5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week, and all the latest app news

Welcome to the 513th version of Android Apps Weekly, the place we focus on the newest in cellular information and take a better take a look at among the most attention-grabbing new apps and video games. This week noticed the discharge of one other app claiming to copy iMessage for Android customers, however this time it truly appears to work. Google was additionally within the information for a couple of causes, corresponding to worth will increase for YouTube prospects together with these beforehand grandfathered into older plans. 

Let’s bounce proper in and try among the largest highlights from the final week: 

•  Apple doesn’t formally supply iMessage for Android customers however a couple of workarounds have surfaced through the years, together with Beeper, which helps you to use iMessage however requires you handy over your ID within the course of. Nothing launched an identical answer just lately, till it was out of the blue pulled after it turned clear the app was a safety nightmare. The excellent news is {that a} true answer has lastly arrived within the type of Beeper Mini. The app doesn’t require you handy over your iMessage credentials and, at most, takes minutes to arrange. The one draw back is the service isn’t free and can set you again $1.99 a month. Beeper claims that that is only the start and that Beeper Mini will ultimately combine WhatsApp, SMS, RCS, and Facetime assist. 
• YouTube has been cranking up costs on YouTube Premium in increasingly places because it continues its struggle in opposition to ad-blockers and makes an attempt to power customers over to Premium. Now South Korea is becoming a member of the membership with a worth improve. That’s not the one unhealthy information, YouTube Premium can also be shifting all its beforehand grandfathered accounts over to new pricing plans. In case you have been at present paying $9.99 a month or much less you’ll see a rise to $13.99 a month beginning in January. 
• Google just lately introduced its new Gemini massive language mannequin, which now powers the newest model of the Bard chatbot. So when will this improved performance come to Assistant? Code throughout the Google App signifies Assistant with Bard is getting nearer to launch, with extra strings shifting from the beta to the steady model of the app. The identical code dive additionally revealed a couple of new tidbits about Bard’s picture era capabilities and extension assist.
• Discord has up to date its cellular app’s UI, optimizing it for the small display screen and shifting away from its earlier design which tried to line up higher with its net and desktop apps. Sadly, not everybody likes the brand new look and a few are upset to be taught there’s no approach to transfer again to the previous look, because the change is server-side. 
• It’s no secret that the world’s governments wish to spy on civilians however Apple and Google have now confirmed that governments can spy on customers via push notifications. This data can inform the federal government how customers work together with apps and even give them entry to the notification’s full textual content. It’s good to have extra transparency and it illustrates the purpose that privateness simply isn’t one thing assured once you’re on the internet.
• Meta has been speaking about Meta AI for some time now, however the Meta chatbot is now obtainable for all customers within the US throughout Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. The bot can generate photos in chats and rather more. Moreover, Meta can also be opening up its AI picture era software to cellular and desktop customers within the US. 
• WhatsApp isn’t simply getting Meta AI, it’s additionally bringing its View As soon as mode to voice messages. Voice messages will self-delete after they’re performed for the primary time. View As soon as messages are clearly marked with a particular icon to indicate they will solely be performed one time. 
• After it introduced the loss of life of Google Podcasts, Google mentioned it could ultimately introduce a software and would make clear on how lengthy customers needed to migrate their information. As promised, Google has now revealed the software will arrive within the subsequent few weeks and customers will be capable of preserve listening to podcasts till March 2024. After that, they’ll have till July 2024 to maneuver the info earlier than it’s too late. 

Android Apps Weekly: New apps and video games of the week

Searching for some new Android apps and Android video games to maintain you occupied? Beneath, we check out a few of our favourite recommendations for the week. This time round we’re getting a number of nice premium video games, lots of which have been widespread on PC and console. 

Dying’s Door

• Worth: Free with a Netflix subscription

Dying’s Door is a novel action-adventure sport the place you play as a small crow who collects soles as his career. Beforehand the sport was a success on each the PC and console. The brand new port stays true to the unique sport however provides contact controllers and some different adjustments to raised go well with it for cellular. General this seems like the complete sport however with some very massive limitations together with an absence of bodily controller assist, a lock to simply 30fps, and I’ve to confess I bumped into a couple of different efficiency glitches and hiccups with the Pixel 6 Professional I examined it on. The sport is playable and fully free so long as you’ve got a Netflix subscription, however simply bear in mind it gained’t be fairly as easy of an expertise for those who’ve performed it elsewhere. For these with older telephones it’s additionally essential to notice there’s no video high quality settings, simply what you get out of the field. 

