Save up to 40% on a new Anker portable charger!

There are a few Anker portable chargers currently on sale in the UK, which are more than ideal for adventures and trips out the front door. If you’re heading away this holiday season and may find yourself low on power without access to an outlet, simply plug your smartphone into a portable power bank and you’ll be good to go in no time at all.

There are a few capacities to choose from, including 20000mAh and 26800mAh. Be sure to act quickly and order one if interested as this promotion is only good for today, December 19.

See at Amazon

Best Games of 2016

The games we played most in 2016.

There’s nothing like taking some time out of a busy day to play a few minutes of a favorite mobile game. Here at Android Central, a diversity of opinion leads to a bevy of gaming choices.

Here are our favorite games that either came out in 2016, or received significant updates.

Andrew Martonik — Tap Tap Dash

I really don’t play many mobile games, so when I do they have to be simple, casual titles that can be picked up for a bit to kill time and then set aside for a while when I’m doing other things. Tap Tap Dash is one that I keep around and play from time to time because it hits all of those boxes.

It’s an on-rails game that literally requires one action: tapping the screen to move your character. You make your way through various maze-like levels of varying difficulty, and there are hundreds of levels to get through. There are a few in-app purchases, but they aren’t required to get through the game. It’s a fun time-killer and worth checking out.

Download Tap Tap Dash (free, in-app purchases)

Daniel Bader — PinOut

PinOut is the, um, breakout game of the year for me. It’s an endless runner and pinball combined into one of the most enjoyable bite-sized gaming experiences I can remember. Mediocre, the sardonically-named developer behind PinOut, is famous for other addictive-and-accessible games like Granny Smith, Does Not Commute, and my favorite, Smash Hit.

But PinOut is great because it doesn’t try to reinvent pinball; rather, it uses pinball as a vehicle for constant progress, a tenet lacking in other genre games that made them stale quickly. Couple that with the unique power-ups and mini-games and you have yourself what is, in my opinion, the best mobile game of 2016.

Download PinOut (free, in-app purchases)

Russell Holly — Pokémon Go

I don’t usually play mobile games for more than a week before moving on to the next distraction, but like Ingress before it I played quite a bit of Pokémon Go this year. As a result, I’ve met some great new people and used the game as an excuse to take my family on adventures to places all around Maryland I otherwise never would have gone to.

Download: Pokémon Go (free, in-app purchases)

Alex Dobie — Lumines

Lumines finally, finally came to Android this fall, allowing me to relive the decade-old Sony PSP puzzler on mobile. For the uninitiated, the premise of Lumines is simple: you need to arrange colored blocks to form patterns of four or more of the same color, with blocks of four descending from on high. Standard puzzle game fare.

But what makes Lumines unique is the musical aspect. As you progress through the game, not only does the speed increase and the difficulty ramp up, but you also progress through tracks, each with their own unique color schemes, visual styles, drop rates and electronic soundtrack. Lumines is a great way to kill a few minutes — or an entire afternoon. And it’s a steal at its Play Store price of $2.99.

Download: Lumines ($2.99)

Florence Ion — Pokemon: TCG Online

While the rest of you are outside in the winter cold, hunting for a virtual Pikachu with a Santa Hat, I am laying in my warm bed, with my heat pad on my feet and a hot cup of cocoa in my hand, cuddling with my tablet and Pokemon: The Card Game Online.

I downloaded the game late last year, after hearing the news of Pokemon Go and deciding I wanted a different experience than simply running around town, catching them all. No, instead I battle anonymous people on the internet with Pokemon cards and spend the coins I win in tournaments on more packs of Pokemon cards. In fact, I’m so addicted to creating the perfect deck, that I also buy the physical cards at the grocery store just for the redemption codes. I am a monster.

Download: Pokemon: TCG Online (free, in-app purchases)

Marc Lagace — Clash Royale

This is a tough one to answer because there’s been so many amazing games released for Android in 2016 (quick shoutouts to Alto’s Adventure, Reigns and Sky Force Reloaded), but if I had to settle on just one game, it would have to be Clash Royale. Supercell has done a great job keeping the game mechanics balanced while consistently adding new cards and features throughout the year. Having quickly fell off the Clash of Clans bandwagon, I didn’t exactly have high hopes for Clash Royale going in, but I was instantly hooked by the fast-paced action and focus on developing winning strategies that Clash Royale kept my attention like no other game did in 2017.

