Google reveals when on-device tech support for Pixel phones will end

Why it matters to you

If you plan to keep your Pixel for the long haul, be aware that it will become a little harder to receive support down the road.

One of the Pixel and Pixel XL’s more minor but still very noteworthy features is its on-device tech support. Google’s phones come with an app preinstalled that puts you in instant contact with a representative via a phone call or chat. For more serious issues, you’re even given the ability to share your screen with the service agent for direct guidance.

Well, evidently that support won’t last forever. Google has announced that it will retire the app in October 2019 — three years since the phone’s launch, and the same month when it will also stop issuing security updates.

It’s noteworthy to stipulate that Google says there won’t be any “guaranteed” support for these devices after that date — so if you’re still rocking the original Pixel at the tail end of 2019, you’re welcome to call them up and try your luck, but you may come away disappointed.

Although Google’s first smartphone was a runaway success with demand quickly drying up for many of the higher-capacity, more premium models, the device hasn’t been without its own share of nagging issues. A couple of the more notable ones affected the microphone and audio playback, though Google eventually fixed these with updates in recent months. In these instances, many users definitely appreciated the convenience of on-device support.

At least it won’t be a surprise to customers when support finally does end. In April, the company also posted a schedule for the termination of Android system and security updates. The OS improvements will end a year before the security fixes, keeping in line with Google’s longstanding 18-month commitment to keeping devices current.

That 18-month program could change down the line if Google one day begins producing its own processors, as representatives from the company have hinted at in the past. Right now, the limited update schedule is partially the result of Qualcomm’s stranglehold on the Android industry as its most popular chipmaker, especially of high-end devices. Should Google enter the ring, it will have the freedom to decide when it’s finally time for its products to ride off into the sunset.

Apple’s new App Store policy will cut down on annoying ratings reminders

Why it matters to you

You will soon see a drastic reduction in the number of pop-ups requests asking you to rate apps.

Ever download a solicitous iOS app that begs for positive App Store reviews? Starting this week, though, Apple is clamping down on those and other forms of reminders that have historically skirted the App Store’s terms of service.

Section 1.1.7 of the new App Store policy dictates that developers “disallow custom review prompts” going forward. In the coming weeks, all apps will be required to implement Apple’s App Store rating API.

“Use the provided API to prompt users to review your app; this functionality allows customers to provide an App Store rating and review without the inconvenience of leaving your app, and we will disallow custom review prompts,” the revised guidelines state.

The new rating API, which Apple introduced during the iOS 10.3 beta period in May, has its benefits — most notably a built-in one-to-five scale that let users quickly rate an app without having to minimize it, open the App Store, and publish a review from there. But it is not perfect — 9to5Mac points out that it imposes strict limits on how often a rating prompt can be displayed. Pop-ups can only appear three times a year, and at least one year after a user leaves a review or a new version of the app has been released.

And the rating API lets users can switch prompts altogether. Apps that use it are affected by the global iTunes notification setting, which can be toggled in Settings, then iTunes & App Store, then In-App Ratings & Reviews.

Those drawbacks may have developers shaking their heads, but Apple addressed a few of the development community’s complaints in iOS 11. Now, developers can respond to user reviews in order to offer follow-up questions or express thanks. (Users can sign up to receive email alerts that arrive if a developer responds to their review.) Beefed-up search tools make finding reviews from users in different countries easier, and new reviews now filter into the iTunes Connect dashboard where developers manage the apps they offer for download on the App Store.

Apple also changed the way reviews work. In the past, releasing an app update would reset an app’s App Store star rating — which was based on reviews for the current version of the app rather than the all-versions aggregate — back to zero. From iOS 11, developers can preserve their star ratings across updates.

Despite Apple’s best efforts, app ratings manipulation continues to dog the App Store. In 2015, images from Chinese social media network Weibo showed an employee sitting in front of a bank of iPhones, installing apps, and rating them positively — reportedly in exchange for fees ranging from $11,200 to $65,000.

Google Maps helps you find Pride Month events in 35 cities around the world

Why it matters to you

Ready to celebrate Pride? Google Maps wants to help you get there and find more information about your local events.

It’s LGBT Pride Month in many cities around the world, and you might be wondering where you can get to join in the celebrations. Well folks, Google Maps is here to help! The company has updated Google Maps on Android and iOS with Pride parade routes to help participants find where the party is and where the party is going.

