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Click the image above to watch the video on YouTube!
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Android Apps you shouldn't miss this week
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Octave
Octave is a point-and-click horror game. It features dark themes, adventure, and plenty of puzzles to solve!
Download from Google Play
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Link Twin
Link Twin is a fun little puzzle game where you play as Tom and Lily, two twins. It has over 100 challenges.
Download from Google Play
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Bard
Bard is an app that lets you create fun videos out of people saying words. It's more fun than it sounds, we swear.
Download from Google Play
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NBA VR
NBA VR is a new Daydream app that lets you watch NBA games in virtual reality. Also includes House of Legends.
Download from Google Play
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Island Delta
Island Delta is the latest game out of Noodlecake Studios. This one bills itself as an action-puzzle game. You'll have to run around, solve puzzles, and avoid obstacles in order to progress. It's beautifully done, loads of fun, and you can even shoot stuff.
Download from Google Play
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Headlines this week
- ESET, the antivirus security company, has noticed a rise in ransomware here lately. Their most recent reports shows that Android users have been targeted over 50% more often than they were last year. It's important to note that most of those people probably don't have Google Play available to them or are installing side-loaded apps. Still, it's an uptick to keep your eye on because ransomware really sucks.
- We at Android Authority did a poll last week to ask what you wanted to change about Google Allo. The two most popular choices were SMS support and cross-platform support. The less popular options were people not wanting Allo to store messages on Google servers and other complaints. Of course, this is just a highly informal poll from our individual readership, but it still paints a pretty clear picture of people actually want.
- Word around the digital grapevine is that YouTube is doing away with 30-second unskippable ads. In exchange, the service is going to be using more frequent six-second unskippable ads. This sounds pretty bogus, but six seconds isn't nearly as annoying as 30. This is likely in response to Facebook focusing more on video. YouTube wants to make fewer people angry and keep them around longer. It's really not that bad.
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App Updates
- Google Play Music was updated to version 7.4. It added a new recent option along with an announcement that the service now has 40 million songs.
- A minor update was published for Google Camera this week that lets you turn off the shutter sound if you want to.
- Flamingo for Twitter received a major update this week. Along with a new icon, the app now has a better tablet UI, new graphs, new animations, and a lot more. It's one of the best twitter apps by far and it just got better.
- A future update could be coming to Google Play. The update would add a refresh button so that people looking for updates can check for them at will instead of waiting for them to be rolled out. We don't know if it's true or when it'll be out if it is, but it's still something worth thinking about.
- WhatsApp rolled out an update this week. Included is the launch of their new WhatsApp Status feature. It's essentially like Snapchat Stories. You'll be able to upload pictures and video to show people what you're up to. The feature will be encrypted end-to-end and that adds a little extra security. Otherwise, it's just another thing the app can do. The update is out now if you're interested.
- Instagram received a rather large update this week. The service now lets you share multiple photos in a single post. People using the social network no longer have to pick the best of their photos. They can now just upload everything if they want to under a single post. It'll definitely change how people use the network. The update is rolling out right now so prepare to see those multi-photo posts very soon.
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Additional app releases, announcements, and deals
- Alto's Odyssey got its first trailer this week! Check it out!
- Duelyst, the popular game on Steam, is officially getting an Android beta release coming soon!
- Email, the simple email app we talked about a few weeks ago, is now officially launched!
- Matt Groening, creator of Futurama and The Simpsons, announced a new Futurama game. The game will be called Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow. The game will be written and produced by series regulars David Cohen and Matt Groening while the developer will be TinyCo. The bad news is that it'll be a free to play game like other show-based titles. We don't have a release date yet, but you can pre-register now if you want.
- Microsoft released a new version of Skype. It's called Skype Lite and it's available specifically for Indian users. The idea is that it'll use less data and be usable on lower end phones without a problem. The size is reportedly only about 13MB. It also comes with additional data saving features like photo compression. Unfortunately, it's only available to those living in India.
- There are a variety of games on sale in the Google Play Store. Among them are XCOM: Enemy Within, Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath and Munch's Oddysee, Civilization Revolution 2, and NBA 2K17. Most of them are going for over 50% off. Additionally, they're all pretty decent games. If you're looking for strategy, sports, or platforming, these deals are worth checking out.
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