Download: Clash Royale (free, in-app purchases)

Jen Karner — Marvel Avengers Academy

Anybody who knows me, knows that I a gigantic Marvel fan. So it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Marvel Avengers Academy is my favorite Android game for 2016. Based around collecting characters, and completing small missions everything comes together for a lot of fun. While the game relies a bit too heavily at times on in-app purchases, the constant events and appearance of new characters tends to make it up for it.

Download: Marvel Avengers Academy (free, in-app purchases)

Ara Wagoner — Disney Emoji Blitz

Disney Emoji Blitz is the longest I’ve played a game in a many years, which as a non-gamer is saying something. I’ve always been a sucker for the match-three style game, but this app is something special. Disney Emoji Blitz is more than a game, it’s an emoji keyboard, too, albeit a really, really bad one. You can only share three Disney emoji in a string at a time, the keyboard doesn’t utilize any of the Nougat image keyboard features, and is cumbersome as all get-out. But at least what you’re racking up in the game has some tiny benefit outside the app.

The game itself is addictive, new characters are added and campaigns arise regularly enough to keep you interested and to sway us to shell out for in-game purchases. After blowing $15 and still not getting Sorcerer Mickey, I’m swearing myself off in-game purchases a while, but even without them the game is still fun and genuinely challenging at times. Once Disney updates it to work with Nougat’s image keyboard support, this app is gonna be my new best friend. Until then, it’s a lovely way to kill time I don’t have to waste.

Download: Disney Emoji Blitz (free, in-app purchases)

Jerry Hildenbrand — Knights of Pen and Paper

Knights of Pen and Paper came to Android in 2013, but it’s as good today as it was then. A take on the classic RPG, with a great story and simple but thoughtful controls. It’s easy to play, but not because it’s been dumbed-down. If you’re looking for a challenging old-school dice-roller with a ton of content that won’t get stale (I’m on day 2,300 of my current playthrough) give KOPP a look.

Download: Knights of Pen and Paper ($4.99)

Why you shouldn’t download paid Android apps for free

Everyone likes free stuff. I love free stuff. But nothing in life is really free.

We’re not your mom, and we’re not going to get into the middle of a morals debate on software piracy and if it’s really stealing. But we can give you a couple of really good reasons not to download a pirated copy of a paid app.

It’s a good way to get malware

Yup. Malware. Most of what you hear about malware on Android phones is sensationalism designed to make you click a link. Much of it is proof-of-concept work that never will see the wild. Finding an exploit and distributing that exploit are two very different things. But it does happen, and almost all of it happens to people who download apps that didn’t come from Google Play.

Taking an Android app and opening it up so you can edit things — like removing a license check — is simple and the tools are readily available. So are countless tutorials about using those tools. That makes it easy for almost anyone to drop other code into an app. But almost anything you could do to an app will make Google Play’s Bouncer — an automated tool that checks the integrity of every app in Google Play and can tell if bad things are inside — trigger and block the app so nobody can see it or download it. That’s what keeps Google Play the safest place to get Android apps.

Google’s Bouncer will keep you safe almost all the time. Is “almost” good enough for you?

Bouncer will also scan apps on your phone you didn’t download from Google Play if you let it — you’ll see it ask you the first time you sideload something. This keeps almost all the malware you read about in check and away from your phone. But the whole thing is a game of cat and mouse between Bouncer and some really smart people who want to do things they shouldn’t be doing to your phone. All these people need is for you to download the altered apps and the easiest way to do it is to entice you with something you can’t have or something that you’re getting for free instead of paying 99-cents for. Everyone likes free stuff.

Smart people at Google are at war with smart people who want to put malware on your phone and neither side can ever win.

When Google picks up on one way of doing things, those bad people start using another. It almost sounds like a James Bond villain at work, but when you consider that about a gazillion people downloaded pirated software last year (and will this year) it’s not hard to see why this can be lucrative for the right ones.

There’s one easy way to keep your phone from being part of some malware statistic you hear about online — download your apps from Google Play. If you’re supposed to pay for an app or a chest of 100 gold coins, pay for them. Chances are that the 99-cents you’re paying are a lot less than your bill would be with midnight text messages to a country you’ve never been to and don’t know anyone in.

App piracy on Android has real-life repercussions

App piracy makes baby Mario cry and Nintendo publish for the iPhone first.

Deserving or not, the Android platform and its users has a bad reputation with many developers and software publishers. Take Nintendo, which has this to say about Super Mario Run:

For us, we view our software as being a very important asset for us. And also for consumers who are purchasing the game, we want to make sure that we’re able to offer it to them in a way that the software is secure, and that they’re able to play it in a stable environment.

