Latest news with #HadleeSimons
Android Authority
a day 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.
Android Authority
a day ago
- Android Authority
This simple app lets you run your Steam games on Android, no streaming required
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR GameNative makes it easy to play your Steam library on Android via Winlator. The Pluvia fork adds support for titles with DRM and more optimizations. It's open-source, but take care when logging in with your Steam credentials. Windows emulation on Android has made some progress lately, but it's nowhere near as user-friendly as most retro game emulators. A new app called GameNative attempts to change that by making your Steam library playable with minimal setup and tinkering. Based on Pluvia, the open-source app creates a front end for Steam games and uses Winlator as a backend for emulation. You simply log into your Steam account, select games you want to install locally on your Android device, and tap play to start emulation. It's as close as we've seen to plug-and-play Windows emulation. GameNative is the closest thing to plug-and-play Windows emulation on Android. GameNative adds a few new features to Pluvia, including support for titles with DRM. This alone vastly expands the library of playable games, although performance will also depend on your device's specs. You don't need a high-powered gaming phone to play lightweight games, but more power and RAM will go a long way. There are a few other improvements, including both performance and graphical enhancements. There's also an on-screen keyboard and controller overlay for seamless play on mobile. That said, it's still a work in progress, so expect some bugs and crashes along the way. Cloud saves are also supported, although online features do not currently work. Games that require an external launcher (such as GTA V) are also incompatible. For those games, you will need to use streaming apps like Steam Link or Moonlight. Although the app is open-source, you should still take care when entering your Steam credentials. You can mitigate this by logging in via scanning a QR code in the Steam mobile app. Download the app now via the official GitHub page, and join the Discord for help and tips on achieving the best in-game performance. 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
5 days ago
- Android Authority
This Android launcher reminds me of Windows Phone in the best possible way
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority I have a confession to make: I wasn't an Android phone fan at first. I wasn't an iPhone enthusiast, either. Instead, I was a full-fledged Windows Phone disciple. I absolutely loved the Metro UI, featuring a fresh, tile-based interface that popped on an OLED screen. I loved the interface and cameras so much that I bought a Lumia 1020 and a Lumia 950. I've known about Android launchers that emulate this Windows Phone look for years now, and briefly dabbled with them back in the day. But my Windows Phone itch is stronger than ever, and I found two launchers that came closest to scratching it. After looking at both Square Home and Launcher 10 on my Pixel phone (sacrilege, I know), I ultimately settled on the former. Do you use an alternative launcher on your phone? 0 votes Yes NaN % No NaN % What's a launcher? NaN % What I love about Square Home Hadlee Simons / Android Authority Both launchers do a great job of emulating the Windows Phone experience from a visual perspective. I'd give the edge to Launcher 10 for its app drawer design in particular, but I chose Square Home for several reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is that Live Tiles are available for free here, whereas Launcher 10 requires payment to unlock them. For the uninitiated, Live Tiles were Microsoft's answer to widgets on Android, offering square or rectangular tiles that constantly displayed updates and other info. For example, you could see missed calls in the phone tile, notifications in the Facebook tile, and your favorite photos in the photos tile. Square Home primarily populates the Live Tiles with information pulled from your notifications, and this obviously requires your permission. It's nevertheless a smart way to bring these tiles to life, and you'll get info like Gmail snippets, calendar entries, and more. I also quite like the media widget live tile that pops up, which is derived from the media widget in the notification shade. And yes, you can actually interact with the media controls. In another neat touch, the old platform's flipping tiles are here, too, showing you different nuggets of info. You can also make these tiles transparent to show your wallpaper, much like later versions of Microsoft's platform. So I never really felt like I was missing out in a big way. The launcher also won me over with its tile