Android has always had the Google Play Store as the omnipresent source for downloading and installing apps and games on our phones. You can still install your apps and games from other sources, but most users decide not to bother themselves with the chore. But that doesn’t stop developers from trying to build their own app stores to compete with the Play Store. Had some things gone differently, we could have had a “Steam of Mobile” equivalent app store dedicated to Android games from none other than Activision Blizzard.

During the ongoing Epic vs Google trial, it has emerged that Activision Blizzard had its own “Project Boston” that it was working on. As The Verge reports, citing internal emails and other documents seen during the courtroom hearing, Activision Blizzard planned to build its own mobile game store. This would have been either in partnership with Epic Games and Supercell or independently by itself. Users would have been able to download this alternate app store from the internet, sideload it onto their Android phone, and would then be able to purchase, download, and install games.

Did you dive into the Black Friday sales frenzy? We’re curious about your shopping adventures!

Whether you snagged the deal of the century or just browsed, we want to hear about it. Your insights are invaluable to us, and to make it even sweeter, US respondents stand a chance to win a $50 gift card.

ChatGPT was launched on November 30, 2022, exactly a year ago, and it has changed some of the very fundamentals of the internet. Searching the internet casually no longer involves visiting tens of websites to find the best answer. Instead, the best answer is now served to you in the exact form that you require. On the eve of ChatGPT’s first birthday, OpenAI is putting some of its recent drama behind itself as it formally announces the return of Sam Altman as the CEO and appoints a new Board of Directors.

Through its official blog, OpenAI has shared messages from Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to the OpenAI team, announcing their return. The letters largely reiterate the previous announcement regarding Sam Altman’s return, as the agreement has now moved beyond an in-principle agreement to a formal one. This finally brings an end to most of the OpenAI leadership drama.

Get ready for the imminent Google account purge. If you’re attached to that dormant account and its associated content, today is the last day to act.

With its launch just a month or so away, the Samsung Galaxy S24 series is hot news fodder right now. Today’s leak purportedly reveals all the variants of the Galaxy S24 series, debunking a previous rumor about the Ultra model featuring 16GB of RAM.

Netflix offers movies and TV shows to suit every taste. But beyond the usual categories lies a hidden world of even more specific genres waiting to be discovered.

This guide reveals the secrets of Netflix’s hidden codes, a nifty trick that opens the door to an extensive collection of niche categories.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 series was one of the best Android phones upon its release. Customers who purchased the phone were happy with their purchase, and Samsung gave them a fresh reason to celebrate when it began rolling out One UI 6 based on Android 14. The update was primarily available in Europe and Asia but has finally started rolling out in the US.

User reports are now coming in that T-Mobile has begun rolling out the One UI 6 update to the Galaxy S22 series.

In a small but moving plea, a 10-year-old boy from Oxfordshire, UK, has called on tech giant Apple to change its “nerd face” emoji. Teddy believes the character gives the wrong impression about people wearing glasses, according to a BBC report.

Google dishes out awards each year for the best Google Play apps and games, and 2023 is no different. The company has just posted this year’s edition of the best apps and games, and there are loads of picks here.

Samsung is reportedly increasing the display sizes on next year’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. According to display industry insider Ross Young, both upcoming foldable phones from Samsung will feature larger foldable and cover displays.

Nothing might be bifurcating its smartphone lineup and planning to launch a new A-series of devices that are more affordable than the Nothing Phone 2. According to a fairly new leaker named Sanju Choudhary, Nothing is planning to launch the Nothing Phone 2a. The tipster has also posted the alleged specs and images of the device on X (formerly Twitter).

With Reddit’s API changes this year effectively pushing most third-party apps to shut down, the official app is now one of the few options to access the service. However, a feature those third-party apps offered is missing from the official app: the ability to increase the font size. Thankfully, new strings appearing in the latest version of the Reddit Android app (v.2023.47.0.1303604) suggest the ability to customize in-app fonts is on the way.

Reddit has allowed some degree of font customization in the iOS version of its app. However, the Android version has no font controls at all. To change the app’s font, you need to change your system’s font by going to Settings > Display > Display size and text. Unfortunately, this is not as helpful as you would think. Because the font used for the Reddit app is so small, you need to make your system font comically large to compensate. This inevitably results in people having difficulty reading Reddit, especially those with visual impairments.

