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How to use Google Maps offline

Jason England
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Let’s face it, we don’t have great cell service everywhere we go. Raise your hand if you’ve gotten lost someplace you’re unfamiliar with and had absolutely no signal. Thankfully, Google allows you to use its maps offline. And, with a little forethought you won’t end up stranded with no understanding of your surroundings.

What you should know about offline maps

The most important thing to know is that you will need to download the map before going to your location — preferably over Wi-Fi. Google Maps allows you to download a pretty large area with a few limitations. Generally speaking, though, you can get an area that covers a whole city with couple of nearby cities.

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Depending on the size of the area you choose the offline map can take up quite a bit of storage. Worried about low on storage on your device? An option to save to a microSD card ensures you don’t fill that phone up.

Maps expire after 30 days, presumably because roads are always changing and Google wants you to have the most up to date information. Fortunately, your saved maps will automatically update over Wi-Fi.

Perhaps the best part of offline maps is that you are able to search locations and use navigation with the map just the same as if it were connected online. The rub is that you won’t have access to traffic data, transit details, walking directions, ride services, or biking directions in offline mode.

How to download offline maps

  1. Search the area you want to download
  2. Tap on the hamburger button for options
  3. Select Offline maps
  4. Choose select your own map
  5. Pinch to zoom to select the area you want to store offline
  6. Tap download

Once maps are downloaded, you can manage them by going into offline maps again and tapping on the three-dot menu for the map of your choice. From there you have options to update, view, rename, or delete the map in question.

For more settings, you can click on the settings cog in the top right corner where you can change preferences for storing and updating the maps.

There you have it, now you can store maps for all your favorite or new locations to make sure you’re never up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

FuseChicken Universal travel charger review: An all-in-one power solution

Andrew Allen
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I’ve been reviewing tech and accessories for over a decade now. I am rarely surprised by much anymore, but a name caught my eye recently when they sent a request for reviewing some of its products. The company is called FuseChicken. Yep, FuseChicken.

It’s definitely the oddest combination of names for a tech company but I had the opportunity to test out its new Universal travel charger. Incidentally, I was not aware that AndroidGuys had previously spent time with its products and even toured its facilities nearly seven years back.

Overview

The Universal wants to solve all your charging needs while on the go. It’s a Swiss Army knife of chargers honestly. It is a standard wall outlet charger as well as a battery pack. Inside is a 6700mAh power bank.

It also has Qi-enabled fast wireless charging. So, in a review, that’s USB-A, USB-C, and wireless charging. This is one of the few devices that can charge your phone and laptop that you can throw in your bag and continue using it to charge while traveling.

Design

I’ve always been a sucker for a black and white combination color scheme. The FuseChicken Universal charger has a nice soft-touch black trimmed with standard white plastics. It makes the device appealing while keeping a minimalistic pattern.

On the left, you have the wall adapter port that is interchangeable for US and Euro power outlets. Around the opposing side, you have an LED display for the power bank percentage, both USB ports, and a status light for charging. A red light means it’s charging and green means the device is on but in standby mode.

To the “top” of the unit are the FuseChicken logo and the letter “V” surrounded by wavebands similar to a WiFi signal image. This is where the magic happens to charge via Qi wireless charging.

The size is pretty nice too. The FuseChicken Universal is not much larger than most power bricks you may have to lay around. The photo below shows it next to a Targus USB-C charger I use while traveling.

Results

None of this really matters if the Universal fails in general usage. I’m happy to report that it’s spot on with what FuseChicken claims it offers. I was able to get a full charge via the USB ports almost 2.5 times on my Google Pixel 3 XL. This lines up with the bank’s 6700mAh cell.

The Qi charging also worked as expected with 10W quick charge being pushed to the device that supports it. Sadly this does not include my Pixel by cause it’s not “Made for Google” approved. Despite this, it functioned like any other charger.

One downside is that both USB ports don’t seem to support full fast charging. This option seems limited just to the USB-C plug. I’d also like to have seen the 18W power bank be able to charge my laptop as well. It just doesn’t seem to have enough juice to recharge my Dell.

