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Amazon Black Friday 2018: Huge discounts on Echo, Fire, and more

AndroidGuys
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We’re just days away from Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and a whole season of discounted shopping. And, while it is nearly impossible to keep up with every single deal that crosses our path, we’re doing what we can to highlight the best stuff. Here, we’ll take a look at what Amazon has in store as far is its own products.

See Also

Amazon Black Friday deals are no joke. If you’ve been holding out on purchasing an Echo, Fire, or Kindle, you’ll do no better than to grab one from Amazon on Thursday or Friday.

Echo

Echo Dot Kids Edition & Fire Tablet Bundles

Amazon Black Friday deals also see the retailer offering the Smart Plug for just $5 with the purchase of any Echo device, a savings of $20.

Fire

Ring

Accessorize your Google Home or Echo with holiday deals from Ninety7

AndroidGuys
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While a lot of people will end up with their first smart speaker or digital assistant this winter, many folks already have one. Be it a Google Home, Google Home Mini, Amazon Echo, or Amazon Echo Dot, these devices are routinely found in homes and offices.

If you’ve got one of the aforementioned speakers and want to get even more from it, you might be interested in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals from Ninety7. Moreover, you would be wise to consider one of these as an accessory to complement the Amazon or Google gifts you’ll be giving this year.

The following items are a great way to transform your smart speaker from something that’s static and tied to a room into a portable speaker that travels.

We recently had the opportunity to review the JOT (listed below) and really enjoy the experience. Things change quite a bit when you can take the small speaker from one room to another and get eight hours of playback.

SEE ALSO

Here’s what Ninety7 has in store for us on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Note that the deals listed below will run from November 19 – November 26.

JOT (FOR GOOGLE HOME MINI)

SALE PRICE: $29.95 | Regularly: $34.95

The just-released JOT for Google Home Mini is one of the first portable battery bases available for this popular smart assistant. The device provides rechargeable, cord-free mobility at the user’s fingertips. While small in size, JOT is big on power. JOT features a powerful lithium-ion battery for up to eight hours of unplugged use.

LOFT (FOR GOOGLE HOME)

SALE PRICE: $29.95 | Regularly: $49.95

Highly-rated LOFT for Google Home is a portable battery base allowing users to take their Google assistant anywhere in the home this holiday season. LOFT is one of the few portable solutions offered for the Google Home.

VAUX (FOR AMAZON ECHO DOT)

SALE PRICE: $29.95 | Regularly: $49.95

Give the Amazon Echo Dot the Gift of Portability and Awesome Sound this Holiday Season with VAUX, the best-selling portable speaker designed specifically for the Dot. Designed to enhance the Dot experience, consumers can now unplug and move Alexa around their home while enjoying increased sound quality.

DOX (FOR AMAZON ECHO DOT)

SALE PRICE: $19.95 | Regularly $39.95 

The Ninety7 DOX is a portable battery for the 2nd Generation Amazon Echo Dot, designed to provide rechargeable, cord-free mobility at home or on-the-go at a great price. With up to 10 hours of cordless use, you can unplug and take Alexa anywhere you choose without the hassle of cables and outlets.

SKY TOTE (FOR AMAZON ECHO)

SALE PRICE: $29.95 | Regularly $59.95 

SKY TOTE is a portable battery base accessory for the Amazon Echo 2 that provides cordless freedom, letting you unplug and take Alexa anywhere you choose with the TOTE’s handy handle, portability has never been easier! The powerful, lithium-ion rechargeable battery allows up to 8 unplugged hours of use.

Snag an iOttie phone mount on the cheap this Black Friday

AndroidGuys
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It’s no secret that Black Friday is the best time of year to buy gadgets and gifts. Whether for someone else or for ourselves, it’s a great opportunity to score some incredible sales.

One brand we’ve profiled here a few times, iOttie, is set to be featured as Amazon’s Deal of the Day on Black Friday. If you’re on the hunt for a mount for your car, then look no further.

The promotions set to run on Friday will include iOttie’s recently introduced iTap 2 Air Vent Mount, which provides two strong magnets to support larger, heavier phones.

