In this week’s top stories: The Google Home app adds the Nest Wifi usage history, Pixel brand loyalty allegedly drops, OnePlus Watch does not carry Wear OS after all, and more.
Along with the announcement of the second-generation Nest hub, the Google Home app has been updated with enhanced features for the Nest Wifi family of devices. As of the update, you now have access to a new “Speed and Usage” section in the Network Information, with graphs for individual devices as well as the network as a whole.
These Nest Wifi usage graphs were previously a major omission for the Google Home app. This app was only available in the old Google Wifi client, which is now ripe for aging. Last year, Home added advanced Wifi settings and the ability to import existing networks.
A new report comes out this week indicating that far fewer Pixel owners will buy a Pixel than their next phone, which will drop from 84% to 65.2%. In contrast, 92% of surveyed iPhone owners from the same report said they would buy an iPhone other than their next smartphone.
It’s honestly not that hard to see why these numbers have dropped. Google’s Pixel range over the past two years has had some rocky points, with the very low battery endurance of the Pixel 4 and the confusing range of Pixel 4a, 4a 5G and Pixel 5. With the company’s 2020 phones we do not There are really big complaints about the quality of Google’s most recent phones, but the lack of larger XL models and a stagnant but still competitive camera is sure to get some users looking elsewhere.
One of the more anticipated carriers this year is the OnePlus Watch, which is rumored to be offered on Google’s Wear OS platform at some point. Instead, Pete Lau of OnePlus outlined some aspects of the upcoming watch, including the fact that it would work on ‘RTOS’ instead of Wear OS, for the sake of battery life and more.
Lau further explains that the OnePlus Watch has a ‘beautiful and carefree design’, as well as connectivity to OnePlus smartphones and TVs. A report earlier today states that the watch can be used as a remote control for the Android TVs. Apparently it will also all be an ‘affordable’ price point.
Android fans were very excited this week when Google launched the second Android 12 Developer Preview. We have carefully gathered all the changes, big and small, that can be found in the update, and also summarized the most important changes in a video.
One of the more noticeable changes to Android 12 on Pixel phones is that the dark theme is significantly lighter than before. On Android 11, the dark theme of the Google Pixel phones is ‘AMOLED black’, but Android 12 now uses a medium gray that looks like the shadow used in the dark mode of various Google apps.
Why the sudden change? We are not entirely sure. Google has announced that even gray themes can save batteries on OLED screens compared to white, so it goes without saying that a lighter gray will save battery. It’s a strange choice, but like I said, I dig into its appearance.
The rest of the week’s top stories follow:
Android |
Android 12 |
Programs and Updates |
Made by Google |
OnePlus |
YouTube |
Videos |
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