Android

Google brought hundreds of free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels to its TV platforms this year. They’re already deeply integrated with the Google TV interface, and now Google has crammed a bunch of them into a “Free TV Channels” app that appears on the homescreen of older Android TV products like the Nvidia Shield. There’s no escaping FAST content.

In other news, the Chromecast with Google TV (HD) was briefly cracked to allow custom OS installations. It’s already been patched, and even if you haven’t updated your device, the process of taking advantage of said exploit is a real doozy.

Then you should watch this excellent video from Quinn Nelson at Snazzy Labs. He breaks down exactly what it's doing behind the scenes and why it will likely be a challenge for Apple to stop it from working.

Android Authority reports that there’s code in the Microsoft Phone Link app that “suggests that the company is working on letting your Android phone provide a video stream to your Windows PC.” Sounds handy — and potentially like a Windows-ified version of Apple’s Continuity Camera feature.

Here’s a selection of Google’s picks:

• Best app overall: Imprint: Learn Visually

• Best game overall: Honkai: Star Rail

• Best Everyday Essential: Artifact: Feed Your Curiosity

• Best with AI: Character AI: AI-Powered Chat (ChatGPT gets an honorable mention)

• Best for Watches: WhatsApp Messenger

• Best for Tablets: Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw

• Best for Chromebooks: FlipaClip: Create 2D Animation

• Best for Google TV: Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies

• Best for Cars: Amazon Prime Video

Check out Google’s post for all the winners.

The change is being tested in version 14.48.26.29.arm64 of the Google app so it’s not widely available yet. The bar remains at the bottom when displaying search results, meaning users with larger phones don’t have to stretch their thumbs so far when typing.

The Chrome app on iOS introduced a similar update for the URL bar last month.

Today is the deadline for Apple to argue to EU regulators that iMessage shouldn’t be designated as a core platform service.

It’s therefore extremely likely it revealed the iPhone will support RCS to please regulators, and not as a response to Nothing’s blue-bubble-on-Android news from yesterday. That’s not stopping CEO Carl Pei from taking a victory lap, earned or unearned. Never change, Carl.

Humane didn’t explicitly say what underpins the Ai Pin’s “Cosmos” operating system when it announced it this week. A Threads user spotted this nugget in a job posting on the company’s website, which has a pretty strong hint:

Work alongside our System Software team to tightly integrate and customize our usage of Android OS (AOSP)

After launching the first public beta of its Nothing OS 2.5 update based on Android 14 last month, the clear phone company is back with a second beta test for Phone 2 owners.

The video below includes a lot of the new additions that are in Nothing’s 2.5 update, but new additions for this beta round include several tweaks for the Glyph lights on the back of the phone, making them work with Google Calendar appointments, adding presets so you can quickly set up a timer, and a new animation for NFC usage.

The three companies announced an Android AR / VR headset in February but with few details. UploadVR and Korean business outlet The JoongAng report rumors of a late 2024 launch, after Apple introduces its Vision Pro.

Last month Samsung closed a $218 million deal to acquire eMagin, a US company developing Micro OLED tech that execs have said could surpass the panel in the Vision Pro, could be two to three years from being commercialized.

Starting with VPN apps, certain categories on the Google Play store will now show a banner to help users find trustworthy apps.

Google says in a blog post that the banners will tell users about the “Independent security review” badge the company introduced last year, signifying apps that have undergone independent audits to verify they comply with the OWASP global security standard.

A Google Workspace update from Friday added a two-page view for PDFs in Google Drive when you look at them on Android devices like tablets or foldables now.

It’s the little things.