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Help protect against Harmful apps with Google Play Protect

Dan Bartram
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Google Play Protect was pretty much a rebrand of security features that had long been part of the core of Android. It seems that now these rebranded changes are finally rolling out to the front end of the Google Play Store.

Google Play Protect aims to scan your installed apps and pending updates to ensure that there is no malicious code embedded in the app. By doing so it inherently keeps your Android device safer by blocking any app that could be considered harmful.

You’ll now notice a new box in the Updates section of the My Apps and Games page that allows you to manually scan your apps for problems. There’s also a badge labeled “Verified by Play Protect” that has begun appearing for some on the Play Store listings for apps themselves.

Backed by the strength of Google, Play Protect brings control to your fingertips while giving guidance along the way. Together, we lay out the ideal security blanket for your mobile device. Consider yourself covered.

There’s also a Play Protect button that seems to be showing up for some in the hamburger menu that will take you to the settings page for Protect. From here you can see a page that displays all the recently scanned apps and also toggles that let you disable devices scanning and the sending of unknown apps to Google for better detection.

Many users on Reddit are seeing the Google Play Protect feature rolling out so expect to see hit a device near you soon as it gradually gets activated on the Google servers.

T-Mobile ONE Unlimited 55+ plan discounts unlimited talk, text, and high speed data for customers 55 years or older

AndroidGuys
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While most major wireless carriers offer dedicated plans for senior citizens, the options are usually limited in scope or come with caveats. Some plans don’t include much data, if at all, and others restrict the handset selection. T-Mobile’s newest rate plan, the ONE Unlimited 55+, aims to disrupt that space.

Right now, there are more than 93 million Americans in the U.S. over age 55, and the vast majority (74 percent) of them have a smartphone. And that number keeps growing. In addition, Boomers spend an average of 149 minutes a day on their smartphones — about as much as smartphone-obsessed Millennials at 171 minutes per day. In fact, the majority of those 55+ say a smartphone is the #1 way they connect with family and friends.

Rather than going after those in their sixties, the T-Mobile option is geared for those who are age 55 and above. In short, it’s a two-line plan for $60 per month, with unlimited talk, text, and high speed data. It does require automatic payment, though, but it includes taxes and fees.

The cheaper two-line plan does come with the same benefits and features of the other ONE rate plans, including zero contracts, T-Mobile Tuesdays, and free hotspot tethering.

The new plan takes effect today at T-Mobile retail stores around the country.

 

MetroPCS rolls out two-line unlimited plan for only $75 per month

AndroidGuys
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T-Mobile’s prepaid brand MetroPCS has just introduced a new two-line plan for customers looking for unlimited data. Priced just $75 per month it includes unlimited talk, text, and high speed data.

In essence the plan is like taking one line for $50 per month and adding a second line for $25 per month. Moreover, if customers would like additional lines, they can add them for the same $25 monthly rate. There’s a limit of five lines total so it should be sufficient for most families. Additionally, subscribers can add 8GB worth of 4G LTE hotspot data for only $10 more each month.

In addition to the new rate plan, MetroPCS is offering a $100 instant rebate for each line that is switched over from another carrier. Limited to five lines, it’s a great way to cut the price on many devices. In fact, depending on what models you’re looking at, you could end up with free phones.

HTC throws in 3 months of Amazon Music Unlimited with purchase of U11 flagship

AndroidGuys
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HTC this week announced a new limited-time promotion which gives its customers three months of Amazon Music Unlimited. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward deal; purchase its latest phone, the U11 from Amazon.com or HTC.com and you’re eligible. The promotion is only available for new US subscribers and runs through the end of September.

Available in Black, Silver, Blue, and Red, the HTC U11 can be paired with pretty much all major carriers. Pricing for the 64GB model is listed at $649 while the 128GB version is slightly higher at $729. Both storage capacities are offered as unlocked phones, too.

What is Amazon Music Unlimited?

Not to be confused with Amazon Prime Music, Amazon Music Unlimited is an on-demand music streaming service with access to tens of millions of songs through an app and website.

Priced $9.99 per month ($7.99 for Amazon Prime users), Amazon Music Unlimited also offers thousands of Playlists hand-curated by Amazon’s music experts as well as personalized Stations. The music is ad-free and available on a wide array of devices.

Road Draw is an interesting spin on driving puzzles (Review)

AndroidGuys
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Overview:

Road Draw is a driving puzzle game that tasks you with drawing a road for your car to drive on while avoiding obstacles and collecting coins, going as far as you can before you run out of gas.

