Articles by Derrek Lee

Hulu subscribers have a month until their subscription price goes up.

What you need to know

Hulu is informing users of an impending price increase.
Hulu’s lower-cost tiers will increase in price by $1 each on October 8.
Live TV and bundled plans are not affected by the increase.

Hulu subscribers are bracing for subscription prices to go up as the streaming platform starts sending out notices to viewers on Tuesday.

The prices of Hulu’s standalone ad-supported and no-commercial tiers are each going up by $1 each to $6.99 and $12.99, respectively. The price increase will take effect on October 8, giving subscribers a month to prepare for the change.

The notice that appears when logging into the Windows app.

According to Variety, Hulu’s Live TV subscribers and those on the Disney+ bundle won’t be affected by the price increase. We’ve reached out for additional details on the price increase, including why the platform has chosen to raise its price after dropping the price of its …

Microsoft gives its news efforts a makeover across platforms.

What you need to know

Microsoft rebrands its news service as Microsoft Start.
The new service features news content curated by AI and machine learning.
It’s accessible through Android, the Edge browser, widgets on Windows 11, and more.

Microsoft is launching a new personalized news feed called “Microsoft Start” in hopes of reenergizing its efforts in bringing curated content to users.

The new service builds on MSN and Microsoft News to provide users with content that interests them using the “latest advancements in AI and machine learning, coupled with human moderation.”

The service will display news and content “from over a thousand global premium publishing brands” based on user interests, which can be easily personalized based on various topics. Microsoft Start will then refine the content as users continue interacting and engaging with content, and users can also indicate the content they like or dislike as they…

The September update is here for your Pixel smartphone.

What you need to know

Google has released the September security update for Pixel smartphones.
The update brings the newest Pixel 5a up-to-date with the latest security fixes.
The update will roll out in waves depending on carrier and region.

Google has begun pushing out the September security patch for its Pixel smartphones, marking the first security update for the newly launched Google Pixel 5a.

The update doesn’t appear to be any notable features or fixes to the devices outside of addressing system vulnerabilities in the kernel and updating media codecs. And while the update is rolling out to older devices like the Pixel 3, there’s unfortunately no mention of the EDL Mode bug that users have been experiencing.

For more on the September Android Security Bulletin, you can view the details on the Android Open Source Project website.

The update is rolling out globally to devices from the Pixel 3 to the Pixel 5. The new P…

There’s a reason other apps have been trying to copy TikTok’s style.

What you need to know

TikTok reportedly surpasses YouTube’s average viewership on Android.
YouTube still dominates overall viewership and user spending compared to TikTok.
The figures don’t account for users on iOS or in China.

TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps, and a new report highlights just how it stacks up to YouTube on the best Android phones.

The report by app analytics firm App Annie shows that TikTok has overtaken YouTube in terms of average time spent on the app per user in both the U.S. and the UK. The figures show a sharp increase in time spent on TikTok around the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least in the U.S., with the two streaming services battling it out for dominance over the past year.

In the U.S., users are spending an average of 24 hours on TikTok per month versus the 22 hours and 40 minutes spent on YouTube. The report shows a much bigger difference in the…

Google can’t seem to get it together.

Google makes plenty of great apps for smartphones, whether they’re on iOS or the best Android phones … that is, when they work. While no app developer is perfect and apps can often experience bugs, Google can’t seem to get its apps and services together to just work. Something important always seems to break, which can render some apps and even phones useless.

A couple of Google-specific bugs have hit our radar this week, and we want to know if you’ve dealt with any of them or perhaps others.

Have you been experiencing Android or Wear OS bugs lately?

One pesky bug that’s plagued users for some time involves Google Messages refusing to connect to RCS, leaving users without any of the useful chat features like real-time typing indicators, read receipts, and high-resolution media. Instead, users find that the app will be stuck verifying or trying to connect to the service without actually doing so.

Another, possibly more annoying, bug has to…

AT&T is apparently sending customers all kinds of phones.

