Welcome to the 497th version of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the massive headlines this week:
- Google had a few AI bulletins this week. The first is a brand new characteristic the place AI will summarize longer articles right into a abstract that’s faster for the reader to know immediately in Search. The different is from an nameless supply that claims Google is engaged on a brand new AI, dubbed Gemini. Rumor is that it’ll be obtainable for builders and probably customers later this 12 months. Hit the hyperlinks to study extra.
- Google might kill off Assistant on older Wear OS smartwatches. The rumor says that Assistant can be turned off on units working Wear OS 2 and older. It’s a curious transfer contemplating that Wear OS 2 units launched just some brief years in the past, and much more curious since watches that outdated wouldn’t anticipate to get many extra updates anyway.
- WhatsApp introduced a few new options this week. The first is AI-generated stickers, the place customers can create a sticker by describing one. That’s proper consistent with the swatch of AI-generated artwork that’s come out this 12 months. The second new characteristic is the flexibility to schedule group calls. It’s an extension of an already present characteristic, however it’s good to have choices.
- X CEO Lina Yaccarino opened as much as CNBC this week concerning the title change from Twitter to X. According to her, it’s as a result of the platform intends so as to add issues like video calls, peer-to-peer funds, and different new options that might be very un-Twitter-like, therefore the title change. You can click on the hyperlink to study extra.
- YouTube is testing yet one more anti-adblocker. This one has a countdown timer. YouTube has spent proportion of 2023 getting customers to look at adverts on YouTube. This new countdown timer would give the person 30-60 seconds of warning earlier than stopping the video till the adblocker is turned off or till the person indicators up for YouTube Premium. It’s an comprehensible maneuver, however not a fascinating one.
Makeover Master
Price: Free to play
Makeover Master is a house design sport blended with a match-three sport. The core premise is to resolve puzzles to unlock numerous decorations. You then use the decorations to construct up your home. Players can design their very own homes in different methods as properly. There’s a narrative connected to the sport as properly, however it’s not terribly deep. It serves principally to hold the participant by way of the sport reasonably than inform an exquisite story. There are boosts and another issues that you should buy with actual cash. However, if you’re affected person and grind it out, you can play this sport at no cost.
Reflectr AI Journal & Notebook
Price: Free / $0.99 monthly / $9.99 per 12 months
Reflectr is a journaling app and a note-taking app. It works principally as you would anticipate. You open the app, enter your ideas, and retailer them for later. The app comes with AI options that assist rewrite and reorganize your ideas another way. Whether or not that’s useful is extremely depending on choice. You additionally get fashionable journal app niceties like a temper calendar, recaps, and a tag system to prepare your ideas higher. The builders added AI to every thing, however it’s actually not all that a lot smarter than a typical journaling app. It’s not dangerous, however it’s not unimaginable both.
God of Idle: Merge Master
Price: Free to play
God of Idle: Merge Master payments itself as a quick and enjoyable idle merge sport. It’s a 2D sport the place your hero runs ahead and defeats enemies. You unlock upgrades as that occurs, and your hero continues advert infinitum. The merge mechanics are available in whereas upgrading weapons. You’ll earn primary tools as you play. From there, you merge related gadgets collectively to create new, extra highly effective gadgets. It’s a easy sport with the motion solely happening on the highest third of your cellphone display screen. The relaxation is devoted to upgrades and merging weapons. It’s not dangerous so far as idle video games go, and it’s a pleasant method to spend couple of minutes at a time.
Sync for Lemmy
Price: Free / $1.49
Sync for Lemmy is the newest app from the builders of Sync for Reddit. Lemmy, for the uninitiated, is actually Mastodon meets Reddit. It operates equally to Reddit, however has servers like you’d discover on Mastodon. This app lets you use Lemmy. How good Lemmy is would warrant a totally separate dialogue, however the app capabilities fairly properly. That’s to be anticipated since Sync for Reddit additionally labored fairly properly. It employes a Material You design and consists of multi-account help, an AMOLED darkish theme, and a picture viewer that helps most forms of photographs on Lemmy. Whether or not Lemmy is sweet is as much as you, but when the app is sort of good.
Arena Breakout
Price: Free
Arena Breakout is a survival looter shooter. It’s developed by Tencent and you might know them because the cell builders for Tower of Fantasy and PUBG Mobile. This sport is actually fairly good. You drop into an open world the place you gather gear and do battle with numerous opponents. Combat is just like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty: Mobile, and related video games. Damage that’s dealt to you is body-part dependent and may have an effect on your gameplay if you get too injured in a selected area of the physique. There are two sport modes, every with its quirks. The sport incentivizes staff play, so you’ll wish to strive it out with pals. This is a kind of cell video games the place the builders thought concerning the little particulars, and it makes for a fairly good expertise total.
If we missed any massive Android apps or video games information or releases, inform us about it within the feedback.