Developer: Fun Free Puzzle Games

Cost: Free (With ads and microtransactions)

Impressions:

Road Draw is reminiscent of old Flash games like Line Rider, where you draw a course and let the character traverse it to completion or until they fail. However, Road Draw doesn’t quite live up to expectations and is rather simple. You simply drag your finger across the screen to make a path for your car to get across. You have to collect gas cans to keep going, and only fail when your car flips or you run out of gas.

The gameplay is simple, but the difficulty is raised by a mix of the car physics and the level design. The car seems to want to flip forward and has difficulty with upward inclines or drops of any kind. It makes for a frustrating experience and the game winds up being a test of your patience after a while.

The graphics are rather simple as well, with a basic cartoon style and no significant animation or stand out visuals at all. The music, on the other hand, is cool sounding but the in-game tunes are rather intense and out of place for the pace of the game. It has a rather hard rock vibe to it, with guitars and a fast tempo. The gameplay is rather sedated in comparison, and there’s no engine sounds to accompany the music either.

Conclusion:

Overall, I was disappointed by Road Draw’s lack of unique features or compelling reasons to play it over similar games. There are no additional track types, only 10 cars, and two stages to play with. I would have liked to see more variety and puzzle elements added to make this game stand out more, as I rather like the “draw a track” style game from my grade school days of playing in the library.

I would still recommend Road Draw to someone looking for a simple puzzle game, maybe for their kids. It has a decent amount of replay value and challenge to keep you busy for a while and it is at least functional and isn’t filled with bugs or incomplete content.

Download Road Draw from the Google Play Store.

Live by EarlySense will tell you how good (or bad) your sleep is (Review)

AndroidGuys
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A few years ago fitness trackers were all the rage. Not only were there companies like Fitbit focusing directly on health monitoring but the smart watch manufacturers jumped on the band wagon including step counters and heart rate monitors into their devices. There are still many people who swear by their trackers and love to use them to complete “goals” to help keep themselves motivated. Attempting to capitalize on what remains of the EarlySense (traditionally a patient monitoring company) brings us Live by EarlySense.

Live by EarlySense aims to bring health monitoring into the bedroom and complete the picture of what other health monitoring device cannot capture. A prime example is my wife, often times the rubber wristband that comes with the Fitbit often gives her a rash if she wears it all day. Wrist worn items also require charging every so often which is generally most convenient during sleep. Live by EarlySense solves these issues by always being available under your bed.

Setup

The box comes with three items in it: the instruction manual, the power chord, and the unit itself. The first step in the process would be to download the Live by EarlySense app to your mobile device. Like most things we review here, this is the control center/data hub for all the device features.

Once you launch the app we are asked for some permissions. It asks for Bluetooth (to connect to the sensor itself), Storage (to be able to store your data), and Location Services (they say this is to aid in connection of your device, hmmm?).

After we get past the permissions prompt we are forced to create an account. There is no way around creating this account so if you want to use this device just give it whatever email address we all have that we don’t ever check and move through it.

Next up is connecting the device for the first time. Pretty simple, you are landed on the Vitals Tracking page. Tap on the Sensor Detected button towards the middle of the screen. Provided your sensor is plugged in it will find it with your BT connection and simply tap on it to connect.

Lastly, follow the instruction booklet about how to place your device under the mattress. Yes, you read that correctly, under your mattress.

Setup is all done. Now, let’s get some sleep. No WAIT!! I forgot about the rest of the review.

The Good

Honestly, this device is a pretty cool concept, especially for people that find themselves being restless at night or those getting at least 8 hours of sleep but still not feeling rested when they wake up.

In the app, there are neat little explanations about the difference between REM sleep and Deep Sleep and what part they play in your rest cycle (you kinda have to dig for these though). It also monitors your heart rate and respiration rate to let you know how you are sleeping (or let your doctor know since I have no idea what is good and what is bad). Every morning you are given a “score” by the app based on how well you slept. This is a pretty neat idea but I think its execution leaves a little to be desired.

For the health nuts out there that like to track everything in one place, Live by EarlySense does also make it possible to import all of the captured data into Google Fit so that you can track all of your health activities (yes including sleep) in a single app.

The Bad

While I really enjoy the concept of what they are trying to get at, and the data that is collected could be shared with medical professionals as cursory diagnostic information to people who are genuinely having trouble sleeping, I did run into a few issues with the device provided that made my experience less than enjoyable.

First is the worst. I had major issues with the Bluetooth connectivity. I tried it with two separate phones and the results were the same. Almost every single night, I had to unplug and replug the device so that my phone could see and connect to it. How is that user-friendly? Who wants to do that? Seriously, if a device is going to connect via Bluetooth just make it work, every time, without question.

My second issue is not so much with the device itself but with the arbitrary scoring system. As I mentioned above, the app gives you a score every morning based on how you slept the night before. Ok, I get it, people like to see how “good” they are at something. IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE A SCORE, PROVIDE A DAMN SCALE. Seriously, if there is going to be a score or any other type of grading system let the people know what the friggin number means. Is it 70 out of 100? Is a higher number better? What are the baselines to get that score? All of these are questions that I have about this scoring system that is used here.

