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Wear OS gets helpful “Tiles” widgets for improved user experience

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Google, in its continual process to refine and enhance the Wear OS (formerly Android Wear), experience, has rolled out a new feature for its wearable platform.

The latest change, Tiles, are glanceable widgets that can be swiped for information. Users can swipe to the left to pull up the tiles which can include details such as weather, calendar appointments, heart rate, news headlines, timer, and more.

Whether you’re into headlines or heartbeats, you can tailor your watch to meet your needs. You’ll be able to stay connected to what’s important to you, and still keep tabs on other information and actions. We’ll continue to add more Tiles over time to help you stay connected to what matters most.

Users can rearrange Tiles by tapping and holding; layout can also be adjusted via the Wear OS.

The Tiles feature will be pushed out to Wear OS over the next month, according to Google. Worth noting is that not all Tiles details will be offered across all watches. Those without a heart rate monitor, of course, will not display any information.

PODCAST: Exclusive interview with Coolpad

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We recently had the privilege to sit down with John Choi, the Vice President of New Product Planning & Innovation at Coolpad. Conducted remotely over Google Meet, editor Scott Webster discussed a number of topics as it relates to the technology brand.

Among the items covered, we learn about the process of bringing a device to market and how testing and feedback is taken into consideration. Moreover, we dive into relationships with carriers, what it’s like to sell direct to consumer, and choices in user experience.

As a brand that offers phones that often cost less than $200, Coolpad sees these as “ultra-affordable”. In other words, the hardware is not going to be near the level of what you might see in larger companies such as Samsung or LG. Coolpad also sees an interest in the sub-$400 price range which it terms as “affordable”.

We recorded the conversation as a podcast which can be heard below in the embedded player. If you’d like to hear more from us, please subscribe to our podcast wherever you typically listen to your favorite shows.

Motorola’s gesture navigation is fantastic; here’s how to enable it

Andrew Allen
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Gesture navigation seems to be the future of mobile operating systems. As software evolves so does the way we interact with it.

Google introduced a shift away from the traditional geometric software buttons with Android Pie, but I think Moto has improved on the implementation.

What’s Gesture Navigation?

Motorola has adopted a more robust gesture navigation than Google’s Pixel phones. Google settled for a simple “pill” button that you can only swipe up for Overview multi-tasking or tap to go to your Home screen. There are some scrolling options while Overview is open, but that’s about it.

Moto has instead replaced the entire row of former software buttons to replace Home, Overview, Back, and Forward. It even still launches Google Assistant. Now, let’s get to the crux of this post and show you how to turn this great new feature on.

How To Make It Happen

All the steps can easily be found inside the Moto app in your app launcher.

  • Open Moto app
  • Hit the hamburger menu
  • Select Moto Actions
  • Click One Button Nav
  • Follow the “Try It Out” demo
  • Use swipes for each gesture and the app confirms you have it correct
  • Turn on gestures
  • Make sure toggle is on in the Moto Actions menu

Success

You now have a very different way to interact with your phone. Before you know it, you’ll be swiping your way through all of your daily tasks. The great thing about Motorola including this in the Moto app is that it’s not exclusive to Pie builds of Android. You can apply this to most of its phones released in the past two years.

Mid-range Nokia 4.2 now available in US for just $189

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HMD Global this week announced it has started taking pre-orders for its Nokia 4.2 smartphone. Initially announced at Mobile World Congress back in February, the phone features a 5.71-inch display and dual 13-megapixel cameras on the rear.

The Nokia 4.2 is a budget device and carries just a $189 price tag. It features mid-range hardware such as its Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 processor and 3GB RAM. Internal storage is 32GB and the battery is rated at 3,000mAh.

The Nokia 4.2 is an Android One device which means it will have at least two years of software updates and three years of bugs and patches. It also means it runs a clean version of Android that’s void of any extra customization and software.