Bonus Mini-review: The Shield C power cord

FuseChicken included this with my review material for the Universal charger and I was impressed. This USB-C cable is wrapped in steel chainmail. This makes it nearly indestructible and it looks awesome. The Shield cable reminds me of trim you’d find on a high-end car or a machine shop.

The cable allows for fast charge 2.0 and besides the wrapped steel cord there’s a nice soft rubber surround on each port of the cable. I was really surprised how well-made yet still flexible this cable was, and I’m glad that FuseChicken included it in the bag of goodies.

Conclusion

I hate to be jaded, but I didn’t really have high hopes with a company I’d never heard of for this review. I came away pleasantly surprised by FuseChicken. The Universal charger and the Shield C cable are both well-crafted products. Both look great and offer great functionality. And FuseChicken gets some bonus points for its namesake.

The Universal charger will set you back $85 on the FuseChicken website. That might seem like a lot, but power banks and some Qi chargers both can go in that price range. For all it does, I think it’s more than reasonable. The Shield C cable is $35 on the site, and again, seems in line with other products in that sector.

Game On: Google Stadia debuts as cloud-based gaming service

AndroidGuys
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Google today announced Stadia, its cloud-based service which lets people play high-quality games on any virtually any device.

As Google sees things, there are two major markets to tap into in the gaming space. There are those who love to play and there are those who love to watch others play. Stadia is designed with both types of people in mind.

First things first, Stadia is not a console. It’s a service, more or less, that lets people play on devices that run Chrome. This means Android phones, Chromebooks, PCs, and even TVs with Chromecast dongles. In other words, you already own Stadia-ready hardware.

This is not to suggest that Google doesn’t have some sort of physical product to go with its service. The Stadia controller is built for playing games; however it has a few other tricks up its sleeves.

It wouldn’t be Google if it didn’t tie into its Assistant. To that end, it has a dedicated button for activating the increasingly smart tool. Also present are a headphone jack and a share/stream button.

As to the gaming experience one can expect from Stadia, it’s not just the casual stuff that you see largely see on mobile phones. Indeed, it’s designed to handle tier-one titles at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second.

Launching later this year, Stadia integrates with YouTube and competes with Twitch. That’s where the sharing and streaming come into play.

There are more than 200 million people watching others play games on a daily basis. Google leverages this opportunity by making it simple to go from viewing to participating.

Not only will Google let players hop into multiplayer or split-stream games, but it will allow for sharing of game instances. Say, for instance, you find yourself in a really cool spot in a game. Google Stadia will let you share that spot with others as simply as you’d share a URL for a recipe.

It’s a powerful hardware stack combining server class GPU, CPU, memory and storage, and with the power of Google’s data center infrastructure, Stadia can evolve as quickly as the imagination of game creators.

Google’s Cloud data centers will power the show, giving players twice the graphics performance of gaming consoles like the Xbox One X or PlayStation 4 Pro.

This powerful hardware, paired with high-speed gaming, means there’s no software to install. There are no patches, updates, or firmware issues to contend with as it’s all streamed.

Google stopped short of details such as game discovery, sharing, streaming, and prices. In fact, there’s no indication as to when it will officially launch. All we know at this point is that it’s coming later this year.

With Google I/O arriving in the near term we suspect we’ll soon learn a great deal more about Stadia. In the meanwhile, head to stadia.google.com and sign up for more information.

How to remap the Bixby button on your Samsung phone

Jason England
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Samsung recently released an update to the Bixby Home app adding one of the most requested features to its phones. Instantly, the once otherwise useless Bixby button on your phone gained the ability to open something other than the Bixby digital assistant.

For all the Samsung users out there, including myself, this was an awakening. And a long time coming, too. We now had control over this once useless button without the need of any third party apps.

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With this update, the Bixby button now has two different options: single press and double press. Unfortunately, one of these still has to be reserved for the Bixby app itself. Whereas most of us would rather have control of both button shortcuts, at least we can customize one of them.

It’s not perfect but it is progress.