Conclusion

Live by EarlySense brings something that I have not seen yet to the table. They brought something out of medical facilities and into the home for personal use; for this I applaud them. I do, however, take issue with the two major complaints I listed above. Resolve those issues and I think we might have something here.

You can pick up Live by EarlySense from its website or Amazon (it’s prime) for $169.

Reddit users were asked what their favorite apps are. Here are some of the best

Matt Adams
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With so many new apps popping up in the Play Store every day, it’s hard to keep on top of whats out there. So, when Reddit user Fallout541 posed the question “What is your favorite app” to the AskReddit community, our ears perked up. We cover a lot of apps here at AndroidGuys with our App Reviews, but we also love hearing about what you guys are using.

Here are some of the best apps that Reddit loves.

Flush – Crowdsourced Toilets

Flush is your best friend if you have a condition like Irritable Bowel Syndrom (IBS) or you just need to go! When you open up the app, it’ll display all of the closest public restrooms. When you find the one you want, just give it a tap and you can have directions from Google Maps take you right there. Pretty ingenious. And, with over 200,000 toilets in the database, there’s bound to be one close to you.

Download Flush!

OverDrive

If you love books, you’ll love OverDrive. With the app, you can borrow eBooks, AudioBooks, and Streaming Video from more than 30,000 libraries worldwide.

Download OverDrive!

Waze

Google’s other maps, Waze has always been a fan favorite. The app gives you driving directions but makes it social. The power of Waze comes from reports from other drivers around you for things like crashes, road obstructions, police officers, and more.

Download Waze!

Reddit is Fun

Even though I’m a Sync for Reddit loyalist, I have to admit, Reddit is Fun is a fantastic app. In fact, I would prefer to use Reddit is Fun over the desktop version of Reddit any day. RiF keeps the familiar Blue and White color scheme of Reddit while giving you large previews and making voting and commenting easy as pie.

Download Reddit is Fun!

Torque Pro

This is a great app if you want to know what’s going on with your car beyond just pressing the gas and going. Torque Pro connects through a Bluetooth Adapter you can plug into your car’s diagnostic port and gives you info on ODB fault codes, your car’s performance, and sensor data.

Download Torque Pro!

Spaceteam

Spaceteam is an amazing game that you’ll love if you enjoyed the technobabble in Star Trek! You and your friends must control different parts of your ship and shout different phrases to your cohorts to keep it from blowing up. It’s cross platform and according to multiple Reddit users, a ton of fun.

Download Spaceteam!

Tinder

Direct quote from user Penolope_12: “Tinder, because I like having my self esteem drop every single fucking day.”

I can’t think of a better description than that.

Download Tinder!

Sky Map

Sky Map is amazing for checking out constellations and learning about the stars. I’ve personally used this app with my daugther to open her mind to whats out there beyond what we can see with our eyes.

Download Sky Map!

Tunity: Hear any muted TV

Tunity is amazing if you go to bars a lot to watch sports, but still want to hear the game. The app scans whats on the TV and tries to find a stream of the audio to play out of your phone’s speakers.

Download Tunity!

CamScanner

CamScanner is perfect if you deal with a lot of documents. The app lets you scan, store, sync and collaborate with others. It’s brilliant for emailing paper documents without having to deal with a scanner and desktop or laptop computer.

Download CamScanner!

These are just some of Reddit’s favorite apps. We’d encourage you to take a look at the AskReddit thread where there are over 7,100 replies! What’s your favorite app? Let us know down in the comments section or tweet to us!

Grab the alleged Samsung Galaxy Note 8 stock wallpapers here!

Matt Adams
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The countdown to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is on! The August 23 unpacked will show us the newest purchasable Note since the Galaxy Note 5! Crazy to think it’s been that long since we’ve had a new Note, isn’t it? How they just skipped over the Note 6 and 7 like that….

Anyway, the Galaxy Note 8 should be an amazing phone. We’re seeing leaks that expose the entire spec sheet. We expect to see a 2960 x 1440p Super AMOLED display with that incredibly thin bezel from the dual curved display. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 found in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will make a return we well as 64GB of base storage that can be expanded through a microSD card. Where the Note and Galaxy S lines differ is in the RAM department, the Note should have 6GB while the Galaxy S line only has 4GB.

What we know so far: Samsung Galaxy Note8 edition

Another massive difference will be in the camera department. While the Galaxy S lineup has a fantastic camera, the Galaxy Note lineup is kicking it up a notch with a second camera. The second 12MP sensor will be a wide-angle lens so the Galaxy Note 8 will have a setup much like the LG G6. The Note 8 will also have a 3300mAh battery, Adaptive Fast Charging, Fast Wireless Charging, a USB type-C port, and the S-Pen.

