Latest news with #AndroidAuthority
Android Authority
6 hours ago
- Android Authority
Spotify may finally let you import music without jumping through hoops (APK teardown)
Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Spotify is working on a feature to import your music. Currently, the service offers no way to import music from other services. We also discovered a URL for the feature. Hopping from one music service to another can be a pain for multiple reasons. However, losing the playlists you spent all of that time creating may be the biggest pain of all. If you want to switch to Spotify, this will be the position you'll find yourself in since it doesn't offer an import tool. But that could change in the future. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. Currently, if you want to import your music over to Spotify, the only way to do it is through a third-party service. And more often than not, those third parties will charge you for using their service. So if you don't want to waste any money, you'll just have to spend time rebuilding those playlists. However, we noticed strings of code in the Spotify app (version 9.0.56.459) referencing a feature that would allow you to import music. According to these strings, the feature would appear in the 'Your Library' tab. Additionally, we found a URL related to the feature hiding in the code. Unsurprisingly, the URL isn't live yet. Code Copy Text Go online to import your music Import your music We're unclear of exactly how this would work, all of what it would let you import, and where, but we can speculate. While there's no direct mention of playlists, we imagine it would include importing playlists as that would be the main use case for a tool like this. While Spotify doesn't currently have an import feature, it does have the ability to detect and show local music files. But we don't believe that feature and this feature are interconnected in any way. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
6 hours ago
- Android Authority
Will Android 'App Cast' let you stream apps from device to device? (APK teardown)
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR Google Play Services shows evidence of an in-development 'App Cast' tool. While its full functionality is unclear, it appears able to gather info about remote Android devices and access their installed apps. One possibility could be the ability to remotely stream apps from one Android device to another. Google's always working on something new for Android, and we spend a fair amount of time digging through app and system updates in the hope of getting an early look at some of those developments. When we're lucky, evidence is abundant and we're able to easily infer what Google's up to. Other times, however, it's a bit harder to get the full picture of what Google might be working on — even when it seems clear that developers are definitely up to something. And today, we're finding ourselves much more in the latter camp. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. We're looking at a recent update to Google Play Services, and as you may know, this software is how Google implements a lot of system-level functionality in Android — like we looked at just last month when we spotted new device backup settings. This time we've been crawling through the 25.24.31 beta release, and have spotted evidence of a new 'App Cast' feature. We see references to App Cast popping up in code related to multi-device sync. We've also identified a number of text strings that appear to have been added in preparation of App Cast support: Code Copy Text Starting app cast for package %s Fetching app list from remote device. Unable to get icon: %s not found Starting cast session for ' ' from ' Launching '%s' on remote device '%s' We haven't been able to surface a UI for App Cast, and so we can't see any of this in action, but one possibility could involve Google giving Android devices the ability to stream apps installed on other hardware linked to your account. We can tell that there are elements in place for choosing devices from a list, and showing a progress bar. And as mentioned in the strings above, we see code for pulling up a list of installed apps. Admittedly, the need for an app streaming mode feels a little narrow — in a lot of cases, it seems easier to just install the app on multiple devices — but we can appreciate times that require access to data that lives on a specific phone or tablet. We also wonder if this casting might extend to bigger screens, letting you view Android apps from your phone on Google TV. But as we said, right now we just don't have enough of the puzzle to really say with any kind of certainty what Google is building here; this is all vibes at the moment. We've also spotted work in Play Services on some manner of new notification sync support that appears in proximity to some of this App Cast stuff, but we're not sure if that's just a coincidence, or if they're really meant to be related. That's a little frustrating, but we'll keep digging into future Play Services builds in the hopes that we can soon nail down Google's intentions for App Cast. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
8 hours ago
- Android Authority
Google Phone's Material 3 Expressive revamp and new call gestures are starting to roll out
Aamir Siddiqui / Android Authority TL;DR Google has started rolling out the Phone app's Material 3 Expressive redesign on the beta channel. The updated interface brings visual changes to the in-call screen and Recent tab. It also introduces two new incoming call gesture options for the incoming call screen. Google has started rolling out the Material 3 Expressive redesign of its Phone app to some users, which we first spotted in a teardown late last month. It includes visual changes for the app's Recent tab and in-call screen, along with two new interfaces for the incoming call screen. Google Phone's Expressive makeover appears to be rolling out via a server-side update on the latest beta release (version 180.0.771769344). As shown previously, the updated in-call screen features larger UI elements, including bigger pill-shaped buttons, contact names, and caller photos. The Recent tab has also received a minor change, and the recent calls list now has a contrasting background with rounded edges. Google has also rolled out the new 'Incoming call gesture' setting to the Phone app, which lets you choose one of two new incoming call screen interfaces. If you pick the 'Single tap' gesture, the incoming call interface features 'Answer' and 'Decline' buttons that you can tap to receive or end an incoming call. The 'Horizontal swipe' gesture, on the other hand, adds a pill-shaped slider to the incoming call screen. It has a phone button in the middle and options to answer or decline the call on either side. On this interface, you can swipe the phone button to the right to receive a call or to the left to decline it. These Google Phone app changes aren't widely available, but we expect Google to roll them out soon. We'll update this post when the Phone app's Material 3 Expressive makeover hits the stable channel. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
