Android Q beta 2 brings Facebook Messenger-style 'chat heads' called Bubbles

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Android Q beta 2 brings Facebook Messenger-style ‘chat heads’ called Bubbles July 29, 2025 Today’s release of thesecond betaforAndroid Qofficially added a new feature for the mobile operating system. It’s called Bubbles, and it’s basically a different kind of notification, but one that also is a bit familiar as well. If you have used theFacebook Messenger app, you know that when a new chat message shows up on your screen, it results in a circular icon (better known as a “chat head”) popping up on your screen, with your friend’s Facebook profile picture or avatar....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 413 words · Matthew Mcbride

Andy Rubin’s upcoming “Essential” smartphone specs might have leaked online

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Andy Rubin’s upcoming “Essential” smartphone specs might have leaked online July 04, 2025 The specs of Andy Rubin’s upcoming “Essential” smartphone might have leaked online via Android benchmarking tool GFXBench. The benchmark was spotted by Russian websiteMobileTelefon.ru, with the moniker “Essential FIH-PM1” — the FIH part indicating that the device would be produced by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) International Holdings, as had previously been speculated....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 350 words · Angela Knapp MD

Best of Android 2017: What phone offers the best User Experience?

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Best of Android 2017: What phone offers the best User Experience? July 20, 2025 The latest flagship Android smartphones are becoming increasingly homogenous, with similar specs and features, and as such, the differences are constantly getting smaller. How do you decide which device offers the best overall package? For most users, it comes down to the overall experience, and this week,we’ve explored different areas of the overall experience, including thedisplay,audio,battery,performanceandcamera....

July 12, 2025 · 7 min · 1350 words · Andrew Harris

Check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in full 360 degree action (Updated)

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Check out the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra in full 360 degree action (Updated) June 28, 2025 Update: June 13, 2025 at 6PM ET:Need more proof that the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is launching soon? Evan Blass, the tipster who revealed the high-quality GIF of the Note 20 a few days ago, justpublished another GIF, this time of the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 281 words · Justin Liu

Essential ditches 8.0 Oreo release, but gives news on 8.1 beta

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Essential ditches 8.0 Oreo release, but gives news on 8.1 beta June 04, 2025 WithAndroid 8.0 Oreohaving been officially released in August last year, for the past few months Android users have been enduring the long wait for their phones to receive the update. While it took some time, as we enter the new year,more and moreAndroid owners have been receiving their updates....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 306 words · Dawn Brown

Fancy a dual-booting Android phone that can play PC games?

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Fancy a dual-booting Android phone that can play PC games? August 15, 2025 History says you don’t. While this device type has never appeared in this formulation before, others like it have: just remember Nokia’s bizarre N-Gage that went nowhere fast as a goofy attempt at a phone combined with a handheld game system. Don’t know anyone that ever bought one?...

July 12, 2025 · 5 min · 938 words · Deborah Gonzalez

Google Assistant on Pixel is getting more robust home control

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google Assistant on Pixel is getting more robust home control June 23, 2025 Owners of theGoogle Pixel and Pixel XLmay soon be able to control their smart home devices from their phone, viaGoogle Assistant. A handful of Pixel users have reported that the Assistant app has been updated to allow for such support, without the need to use theGoogle Homeconnected speaker....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 307 words · Matthew Melendez

Google Fiber sets its sights on Los Angeles and Chicago

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google Fiber sets its sights on Los Angeles and Chicago Jun 05, 2025 More than six million people might be getting access to Google’s famous 1Gbps internet. Today, Google publicly invited city leaders from both Los Angeles and Chicago to consider bringing Google Fiber to their respective cities. Long the dream of high bandwidth users fed up with traditional internet service providers,Google Fiberis currently limited to eighteen major cities across the United States....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 344 words · Fred Wood

Google Home pre-orders begin in Canada for June 26 launch

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google Home pre-orders begin in Canada for June 26 launch August 25, 2025 TheGoogle Homeconnected speaker is now available to purchase in yet another country. Pre-orders are now being accepted on the Google Store site in Canada for the speaker, as well as other retailers such as Best Buy, for the price of $179 CDN. This is just the third country in the world where you can buy Google Home....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 323 words · Deborah Thompson

Google Pixel XL 2 could feature AOD and ‘always-on' squeezable shortcut

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google Pixel XL 2 could feature AOD and ‘always-on' squeezable shortcut July 06, 2025 According to the latest rumor, this year’s Pixel XL – presumably called the Pixel XL 2 – will feature an always-on OLED screen, squeezable frame that works even when the screen is off, and at least two display settings. As we approach the end of summer, we are seeing more and more rumors surrounding Google’s upcoming flagship duo....

July 12, 2025 · 3 min · 482 words · Arthur Vazquez

Google reveals timeline for retirement of 'classic' Hangouts (Update: Google clarifies)

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google reveals timeline for retirement of ‘classic’ Hangouts (Update: Google clarifies) August 04, 2025 Update, July 19, 2025 (06:42 PM ET):We received word from Google after publishing this article with some clarifying remarks on the status of Google Hangouts. In the article below, we suggest that Google will be splitting off paid and free versions of Google Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat....

July 12, 2025 · 3 min · 500 words · Dwayne Thomas

Google rolling out high priority email notifications to some Inbox users

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google rolling out high priority email notifications to some Inbox users July 01, 2025 Some users of Google’s popularInbox email clientare getting a new, and much requested, feature to play with. They are reporting that a new option is available in the app’s settings, which allows Inbox to only send out notifications for incoming emails that are considered to be high priority....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 251 words · Brian Petersen

Google tried to recreate a DSLR photo with a Nexus 6P — and it worked

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission.Learn more. Google tried to recreate a DSLR photo with a Nexus 6P — and it worked June 14, 2025 Great low-light pictures have been traditionally difficult to achieve with smartphone cameras. Strides have been made in recent years, and OEMs often boast about this progress in their flagship’s press materials, but there’s still work to be done. Florian Kainz, a software engineer working with Google’sGcamteam, recently blogged about this topic....

July 12, 2025 · 2 min · 308 words · Andrea Ramirez