The new feature will be available in 35 cities around the world, and in the cities where it’s available you’ll be able to head to Google Maps to see a rainbow route showing exactly where the parade will take place. From there, you can tap the event to show more information like the kind of traffic you’ll run into, event hours, and a description of the event.

Maps will also show Pride events that aren’t parades, and they’ll be marked with a specially designed Pride icon. You’ll also be able to tap those icons to find out more information about the corresponding events. Maps is also showing things like road closures and detours that you might need to take if you’re in the area and don’t want to join the parades and celebrations.

Google isn’t the only company getting into the Pride spirit. Facebook revealed earlier this year that it would allow users to add a Pride-themed frame to their photos.

Google has been adding some great new features to Maps of late. In fact, the company just updated Maps to now show the layouts of subway stations, a feature that should be seriously helpful for those that live in big cities with a subway. The new feature hasn’t yet come to all subway stations, but it’s likely that will change over the next few months. And, it’s likely we’ll continue to get great new features in Maps over the next few months, too.

Innovators unite! Apple is making it a lot easier to develop with HomeKit

Why it matters to you

Apple has historically been comprised of a series of closed systems, but now, it’s starting to open things up, beginning with HomeKit.

Apple has managed to build an empire by being secretive, but it looks as though the times are finally changing. At this year’s WWDC, Apple began pulling back the veil — at least, around HomeKit. First introduced three years ago in the 2014 installation of the company’s famous Worldwide Developers Conference, HomeKit has historically been a decidedly closed system. Developers interested in working with the software had to integrate a dedicated authentication chip into a device, then undergo plenty of certification testing through the MFi (“Made for iPhone/iPod/iPad”) program. But that was so three years ago.

Now, any Apple developer with interest can start playing around with HomeKit. No longer will you have to integrate an authentication chip into your prototype. Rather, the whole authorization process can be done through software. And while there won’t be a chip anymore, Apple still promises that all the heavy-duty encryption will still be present.

You also won’t have to get an MFi license anymore to control prototypes of your connected devices. And these prototypes can even be developed atop cheap, easy-to-find hardware like Raspberry Pi and Arduino. That means that there will be a lot more experimentation in the coming months, and hopefully, a lot more innovation.

But don’t get too excited too quickly. If you want to actually bring an Apple smart home device to market for real, you’ll still have to go through MFi certification. And all things considered, it’s still a lot easier for tinkerers to develop new products with Amazon or Google, as integration with those two companies’ products happens largely in the cloud. But then again, Apple has much stronger encryption, which means much more secure devices.

So pick your poison, friends. But either way, you ought to have plenty of fun creating new smart home gadgetry this year.

Pixel and Pixel XL will stop getting on-device tech support in 2019

Google now says that the Pixel and Pixel XL will no longer be eligible for on-device phone tech support in October 2019.

When something goes wrong with your phone, you want to be able to call (or more usually chat) with someone that can help you fix it. Google currently offers on-device tech support that lets you call Google Support right from the Settings app if your Pixel gives you trouble, and those calls are going to go unanswered starting in October 2019. That date is, not coincidentally, also when the Pixel is going to stop receiving Android security updates.

The Pixel will also no longer be guaranteed Android version updates after October 2018, two years after it was announced. Putting expiration dates on a product is always a bit of a buzzkill, but I’m happy that Google has given us the dates, and I’m very happy with the dates they’ve given us.

Most phones are lucky to see Android version updates a year and a half after their release, and the Pixel will see at least two years of them. Most phones don’t receive many if any monthly security updates on their phones and the Pixel will see three years of them. Getting support for a two-year-old phone is unheard of, but you’ll still be able to call Google and get help with your Pixel for most of 2019, for a phone that came out in 2016. That’s pretty incredible.

Google has also updated the end-of-life dates for the last of the Nexus line. The Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P will not see an Android version update beyond Android O this fall, and they will stop receiving security updates September 2018, along with phone support at that same time.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

Google Store
Verizon

Learn everything you need to know to become a Graphic Designer!

Designing posters for events, making business cards, or creating graphics for Youtube videos all take powerful designing software to complete. The Adobe Creative Cloud is the gold standard in the design industry today, used by professionals and amateurs alike.

Learn Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for only $39! Learn more

While the Adobe CC is loaded with powerful programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, they won’t be much good to you unless you know how to use them, and learning how to use these sophisticated software programs can be tricky. Android Central Digital Offers has the perfect solution.

Right now, through Android Central Digital Offers you can receive the Graphic Design Certification School: Lifetime Subscription!