SEE ALSO

Other discounted items include the Easy One Touch 4 series of smartphone car mounts which carry nearly 1,000 five-star ratings on Amazon.

So, should you want a mount for your dashboard, windshield, air vent, or CD slot, look for iOttie’s stuff on sale this Black Friday.

 

iTap 2 Air Vent Mount: Regular Price: $24.95 | Sale Price: $17.40

The iTap Magnetic 2 Air Vent Mount is a compact smartphone mounting solution that occupies minimal space and features a stronger and sturdier Twist Lock mechanism that installs on virtually any air vent.

Easy One Touch Wireless Dash & Windshield: Regular Price: $49.95 | Sale Price: $32.94

Combining the power of Qi wireless fast charging with the agility of the Easy One Touch mounting system, this mount utilizes the increased range and stability of the telescopic arm to find the perfect position for your smartphone on either your dashboard or windshield.

Easy One Touch 4 Dash & Windshield: Regular Price: $24.95 | Sale Price: $17.40

Engineered to safely enhance your driving experience, this device mounts securely on your dashboard or windshield with iOttie’s super strong suction cup and sticky gel, and offers increased range, strength and stability.

Easy One Touch 4 CD Slot Mount: Regular Price: $19.95 | Sale Price: $13.90

This mount inserts and locks into your CD slot,  holding your device a few inches from the console to ensure buttons and controls are fully accessible.

Ring shares Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on its smart home products

AndroidGuys
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If 2019 is the year you plan to smarten up your home, then this upcoming shopping season is one you’ll want to watch closely. Moreover, if you have a friend or loved one who has a smart, connected home, you might be interested in the following details.

Ring, of the first names in the smart home space, has a number of deals in line for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s the perfect opportunity to add a video doorbell, camera, or alarm system to your house.

Black Friday

Cyber Monday

Do you have your eye on a connected home device? Which one speaks to you? Is it from Ring or are you looking at another brand for your needs? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Mint Mobile Black Friday offers 3 months of service for just $20

AndroidGuys
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Buying phones during the holiday season is a lot of fun, especially when you can get in on some huge savings. Samsung, for instance, is discounting its Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 models to the tune of hundreds of dollars off.

GET TO KNOW: Mint Mobile

If you buy a phone that’s unlocked, you have the luxury of choosing which carrier you use for service. Before you run out and sign up with the big name carriers, do a little bit of homework. Spend some time and you might find that you can get just as good of coverage but at much cheaper rates.

One carrier we’ve profiled here, Mint Mobile, may be just the ticket. It’s backed by T-Mobile’s network but offers considerably lower rate plans. And, best of all, things are even cheaper for Black Friday.

Normally, Mint Mobile has rates that start as low as $15 per month and include 2GB of high-speed data. Indeed, there are also 5GB and 10GB data plans to choose from, too, and they’re quite affordable.

Mint Mobile Black Friday

Starting on Thanksgiving, Mint Mobile is offering customers three months of wireless service for just twenty bucks, plus free shipping! The offer is valid on the 3-Month, 5GB plan, which includes 5GB of 4G LTE data each month plus unlimited nationwide talk and text. Moreover, there’s no special coupon code required.

Availability

The Black Friday deal starts at 12AM EST on Thursday, November 22, 2018. It isn’t exactly clear how long this promotional rate plan will last so be sure to hop on it if you’re interested. After all, there’s a 7-day money-back guarantee.

Lara Croft GO shows how to adapt a console franchise to mobile devices (Review)

Gerson Noboa
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Unfortunately for the Play Store and mobile gaming in general, there are very few examples of franchises that have transitioned in the right way from console to mobile gaming. Even Nintendo, who succeeded tremendously with Pokemon GO and, to a lesser extent, with Super Mario Run, failed miserably with Miitomo.

Because of that, I mostly avoid games that use household names for mobile games. However, recently finished Tomb Raider for PS3 (yes, the one published in 2013), I wanted to give Lara Croft GO a shot. That is probably one of the best decisions I have taken this year.