9 hours ago
- Android Authority
Files by Google is getting a little more of that Material 3 Expressive flair (APK teardown)
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Google's currently updating its Android library with Material 3 Expressive design language. Following an initial look last month, we've spotted further signs of Files by Google's M3E redesign. The app is experimenting with new, more intuitive icons and some revised screen layouts. Who doesn't love reinventing themselves with a new look for summer? When it comes to Google and its Android apps, right now that means gussying them up with a fresh dose of Material 3 Expressive design elements. While the company formally introduced that new look last month, and it's still going to be a little while before we're seeing it everywhere, we've already managed to spot early efforts to implement it across multiple Google apps. And today we're adding a little more to that growing list. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. This time around, Material 3 Expressive is freshening up the look of Google's Files app for Android. If that sounds familiar, you're not wrong, as we already spotted a whole lot of Expressive UI in progress when looking at Files last month. So while some of the screens here might reflect changes we already covered then, we're also spotting further tweaks that are worth showing off. We coaxed this preview out of version 1.7853.772781075.1-release of the app, but you won't yet see these changes running it yourself. In all the image sets featured below, we have the existing layout on the left, and the in-development refresh on the right of each pair. We're starting out slow, and with these two, we're mainly interested in what Files is doing with that Floating Action Button (FAB), condensing down to a single UI element and trying on that new pill-shaped look. The app's view for moving around files is testing some new iconography, swapping its line art for a filled-in look. We notice a refreshed layout for both list and grid views, one that Google seems to be moving to consistently across the app. Here we're again turning our attention to that FAB, with an improved design to better communicate new-folder functionality. Google is also trying out an icon refresh for the way the app indicates unknown file types, as you can see on the left. Google's working on a new view for file details, and the app could end up moving to the sidebar layout we have here. That can get a bit busy, granted, but we'd argue that things like the camera details are even easier to view with the sidebar UI. We've also spotted some minor changes to font weighting in the app, but honestly, even with a side-by-side comparison the slightly bolder look Google is trying out is basically impossible to see — for now, just take our word for it. We'll keep digging into Google's future updates to Files and the rest of its Android library this summer in the hopes of uncovering more of this Material 3 Expressive progress. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
11 hours ago
- Android Authority
Samsung's next foldables look crazy thin in this new leak
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR New 'official' images of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 have leaked. The images show both foldables in two different colorways. These colorways are said to be called Blue Shadow and Jet Black. Samsung is gearing up to launch the next generation of its foldable phones. As we inch closer to the eventual announcement, predictably, leaks have been ramping up. Previously, we've seen CAD renders of both the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. Now, a new leak claims to give us a look at 'official' renders of both handsets. Courtesy of Android Headlines, we have a new collection of renders for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 to check out. These 'official' renders present both foldables in two colorways, which are reportedly called Blue Shadow and Jet Black. More colorways are expected to be available, but these are the only two included in this report. According to earlier leaks, Samsung has made both foldables fairly thinner than previous iterations. The Fold 7, in particular, is rumored to be about 4.54mm thin when unfolded, which would be only slightly thicker than the OPPO Find N5 (4.21mm). In the images above, we can see the Flip 7 and the Fold 7 compared to their predecessors. While the Flip has never been overly thick, it's clear Samsung has found a way to cut off some of the fat. However, the difference in size is even more noticeable between the Fold 7 and Fold 6. Both devices are also expected to get larger cover displays. For the Flip 7, Samsung is ditching the manila folder-like design and is opting to use the entire cover. Meanwhile, the cover display on the Fold 7 is expected to grow from 6.3 inches to 6.5 inches. This will also result in a bigger inner screen, which is said to be 8.2 inches. Rumors are pointing to June 9 as the date for Samsung's next Unpacked event. If true, that means we'll only have to wait a few more weeks for the launch. In addition to these foldables, it's expected that Samsung's next smartwatches will appear at the show. We could possibly even get a teaser for Project Moohan. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