adjustments. Microsoft allowed Windows Phone users to adjust the size of these tiles, going from the regular size to one-quarter size to double-wide. Square Home lets you intuitively adjust a tile's size by long-pressing the tile, much like Windows Phone itself (and with a few extra size options too). Launcher 10 offers granular size adjustments with sliders by default, but it's not nearly as intuitive and familiar if you're a Windows Phone fan like me. Thankfully, you can dig a little deeper in Square Home if you want more detailed adjustments too. Launcher 10 is arguably closer to Windows Phone's visual design, but Square Home won me over in general. I also appreciate Square Home's very reasonable payment options. You can choose to pay $1 a year or make a one-time payment of $6. I know many companies ditched one-time purchases because of greed financial reasons, but I'm glad to see this option here. In saying so, the team doesn't adequately convey the benefits of paying for premium on its website or Play Store listing. However, it seems like settings with green icons are paid additions. These include advanced animations, media controller functionality, lots of gestures, and your choice of font. Another point in Square Home's favor is its ad-free nature. There's absolutely nothing wrong with offering an ad-supported app, and Launcher 10 is very restrained in its approach (seemingly restricted to the settings menu, while letting you pay to get rid of them), but it's nice to have an ad-free experience out of the box. Windows Phone is dead, but Square Home is thriving Hadlee Simons / Android Authority Square Home's list of features doesn't stop here. It offers a customizable app drawer, wallpaper-based color theming, support for tablets and foldable phones, and Private Space support. The team recently updated the app to fix issues with widgets in One UI 7 too, so the developers are still actively fixing things after all this time. I can think of a few small areas of improvement for Square Home, though, such as improved handling of third-party widgets and more preset tile colors. But these are relatively insignificant wishlist items, and we definitely have a full-featured experience. Even though the Windows Phone ship sailed a long time ago, I'm glad to see that the community has picked up the baton and sprinted with it. I'm definitely partial to Square Home, but both of these launchers are great ways to effectively emulate that experience. Now, about Microsoft building its own Windows Phone launcher for Android.
Android Authority
5 days ago
- Android Authority
Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS fixes so much, but can it beat a Steam Deck?
Lenovo Legion Go S - Powered By Steam OS The Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS is light years ahead of its Windows-powered counterpart. Not only does Steam OS fix a lot of Windows' problems, but it also drops the price by $130. This makes the Legion Go S with Steam OS a viable competitor to the Steam Deck. It's well worth a look if you prioritize a large display, variable refresh rates, and offset sticks. When I reviewed the Lenovo Legion Go S — the one powered by Windows 11 — I did something I rarely ever do: I told readers not to buy it. No matter how I approached the product, I couldn't recommend it to anyone due to the ubiquitous availability of better, cheaper gaming handhelds. In that review, I mentioned that I was excited to try the second version of the product, the one powered by the Linux-based Steam OS — the same operating system that powers Valve's Steam Deck. Well, Lenovo was kind enough to send me a test unit of the Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS, and I'm excited to tell you all about it. Given that this product's hardware is exactly the same as the Windows variant (other than the change in button names and case color), I won't spend time re-explaining everything. If you need to catch up on what this product offers from a hardware perspective, read my Legion Go S review first. My colleague Hadlee Simons' hands-on with the Steam OS version at CES 2025 is also worth a read (anything he writes is). With that in mind, I will split this review into two sections: the first covering what Steam OS fixes, and the second explaining what Steam OS couldn't change. What Steam OS fixes for the Legion Go S C. Scott Brown / Android Authority The most significant and positive thing Steam OS does for the Legion Go S is simplify the experience. When you power up the Steam OS version of the Legion Go S, you're not greeted with any familiar Windows tropes. You don't need to log in with your Microsoft account or tell it your preferred keyboard layout. You never see a desktop interface. You do need to go through an initial setup procedure, obviously, but you can navigate through every step with the controller and