Developer: SQUARE ENIX Ltd
Price: $5 (but normally on discount)

Overview

If you have played Monument Valley or games similar to it, then you will feel right at home in Lara Croft GO. If you haven’t, then you’re in for a treat. Lara Croft GO is a puzzle game that sets a very soothing and relaxing tone. You will go around a world clearly inspired from previous Tomb Raider titles clearing obstacles and killing enemies in increasingly difficult settings.

Gameplay

Unlike other reviews, there is no tutorial or setup section. That’s because Lara Croft GO does not provide a tutorial. It throws you right into the action. However, the controls are so easy and logical that you will end up figuring them out right away.

To move Lara, you just need to swipe in your desired direction. To pull levers and kill enemies, touching them is enough. The game then proposes puzzles that range from toggling a lever to carefully killing enemies in a specific order to avoid being killed.

While the difficulty does increase as you progress, it is just a matter of figuring things out and trying again. Regardless, this game is so beautifully crafted that even trying again does not feel like a chore, but rather a pleasure. Clearing a puzzle is satisfying, but the real enjoyment comes from the eagerness to see what comes next.

If you are looking for some kind of level progression, skills, or upgrades, then you will be disappointed. Because its aim is to be a simplistic game, Lara Croft cannot get either stronger herself or improve the weapons at her disposal. This will be a disappointment to long-time fans, but adding progression to this game would not make sense and would made it unnecessarily complicated for very little benefit.

Relics

Lara Croft GO does include something that you would expect from this franchise: relics. They are hidden all over the world, and you can collect them simply by tapping. This increases the replay value of the game a bit if you are the kind of person who likes to achieve 100% completion on your games.

You can also see the relics you have collected in more detail through the Relics option in the main menu. I counted more than 150 relics, so there’s a lot of work for you to do there. All of them are not different, however, but they fall under a category instead. For example, there are 19 emeralds scattered throughout the world, but they all look the same.

Graphics and Sound

While this is more of a puzzle game set in a Tomb Raider environment than the other way around, the graphics really excel and does justice to the franchise. Animations and movement are exquisite, with Lara hanging from edges and killing enemies exactly like you would expect from a full-fledged Tomb Raider game.

The landscapes are gorgeous and the setting changes from time to time, so it really feels like you are exploring this gorgeous world as you play more. Settings in which Lara normally develops her adventures, such as ruins and caves, are all here and look outstanding.

Sound is equally great, with soothing music and to-the-point sound effects. Interactions such as guns firing, stone platforms moving, and Lara’s own sounds are all believable and add a lot to the experience.

Conclusion

Lara Croft GO does not try to be just a downsized copy (or even worse, a badly optimized port) of console games, but rather tries to create a new experience in the Tomb Raider world. With its relaxing nature, challenging gameplay, and astounding visuals, Lara Croft GO demonstrates how to make a good game using console IPs. If you want more games of this quality to come to the Play Store, then pay the small admission fee here. It will be worth it.

Download and install Lara Croft GO from the Google Play Store.

First 10 things you should do with the LG V40

Jason England
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The LG V40 ThinQ is LG’s latest and greatest phone made for creators. The V series always stands out with the best specs currently out there and tools to get the attention photographers and videographers. Along with those tools comes tons of features, so if you just got your hands on a brand new V40 here’s where you can get started.

Read More: When and Where to Buy the LG V40 ThinQ

Protect It

The LG V40 comes with a hefty price tag and given that it’s mostly made of glass, it is not exactly rugged. With a $1000 investment and your phone being an essential tool, it’s best to take some precautions and protect it.

In this instance, that means buying a case and screen protector, because nothing is worse than seeing all that shattered glass when picking up your phone after an accidental tumble. Here are a few to get you started and you can check out our list of the Best LG V40 ThinQ cases for more options.

Cases

Screen Protectors

More Storage

You can never have enough storage, especially when it comes to a phone made specifically for creators. Between all the cameras, the great screen, and the fantastic sound you are going to pack tons of media into the LG V40. That’s where a microSD card comes in handy, so don’t forget to take advantage of this feature.

Enable the App Drawer

By default, the app drawer is disabled on the LG V40 and if you’re like me you’re going to want to rectify this as quickly as possible. No worries because a few clicks in the settings menu will have you all fixed up.

