Articles by Ben Schoon

The Android world as a whole has been getting a bit better when it comes to software updates over the past few years, but there have been a few standouts. Motorola, for example, has a dreadful update policy. Now, for its flagship Motorola Edge+, the c…

Google Maps has a bunch of useful tools within, and one of the more underrated features is real-time location sharing. Now, Google has given a fresh coat of paint to the feature on Android through a server-side update.
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Android gets a lot of flak for security, but most of the time errors can be traced back to changes that were made to the open-source platform. This week, a security vulnerability in every Android phone Samsung has sold since 2014 was patched after bei…

Google introduced an entirely new way to navigate Android back with the debut of Android 10, but one odd decision was the lack of a tutorial for that new system. Now, with Android 11, Google is finally adding a gesture tutorial — here’s what it …

The Google Messages app just passed 1 billion downloads on the Play Store. It’s not uncommon for a Google-made app to hit this total, but for Google Messages it’s significant. Let’s talk about why.
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The economy as a whole is in turmoil right now, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and that’s hitting smartphones sales hard. After a report from Canalys earlier this year saw the biggest sales dip ever in Q1 2020, things have gotten even worse…

Google Duo makes video calls pretty easy, but there’s still a roadblock or two to getting users going. Now, it appears Google Duo is preparing to solve one of those issues by allowing users to make calls without a phone number.
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HBO Max is poised to be one of the most expensive streaming services to hit the market, but it’s going to pack a punch. Today, WarnerMedia has confirmed that HBO Max will be available on Android, Chromecast, and Android TV under a deal with Goog…

Last year Walmart debuted a competitor for the Amazon Fire Tablet using its Onn brand and pretty pure Android. They were alright. The security was really bad. Now, it looks like Walmart is preparing successors to its original Onn tablets, this time wi…

Shortly after the iPhone SE was announced, a conversation on Twitter ended with me on eBay buying Samsung’s 2014-released Galaxy Alpha on a whim. Today, I spent a bit of time playing around with the phone and it’s given me a new appreciati…