Enough talk, now let’s get to customizing that Bixby button. Before we begin, you’re going to need the latest version of the Bixby Home app. Make sure to check the Galaxy Store for any updates.

  1. Open Bixby by pressing the Bixby button
  2. Tap on the three-dot options menu
  3. Choose Settings
  4. Scroll down and locate Bixby key

From here, you’ll be given the options to assign Bixby to a single press or double press of the button. Most likely, you’ll want to hide it behind the double press and take control of the single press for your own shortcut.

Now, you have the power to open most apps on your phone with the single press of the Bixby button. I assigned mine to the Google Camera app because I tend to prefer its processing over the default Samsung camera app.

You can also make use of quick commands or routines you can create with Bixby. For example, you can control functions on your phone such as turning on the flashlight, enabling do not disturb, or turning on Bluetooth. You can even chain commands to do all of these at once.

Samsung includes several examples in the quick commands menu for you to choose from. The only downside is you cannot enable the button to toggle these both on and off. Meaning you can turn on the flashlight but not turn it off, making its usage rather limited.

No Google. No Alexa

Even though you now have a powerful way to use the Bixby button on your phone it still has limitations. For instance, Samsung will not allow you to assign another assistant such as Alexa or Google Assistant. It’s understandable why Samsung wouldn’t want that but it’s still a bummer.

Take Things Further

If you’re looking for full control over your Bixby button including single press, double press, and even long press options, I would suggest the app called Bixi Button Remapper – bxActions.

The app provides far more options and even gives you direct access to Google Assistant. Despite this third-party app offering more features, it’s still fantastic that Samsung finally added a native way to make the Bixby button more useful.

Nine tips to improve battery life on your smartwatch

Jason England
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Since the launch of smartwatches, one of the biggest complaints has been battery life. Some watches can last a day or two while others might be able to go several days on a charge. Regardless of whatever battery life you’re getting from your current watch, it could always be better.

We’ve gathered up some tips on how to extend the battery life on your watch. By using one or several of these you can increase the time your watch stays on your wrist and off of the charger.

Connectivity

Smartwatches stay connected several different ways including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and cellular. For the most part they rely on the Bluetooth connection, as long as it is in range of your phone.

One way you can save battery life is by disabling the connections you aren’t using or don’t need. For instance, if you have a cellular enabled watch but you don’t have a data plan for it, disable the cellular connection. In my case, I always have my phone near me so I disable the Wi-Fi connection to extend battery life on my watch.

How to disable Wi-Fi

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap the settings cog
  3. Scroll and select Connectivity
  4. Tap on Wi-Fi
  5. Check if it is grayed out and if not toggle it off

How to disable cellular

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap the settings cog
  3. Scroll and select Connectivity
  4. Tap on Cellular
  5. Toggle Cellular off

Display

The display on your watch is one of the biggest battery hogs and you can greatly increase your battery life by adjusting the settings. Lowering the brightness is a great first step if you’re often indoors. The downside is that it will be harder to read outdoors in sunlight.

If you don’t care for the always-on display, then disabling can result in a lot of extra battery life. Finally, try using a different watch face. Some watch faces can put a lot of strain on the battery life of your watch. In my experience, watch faces from the Play Store often offer better battery life over third-party apps such as WatchMaker or Facer.

Lower brightness

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap on the brightness toggle (sun icon) and adjust from there

Disable always on display

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap the settings cog
  3. Choose Display
  4. Scroll down and toggle Always-on screen off

Change watch face

  1. Long press on your current watch face
  2. Swipe left or right and/or choose See more watch faces

Manage your apps and notifications

Excessive notifications or unnecessary apps can also be a drain on your battery life. The best way to manage these is by disabling notifications from these apps or uninstalling apps from your watch.

Disabling notifications

  1. Open the Wear OS app on your phone
  2. Scroll down and choose Notifications
  3. Tap on Change watch notifications
  4. Now toggle off any apps you don’t need notifications for on your watch

Uninstall apps

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap the settings cog
  3. Choose Apps
  4. Select the app you no longer want and uninstall

Last resort

Let’s say you’ve done all of the above or you’re just in a situation where you won’t be able to charge for a while. In that case, you can give these options a try. Be forewarned, doing either of these will severely limit the capabilities of your watch.