This bundle of courses gives you lifetime access to valuable training content for three of Adobe’s most popular designing programs. Regardless of your skill level coming into the courses, you will learn essential skills for using Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Here’s just a sampling of the topics covered:

• Use selection tools, work with layers, master crop and transform functions, and more.
• Apply Photoshop filters, layer styles, and explore adjustment layers.
• Understand the Type tool, blending shapes and colors, and basic effects.
• Discover transparency and graphic styles.
• Use templates and styles to speed up creating documents.
• Explore graphic file formats and print terminology.

This entire bundle would normally cost you over $1,100 but is available right now through Android Central Digital Offers for only $39!

That’s right if you act now, you can get the Graphic Design Certification School for a 96% discount!

Lifetime access to the best design programs! Learn more

How to get the best Daydream games for free

With a few tricks, you can get the Daydream games you crave for absolutely free.

Daydream delivers plenty of excellent games, apps, and experiences, that are all delivered directly from your phone. However if you’re trying to pick up all the games that have caught your eye, and you happen to be on a budget, then you might quickly find yourself unable to afford everything you desperately want to play. Thankfully there are a few ways you can save some money, and get yourself the games you really want…for free.

Read more at VR Heads!

Boston Dynamics and its lifelike robots have been sold to SoftBank

Boston Dynamics is getting a new owner again.

Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. has decided to sell Boston Dynamics, which it bought back in 2013, to technology holdings group SoftBank for an undisclosed amount. Boston Dynamics frequently makes the rounds on social media (and regular media) whenever it puts out videos of their adorable dog-like robots… or of their engineers kicking said dog-like robots to prove they can balance.

It’s hard to tell if Alphabet won or lost in this deal as Google X never disclosed how much it bought the company for back in 2013, and the details of its selling Boston Dynamics are equally slim, but the company was a passion project for Andy Rubin, and was overseen by him until he left Google.

We’ve heard tell of Alphabet looking to sell Boston Dynamics before, and it seems that it found a buyer in SoftBank, whose CEO Masayoshi Son said, “Smart robotics are going to be a key driver of the next stage of the Information Revolution, and Marc and his team at Boston Dynamics are the clear technology leaders in advanced dynamic robots. I am thrilled to welcome them to the SoftBank family and look forward to supporting them as they continue to advance the field of robotics and explore applications that can help make life easier, safer and more fulfilling.”

I only have one small request for Boston Dynamics and its new owners: please stop kicking the potentially life-ending robots.

Galaxy S8: What’s the difference between U.S. unlocked and carrier versions?

If your goal is not to stress about the carrier behind your new Galaxy S8, then the unlocked version is the way to go.

Now that it’s officially available to purchase, there are plenty of reasons you should consider paying the full price for the unlocked Galaxy S8 over a subsidized one from your carrier. Not only are you freeing yourself from the relative shackles of a contract with a carrier, but you’re also signing up for an easier experience. Having a carrier loom over your device means that it’s also included its own stuff right out of the box. By virtue, the unlocked Galaxy S8 is simply pain-free.

Here are the main differences between an unlocked Galaxy S8 and a Verizon model.

A bloat-free setup

Verizon bundles in a ton of stuff right out of the box.

By far, the unlocked and untouched version of the Galaxy S8 offers the quickest setup process of any of the carrier models. In this version, you’ll only have to walk through the Google account login screen for Android, and then once more to log in to a Samsung account. On a carrier-branded version of the device, however, there is usually a third login screen added on, typically towards an account associated with the carrier. On both T-Mobile and Verizon variants of the Galaxy S8, for instance, I was asked to log in or sign up for an account with their respective online account services. I opted out both times.

Some people like what their carrier has to offer. Verizon, for instance, will bundle in the NFL Mobile app on the Galaxy S8 — and keep it there. If you’re truly a fan of American football, however, this sort of forced inclusion probably isn’t an issue. But in most cases, it feels like mandatory advertisement living in the app drawer.

Paying full price for the Galaxy S8 without a carrier contract won’t pay for a wall between you and Facebook.

Opting out of logging in with your carrier won’t opt you out of the carrier’s apps either, and that’s another mark in favor of the unlocked Galaxy S8. I was almost awestruck at the relative lack of bloatware in the app drawer right after logging in. There is very little that required tinkering with after the fact, save for a lone Facebook icon that will never leave the smartphone. Sorry to say, but paying full price for the Galaxy S8 without a carrier contract won’t pay for a wall between you and Facebook. The app can be disabled, at least, but it can’t be deleted without some trickery. At the very least, it’s only a mere 12KB of annoyance (since it’s not actually downloaded until you tap on the icon for the first time).