Today, we’re getting our first look at the wallpapers that come on the Galaxy Note 8. They are, in my opinion, gorgeous and I might have to throw one on my Galaxy S8 Plus. Check out this Google Photos album for the full resolution wallpapers. Just a reminder that some of these are a square 2560 x 2560 and some are 2960 x 2960 so some cropping will be necessary.

Just a quick note, the original source, SamsungVN.com has since deleted the post these wallpapers are sourced from. We feel it’s a bit odd that the wallpapers aren’t the 2960 x 1440 resolution of the Galaxy Note 8’s display but leave it open to the possibility that Samsung is doing something a little different. We’re going to keep our eyes open and bring you updates if these do indeed turn out to be faked.

Banggood kicks off their 11th anniversary with a ton of savings on tech

Matt Adams
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Banggood, one of the biggest technology marketplaces on the internet, is officially kicking off an event to celebrate its 11th anniversary. While the anniversary doesn’t hit until September 8, Banggood is hosting a month of deals, they’re calling this the “preheating stage” where customers can win discounts while playing funny games. During the September 8 through 10 formal anniversary celebration, items will be discounted even further.

Right now, you can go over to Banggood and grab up to 5 coupons for free. At the time of writing (and for the next six hour) an 11% coupon is being offered for everything besides smartphones, tablets and items with a “promo” tag. Each round you can grab one coupon and up to five coupons total across all rounds.

Just under the widget to collect sweet coupons is a game. Your objective is to get the spaceman to the end of the path but doing certain actions. For each action you do, you get a new coupon. Yesterday’s action was simply signing up for a Banggood account. This netted you an $11 off $100 or more coupon. Future actions include visiting the Fashion Trending page, playing “Banggood Jump one time”, downloading the Banggood app, and more. This game has a new action each day and wraps up on September 7.

Banggood is also running “Snap Up” sales which are just a flash sale. These sales can have anything from smartwatches, to fans to thong underwear (yes, seriously). Banggood really does have everything. You can also get exclusive deals by downloading the mobile app.

If you’re looking for a good deal, head on over to Banggood now. They’re handing out coupons like candy but there are also a ton of phones, tablets, and more that are just on sale without a coupon that could still save you a ton.

AT&T and Samsung finally announce the Galaxy S8 Active

AG Deals Team
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For the last few years, Samsung has released a few different variants of its flagship, with the standard version and the “Active” variant. The Active variant is always the most rugged of the bunch, being able to withstand just about everything you and throw at it, and then some.

We’ve heard some rumblings and seen some leaks of the Galaxy S8 Active, but nothing has been made official, until today. AT&T and Samsung have announced that the Galaxy S8 Active is coming on August 8th, and will be available in stores starting on August 11th.

The device will feature a 5.8-inch QHD Super AMOLED display, along with an aspect ratio of 18.5:9. This means that you’ll get Samsung’s new Infinity Display, however, there won’t be any “edge” features, instead offering just a flat experience. This is likely to be similar to the flat display found on the LG G6.

Other specs for the device include the Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, an 8MP front-facing camera, 12MP rear camera, and a 4,000mAh battery. Other than the ruggedness of the S8 Active (via its MIL-STD-810G rating), the real story here comes from the large battery.

The Galaxy S8 Plus features a 3,500mAh battery, but the S8 Active will feature a 4,000mAh battery, and won’t feature all of the extra frills. Now, it’s unknown what the measurements of the S8 Active are, but if it’s as thin as the S8 Plus, then it will definitely raise some questions as to why Samsung opted for a smaller battery in its true flagship lineup.

Regardless, the Samsung Galaxy S8 Active will be coming later this week through AT&T, but will also be including some discounts and goodies. Here’s a roundup of those deals:

  • Get a Galaxy S8 FREE when you add a new line on AT&T Next and add DIRECTV,
  • Get $500 towards a Samsung TV purchased online when you buy an eligible smartphone on AT&T Next and add DIRECTV,
  • Get a Samsung Gear S2 for 99-cents or the Gear S3 for $49.99 on a 2-year agreement when you purchase the smartphone on AT&T Next,
  • Get up to $200 in credits when you buy the eligible smartphone on AT&T Next and trade in an eligible smartphone.

Samsung’s Active series of smartphones is always underrated and doesn’t get as much of the spotlight as other Galaxy handsets, but this may be one of the best options yet. Especially if you are clumsy or have little ones who like to drop your smartphones. Let us know what you think about the Galaxy S8 Active and if you’ll be looking to pick one up for yourself!

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