Turning on battery saver will disable or affect the following always-on display, vibration, location services, Wi-Fi and mobile data, watch SIM calls and SMS, and app updates. Turning on airplane mode will also disconnect your watch turning it into a dumb watch essentially.

Turn on battery saver

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap on the battery icon

Turn on airplane mode

  1. Swipe down the quick settings
  2. Tap on the airplane icon

Anker Soundcore Liberty Air earphones review: Another solid AirPod competitor

Andrew Allen
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If you haven’t noticed, headphone jacks are dead. Or, at least on their way to the grave. However, as with most tech, when a certain protocol dies another is soon to rise up and take its place.

Wireless headphones are trying to live up to the heritage of the 3.5mm jack and it’s a heated market. Anker excels in this field and has a great new addition to its portfolio with the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air Wireless Earphones.

Hardware

Anker makes good hardware at a reasonable price in all of its products; the Liberty Air earphones are no exception.

When you open the box, you are presented with a pod-like charging case that houses the Liberty Air earphones. It is very minimalistic with no sharp edges and soft-touch coating on the outside. It also throws in several sizes of silicone bud covers to find the best fit for your ears.

Pop the top on the case, and you’ll find the Liberty Air buds themselves. Now, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. They look quite a bit like the recently reviewed TicPods Free, and that means they also look a lot like Apple Airpods. I don’t think this is a knock on the Liberty Air. Honestly, it’s just a good design. No need to fix what isn’t broken.

The angle buds make it easier to sit in your ears and gives you passive noise cancellation. The stems that stick out, while looking like a Sonicare toothbrush head, also have a practical use. By protruding out of the ear you get a better, and more consistent, Bluetooth connection.

Sound

Generally speaking, you have to qualify your judgment of wireless earbuds. They will never have the power or pop of a wired headset. With that in mind, the Anker Liberty Air have good sound for earbuds. They are crisp, with a tad of bass that never feels “too much”. They are also louder than other similar models of earbuds I’ve tested.

Again, they are never going to outperform your favorite canned earphones. However, I found the sound and richness of the Liberty Air to be surprisingly good. I was able to enjoy music and podcasts in several different environments like the gym, cooking, and walking the dog with no issues.

Call Quality

It’s often an overlooked feature when dealing with devices geared towards music, but the Soundcore Liberty Air are also able to make wireless calls. Much like the overall sound quality, I found them adequate. I did have one call where the other person said I sound like I was in a barrel, but overall I no issues taking calls on the earbuds.

Battery Life and Case Design

If I had one major negative to choose about these Anker earbuds, it would be the case design. It’s compact, sturdy, and stands up to the elements with the soft-touch coating. But that’s all it stands up to… literally.

The case is too top-heavy. You struggle to stand it up with the lid closed and it’s impossible with it open. It may be a minor gripe to some, and it’s not a deal-breaker, but it irritated me enough to mention in this review.

On the flip side, the battery life is stellar. Anker rates the Liberty Air to five hours per charge with the case lasting around four recharges to give you a total of 20 hours of playback. I can confirm that those numbers are pretty legit. I easily got over four hours before having to reach for the battery case to top off the supply.

Final Thoughts

I’ve become a real fan of Anker products over the years and the new Soundcore Liberty Air did not disappoint. Aside from the quirky weight distribution of the case, these are solid earphones for those looking to enter the wireless world of audio.

You can pick up the Liberty Air for $80 from its Amazon marketplace. They are available in two color options: black or white.

How to set a music alarm with Google Home or a Google Assistant speaker

Jason England
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I am not a morning person but, you know what makes my mornings better? Waking up to my favorite music. Waking up might be hard, but setting up your music alarm doesn’t have to be. Just follow these simple steps below and you’ll be waking up to your favorite tunes in no time.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have your default music provider set up in the Google Home app. Next just try this command Hey Google set music alarm for 7 am tomorrow or any time of your choosing.