We wanted to be able to leverage that network connection with all three of the Super Mario Run modes to keep all of the modes functioning together and offering the game in a way that keeps the software secure. This is something that we want to continue to work on as we continue to develop the game.

But actually, the security element is one of the reasons that we decided to go with iPhone and iOS first. So this is just — based on the current development environment — a requirement that’s been built into the game to support security and the fact that the three different modes are connecting to the network and interacting with one another.

The emphasis there (in bold) is mine.

In that slew of words, one of the things they are saying is that iOS is safer for them because on Android their game would be yanked off of phones that can use it and passed around to everyone with Nintendo having no say in its distribution. And they are 100% correct. It’s getting passed around on iPhones, too, but it’s not nearly as easy to do on iOS so the piracy numbers are tiny compared to what will happen when they release it for Android. They know this, I know this, and you know this. Any software that arrives or update that comes is available to everyone about an hour after it’s been released. Even if it’s free software, that’s piracy. And it doesn’t matter that most people aren’t doing it because millions and millions of people are.

Developers fight piracy on all platforms, but some make it easier to do than others.

This isn’t a new thing. A long time ago it was hard to find an Android device that could install Netflix unless you pirated it. A casual conversation with a developer on the project told me why — because the same day they released a Netflix app for Android as a test with known hardware, the app was available for everyone to sideload. That wrecked their methods of testing for best performance and soured them on the entire platform. Spending a lot of time and money then seeing it all go to crap because we had to have something right now and had the means to pirate it can do that. Those developers didn’t blame you if you pirated Netflix. They blamed Google for not caring and giving them tools to protect their “property” like Apple does and locking Android down.

Every time you pirate a paid app, you make this problem worse. You don’t have to care, you won’t ever get into trouble and you can get in the comments of this post and act all indignant about it. That doesn’t change anything.

One person can’t change a statistic but we all can still do our part to fix a serious problem for Android app developers: Piracy.

If you’re ever in a room full of mobile app developers, ask them. Find out how much money they make from their Android apps and if piracy is a problem. They’ll tell you. And most of them would also tell you they wish Android was more locked up like iOS because of it. Since that probably isn’t going to happen in any meaningful way, they will just stay discouraged. They aren’t as discouraged with piracy on iOS and can make more money coding apps for iOS. You do the math there and figure out what that means when it’s time to build the next great app.

You and me not pirating one app isn’t going to change anything. But it means we’re not part of the problem. The same thing goes if 10,000 of us stop doing it or 100,000 of us. There are a lot of Android users. But it has to start somewhere, right?

BlackBerry opens research center to improve QNX-powered autonomous vehicles

BlackBerry moves even further into software.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry announced that it was shifting research and development for its QNX platform, which powers the infotainment systems in millions of cars around the world, to include autonomous vehicles. The idea was to leverage QNX’s powerful embedded position in the industry to leverage BlackBerry as a contender in the self-driving car space against the likes of Tesla, Apple and Google.

Now, the company is opening a dedicated facility in Ottawa, with support from the Canadian government, to further those plans. From Reuters:

After a detour where QNX’s industrial-focused software was used to reinvent the now-discarded BlackBerry phone operating system, BlackBerry is focused on how its embedded software interacts with the explosion of sensors, cameras and other components required for a car to drive itself.

But while deep-pocketed Silicon Valley has invested heavily in the artificial intelligence and machine learning required for autonomy, more financially constrained BlackBerry has not, eyeing instead a niche role as a trusty sidekick.

BlackBerry will try to insert its QNX tech into the places that matter most to customers: safety and reliability, helping manufacturers like Ford and “more than one or two major global automakers” make their self-driving cars more intelligent and better able to adapt to the unpredictable nature of live roads. BlackBerry received permission to test self-driving technology in the province of Ontario, where its Waterloo headquarters is located, with Ford vehicles.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the opening of the new research facility, which has support from federal and provincial levels of government.

360-degree videos to help get you ready for Christmas!

Replace your world with something a little more Christmas-y.

Some people hit the day after Thanksgiving and immediately flip into Christmas Mode, and some feel that excitement at friends and family opening their gifts a little closer to the holiday. It’s a great feeling when it comes naturally, but a handful of folks out there need something to kick start that Christmas spirit with a specific event. Sometimes it’s that first glass of egg nog, or seeing family you haven’t seen in a while.