a smartphone for scanning QR codes — something that can't be done with Windows. From the time you first boot up the Legion Go S with Steam OS, you immediately understand how this is better than Windows. Essentially, Steam OS is an operating system built for this particular form factor, whereas Windows is decidedly not (or at least until we know if the Xbox experience on the ROG Xbox Ally finally fixes things). That alone makes the experience using the Legion Go S with Steam OS much, much better than its Windows counterpart. Even when a wrench is thrown into the works, Steam OS handles it with grace. For example, if you want to play Red Dead Redemption on the Legion Go S, you must use Rockstar Games' stupid (and useless!) launcher. This launcher lacks controller support, which Valve cannot change. So, what Steam OS does in response is warn you that the Rockstar Games launcher lacks controller support and instructs you to use the touch screen instead. It's not perfect, but it's a simple, elegant way of informing the user how best to navigate through this process, since their intuitive reaction — to use the sticks and buttons — will prove ineffective. Steam OS is also better at the seemingly minor actions one takes when using a large-screen gaming handheld. When you want to stop playing, you just tap the power button. The screen goes dark, and you can put the machine down. You can leave it like that, unplugged, for hours (or even days), and then pick it up, tap the power button, and continue right where you left off. The Windows model doesn't do this nearly as smoothly, and Windows' idle state drains way too much battery for that to be a good idea anyway. For the record, I did this overnight with the Steam OS model, and the battery level only dropped by 3%. At that rate, I could have left it alone for over a week and not needed to be concerned at all. It's astonishing how much better Steam OS is in an idle state when compared to Windows. One interesting thing Steam OS does is nerf the teeny, tiny trackpad on the Legion Go S. In my review for the Windows model, I lamented how small and useless the trackpad is on this machine (it's still there on the Steam OS version — the small square under the right stick). In all my time with the Steam OS version, though, I never once got the trackpad to work. Even when I was setting up the Rockstar Games launcher, which is built around keyboard and mouse input, the trackpad didn't function. I feel like Valve was as perplexed with this 'feature' as the rest of the world, and just decided to nerf it rather than instruct users to touch it. In fact, Steam OS didn't let me use the trackpad even when I played games that support mouse input. I realize this is a weird way to approach the issue of the trackpad being so horrible, but honestly, I didn't mind. After a few hours, I simply forgot it existed. Steam OS also makes it easier to tweak your settings to milk the most out of your games. In most cases, though, you don't need to do this. This is because Valve has pre-configured Steam OS to change in-game settings to work best with gaming handhelds automatically. For example, all in-game settings are maxed out when I fire up my latest save in Horizon Forbidden West on my custom gaming rig with an RTX 4090 inside. When I played Forbidden West on the Legion Go S, though, Steam OS automatically switched to the 'Low' graphics quality preset and tweaked the display settings appropriately. It just worked. Steam OS does a lot of the legwork for you when it comes to making sure your games play well. If you want to get more granular with your settings, Steam OS supports that and makes it incredibly easy. You can tweak performance settings on a universal or per-game basis by hitting the Quick Access Button (signified by three dots and located at the upper right, above the Menu/Start button). This includes enabling a variable refresh rate (something no version of the Steam Deck offers), limiting the thermal design power (TDP), changing scaling levels, and much more. You can also show performance stats while you play, and Steam OS lets you choose how much of this information you see. C. Scott Brown / Android Authority Granted, the Windows version of the Legion Go S offered some of these features through Lenovo's own apps and widgets. However, in Windows, they weren't as easily accessible and not nearly as granular. Also, you don't need to use these on the Steam OS version. Like I said, the operating system does a great job of pre-configuring the system for each game you launch. But if you want to get nitty gritty to bring out the best performance you can get (or do the opposite to preserve as much battery life as possible), you can easily do that. Speaking of battery life, this is also nominally better with Steam OS. I don't have any numbers to share, but with this model, I didn't