The Galaxy S8+’s app drawer on Verizon (left) versus the Galaxy S8 unlocked (right).

There are also Samsung’s apps to contend with, though if you’re staying on the Samsung wagon perhaps you should consider leaning into the company’s ecosystem. The Samsung Gear app, for example, comes pre-included so that the phone is ready to go with the Gear 360 right out of the box, while Smart Switch is exceptionally helpful at migrating data from the old phone into the new one. When you’re done with either of the apps, you can delete them entirely to reclaim that space.

The apps you can’t delete from the unlocked Galaxy S8 are the Samsung browser app, the Galaxy Apps store, an included file browser, and Samsung Connect. You can’t disable them, either, as they’re effectively a major part of the Samsung experience. The My Files file browser app is at least useful for finding files lost deep in the abyss of the smartphone’s file system, or dealing with external storage. Dupes still exist here, too; in addition to the two app stores that come preloaded, the unlocked Galaxy S8 comes with two unremovable email clients and two browsers.

Free to be you

Fewer apps outside of the box seem to signify more freedom.

Perhaps the best reason for buying an unlocked smartphone is that you’re nearly truly free — free to be on any network you choose, anywhere in the world. All the major U.S. networks are supported on the unlocked variant of the Galaxy S8 and S8+, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and many of their related MVNOs. The device will work overseas in different countries, too, and you won’t have to worry about calling anyone about your device before getting on the plane.

Update anxiety

The only downside is that if you’re a person who is consistently concerned about receiving timely software updates, there’s still some doubt concerning whether the Galaxy S8 will be on frequent schedule. Last year’s unlocked Galaxy S7 and S7 edge variants in the U.S. were severely behind the major carriers on the update calendar.

The price gap

Still, if a bloat-free Samsung smartphone is one of your goals in life, the unlocked Galaxy S8 or S8+ is worth the entirety of the cash it requires to purchase. If you’re suffering from sticker shock, however, and are still considering purchasing the device through your carrier for the discount, consider the fact that stores like Best Buy and Samsung’s online shop offer similar monthly financing.

See at Best Buy

Sony kicks off 9 Days of Play with deals on the Gold PS4, DualShock 4 controllers, and more

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with great deals from Sony on the PlayStation 4 and accessories!

June 9 marks the beginning of the PlayStation 4 “9 Days of Play,” a celebration of all things PlayStation that coincides with the start of E3 and, of course, summer. Sony plans to release a whole bunch of deals on hardware and games as the campaign stretches forward, but the blog does list a few specific deals. Some of these deals will sell out over time, but the prices should be good at any retailer selling official Sony products like Amazon, Best Buy, Target and others.

Here’s a break down of some of the deals available right now:

• Gold PlayStation 4 1TB Slim for $250

Not only is it unique because its gold, it’s also being sold at a limited time price of $250, compared to $300 for normal colors. Since it was available for pre-order it has sold out at some retailers, like Amazon, but you can still find it at Best Buy, GameStop and others.

• DualShock 4 Wireless Controllers for $40

If you were looking for a normal DualShock 4 controller yesterday, you could probably find one for $44 or so. If you were looking for an odd color, like Gold or Green Camouflage, you were going to pay significantly more. With this deal all colors, even the unusual ones, are $40, and that’s where the real savings are.

• NOT a deal Gold Wireless Stereo Headset for $80

Amazon has sold this stereo headset at less than $80 for a long time now. It’s not a deal and not worth your time. Get one for $71 from them right now if you want.

• Nioh for $40

This difficult samurai fighting game was selling at $50 yesterday on Amazon.

• Horizon Zero Dawn for $40

This post-apocalyptic RPG with dinosaur robots was $55 yesterday.

• MLB: The Show 2017 for $40

This game about… you know, baseball, was selling for the full $60 yesterday.

These are the main deals Sony listed on the PlayStation blog. There will be other deals, but most of those will be visible on the PlayStation store. Many of them will only be available to PlayStation Plus members, but luckily that’s also discounted by $10 during this sale!

NONE of these deals will last forever, especially the controllers. Many of these items have already sold out at some retailers. Jump on the deal you want while you can, and remember if you can’t find it at Amazon you can always check Best Buy, Target, GameStop, or anyone else who sells PlayStation 4 peripherals.

• See the Gold PlayStation 4 at Best Buy
• See the DualShock 4 controllers at Best Buy

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!