Other times it can be seeing your favorite holiday movie, and with VR and 360-degree videos filling the world there are some great new short experiences for you to dive into. Here’s a look at some of our favorites, guaranteed to get you ready for the holiday!

Read more at VR Heads!

8 Great Tech Gifts for Mom and Dad

Eight Great Tech Gifts For Mom & Dad

Mom and dad deserve the best, but they also need something that may be a bit more accessible than the average tech gift. These are some of our favorite gifts that only need a brief introduction, and perhaps a power outlet, and you’re good to go!

Jabra Move Bluetooth headphones

Jabra makes great headphones, and these ones don’t need wires — the perfect introduction to the world of Bluetooth headphones. They sound great, are easy to set up, and last eight hours, so mom and dad can relax in comfort, anywhere, anytime.

$99 Buy Now

Amazon Echo

Probably the piece of tech that most easily induces “WOW” moments in the house, the Echo is not new, but it’s really come into its own this year. With plenty of voice-related marvels at your disposal, mom and dad will be asking for news, music, and to turn on and off the lights in no time!

from $139 Buy Now

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

There may be Voyage and Oasis with more features, but the best ereader bang for the buck — and the easiest way to get started reading on the go — is still the Kindle Paperwhite. It’s got a big, bright screen, amazing selection, and plenty of storage for even the massive anthologies. Plus, the e-ink screen never gets drowned out by the sun, so mom and dad can take it to the pool, the beach, or the park.

$99 Buy Now

Sonos Play:1

Music never sounds better than when you don’t have to mess with wires, receivers, apps and adapters. Sonos Play:1 is the best-sounding speaker you can put anywhere in your home, with an app so easy and a feature set so intuitive that mom and dad can just press play. Available in black or white, Play:1 hooks into practically every streaming music service, free or paid, and can sync with other units for multi-room parties.

from $169 Buy Now

Nixplay Seed 7-inch Wi-Fi photo frame

Everyone loves photos, but no one prints them anymore. Take that hassle away by getting mom and dad a Wi-Fi-enabled digital photo frame that can download images and video from the cloud. There’s even an app for iOS and Android that sends photos from any phone. Available in four awesome colors!

$99 Buy Now

iPad Air 2

There’s nothing like being able to pick up a tablet and have it just work and to date the iPad is the best example of that. Despite its low $399 entry point, the iPad Air 2 is one of the best and most versatile computers you can buy today, featuring a blazing fast A8X processor and nearly every app you can think of. And then there’s FaceTime to easily connect mom and dad with the family, and a great camera to capture those embarrassing moments.

from $399Buy Now

Fitbit Charge 2

Easy to set up, fun to use, and incredibly comfortable, the Fitbit Charge 2 is one of the best fitness tech gifts you can give mom or dad this year. With great apps for iOS, Android and Windows, unparalleled support, and a huge network of people ready to challenge and motivate, the Charge 2 is Fitbit’s best tracker yet. Even better? It lasts five days on a battery charge!

from $129 Buy Now

Spotify subscription

Spotify is everywhere, and it’s one of the best ways to access music, podcasts and music videos on practically any screen. At $9.99 per month, it’s inexpensive enough to gift for a year, and its apps are well designed and easy to use on all platforms.

$9.99 Buy Now

Apple HomeKit tips and tricks with Apple TV

Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem works really well with just an iOS device like an iPhone or and iPad, but to really make the most of Apple’s smart home offering and the hundreds of accessories that go with it, you really should add an Apple TV into the mix.

• Apple HomeKit tips and tricks without Apple TV
• A guide to Elgato Eve HomeKit accessories
• What you need to get started with HomeKit
• Five reasons to invest in a HomeKit device for your home
• Five scenarios for getting more from Apple HomeKit

Adding the Apple TV allows you to not only remotely access your HomeKit enabled accessories, but also to turn on automations allowing your home to do things given a set of rules and instructions even when you aren’t there.

We’ve put together a number of tips, that you can put into action if you have an Apple TV 4.

How to connect your Apple TV to your HomeKit installation

Go to your Apple TV. Turn it on. Open settings. Click on iCloud. Make sure you are logged in to your iCloud account. You might need to log out and log back in again. There is no dedicated Home app or details on the Apple TV so it all works in the background. If it has worked, you’ll be able to add automations to your scenes via the Home app on your iPhone.

How to create a HomeKit automation

You can control accessories and run scenes automatically by time of day, your location, or another accessory with an Apple TV running as your home hub. Make sure the Apple TV is running the latest version of iOS 10 and that it is connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

To create a HomeKit automation, open the Home app on your iPhone, tap the Automation tab, then tap Create new Automation. Choose when you want the automation to occur.

