Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Government
Welcome to the 364th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here’s the big news of the past week:
- Parler makes a kind of comeback. The CEO posted a message this week. Apparently the site will be back in the near future. Tim Cook also said the app could return to the Apple App Store if the service improves the moderation techniques. Click the link to read everything.
- WhatsApp’s privacy policy is still causing a lot of problems. The chat app delayed the change because everyone hated it. People flocking to other services have basically crashed Signal’s servers. It is so bad that the Indian government has even asked WhatsApp to withdraw the changes. We’ll keep you posted, but the WhatsApp thing is currently a major fiasco.
- CBS All Access changes its name. This will be after the change Paramount Plus. The service is also being launched in North and Latin America around the same time. Everything should happen between February 24 and mid-March, with more global launches later this year.
- There are a few things that come to mind about potential Android 12 changes for apps. The first is a new app hibernation feature. The feature basically cleans the closet after putting an app into hibernation to save space. We do not know much yet, but more details should come when the Android 12 beta comes out. In addition, Google can process its split screen mode by allowing users to group apps together and launch at the same time. Samsung phones and a few other OEMs have all this feature, but it would be nice to see Android in stock.
- The founder of Pebble unveiled a new app this week. Beeper is a massive all-in-one messaging app with support for a bunch of popular services. It provides support for Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook Messenger and others. It also provides support for iMessage, though the part is a bit tricky in terms of the finer details. Click on the link to find out more and you can also sign up for the beta.
Raising Archangel
Price: Free to play
Raising Archangel is an idle game mixed with an RPG. It’s pretty standard when it comes to mechanics. You raise characters, they do things in the background and you earn resources to use for further upgrades. The game contains a lot of equipment and other stuff to help the process along with a PvP mode. It’s a bit heavy on ads because it’s the most important way to earn the secondary currency in the game. It certainly has some issues, but it’s a fun little time killer.
CoreSpecs
Price: Free
CoreSpecs is a neat tool. With the app, you can see sensor data information of all the sensors on your phone. It supports more than a dozen sensors, including the usual things like an accelerometer and gyroscope. It also includes support for heart rate sensors, pedometers, humidity, light and other things. Your device should have the sensors so the app can show data for it, but otherwise it worked well in our testing. There are not really too many use cases for such an app, but there is one if you want it.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Government
Dream score: soccer champion
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Dream Score: Soccer Champion is a soccer and team management simulator. Players build their teams, help them win and upgrade their teams throughout the course of the game. There is also a PvE and PvP mode in case you want to test your skills to other players. It includes a deep upgrade path, the ability to define your strategies and other things as well. It takes a while to see all the features, but it definitely competes well with other football simulators on Google Play.
Color in
Price: Free / $ 5.99 per month / $ 29.99 per year
Colorize is a photography app. It turns black and white photos into color photos. Users can scan their photos in the app and it uses an algorithm to add color. You can also use images from your gallery if you like. That’s basically all the app does. It also worked very well in our tests. There is an optional subscription. It allows for an unlimited number of photo conversions, unlimited number of photo savings, etc. It is not necessary for short projects, but you may want to invest for a month and cancel later if you want to use it a lot.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Government
Princess Connect! Re: Dive
Price: Free to play
Princess Connect! Re: Dive is a new gacha RPG. Well, that’s pretty new. The game was actually launched in Japan in 2018 and was only recently introduced to worldwide audiences. There is also an anime and other media. The game is like most gachas. There is a strong focus on the story and also on inviting characters to play with. You can upgrade characters, go through the story and do a few other things as well. Players seem to enjoy the generosity of the game towards its players and the cute artwork of the game. It should end up being very popular.
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