reach for the charger nearly as much as I did with the Windows version. This makes a ton of sense when you remember that all the useless things Windows does in the background, Steam OS doesn't do. I don't want there to be any misconceptions here, though: if you're playing a graphically demanding AAA game, battery life on the Steam OS version is going to be very similar to the Windows version — maybe 90-120 minutes of gameplay at a full charge. But when the device is just idling or you're doing things like tweaking settings, buying games, or reading game news, battery life is tangibly better. One of the things Steam OS does better than Windows is to cost nothing. Thanks, open-source licensing! The most significant thing Steam OS fixes, though, is the price. Without Windows on board, the Steam OS version of the Legion Go S drops by a whopping $130 to $599. This alone makes it much more of an appealing product when compared to the Windows model, which inexplicably starts at $729. For the sake of comparison, the Steam Deck OLED with 512GB of storage costs $549. While this is all great news, Steam OS is just software. It can't change the hardware aspects of the Legion Go S. Steam OS also comes with its own drawbacks. This brings me to the next section of this review. What Steam OS can't fix C. Scott Brown / Android Authority While Steam OS is fast, smooth, elegant, and feature-rich, it is, at its core, not as good as Windows for wide game support. This is because many games available through Steam rely on Windows features to function properly. Since Steam OS is based on Linux and uses Proton as a compatibility layer, this leaves a swathe of very popular games unplayable natively on the Legion Go S, including Fortnite, many EA Sports games, Reign of Kings, and more. To be clear, that doesn't mean low framerates or glitchy interfaces — that means the games literally will not launch. Ultimately, this is the ace in the hole that the Windows version of the Legion Go S has. You'll need to sacrifice game support with Steam OS. Heavy hitters like Fortnite won't work without Windows. Granted, there are ways around this limitation via Linux applications such as Heroic Game Launcher, which plays nicely with third-party game stores like Epic Games Stores, GOG Galaxy, and more. Game streaming is another good option, either from a cloud service like Xbox Game Pass or from your own Windows computer with something like Moonlight. Still, almost everything on Steam that isn't a VR-only title will launch on a Windows handheld without any tinkering or workarounds. This is something Steam OS cannot claim, as Windows restrictions, Proton incompatibilities, and occasionally anti-cheat software do mean not everything will run well or at all. If there's a particular game you want to play, I'd recommend you check ProtonDB to see what the status is. Steam OS also has no effect on the hardware limitations of the Legion Go S. I've already talked about how Valve nerfed the teeny trackpad, but it can't change all the other problems Lenovo introduced with this design. The whole device is still too heavy, for example. The button placement is still questionable, especially the Steam and Quick Access buttons being directly above Start and Select (I hit the wrong buttons many times during my testing). The microSD card slot is still on the bottom of the device, which could be problematic for people who like to dock their handhelds. The two USB-C ports are still right next to each other, making it tricky to plug in two things at the same time. These are all deficiencies I pointed out in my review of the Windows model, and they're still problems on the Steam OS version. Granted, no single one of these compromises is a deal-breaker. When you put all of them together, though, it does feel like the device is still not much better than a Steam Deck, which is $50 cheaper than Lenovo's offering. This, ultimately, is the biggest hurdle facing this product. Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS review verdict: A personal choice C. Scott Brown / Android Authority The Lenovo Legion Go S with Steam OS ($499.99 at Manufacturer site) is the first third-party product to run the operating system. That being the case means the only logical competitor to the Legion Go S is Valve's own Steam Deck, specifically the 512GB OLED model ($549 at Manufacturer site). So what exactly are you getting from Lenovo that you're not getting from Valve? The Legion Go S has the same operating system as a Steam Deck at a very similar price. It all comes down to individual preferences after that. The most significant thing is the display. The Legion Go S has an 8-inch 1,920 x 1,200 LCD panel, which dwarfs the Steam Deck's 7.4-inch 1,280 x 800 OLED. Yes, OLED is superior to LCD, but resolution and size make a big difference, too. Likewise, the Legion Go S