There are four options available: Automation based on changes to your location, the time of day, when an accessory is controlled, and if a sensor detects something.

Select scenes and accessories to automate. Then tap Next. Finally verify the accessories and scenes you want. You can touch and hold an accessory or scene to adjust its settings. To finish, tap Done.

Turn off or delete an automation

If you’ve decided you don’t want the automation you’ve created, you can delete it. Open the Home app and tap the Automation tab. Tap the automation. Turn off Enable This Automation or tap Delete Automation. You can also swipe left over the automation and tap Delete. Done.

Use your iPad as a replacement Apple TV

You don’t actually need an Apple TV to get automations working with your HomeKit devices. You can use an iPad running iOS 10. The only catch, is that the iPad needs to be in the house on the same Wi-Fi network as the HomeKit accessories to work. As soon as you travel with the iPad the automations won’t happen.

To set your iPad up as a Home Hub. Go to Settings > iCloud, sign in with your Apple ID and check that iCloud Keychain and Home are both turned on. Now go to Settings > Home and turn on Use this iPad as a Home Hub.

Use you Apple TV to get remote access

Because the Apple TV acts as a secure gateway to your HomeKit accessories, you can access your home remotely on your iOS device through Apple TV. Do things like lock your front door, view live camera video of the doorway or run scenes.

Make sure you use an Apple TV 4

Although you can use an Apple TV 3rd generation to give you basic access, to effectively utilize automation using rules and timers, Apple TV 4 is the best solution. The older Apple TV 3 does not offer this functionality. If your setup includes HomeKit accessories that use Bluetooth, you’ll appreciate the Apple TV 4’s much improved Bluetooth antenna range.

Using Siri On Your TV to control your HomeKit accessories

With Siri Remote, everyone in your house or visitors can easily control your home, or simply query accessory values, via your television equipped with Apple TV 4 and Siri.

That means tasks like turning up the heater, checking the outdoor temperature, dimming the lights, or turning off a Eve Energy plug (UK, US) can be done without leaving the couch or even using an iOS device.

Get a second Apple TV

Some Apple HomeKit devices, like the Elgato range of smart home accessories, work via Bluetooth rather than using your home Wi-Fi network. By having more than one Apple TV, you can connect Bluetooth devices around your home (when in range) to the Apple TV so you can sync all the information accordingly. In other words, multiple Apple TVs automatically serve as range extenders.

Share your HomeKit devices and edit permissions for users

Without Apple TV you can’t share your scenes or devices with others in your house. If you want to add members to your home, you can invite other people and give them access to your home. With an Apple TV or iPad as a home hub, you can allow editing on a per-user basis, and you can also choose to let them control accessories while inside the house or remotely.

To manage remote access and change permissions for a person go to the Home app, and tap on the location icon in the top left of the screen. Then enter the iCloud email address of the person you want to invite. Once you’ve invited them you can then allow Remote access and whether or not they have the ability to edit your set up. You can also remove them if you decide you don’t like them anymore.

Update your iPhone and iPad to iOS 10.2

Although HomeKit works perfectly with iOS 10 and iOS 10.1, iOS 10.2 adds new functionality to get notification support for HomeKit accessories including window coverings, occupancy, motion, door/window, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak sensors. Now when a HomeKit enabled accessory like the Eve door&window is triggered you’ll get a notification of the fact. That’s incredibly handy if you need to be alerted that a door has opened you weren’t expecting or you are seeing what time other members of your house really did get home.

More…

Know any great Apple TV HomeKit tips or tricks we’ve missed. Let us know in the comments below.

Black hole detection is becoming much easier

It’s still relatively difficult to spot black holes (after all, they trap light), but it may be relatively commonplace in the near future. An international team of researchers has developed a detection technique that should identify a more frequent 10 black holes per year. By using radio telescopes to capture multiple snapshots of gravitational microlensing events (where objects like black holes bend light), you can obtain details like distance, mass and velocity for subjects you can’t easily study using visible light.

If the approach works as promised, it could help astronomers make up for lost time in a big way. The University of Waterloo claims that it could double the list of known black holes within 2 years, and that it could fundamentally change our understanding of black hole history within 10 years. Scientists could study the nature of black holes as a broader group, rather than focusing on individual examples. While there’s no guarantee of meeting that goal, even a modest increase in the black hole detection rate could significantly improve our understanding of the universe.

Source: University of Waterloo, The Astrophysical Journal