Motorola has extended its holiday sale beyond Cyber Monday this year, which means there’s still time to take advantage of the standout deal on the new Motorola Edge (2023). Usually selling for $600, a massive 43% price drop gives you the chance to snap up the Android phone for just $349.99.

Motorola Edge (2023) for $349.99 ($250 off)

When it comes to security cameras, Google’s Nest cams are some of the best, specifically for their terrific AI smarts. However, Google’s reliance on AI has been a considerable drawback, too. For example, since Google moved everything over to the Google Home app, users have been unable to create and download their own video clips from their history. Their only choices have been the clips Google’s AI says are worthy of attention. Thankfully, this silly limitation is finally ending!

Starting with folks in the Google Home Public Preview program, you can pick any clip you want from your full video history (via Google’s blog). You’ll need to be a Nest Aware Plus subscriber to access your entire video history for this to work, but assuming that’s the case, you’ll no longer be limited to clips Google has deemed worthy of saving.

When it comes to keeping Android phones up-to-date, few can argue that Samsung is king. Although Google pushes out the latest version of Android to its phones first, Samsung’s roster is much, much larger, but that hasn’t stopped it from being well on track to upgrading most of its lineup to Android 14 before the end of 2023. A case in point is that the Samsung Galaxy A24 is now seeing Android 14 (via SamMobile).

So far, we’ve seen this land in the Middle East and North Africa, but it will roll out to more areas soon. Be on the lookout for firmware version A245FXXU3BWK3.

Earlier today, Spotify rolled out its annual Wrapped feature. This gives you an overview of your listening habits over the past year while also giving the world an overview of the top trends on the service. Now, Google TV is rolling out its own version of Wrapped. This gives us a great look at the top content of the year as well as some other data points.

Unfortunately, Google TV doesn’t fully replicate Wrapped because it doesn’t give you an overview of your personal viewing stats. However, there’s still some exciting stuff gleaned here from the world at large.

In a massive win for gamers, Netflix is bringing the Grand Theft Auto trilogy to its roster of mobile games included with Netflix Games. That means Netflix subscribers will be able to play remastered mobile versions of GTA III, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas for free.

Officially (and clunkily) designated as Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — The Definitive Edition, the package includes three of the most popular and genre-defining games ever released. Although Netflix Games has plenty of heavy hitters already, these three games are now the cream of the crop for its offerings.

Microsoft Phone Link, previously known as Microsoft Your Phone, is a nifty tool, especially if you have a recent Samsung flagship or a OnePlus 11 on Android 14. The tool comprises the Phone Link app on Windows devices and the companion Link to Windows app on Android phones. Together, they let you control your phone from your computer, and it’s the closest we’ve come to emulating Apple’s ecosystem synergy with Android and Windows. Microsoft could soon add one more synergized feature to the list, as the company is working on possibly letting you use your Android phone as a webcam with Windows computers.

Microsoft’s Link to Windows v1.23102.190.0 for Android app includes code that suggests that the company is working on letting your Android phone provide a video stream to your Windows PC. This would effectively allow it to be used as a webcam.

OnePlus has already pushed out Oxygen OS 14 — based on Android 14 — to its current flagship, the OnePlus 11. Now, the company is starting to roll out the upgrade to 2022’s flagship, the OnePlus 10 Pro.

The OnePlus 10 Pro Android 14 update is now live in India, according to OnePlus’ community forum. It comes with version number NE2211_14.0.0.202(EX01). It’s not super large at just 789.33MB, but the user who spotted it is in the open beta program, so it’s possible that non-beta users will see a larger file.

At the beginning of the month, we saw a rumor that the Pixel Watch could get a long-demanded feature: a notification indicating it has fully charged. Now, we are seeing that feature live, with our own Pixel Watch 2 having it starting today.

In the screenshot below, you can see how it works. When your Pixel Watch becomes fully charged, your phone will give you a notification to let you know. This enables you to leave it on the charger but not forget to put it back on when the charge is complete.