  • Open Settings
  • Display
  • Home screen
  • Select Home
  • Home with separate apps list

Read More: Early Buzz: What the Critics are saying about the LG V40 ThinQ

Turn on Comfort View

Studies have shown that the blue light emitted from displays can be damaging to our sleep cycles. Thankfully, you don’t have to give up browsing on your phone before bedtime to get a good nights rest. Just follow these instructions and enable the blue light filter which LG refers to as Comfort view.

  • Open Settings
  • Display
  • Comfort view

Customize the Navigation Bar

One frustration about using a phone with a larger display can be reaching up to lower your notification tray. Fortunately, there is a way to customize your navigation keys to add a button to drop down your notification tray. At least that’s my favorite way to use this feature, but LG also includes some extra buttons and you can rearrange them to your liking.

  • Open Settings
  • Display
  • Home touch buttons
  • Button combination

Set up Face Recognition

Face unlock is all the rage these days and with the LG V40 you won’t be left out. It might lack the IR sensors of some other systems but it still gets the job done and only takes a few steps to set up. Two things to note are that Face Recognition is less secure at protecting your phone and it won’t work when the battery is too low.

  • Open Settings
  • Lock screen & security
  • Face Recognition

Try Out the Cameras

The LG V40 comes with a whopping five cameras with three on the back and two on the front. This is a big selling point for the LG V40 and LG made sure to take advantage by offering you plenty of different settings and modes to try.

Take some time to play around with the cameras learning the advantage of each lens, and if you can’t decide then use the Triple shot feature to take a photo using all three at once. Don’t forget the camera is capable of more than just taking photos. With Google Lens built directly into the camera app, you can use it to search objects, translate, or shop.

Enable the Always on Display

With the always on display enabled you’ll be able to get the time, weather, date, battery level, and a quick glance at your notifications. You can even customize it with your own text or photos. The only downside being that it consumes more battery power, but in many cases it is negligible.

  • Open Settings
  • Display
  • Always-on display

Turn on the Floating Bar

The Floating Bar is a throwback to when the V series included a secondary screen at the top with shortcuts and controls. When LG dropped the secondary screen they kept the functionality of it by enabling a virtual Floating Bar. The bar stays hidden until you press the button to reveal it and many of the shortcuts can be customized to fit your needs.

  • Open Settings
  • Extensions
  • Floating Bar

Read More: LG V40 vs LG V7: What’s the difference?

Improve the Sound

Between using two speakers and a high-quality Quad DAC LG has packed some serious sound into the V40. However, you can make it even better by tweaking the sound settings. One way to improve the sound is by enabling DTS:X 3D Surround. It allows you to customize the effect to your liking and there are plenty more sound settings to play with. Make sure to experiment and find the perfect sound for you.

  • Open Settings
  • Sound
  • Sound quality and effects

Devices in this post were provided by Verizon Wireless

Clearing cache: What does it do and is it safe?

Gerson Noboa
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As the Android ecosystem evolves and our phones pack more features, there is an increasing need for additional storage in our phones. Apps are getting heavier, photos’ file sizes are increasing, and system files fill up that precious storage space more than ever.

While a lot of OEMs are finally starting to equip their phones with decent amounts of storage, there’s still a lot of phones out there that just have not enough space for this day and age. Factor in the increasing amount of lack of microSD slots in recent phones, and the storage situation can easily become precarious.

One of the most common solutions to recoup those lost GBs is clearing the cache of your device. While it does work, it is important to know what it does and how safe it is to do it.

What does clearing the cache do?

Let’s imagine this situation: you are scrolling down your Twitter feed. The app displays the profile picture of each account, consuming data in order to download it and show it to you. What happens if someone tweets again and the app needs to retrieve the appropriate profile picture? Downloading the picture again would be a massive waste of time and data.

This is where the app cache comes in. When the picture is downloaded for the first time, it is stored on your device under the app’s cache. In case the app needs the picture again, it will just retrieve it from the cache instead of going to Twitter’s servers to download it.