Also worth noting, the phone has a dedicated voice assistant button for Google Assistant. Pressing it once wakes the tool while pressing it twice brings up Google’s visual snapshot. A long press has it listening to your voice commands indefinitely in walkie talkie mode.

As far as aesthetics go, the Nokia 4.2 does have a somewhat small cutout display, or notch. And, while it does have a little thicker bezel than today’s flagships, it’s fairly reasonable for a phone in this price range.

The Nokia 4.2 is available in black and pink and is expected to start shipping on May 15.

Garmin refreshes GPS Forerunner smartwatches for all the runners out there

Andrew Allen
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If you are a dedicated runner then you’ve problem heard of Garmin’s fitness lineup of watches. The company offers several options, with the Forerunner series being one of the more popular. Its announced additions to Forerunner GPS smartwatches and brand-new model lineup for the series for runners who don’t want to always carry their phones.

All the new models offer a fresh take on what Garmin already does exceptionally well. Dan Bartel, Garmin’s Vice President of Global Sales said it was just time for the addition of new features:

“We are excited to refresh our Forerunner line and bring sought-after advancements to some of our most popular GPS running smartwatches. Each new Forerunner takes what its predecessor has done very well, and enhances it with even more features, making it easier for you to simply focus on your workout while your watch does the thinking.”

The most notable is a new safety tracking feature that will share your real-time location data with chosen contacts in case of an emergency. Otherwise, they all share mostly common DNA of 5 button design, always-on displays, all-day activity tracking, heart rate sensor, and smart notifications. They all support Garmin’s new female health tracking via the Garmin Connect app as well.

Forerunner 45 and 45S

The 45 series is the entry-level into the new Forerunner models. For $199 you can choose from the 39mm 45S or go for the larger 42mm standard 45. You can expect up to 7 days on a single charge with the 45 with simple tracking and notifications. Dedicated GPS usage is rated for 13 hours of continuous on-time.

Forerunner 245 and 245 Music

If you want a slightly more premium build, then Garmin is offering the Forerunner 245 for more advanced features. You get the same 7 days of battery with 24 hours of GPS and more dynamic running data and Pulse OX oxygen monitoring. Oh, and the Music edition can sync up to 500 songs via Spotify or Deezer apps.

The 245 will cost you a cool $299 while you’ll need another $50 bill for the Music edition.

Forerunner 945

Lastly Garmin has the Forerunner 945. This is the company’s top-tier watch in the lineup. The 945 comes equipped with all the same features as its brethren but adds Garmin Pay, full color maps, and double the song storage of the 245 Music that will hold 1,000 songs. It also sports the most impressive battery stats. Garmin rates it as two weeks of normal use, 36 hours of GPS, and 10 hours of GPS while jamming to music.

The Forerunner 945 also comes with the most impressive price tag. You’ll need to set back $599 for this smartwatch to find its way onto your wrist.

All these new Forerunner watches come as great additions to an already solid offering from Garmin. You can find more information and order the Forerunners directly from Garmin’s online store.

 

Four your consideration: Satechi USB-C products for phones, tablets, and more

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If you have a phone, tablet, or laptop from the last few years, the chances of it having a USB Type C port are very high. It’s the new standard in charging and connectivity and it’s flexible and powerful.

While most of the products we own tend to come with a standard, or generic charger, it sometimes pays to invest in something a little bit heftier or feature-rich. Satechi, a brand we’ve come to appreciate over the years, has a number of accessories designed around the USB Type C standard.

SEE ALSO

We were sent a handful of products in the Satechi line and are impressed enough with them to recommend each. The three items we received each has a different use case but all three can be used for pretty much any devices you’ve got with the Type C plug.

USB-C to USB-C 100W Charging Cable

If you’re honest with yourself, you know that the cable that came in your phone’s box is not exactly built to last. It gets the job done but it’s shorter than you’d like and may also be prone to break down easily.

The Satechi cable is 6.6-feet long and designed to stand up to the most demanding of users. The braided nylon cable is not only extremely durable, but it’s also going to withstand accidental tangles. We tried and we couldn’t knot this thing up.