Afterward, Google Assistant will follow up asking what music you’d like to be played. You can choose any artist, song, or radio station you’d like. Whether it’s your favorite song or one you hate to snap you out of your slumber.

If you’d like to have it be a recurring alarm, try this variation Hey Google set music alarm for 7 am on weekdays. Once the alarm sounds you can make it stop by saying Hey Google stop or snooze by saying Hey Google snooze for 10 minutes or simply say snooze.

To manage your alarms further you can access them from the Google Home app. This will allow you to view your current alarms, change the volume of the alarm, or delete it.

Now, whether you’re looking to feel the thunder or shake your groove thing you can wake up to your favorite music to start the day.

One downside, of course, with using your Google Assistant speaker for an alarm is how easily it can be turned off with your voice. If you’re like me, you might need a backup alarm which isn’t so easily silenced.

Holedown review: An out-of-this-world block breaking game

Jason England
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Holedown is part strategy, part embrace-the-chaos, and completely addicting. This brick breaking game turns the genre on its head and takes you to other worlds, literally. Holedown takes you into space to mine several different planetary bodies starting with an asteroid and going all the way up to the sun.

There isn’t a big back story to this puzzle shooter game. Basically, you’re here to chew bubble gum, break blocks, bust cores, and I’m all out of bubble gum. So, what are you waiting for?

Gameplay

In every level, two different styles of blocks and a core at the bottom stand in your way. Each block and the core has a number that represents how many times it must be hit before it is removed. One of the blocks is permanent and cannot be cleared unless you hit it enough times. While the other type of block can be removed by either hitting it enough times or eliminating the block supporting it. That makes it easier to clear several blocks at once.

While this all sounds fairly simple, what throws a wrench in the works are the rounded corners on the blocks. It makes predicting what the balls will do more difficult and sends them flying all over the screen. Making each shot more exciting because you know what you want to happen, but you’re never quite sure where the balls might go flying after a couple of bounces.

What makes this even more challenging, is you start each level with a limited amount of shots and number of balls that are fired with each shot. The good news is, there are upgrades. Each time you play a level you collect crystals which can be used to purchase upgrades.

Upgrades include extra balls, extra shots, extra levels, and more. Don’t worry, there are no in-app purchases, everyone has to earn their crystals and upgrades the honest way. You also have the ability to reverse your last purchase if you change your mind.

Each new level is a larger planetary body with a new theme and new soundtrack. As the planetary bodies get larger Holedown gets progressively harder. Nothing about the gameplay itself changes but the blocks take more hits to remove.

Not only that but the block layout is randomized each time you start. Sometimes you get lucky, while other times you crash and burn early. However, it’s always fun and you keep collecting crystals to upgrade making each attempt easier than the last.

Tips

After many hours with Holedown, I’ve learned some techniques that could be helpful for new players. Aim for the rounded edges to send your balls to the side or downwards. This adds a lot of momentum and the side bounce helps rack up more hits on the blocks. Also, try to aim down as low as possible. If you can set off a chain reaction at the bottom it’s possible to clear many blocks at once by taking away the bottom support block.

Final Thoughts

The gameplay in Holedown is simple yet satisfying. It is one of those easy to learn but hard to master type of games that I love. There is something so satisfying about watching 30 balls go crazy, bouncing all over the screen racking up hits and taking out blocks.

However, there are only six levels with the last one being an infinite hole with no core. For a $4 game, it would have been nice to see some more levels or challenges. Perhaps a star rating for breaching the core in the fewest amount of shots or something similar. It would have been a way to extend the challenge and keep you engaged.

Regardless, Holedown has been a blast to play and has been my obsession for the past week. I’m sure I’ll still rack up many more hours in the future when I’m looking to waste some time or relax.

Get holedown

Google makes Android Q developer beta available to Pixel phones

AndroidGuys
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Google has released its first official preview of Android Q for developers, making it available in a beta version. This follows the pattern that has emerged with the last few builds of Android where an early look arrives in the first part of the year well ahead of general release.

