Articles by Jeramy Johnson

Best answer: Amazon’s devices with Special Offers (now called Ad-Supported devices) are products like the Kindle e-readers and Fire tablets that feature targeted lock screen ads but come at a reduced price to the consumer.

What are Kindle and Fire Tablet ad-supported devices?

You may have come to this article wondering just what Kindle and Fire tablet special offers, or Ad-Supported devices, are, so let’s take a minute to explain what this idea is. Amazon introduced the concept of devices with Special Offers a while back as a way to reduce the entry cost into the Kindle, and then later, the Fire Tablet ecosystems.

Amazon has always offered relatively low-cost hardware, particularly during major shopping events like Black Friday or Prime Day, but it pitched the Special Offers as a way to offset those expenditures further. The devices with Special Offers, now called Ad-Supported devices, consist of lock screen/screensaver ads that are personalized to you based on your shopping pre…

How ’bout them Apples?

I don’t know about you, but most people in my extended circle are iPhone users, including just about all of my family and many of my closest friends. Some of them are die-hard, Apple until they die, Steve Jobs walked on water types, but most of them have just chosen a phone and OS and stuck with it because it works.

That’s what most of us do because it’s easy and comfortable. I totally get that, and it’s a perfectly legitimate choice for anyone to make. But after reading a piece by Mike Sorrentino at CNET earlier this week about his experience switching mobile operating systems, I was reminded of an underlying angst I’ve felt ever since I started using Android phones as my primary devices. My Apple “family” just looks at me a little differently now. I don’t mean to say that they are outright rude or offensive, but there is definitely an air of superiority in their questions or comments about my daily carry choices.

Unlike CNET’s Sorrentino, I come at this fr…

AC readers’ opinions are split down the middle on their preferred foldable phone.

What you need to know

We asked AC readers if they’d rather buy the rumored Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 or the rumored Google Pixel Fold.
The results were much closer than we had expected, with nearly a 50/50 split among respondents.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 narrowly edged out the Google Pixel fold by less than 5% points.

It may only be early July, but we’re already looking forward to August and early fall, where we’re eagerly anticipating confirmation of two exciting foldable phones whose existence has been circulating the rumor mills for months at this point. Those two phones are, of course, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Google Pixel Fold.

We already know that Google has been working behind the scenes to improve the folding form factor experience on Android, and Samsung has had a few years to work out the kinks in its designs, so if these two phones do materialize this year, it’s sure to be …

The best Samsung Galaxy S21 cases will not only keep your new smartphone protected, but they’ll keep it looking as stylish as you are. Whether you prefer a clear case, a flip case, something colorful, or something rugged, you have options with a phone as popular as the Galaxy 21. Here are some of the best Galaxy S21 cases you can buy today. The best part of all is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to keep your Galaxy S21 looking great for the long term!

Colorful and well-textured

Casology Nano Pop

Staff Pick

The Galaxy S21 is the first Android phone to get Caseology’s Nano Pop Series, and it was 110% worth the wait. The texturing on this case is grippier than Casology’s longtime favorite Parallax, and the color combos here are bold, beautiful, and absolutely pop around the camera cutout on the S21.

From $16 at Amazon $18 at Walmart

Slim grip and grit

Ringke Onyx Series

If you want to add some grip to your slippery little Samsung, Ringke’s Onyx series has t…

Our smartphones aren’t saving us.

What you need to know

AC readers were asked if they’ve used a COVID-19 contact tracing app on their phones.
Over half of those who responded said that they had not used contact tracing apps for whatever reason.
However, a surprising number of readers actually had downloaded a contact tracing app and turned on notifications.

This past long weekend marked the 4th of July holiday in the United States, and as such, it was a heavy travel period during which larger groups of people congregated more than they had in the recent past. With vaccination rates climbing in many countries and quarantine restrictions easing in many places, we hope these get-togethers were safe for all involved. Still, there were likely to have been interactions between COVID-19 carriers and those who were susceptible to the disease.