Goat Simulator 3 is one other console/PC port making its approach to Android. The cellular model options co-op assist and all of the core options you’d count on. Whereas the sport is true to what you’d get on different platforms, it tends to be loads much less steady. I had to make use of my Google Pixel 7 to get a great expertise, as my Pixel 6 Professional struggled exhausting. Even then, I had a couple of bugs, stutters, and different graphical points. What’s made worse is that there’s no approach to regulate your graphics settings on this title, which might probably go a good distance in enhancing the expertise.

Hitman: Blood Cash Reprisal

One more port! This time we’re taking a look at a remake of the 2006 authentic, remastered with new quality-of-life options together with touchscreen optimizations and some different adjustments together with an Intuition Mode, which was launched to the sequence within the 2012 sport Hitman: Absolution. In contrast to the opposite video games on the listing to date, this one is a port that has truly zero notable efficiency points. I performed it on three completely different gadgets briefly and located the expertise labored properly even on telephones that have been a bit older or mid-range. 

Shapez

• Worth: Free with in-app purchases

After a bunch of hardcore video games, I believed I’d convey you one thing barely extra informal, although it’s nonetheless a port. Whereas the Steam model prices, this can be a free sport although there are in-app purchases that unlock the complete expertise. Shapez is a novel sport the place you construct advanced factories to automate the creation of more and more advanced shapes. It’s a great way to train your mind and is a number of enjoyable. Sadly, the cellular controls aren’t fairly nearly as good and there are a couple of bugs right here and there. Right here’s hoping the sport will get higher over time, however in its present type, it’s playable, simply not fairly nearly as good as what you’d get within the non-mobile model.

Whereas we talked about Beeper Mini within the information, we figured we’d add it to our new apps highlight as properly. The brand new app primarily methods Apple into letting you into their unique blue field membership. You’ll get all the identical options as iMessage customers and iPhone customers will see you as simply one other iMessage consumer. Whereas it’s unclear how Apple will react to this app and if there’s even something they will do about it, for now we extremely suggest this for those who’ve thought-about switching to an iPhone only for iMessage. Apple’s messaging app is extraordinarily widespread within the US and I’ve recognized quite a lot of individuals who have switched telephones only for that, together with my very own sister. The one actual draw back right here is you’ll need to pay $1.99 for the service. 

Professional Tip of the Week

In our Professional Tip of the Week, we share suggestions or recommendations that we predict may benefit our readers. This might embody app suggestions for obscure apps that aren’t new, how-to guides for rising points, or any recommendation we predict will make it easier to out.

Occupied with ditching X? Right here’s our suggestions for the perfect options to Twitter

Lately there have been a number of new apps trying to attract in customers which have turn into jaded by Musk’s model of Twitter. Which Twitter various is the perfect for you? It will depend on what you’re searching for. Mastodon beforehand drew consideration for its extra open-source consideration however has light a bit from the highlight and was most likely by no means destined to turn into something greater than a distinct segment various. Nonetheless, it’s a sensible choice if you wish to sort of construct your personal factor.

Simply searching for one thing that feels just like Twitter? Meta’s Threads community might be the obvious selection and Threads compares principally favorably to X. Whereas it’s not an ideal alternative, it comes shut and has the biggest consumer base at over 100 million. Whereas X stays the extra versatile possibility, many have left the community simply out of precept as a result of disagreements with how Musk is dealing with the corporate. In case you’re discovering your favourite Twitter customers have jumped ship, you’re extra prone to discover them on Thread than on among the different Twitter-like apps. 

One other strong possibility can be Bluesky Social. You’ll be able to be taught extra about the way it compares to Twitter in our X vs Bluesky information. We even have an explainer that helps spotlight the variations between Bluesocial vs Threads as properly.