With 100W Power Delivery, the cable allows for incredibly fast charging speeds (up to 100W) and data transfer (up to 480 Mbps) between USB Type-C devices. And, because it’s the same on both ends, there’s no wrong way to plug it in.

We love how strong this cable is and for its lightning fast charging. What’s more, we were only too happy to plug it in behind the couch and find it still has plenty of reach. $20 at Satechi and Amazon.

Type-C to 3.5MM Audio Headphone Jack Adapter

One of the downsides to seeing phones move away from the 3.5mm headphone jack to USB Type-C is just that, it removes one of the features we’ve used our entire lives.

We all have a favorite pair of wired headphones. The problem with many of today’s top phones is that we can no longer use them together. Or, at a minimum, you need an adapter. And that means giving up one in favor of the other.

This Satechi accessory makes it so that you can plug in your favorite earphones or headphones and still use the Type C port for charging. It’s a sleek little unit that supports powerful USB-C Power Delivery to quickly charge (up to 89W) your phone or tablet.

Small enough to toss in your bag or backpack, it’s the sort of thing you’ll love to have at the library or on the train. $25 at Satechi and Amazon.

75W Dual Type-C PD Travel Charger

With four ports to choose from, this Satechi device is exactly the sort that you want on your desk. Included are two USB-C PD ports with 60W and 18W charging, respectively. What’s more, there are two USB-A ports to charge up your other accessories such as wearables, headphones, or portable chargers.

Housed in a durable, heat-resistant material, the charger is compact and wastes little space. If you’re a frequent traveler, you’ll appreciate that it’s tight and tidy and stows away easily.

Sold in two versions, you’ll find US and UK iterations for $70 at Satechi and Amazon. Bring your own cables.

Save 15% Site-wide

Thanks to our friends at Satechi, we’ve been able to procure an exclusive promo code. Available to readers for a few short days, you can enter ANDROIDGUYS at checkout and save 15% on your purchase. Not just the three items profiled here, but the entire Satechi website.

April 30 – May 2 (11:59PM EST)

Ten hidden Google Chrome tips and tricks for Android

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Google chrome is the most popular browser for Android with over a billion downloads and, since it comes pre-installed with most Android phones, most users just stick with it. Many people use it on a daily basis even while other browsers like Mozilla Firefox and Opera have different features like ad blocking and extension support not present in the Chrome browser for Android.

However, what most users are not aware of is that the Google Chrome browser has a hidden section in the app called Chrome flags, which has a lot of new and hidden features which could be enabled to supercharge the Chrome browser. Some of these can add a lot of useful and missing functionality to the browser and help it stand out from the competition.

Here are the top 10 Google Chrome hidden tips and tricks for Android which could be enabled from the Chrome flags section in any Android browser.

Note: Chrome flags are basically experimental features of the Google Chrome browser and are kept hidden from the users for a reason. If you find your browser to face any issues after you have enabled these Chrome flags options, you can either disable them or clear the cache and data of the Google Chrome app in your phone to solve the issues.

Gesture navigation

Gesture-based navigation has become increasingly common in modern Android devices and it even comes as one of the default navigation options in the Samsung Galaxy and the Google Pixel devices with Android Pie. If you are a fan of gesture-based navigation, and want to enable it on the Chrome browser of your Android device as well, here is how to do that.

First, visit the hidden Chrome flags page by entering the URL chrome://flags in the address bar.

Once you are on the page, search for the flag ‘History navigation with gesture‘ and enable it. Now, relaunch your browser and you are able to use gesture navigation option to navigate back and forth through pages by swiping from left or right accordingly.

Move the address bar to the bottom

The screen size of Android phones keeps increasing making it difficult to use them with one hand. You might find plus-sized phones particularly inconvenient when you want to access the address bar in the Google Chrome browser. It’s all the way up towards the top of the screen and not easy to get to with one hand.