Last year, Google and Apple rolled out system-level updates to enable governments to develop COVID-19 contact tracing using the ubiquitous comput…

If you’re looking for the best Roku streaming devices, then you’ve come to the right place. Roku has a bunch of different streaming products that are so easy to set up and use. You’ll get access to thousands of movies and TV shows with devices that are compatible with smart TVs and for those of you who still have dinosaur-aged TVs. We love using Roku devices and have picked out our favorites for you in several categories, although our favorite is the Roku Ultra.

Best overall Roku streaming device: Roku Ultra

The Roku Ultra is the company’s premium streaming set-top box. It offers all the high-end specs you’d expect in such a device, like 4K UHD and HDR, as well as support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It also has some killer usability features unique to the Roku brand, such as a Lost Remote Finder on the box. The next time that pesky remote slips between the couch cushions, all you have to do is press a button, and it will make a sound to help you locate it.

The Roku Ultra a…

The safe choice

Garmin Forerunner 945 LTE

$650 at Walmart
$650 at B&H

Pros

LTE means you can share your workouts live
Notify emergency contacts at the push of a button
Excellent battery life
GPS and NFC on wrist
Has all of the workout and tracking features of the regular 945

Cons

More expensive than the non-LTE version
LTE service requires a six-month or annual subscription
LTE service doesn’t support music streaming or interactive communications

The Forerunner 945 LTE takes everything great about the regular 945 and brings the added peace of mind that an always-connected cellular watch can offer. Alert personal contacts or safety personnel if something goes wrong or have friends follow your route virtually.

The runner up

Garmin Forerunner 945

$600 at Amazon
$600 at Best Buy

Pros

Excellent outdoor visibility
On-wrist GPS, NFC, and advanced heart rate monitor
Tons of workout and tracking modes
Full-color maps
Two-week battery life

Cons

No LTE options…

One of the great things about the best messaging apps is that you can customize and craft them to look just the way you want them. It’s true of Signal, it’s true of WhatsApp, and of course, it’s true of Telegram. We’ll show you just how easy it is to change your theme, backgrounds, and chat settings on Telegram so that your messaging experience is as colorful as you are.

How to change your theme and chat settings on Telegram

Open the Telegram app on your phone.
Tap on the menu icon in the top left corner.
Tap on Settings.
Tap on Chat Settings. From here, you can customize nearly every design feature of your chats, including text size and bubble shape, and color.

Tap on Change Chat Background.
Scroll through the available Chat Background options. You can upload your own Chat Background by tapping on Select from Gallery, or just choose to Set a color.

Select your favorite background.

Note that now you can also choose from a large selection of animated backgrounds that are mult…

These tips and tricks will help you make the most out of Google Meet.

Video calls have been a part of corporate life for years, but they really took off during the pandemic. We’ve written about all of the major players, from Zoom and Microsoft Teams to Google Duo and Skype. However, the one communications app we use every day here at Android Central is Google Meet.

There is a ton of great Google Meet content here on the site, from how-to guides to comparisons against those other competing apps and services. Out of all those, we’ve collected the ten best Google Meet tips and tricks that we felt were the most important for making your next team meeting or virtual family get-together a better experience.

Jump to:

Green room
Streaming
Grid views
Pinning
Casting
Recording
Quick access
Visual enhancements
Screen sharing
Keyboard shortcuts

Tip 1 Try before you fly

Don’t be that person who joins a call only to discover with horror that their microphone and/or speakers aren’t wo…

Google Meet isn’t always the first to offer new video calling features, but it gets around to them eventually. More than a year after Zoom popularized the feature, animated backgrounds have finally arrived on Google Meet. There aren’t that many options to choose from right now, but we’re so glad that they’re finally here. If you’ve ever changed your background on a Google Meet call, this is all going to feel very familiar, but it’s amazing what a difference a little motion makes. Let’s get into how to set up animated backgrounds using Google Meet.

How to set up animated video backgrounds in Google Meet

Open a Google Meet session.
Before you join, click on the three-dot menu at the bottom center of the screen.

Click on Change background.

There are currently three preset animated backgrounds to choose from. Pick the one you like best, including a party with fun blob characters, a tranquil forest scene, and a cute classroom with fruity classmates.

Depending on how many custo…