What you need to know

AT&T customers have reportedly begun receiving free Galaxy devices from the carrier.
Replacement phones are being sent due to the company’s impending 3G shutdown.
Phones include the Galaxy Note 9, Note 10, and other older devices.

With companies preparing to shut down older networks, customers stuck with incompatible smartphones are left needing to replace their devices. And while affected customers can always request a new device, AT&T has apparently decided to take a more proactive approach with its replacement program.

A report from Android Police highlights how the site founder Artem Russakovskii received a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 out of nowhere, and others on Reddit have apparently received “new” smartphones as well without requesting one. And while the Galaxy Note 9 is a bit aged, it’s admittedly better than the Radiant Core device some users were getting before.

Android Police stat…

You can opt in or out of different experiments.

What you need to know

YouTube is giving users quick access to new experimental features through the Android app.
Users can opt in and out of new features like comment translations and Picture-in-Picture.
The feature appears to be available only for YouTube Premium subscribers.

YouTube isn’t shy about experimenting with new features in its app, and now users will be able to try them out with just a click of a button from the mobile app.

Android Police spotted a new banner in the YouTube in the app for Premium subscribers that gives them quick access to experimental features. It can be found in the YouTube app under “Your Premium benefits” and a little section inviting you to “try new features.”

So far, it appears that two features are available for users to try out; one that allows comments to be translated with the tap of a button, and another that enables picture-in-picture mode for iOS users.

The page notes that users are on…

Amazon wants to step up its TV game in the U.S.

What you need to know

An Amazon-branded TV is reportedly close to launching in the U.S.
The TV would feature the Alexa voice assistant and come in 55 to 75-inch sizes.
The launch will reportedly happen in October, nearly a year after Amazon launched its first TV in India.

Amazon is no stranger to TVs, thanks to its Fire TV software found on devices like the Fire TV Stick and TV Stick Lite. So it may not come as much of a surprise that the company is reportedly planning to launch its own Amazon-branded television in the U.S.

Sources tell Insider that Amazon has been working on the TV for two years and it could launch as soon as October. It would feature sizes from 55 to 75-inch models.

The TV will be Alexa-powered, and development involves teams from Amazon Devices and Lab126, the company’s research and hardware division. TCL, which already makes some of the best Android TVs, is mentioned as a product manufacturer, although Amazon…

Google is buckling down on expectations for Wear OS 3 apps.

What you need to know

Google has released updated guidelines for Wear OS 3 apps.
The new guidelines are to ensure quality apps for the platform and better representation on the Play Store.
Developers have until October 13 to comply with the quality updates.

Wear OS 3 has arrived thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, and Google wants to make sure the app experience lives up to the hype. Thus, the company has released new app guidelines for Wear OS developers to ensure just that.

The updated guidelines introduce different levels of support for Wear OS, from basic compatibility to “better” and “best.”

Basic compatibility focuses on notification support, particularly with MessagingStyle conversations and direct reply action. This is mainly for apps that can talk to the best Wear OS watches without an actual wearable app.

Full Wear OS compatibility refers to native wearable apps that meet certain criteria. This includes s…

There haven’t been any significant updates on the problem affecting Pixel 3 smartphones.

What you need to know

Owners of the Google Pixel 3 are experiencing a major bug that’s leaving phones bricked.
Affected devices are unable to leave Emergency Download (EDL) mode and end up unusable.
The bug has been reported on multiple channels, but Google has yet to provide any useful guidance.

Many owners of the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have been dealing with a rather bothersome bug that leaves their phones virtually unusable.

The problem seems to happen the same way for many affected users; they’ll plug the phone in to charge, go to bed, and wake up to a bricked device. Phones will be put in Emergency Download (EDL) mode, which is a special boot mode for Android devices with Qualcomm chips and can be used to flash, unbrick, or recover data from a device.

Pixel 3 phones being put in EDL Mode are essentially rendered useless with blank displays that don’t seem to function at all. Su…