You can move the address bar on your Chrome browser to the bottom of the screen for your convenience with the help of this simple trick. Just head over to the Chrome flags page and then search for the flag, ‘Chrome Duet‘ and enable it. Once you relaunch your browser you will get the address bar along with all the other controls present at the top of your screen moved to the bottom.

Disable autoplay

Autoplaying videos, especially those with full volume whenever you visit certain websites could probably be one of the most annoying experiences when browsing the web. Thankfully there is a way to disable them in your Chrome browser on Android.

Just head over to the browser Settings->Site Settings->Media and then disable the autoplay feature. You can also add sites like YouTube, where you want videos to be played automatically to the exception option on the same page.

Increase browsing speed

Normally the TCP protocol is used when you are browsing the internet as it is considered to be a very reliable Internet protocol. However, UDP is considered to be a faster Internet protocol and using it instead of the TCP in your Chrome browser while browsing the internet might significantly increase your browsing speed.

To do this, just go to the Chrome flags page and then search for the ‘Experimental QUIC protocol‘ flag and enable it. QUIC is the Quick UDP Internet Connection protocol and enabling it will significantly increase the browsing speed on your Chrome browser once you relaunch the browser.

speed

Advanced media controls

Watching videos is one of the frequent activities involved in web browsing and unlike the PC counterpart, the video player in the Chrome browser on Android doesn’t have any features aside from play and pause.

If you would like to get some advanced controls like tapping the screen to play or pause the video or double tapping to seek through the video, just follow the below steps.

Go to the Chrome flags page and then search for the flag, ‘New Media Controls‘ and enable it. Once you relaunch the browser you will be able to use these new advanced video controls whenever you play a video from your Google Chrome browser on your Android device.

media

Sneak peek of links

If you read a lot of articles using the Chrome browser on your Android device, you might often find yourself opening a lot of links in the background to just read some new article or additional information. This might end up cluttering your tab lists and result in a poor browsing experience when you have to navigate so many open tabs.

With a sneak peek feature you can just long press a link to a page you want to visit or an image you want to view and instead of opening it in a background tab and viewing it later.

Get a sneak peek of the page or the image from the popup that appears by selecting the  option from the long press menu. Just go to the Chrome flags page, search for ‘Ephemeral Tab‘ and enable it to start using the sneak peek feature.

Block Redirects to unknown pages

Sometimes when you visit a website by following a link, you might suddenly be redirected to a different website either automatically after a time interval or when you click somewhere on the website. This unexpected redirecting is very annoying and badly affects the user experience and the security of the user.

If you want to disable this annoying aspect of browsing, you can do so in the Chrome browser for Android by searching for and enabling the ‘Framebusting‘ flag from the Chrome flags page. This will prevent any website for redirecting you to a different website and will block redirects to unknown pages after a specific time interval.

redirect

Increase the download speed

By enabling the parallel downloading feature in the Chrome browser for Android, you can significantly increase the download speeds on your device, especially if you frequently download large files using your Chrome browser. This feature will essentially speed up the download by creating multiple connections for downloading the same file.

You can enable this by opening the Chrome flags page, searching for the flag, ‘Parallel downloading‘ and enabling it. You can notice an increase in your download speeds once you relaunch your browser.

Enable dark reading mode

The dark mode is both good for your eyes and your phone’s battery life and while it is not yet officially available on the Chrome browser for Android, you can still enable the experimental reading mode from the Chrome flags page to use the dark mode on your browser right now.

Go to the flags page, search for the ‘Reader mode triggering‘ flag, and then enable the feature. You can choose to enable the reading mode at all times or only on non-mobile friendly articles based on your preference.

Your browser will suggest you enter the reading mode once you have enabled this feature where you can select the dark mode option from the appearance settings in the reading mode.

Horizontal tab switching

This feature is somewhat similar to the recent apps menu in the newer versions of Android where instead of a vertical preview, you get a horizontal preview of the list of open tabs thus allowing you to get a complete preview of the tabs instead of just a sneak view and the title.