Getting an image (and any kind of data) from the internal storage is massively faster than getting it from the internet, giving you a better experience when using the app. It also means that Twitter is consuming less of your precious data by doing so, and it puts less strain on Twitter’s servers. It’s a win for everyone, right?

If you have a phone with 32GB or more of internal storage, you will not care at all about apps’ caches filling up your device. However, if you have a device with low amount of on-board storage, then this can become a bit problematic over time.

Thus, Android provides an option to manually clear the cache of an app. Doing so will free up that precious space, letting you download new apps or take more pictures.

How to clear an app’s cache

In case you want to do this manually, go to the settings of your phone. Find the Apps option, where you will get a list of all the apps you have installed. Then scroll to the app in question and press the Storage option. There you will find the size of the app’s cache and a button to delete it. Note: This process might vary slightly for certain manufacturers, but it should still be very similar to what is outlined here.

Also, there are some manufacturers that offer an automatic cleanup of cache and other non-essential files. These normally deal with the cache of system apps, so clearing it will not always clean the cache of specific apps. In order to be 100% sure than an app’s cache has been cleared, it’s better to do it yourself.

Is it safe to clear an app’s cache?

In short, yes. Since the cache stores non-essential files (that is, files that are not 100% needed for the correct operation of the app), deleting it should not aversely affect the functionality of the app. Actually, there are some very rare cases where an app’s cache can become corrupt, and clearing it could fix an issue. So, if you have low storage, or you feel that an app is not behaving as it should, you can just clear it to reclaim space.

Always look for applications that have a high amount of images presented in their interface. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are three of the biggest apps that gobble up your storage, although, since social networking normally relies on imagery, then the whole category uses caching extensively. Browsers like Chrome and Firefox also like to use a lot of cache.

However, unless you are dangerously running out of storage, this is something that should not be required of you. Not only will your experience degrade a bit while the app builds cache again, but also, every single request will go to the internet, which could increase your usage of mobile data if you’re not using WiFi.

Finally, several apps have a really clever way of managing the app’s cache. If something stored there reaches a certain age (say, two months), the app can automatically remove it from cache, freeing up that space for you. This is not the case for every app, though.

All in all, if you really feel the need to do so, the option is there for you, just a couple of taps away.

Ring Video Doorbell 2 review: worth the money?

Matt Adams
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Smart home products are designed to make our lives easier. They can focus on health, self-improvement, making our lives a little bit easier, or safety. The Ring Video Doorbell 2 is the latter– a safety device designed to help keep your family safe. After a month of using the device, I would definitely say that I feel safer in my home.

First, let’s get to the basics. What exactly is a Ring Video Doorbell? You may have overheard people talking about it or seen it on a store shelf, but what does it really do?

Well, the function really is right in the name. Think of your doorbells of old and put a video camera on it. The device allows you to see who’s at your door, whether they decide to ring the doorbell or not! And, the company saves video files of when the doorbell activates so you can see exactly what’s going on the other side of your front door, whether you’re there or not.

When you pick up the Ring Video Doorbell 2, you get everything you need in the box. There’s the doorbell itself, a battery, two mounts, two faceplates, and all of the screws and tools you need for assembly. A small tip: as soon as you get home, open the box up and charge the included battery.

Read more: Hunter Symphony Smart Fan –  Pricey and niche, but great

The instructions are simple and easy to understand. After we charged up the battery, we had the unit installed in about ten minutes. We one mounting bracket to angle to the left. There’s another that angles it down so you can get the perfect view of who was coming to your door.

I also appreciated the inclusion of two different faceplates. There’s a silver and dark faceplate which allows the Ring to look perfect no matter what kind of siding or material you’re attaching it to.

Speaking of attaching, it was a breeze. We have siding and we were easily able to screw in the mounts then attach the doorbell to those mounts with a few more screws. If you have existing doorbell wiring, you can hook the Ring into that too. The doorbell can take up 8 to 24 W AC power, but unfortunately does not support DC power.

If you’re able to hook into your existing wiring, your Ring should be able to chime your speaker. If you can’t hook into wiring but still want that chime experience, Ring sells a $30 chime that you can plug into any outlet. It runs off WiFi so you should be able to place it anywhere in your house that has internet so you’re notified when someone rings your bell.

