between Android devices. The difference is easy to overlook—USB-C standard can help you make a more informed purchase, especially when you're stuck between two similar choices.

After a year-long delay, Google has finally turned on the Android Find My Device network. This network, which is currently limited to Google Play Services beta testers, provides offline device tracking for smartphones, tablets, and small AirTag-like trackers.

A Pokemon GO player has caught a Galarian Zapdos, but to their surprise, they discover it was a nundo. There are over 800 Pokemon available in Pokemon GO, but several are very difficult to find. Many encounters with these Pokemon are celebrated by players, and sometimes funny and unexpected stories happen.

Four years after Nuclear Throne and Ridiculous Fishing developer Vlambeer announced it was shutting its doors, the highly regarded indie studio is back in the news, with co-founder Jan Willem Nijman now its full owner following Rami Ismail's decision to sell his shares.

Popular mobile game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is coming to PC later this year.

In a surprising turn of events, Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is coming to PC, over eight years after the game was first released. Galaxy of Heroes was first released for mobile devices in late 2015 when the hype around Star Wars was enormous thanks to The Force Awakens, and at last, it's coming to a new platform.

The head of Roblox Studio has rejected accusations that the platform is exploitative when children use it to make money.

Next week’s free Epic Games Store title has been announced.

A group of talented Genshin Impact animators have created an impressive video trailer that shows some of the game's most iconic moments in 25 different art styles. Despite being released over 3 years ago, the game has kept a larger player base that often tries to create their own artwork, inspired by Teyvat's many characters and stories.

All the materials Honkai: Star Rail players will need to upgrade the Harmony Trailblazer have leaked online. Since the release of the Honkai: Star Rail version 2.2 beta, there has been no shortage of leaks to be excited about. These leaks have revealed what might be planned for the upcoming update, providing players with valuable information on new characters and other content.

Square Enix has released trailers for five members of SaGa Emerald Beyond’s unorthodox cast, and now, the final one is available. Check out Diva No. 5, a former songstress mech who’s abandoned her original frame to cross between worlds.

A new Genshin Impact has revealed information about a new character, Xbalanque, who is expected to join the roster after the release of the Natlan region. Since the Fontaine nation was released, every new update has introduced at least one new five-star character to the game.

Recent Honkai: Star Rail leaks have revealed that a popular character named March 7th might receive a new form in the coming months. Developer HoYoverse keeps updating the pool of playable characters, now surpassing 40 unique units, with Acheron as the latest addition.

Dark and Darker Mobile has released a brand-new trailer confirming some of the game's platform-specific features. Dark and Darker Mobile is the mobile version of the viral hit fantasy multiplayer game Dark and Darker. Dark and Darker has been hotly anticipated since its initial early access launch last year, and Dark and Darker Mobile should go a long way in introducing even more players to the unique extraction game.

EA announced that the mobile strategy game is getting an official PC port. Originally released on Android and iOS in 2015, the game lets players recruit hundreds of heroes and over 20 ships and control them in turn-based battles.

Pokemon GO players are always on the lookout to add some rare Pokemon to their team, and one fan seems to have hit the jackpot with their Unown encounter in the wild. The Psychic-type Pokemon in Pokemon GO is pretty unique for a variety of reasons, but this incident has shocked several in the community.

Pokemon GO is officially bringing back the Bug Out event for 2024. Pokemon GO hosts a wide variety of events throughout any given year. Some of these special Pokemon GO events are one-off affairs, while others are annual events that come back every year. One such recurring event in Pokemon GO is Bug Out, a special event themed after the Bug-type Pokemon that players can catch in the augmented reality mobile game.

Presumably, the remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic can’t hold up a newspaper with today’s date to prove that it is actually doing okay and hasn’t been quietly disposed of in a tax report somewhere, Warner Bros-style. As such, it falls to the head of current developers Saber Interactive to promise that the long-in-the-works Star Wars game is still “alive and well”.

Square Enix has announced that SaGa Emerald Beyond will receive a free demo on April 4th. It’s available at midnight local time for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PS5, while PC players can access it via Steam at 9 AM PDT.

The PC and console market grew by 2.6% to $93.5 billion in revenue last year, according to a new report by video games date company Newzoo (cheers, Kotaku!) That’s good, right? Growth is universally a good thing, otherwise all those nice, dead-eyed men in suits wouldn’t keep saying it was. You can’t just lie about growth, that’s a business crime. However, here’s some slightly more worrying news, depending on how much you value new ideas: Of all the game time that gamers spent gaming in quantifiable Big Year for Gaming 2023, just 20% of that time was gamed on games other than the 66 specific games mentioned in the report.

Games that are at least six years accounted for more than 60 percent of playtime in 2023, a new report suggests.

A new Genshin Impact leak has revealed more details about a new set of Arlecchino buffs in the game's beta stage. Arlecchino has been one of the most anticipated characters since her official introduction in the famous «A Winter Night's Lazzo» trailer, which also revealed the appearances of all the remaining Fatui Harbingers.