You can enable this feature by going to the Chrome flags page, and then searching for the ‘Horizontal tab‘ flag and enabling it. Once you relaunch the browser, your tab previews would now be switched from vertical previews to horizontal.

Which one of these Google Chrome tricks do you find useful? Do you think any other flags in the Chrome flags page might be a useful feature and should be added to this list? Let us know in the comments section below!

Today only! Save $60 on Anker Soundcore’s BEST Bluetooth speaker

Matt Adams
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If you’re in the market for a great Bluetooth speaker, we have the perfect deal for you. With the weather heating up, we’re all going to be spending more time outside and bringing your tunes along with you is high on the priority list for many. Luckily for us, Anker is discounting its best speaker by $60 so you can pick one up super cheap.

The Soundcore Model Zero is a compact Bluetooth speaker that pumps out the sound. The speaker is Hi-Res Audio certified which means the speaker is capable of playing the highest fidelity audio. The big knock on Bluetooth is that you don’t get better audio quality than CDs (remember those?) but the Soundcore Model Zero does.

Read more: Anker Soundcore Liberty Air earphones review- Another solid AirPod competitor

One of my favorite things about the speaker is its design. The all black and silver design is classic and the loop at the top of the speaker not only looks good, but serves as a handle to make transportation way easier. The controls sit under the loop and feel satisfying to touch. Since they’re integrated into the speaker, it feels a little bit like typing on a Star Trek PADD. Pretty cool stuff.

If you weren’t already convinced that this is the perfect summer speaker, this will put you over the top: 10 hours of battery life and IPx5 water resistance are standard here. You’ll have enough juice to get through an entire day at the beach and even if it starts to rain, you’re safe.

So, what are you waiting on? Head on over to Amazon to grab the Anker Soundcore Model Zero for just $139.99, $60 off it’s normal price of $199.99.

Buy from Amazon

Anker Soundcore Model Zero

Three new Samsung tablets now widely available to consumers

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Samsung on Friday began selling three tablets to consumers, including two that were previously unannounced. The third, for its part, only recently hit the news cycle by way of a teaser video.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e, Galaxy Tab A 10.1, and Galaxy View2 are now available to purchase with starting prices of $400, $230, and $740, respectively.

Galaxy Tab S5e

According to Samsung, the Galaxy Tab S5e is the thinnest and lightest tablet ever at just 5.5mm thick and 400g. With a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED 2560 x 1600 pixel display at 16:10 aspect ratio, it’s offered with 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB configurations. A microSD expansion card slot allows for up to 512GB of media.

Designed to go anywhere and everywhere, the tablet offers up a fingerprint reader, facial recognition, and the ability to pair with a keyboard. Other details include AKG-powered speakers and Samsung DeX, making it a truly versatile and well-rounded experience.

Galaxy Tab A 10.1

The Galaxy Tab A series is the less expensive, all-purpose tablet line and the 2019 is no exception. Weighing roughly one pound, it comes with a 10.1-inch display (1920 x 1080 pixels), 2GB RAM, and at least 32GB storage. Rounding things out, the tablet has a microSD card slot, stereo speakers, headphone jack, and USB Type-C.

Sold in Black, Gold, and Silver colors, you can choose from 2GB/32GB ($230), 3GB/64GB ($280), and 3GB/128GB ($330) builds.

Galaxy Tab View2

The super-large screen tablet experience gets a refresh for 2019, bringing with it new specifications. Available through both Samsung and AT&T, the Tab View2 houses a 17.3-inch display at 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution.

With a built-in kickstand, the tablet weighs just under five pounds as is designed for counter tops and desks. Powering things is a Samsung Exynos 7884 processor with 3GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. A microSD slot provides up to 400GB of removable storage.

The View2 has quad speakers with Dolby Atmos sound and a 12,000mAh battery ensures you’ve got plenty of juice for consuming media. While it doesn’t pack a TV tuner of any sorts, it’s the sort of device that AT&T would love to see consumers use for watching DirecTV. Pick this one up for $740 direct or through the service provider.