The bottom features a screw so people can’t easily tamper with your doorbell

Personally, I don’t have wiring and I didn’t spring for the chime (yet) but I still have had a great experience. We have the live preview feature turned on so that we get an alert on our phones if anyone walks inside the camera’s sensor. You can adjust exactly where you want alerts from within the camera’s field of view so if you have a neighbor that often leaves their house, you won’t get alerted everytime the door opens.

Despite the live preview feature sucking power, we’re still at about 40-45% battery. I can’t tell you exactly how much battery it has because it only shows and icon instead of a battery percentage number, something I hope they change in a future software update. I know that turning off the live preview feature will increase my battery life, but I value it too much.

Read more: Deebot 901- Cleaning your house just got smarter and easier

After you successfully install and setup your Ring Video Doorbell 2, you’ll log into the app and connect it to your WiFi settings. You’ll also notice that Ring gives you a free 30-day free trial to its premium subscription service. This, among other things, allows you to go back and watch previous video clips of when someone rings your doorbell or the live tracking catches someone.

This is extremely useful if you’re keeping your eyes out for a package or making sure someone doesn’t steal that Amazon box off your doorstep. If you see something nefarious, you can share it with other Ring owners in your area so they know what to look out for. I really love the community feature built into the Ring app. While people are mostly sharing videos as a “just in case”, there have been a few confirmed thefts around here that people have caught and shared.

I have only a minor gripe with the app, and really it’s only one of two gripes I have overall. Sometimes the app will lock up when I tape on the notification and take me to a black screen. In this screen it’ll give me an option to view or ignore what’s going on outside, but even tapping “view” takes a pretty long time to get it to load. Hopefully Ring fixes this in a future app update.

My only other gripe? This doesn’t feel like the most premium device in the world. In all actuality, it’s fine. There’s hard plastic all around the device and it’s fine to stand up to the conditions, but it could feel a little bit more premium, especially for how much these devices cost. This is a minor issue and I wouldn’t let it deter you from picking one of these up.

The segment of smart doorbells is growing rapidly but I feel like Ring offers the best package for the money out there. You can even get the subscription for as low as $3 per month or $30 a year. The top-tier package is only $10 per month or $100 per year. Really, it’s a small price for the peace of mind that it provides.

If you’d like to pick up a Ring, you can grab one at Amazon and Best Buy.

Verizon unveils new app that lets you add multiple numbers to one device

Alexandra Arici
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Verizon announced a new solution for people on its network who carry multiple phones for personal and business use.

The carrier launched a new app called My Numbers which lets subscribers add up to four additional numbers to one smartphone. Interested parties can download the application via the Play Store.

Verizon’s My Numbers is not a free service

Each line costs $15 and comes with unlimited calling and texting, but also with its own voicemail, inbox and texting services. All of these are available via the My Numbers app.

Users can also choose from different ringtones to differentiate between contacts. Moreover, the app allows you to set an auto-reply for when you’re not available, as well as to mute calls/messages when you just want to be left alone.

Those using the app can make outbound calls only to numbers in the US, although inbound calls aren’t limited to domestic numbers and can come from international callers.

My Numbers is available for both business and personal accounts at Verizon. However, prepaid users can’t take advantage of this option.

However, there’s one thing to keep in mind if you want to use the app. It will act as your primary messaging app, so you’ll have to renounce others you might be using.

T-Mobile also has an app with a similar functionality called Digits that lets users add up to five numbers on a single device for a cheaper $10/line.

In related news, Verizon also announced that it will start rolling out support for RCS messaging in early 2019. In case you are not familiar with the term, RCS is the next messaging standard which is soon set to replace SMS.

The change has been long in the making, but global carriers have finally aligned themselves with supporting the Universal Profile in 2016.

UP is the version of RCS technology that allows messages to be cleanly distributed between carriers. Currently, America’s largest carriers, Verizon and AT&T both use proprietary texting systems. But by adopting the same system, users from any carrier using any device will be able to take advantage of the same set of features.

Download My Numbers from the Play Store

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