In an interesting twist, the Android Q beta is being offered up to all three generations of the Pixel phones. Some had anticipated that Google might try to provide the build to its flagship phones, but the general expectation was that it would only be the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 line getting the beta.

As is the case with previews, this is a build designed for developers so they can begin to prepare their apps and games. It’s also a chance to leverage anything new that’s introduced in Android. In other words, it’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that end users won’t immediately recognize.

Google indicates that Android Q will bring some interesting changes such as better privacy controls and native support for foldable phones. Given the trend of the day is to go explore with devices that fold, Google is making it easier for developers to work with the tech.

Privacy Over All

One of the key changes in Android Q is additional privacy settings for location access. Instead of allowing apps to pull in location data at pretty much any given time, the new option lets users define whether it can be always shared, never shared, and somewhere in between. Similarly, Google is putting new restrictions on the access that apps have for things like audio, video, and photos.

The Future is Foldable

The Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X will arrive later this year as two of the first Android phones with folding screens. Until now, both companies had to code things internally and make the experience work with its unique hardware. This won’t be so hard for future generations.

Google is building in support for foldable displays so developers can tap into the larger, or split-screen layout. The Android Q beta is the first chance for developers to get their apps ready for the future of phones.

Settings Panel

Ever try to pair a phone to a Bluetooth speaker? Chances are good that you had to back out to the settings screen to toggle on Bluetooth or search for the accessory. Even when you have an app from the OEM, it’s likely you had to access device settings somewhere along the way. The same goes when adding something that requires Wi-Fi or NFC.

Android Q makes it much easier for users to toggle settings when they’re needed. The beta includes a Settings Panel API which lets developers offer instant, pop-up access to the relevant device settings.

Fixing Shares

As much as we like the way Android lets us share to and from so many apps and services, it’s slow and tedious. This Android Q candidate allows for developers to pre-publish how their apps handle sharing, letting the share UI load instantly instead of building on the fly. It’s small, and may not be noticed by all users, but it will be appreciated by those who do.

What Else?

As indicated before, the Android Q beta doesn’t do a lot on the surface and it will be some time before we get to see and feel the final things as users. With that said, there are a few other details included such as Dynamic Depth which makes it easier for third-party apps to offer bokeh and specialized blur effects. Moreover, Android Q gains support for AV1 video codec, which should lead to improved streaming quality with less bandwidth.

A formal name for Q?

When it comes to a formal name, we still don’t know what Google plans to do with its Q build of Android. There’s nothing in the code yet that indicates where Google is heading so it’s hard to say which sweet, snack, or dessert it has in mind.

Verizon taps Chicago, Minneapolis as first 5G markets

AndroidGuys
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Verizon on Wednesday announced that Chicago and Minneapolis will serve as the carrier’s first two markets to receive its 5G Ultra Wideband technology.

The next-gen, super fast network gets started on April 11 with select areas of each city getting the 5G treatment. The two are just the first of what should be some 30 cities over the course of 2019.

According to Verizon, the 5G service plan comes with unlimited data for just $10 per month with any of the carrier’s unlimited plans. This includes the Verizon Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, and Above Unlimited plans; the first three months will see the $10 rate waived.

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As for phones with support for Verizon’s 5G network, there’s just one at this point: the Motorola Moto Z3. It’s not built into the device, though, as it requires an add-on module, or Moto Mod. As such the Moto Mod will retail for just $50 as part of a special offer.

With an expected retail price of $350, it’s otherwise quite an expensive piece of hardware to tack on just for the privilege of accessing faster data.

To buy the 5G Moto Mod at the discounted price, customers must either have an active Moto Z3 (READ OUR REVIEW) on their account or purchase one at the same time.

On March 14, customers can get the Moto Z3 for free if they active a new line of service on a device payment plan. What’s more, if they order the 5G Moto Mod, they can get a free Verizon Dual USB-C travel charger. It’s a one-day-only sale and limited to supplies on hand.

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