How to get an always-on display on your Android phone

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The always-on display is one of the most useful features in the Samsung Galaxy devices. The always-on display basically displays time, date and allows you to have a quick glance on other information like notification icons, alarms or reminders. All of this, of course, without turning on your entire screen every time.

This feature is based on the logic that OLED displays do not require much power for displaying black pixels. Since only a portion of your screen is lit up when you are using the Always-on display and the rest is just a black screen, only a fraction of battery life would be consumed. The good news is, you can also try out this cool Always-on display feature on your Android device if it has an OLED display, even if it is not a Samsung device.

Here is how to get the Always-on Display feature on Samsung Galaxy flagship devices on your Android device.

Note: The always-on display is also available on the Google Pixel devices, however, Google has named it as ‘Ambient display’. It also works similar to the Always-on display on the Samsung devices and you can enable it on Google Pixel device by going to Settings->Display->Advanced and then selecting the Ambient display option.

How to get an always-on display on your Android phone

Step 1: Install the app

First, download and install the Always-On AMOLED – BETA app from the Google Play Store on your Android device.

always on display

Step 2: Initial setup

Once the app is installed, open the app from your app drawer and then follow the on-screen instructions to proceed through the initial app setup process.

This includes providing permissions for the app to access your notifications and appear on top of other apps to be able to successfully display your notifications on the Always-on display once you lock your Android device.

Step 3: Enable the Always-on display

After finishing the initial setup process, you will be taken to the main page of the app where you can enable the first option to enable the Always-on display service on your device.

always on display

Step 4: Adjust time-based or battery based settings

Once you have enabled the Always-on display, you can now modify the settings according to your personalized requirements. For instance, there is an option to enable the feature only during a particular time period of the day or only when your device is charging or enable it only when your device’s battery level is over a specified amount.

time settings

Step 5: Add gestures

You can also add gestures to your Always-on display, even though the options are limited, you can still configure the gestures to turn on your screen, dictate the current time and notifications and even for toggling the flashlight on or off.

The gesture actions include swiping up or down, double tapping and you can also configure the gestures to the volume or back buttons based on your device.

Step 6: Customize the Always-on display

There are also lots of customization options available where you can choose between different clock faces and data styles along with different background wallpapers. While the free version has limited background options, you can purchase the pro version to get your hands on a few more options.

You can also change the font face, color, and size of the date and other information displayed on the always-on display screen. The app even allows you to add other additional information like the weather forecast, music controls, and even a memo text of your choice.

Step 7: Brightness options

Once you have customized the always-on display according to your preference, you can also modify the brightness level according to the time of the day or just set it to auto brightness mode to save the battery life.

brightness

There is also an auto night mode which automatically dims the display according to the environment and a battery saver mode to reduce the battery consumption of the app based on your usage.

Step 8: Notifications

You can also set up the app to display notification icons and contents from all the installed apps on your device. The advanced notifications control option also allows you to add additional controls to your notifications like a long press for a quick overview or swipe the notifications to pin them.

The app also has a notification and pick up wake options under the Ambient display settings, which will only wake your device’s screen when you pick it up or when you receive a notification based on your preference. This might also significantly reduce battery usage by the app.

Step 9: Preview and final steps

After you have configured the always-on display according to your personal preference and have applied all the customization options, you can preview it by selecting the play icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.

preview

You can modify the settings at any times if you did not like the preview and enable the always-on display option once you are happy with the output.

If your Android device is rooted, you can also enable the Doze mode from the advanced settings in the app. The Doze mode will automatically put all the background apps to sleep when the always-on display is active on your device, thus allowing you to save battery life and also to improve the performance of your device.

To bypass the always-on display and to unlock your device, you just have to double tap on the screen. You can also access the notification and music controls from the always-on display by long pressing or swiping them.

If you notice any significant impact on your device’s battery life after you have installed this app, try clearing the app cache or uninstalling and reinstalling the app to fix the issue.

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