has a faster refresh rate at 120Hz (the Steam Deck taps out at 90Hz). Additionally, the Lenovo handheld supports variable refresh rates, which the Steam Deck does not. In other words, just because the Steam Deck has OLED and the Legion Go S doesn't, shouldn't be the deciding factor on which is better. Lenovo's display is terrific, regardless of the panel type. Another thing the Legion Go S has over the Steam Deck is processing power. On paper, the AMD Ryzen Z2 Go in the Legion Go S isn't too much better than the Steam Deck's AMD Zen 2. However, the Z2 Go is capable of hitting much higher power draw than the Zen 2 — 28W vs 15W, respectively. This means that you can, theoretically, milk more frames from the Legion Go S than you can from the Steam Deck at the expense of battery life (and sweaty palms). You'll need to be comfortable tweaking settings, both in-game and on the handheld itself, but if you care enough to do so, the Legion Go S should be superior regarding performance. Also, keep in mind that a second version of the Legion Go S with Steam OS is on the way, and it will have the Ryzen Z1 Extreme under the hood — a CPU that will absolutely destroy the Z2 Go and the Zen 2. However, that model will cost $899 (!!!), so buyer beware. If you prefer a larger display, VRR support, offset sticks, and the potential for eking out more frames, maybe the Legion Go S is what you're looking for. Outside of these two major differences, there are minor ones as well. The Legion Go S has offset sticks, for example, something that many players prefer. There's also an eight-way D-Pad on the Legion Go S, which could give you an edge in fighting games over the four-way D-Pad on the Steam Deck. Really, even with the $50 difference in price taken into account, choosing between the Legion Go S with Steam OS and the Steam Deck OLED is a matter of taste. You need to decide what hardware features you prefer and then go with the model that makes the most sense for you. The bottom line here, though, is that this is a far cry from the Lenovo Legion Go S with Windows. When you combined Windows' cumbersome, battery-draining design with the hardware deficiencies of the Legion Go S and its way-too-high price, you had a product I couldn't recommend to anyone. The Steam OS version, though, is a fine choice for anyone who really likes the Steam Deck but wishes that it catered a bit more to their own play style and priorities. Lenovo Legion Go S - Powered By Steam OS Native Steam OS integration • Large display • Great price MSRP: $599.99 The first true Steam Deck competitor. The Legion Go S with Steam OS is the first gaming handheld to feature the same operating system as the category-defining Steam Deck. See price at Manufacturer site Positives Native Steam OS integration Native Steam OS integration Large display Large display VRR support VRR support Great price Cons Too heavy Too heavy Nerfed trackpad Nerfed trackpad Can be game support issues Can be game support issues Questionable design
Android Authority
7 days ago
- Android Authority
Google Clock starts drip-feeding its big Material 3 Expressive makeover
Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR Google Clock v7.14 brings small but noticeable visual updates to the alarm and settings toggles. The refreshed toggle design is part of Google's shift toward Material 3 Expressive. A full redesign is expected with version 8 of the Clock app. Google's Clock app is still waiting on its big Material 3 Expressive makeover, but a more minor update is already starting to move the visuals in that direction. Version 7.14 of the app introduces some subtle UI tweaks, and you can already check them out. The most obvious change is in the app toggle switches. They've been refreshed with a chunkier, more rounded design, an outline that shows in the off position, and a slightly brighter color scheme. You'll see the new look in the alarm list and the settings menu, giving the app a more modern feel without overhauling the core layout. It's a small tweak, but one that fits neatly into Google's evolving design language. Alarms before redesign Settings before redesign Alarms after redesign Settings after redesign These changes lay the foundations as Google preps a much more dramatic revamp of the Clock app. Back in May, we got a look at the full redesign expected in Version 8, showcasing some of the boldest Material 3 Expressive visuals yet. That version includes oversized fonts, an updated alarm creation panel, redesigned buttons for dismissing alarms, and a wallpaper-based background to replace the old blank canvas. None of those larger changes are live yet, but today's update shows Google is setting the stage. Clock v7.14 may not be a huge leap forward, but we'll keep a close eye out for the complete revamp in future versions. 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.