A Genshin Impact chart has revealed the most popular characters in the current phase 2 version of the 4.5 Spiral Abyss. The Spiral Abyss is widely considered the main piece of endgame content as it features mighty enemies with stacked HP bars.

A new Honkai: Star Rail leak has revealed a lot of details about one of the upcoming five-star characters, Robin. The game's official social media accounts have previously released Robin's official splash art and description, which is HoYoverse's way of introducing new characters for the upcoming update, Version 2.2.

Microsoft continues to pump out the special edition Xbox controllers with wild abandon, and its latest offering is a new addition to its now three-strong Vapor line-up, arriving in the form of the swirly green and slightly darker green Nocturnal Vapor controller.

Evil Empire, the studio responsible for the previous five or so years of updates to Motion Twin’s roguelite metroidvania game Dead Cells, are set to release a new roguelite set in the Prince of Persia universe “later this year.”

Shift Up is gearing up to face the spotlight of the mainstream gaming market with the imminent launch of Stellar Blade, but though the upcoming PlayStation-backed action-adventure game certainly has plenty of eyes on it, the Korean studio is seemingly also already thinking about what comes next.

A Pokemon GO player has revealed that they made significant progress on the Excellent Throws quest required to reach level 50 after the April Fool's event. Since Pokemon GO's launch, Niantic has held an April Fool's-themed event for players. In the first edition, Pokemon GO added a shiny Murkrow and made an adorable change that swapped the images of the Kanto Pokemon for 8-bit sprites.

Warcraft Rumble just teased the arrival of the Darkmoon Faire, a new PvE event coming to the mobile game. The iconic creepy carnival from World of Warcraft will be making its debut in Warcraft Rumble soon.

Following its well-received Prince of Persia revival early this year, Ubisoft is reportedly readying a further series outing for a 2024 release — this time in the form of a Prince of Persia rogue-like from Evil Empire, the studio responsible for Dead Cells' impressive post-launch support.

Two more classic titles have been confirmed for Rockstar Games‘ GTA+ subscription service.

A new Honkai: Star Rail leak reveals combat gameplay footage featuring two upcoming characters, Boothill and Robin. Both characters have already been confirmed by the game's official social media accounts, and they are expected to be released during Version 2.2.

A recent revenue report has revealed that Honkai: Star Rail far exceeded Genshin Impact when it comes to overall banner sales in March. Both games feature character banners, a common mechanic in gacha games, which allow players to try their luck and pull for certain playable units that are available for a short period, usually three weeks.

Amazon Fire Tablets are some of the most accessible gadgets on the market. For around the same price as dinner and drinks for two, you get a full-blown tablet. However, they're stuck with the Amazon App Store. If you want some of the most popular apps, you'll need to install the Google Play Store.

Have you ever wondered how the iPhone’s Dynamic Island might look on Android? Well, it’s not just a wild fantasy. You can actually bring the free-floating, shape-shifting pill to your Android phone and make it your new notification hub. Sounds cool? Let's dive in.

The Android 15 update is coming soon and will surely be full of exciting new features. If you're interested in trying the beta or wondering if your phone is supported, here's which Pixel phones and tablets will officially get Android 15 and which won't.

Cloud storage makes backing up data from a phone a seamless experience for most people. However, from privacy concerns to internet speed requirements, there are reasons to prefer a local backup. The cool thing is you don't even need to connect to a PC to do it—just use a hard drive.

Loud disapproval for Sonic's original film design has prompted far greater scrutiny within Hollywood for getting video game adaptations right.

One dedicated Lego Fortnite player crafted a functional semi-truck using colorful bricks. Lego Fortnite is a permanent mode within the battle royale game, which lets players build pretty wild contraptions from the ground up. It offers way more building options than some survival-crafting games, and its main focus is on exploration. The multiplayer mode features several kits players can use to construct various structures, from beach houses to burger bars.

Until April 3, Dead by Daylight fans can partake in a truly terrifying limited-time mode added just for April Fool’s Day. My Little Oni shrinks players down to microscopic size, making traversing the map and escaping from their killer that much more difficult.

Terraria is apparently entering the “final stretch” of updates for the 2D crafting and exploration game (though whether this will actually be it remains to be seen), and it looks like developers Re-Logic are seeing off their 2D Minecraft-a-like in style. Emphasis on the ssssstyle.

Minecraft's highly anticipated April Fools' Day update is here, and the developers have themed it around Poisonous Potatoes. Mojang Studios is known for its funky updates on April 1 every year, and this time around its focus seems to be on an item that is considered to be the most useless in Minecraft.

Honkai: Star Rail version 2.2 will allegedly bring a new Light Cone that characters from the Nihility path can use as their primary weapon. Honkai: Star Rail's Nihility path offers strategic depth for building rosters, allowing characters to reduce enemies' capabilities. Units that follow the path of Nihility fit into the debuffer role since their skills apply various debuffs to enemies.