Samsung’s own AI assistant will debut with the Galaxy S8

Get ready for another AI digital assistant.

Samsung was rumored to introduce a virtual assistant with the Galaxy S8, with the technology provided by Viv Labs, a company it acquired earlier this year. The South Korean manufacturer has now confirmed to Reuters that it will integrate Viv’s AI assistant in “Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices,” starting with the Galaxy S8.

There’s not a whole lot of information when it comes to what the assistant will be capable of, but Samsung has stated that it will offer seamless third-party integration. From Rhee Injong, Samsung’s executive vice president:

Developers can attach and upload services to our agent. Even if Samsung doesn’t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.

Viv’s technology is similar to what Google, Microsoft, and Apple are doing in this space, which should come as no surpirse as its co-founders created Siri. However, Viv’s assistant has the ability to create its own programs for handling new tasks, and it can understand complex queries better.

With Samsung looking to integrate Viv’s technology not just into phones but also into its home appliances and wearables, the goal will be to create a unified voice-guided interface across its product range. Samsung will also be intent on regaining lost ground with the Galaxy S8, and launching an AI-powered assistant that’s billed to be significantly better than the competition is one way of doing that.

Save $11 on this protective Galaxy S6 edge case today!

Are you in the market for a protective case for your Galaxy S6 edge that doesn’t add a ton of bulk? If so, check out Amzer’s snap-on case for a solid layer of protection that is on the thin side. It also has a built-in kickstand to keep the phone upright when you aren’t using it, and right now you can grab one for just $3.95 which is $11 off.

From the Editor’s Desk: Showmanship, branding and a $1500 smartphone

Of course the $1500 Porsche Design Huawei Mate 9 is ridiculous. That’s the whole point.

Except for when things go spectacularly wrong, we don’t often analyze individual launch events. But Thursday’s Huawei Mate 9 shindig turned out to be an important milestone for the Chinese firm. In a lot of ways, it’s now finally finding its groove. The Mate 9 itself looks to improve upon the generally solid P9, with a much-needed software overhaul and industry-leading specs. And the Munich-based press conference provided a good balance of showmanship — mainly thanks to CEO Richard Yu, who drove on stage in a Porsche 911 and kept up that level of panache throughout — and information. And it did so without being over-the-top, boring or cringey.

Aside from a somewhat anticlimactic reveal of the phones themselves, Huawei’s presentation was pretty sharp and well-paced. It was a far cry from April’s marathon P9 event, which dedicated almost half of a three-hour presentation to the camera, overstaying it’s welcome by a good hour or so in the process. (Even a cameo by Superman couldn’t stop many journos from walking before the end.)

In Munich, Huawei took aim at Apple and Samsung, the number one and number two smartphone makers, as it looks to advance up the rankings from third place. Things got a bit technical at times, but the most effective demo from a phone nerd perspective was the video showing a Mate 9 alongside a Galaxy S7 edge after a few thousand hours of simulated use. Bit rot on phones is something everyone can relate to, as is poor battery life. Without pre-empting our review, I can already say the Mate 9 nails the latter (how does eight hours of screen-on time sound?), and if it can address the former too, that’s another powerful unique selling point.

As anticipated, we got two Mate 9 variants on Thursday. The big surprise came in the form of the Mate 9 Porsche Design edition, which took the place of the Mate 9 Pro we’d been expecting based on online leaks. (Who knows if that’ll re-emerge at some point.)

So here’s the deal with the Porsche Design edition: You basically get a Huawei-made Galaxy S7 edge lookalike with Mate 9 internals, a polished metal back, a smaller (5.5-inch 2K) display, 6GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. And a whole lot of Porsche branding. And a €1395 ($1550) price tag.

The Porsche Design Mate 9 is deliberately dangled just out of the reach of most consumers.

If you’ve followed the various Porsche Design BlackBerry phones over the years, this is very familiar territory. You’re paying for the brand, of course, not the actual technology or materials. As Richard Yu said in the press conference, this is supposed to be an exclusive device, and what’s going to exclude most people is the price tag. It’s high for the sake of being high in order to maintain the value of the Porsche name, and dangle it just out of the reach of most consumers.

I’m not going to categorically state that the Porsche Design Mate 9 is for a certain kind of rich, middle-aged man who probably doesn’t know any better when it comes to technology, but if you said that I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you. The Porsche Design model is nice, but it’s not that nice. The pitch black anodized metal feels tackier than the regular Mate 9, and the oversized Porsche Design logo looks like it’s trying too hard. Just about everything else can be had in the regular Mate 9 for half the price.

But again, let’s not feign surprise that you’ll end up paying hundreds more for the model with a major luxury brand attached. That’s how brand names have always worked — it’s pretty much Branding 101.

Aside from actually selling product to the few people who’ll stump up the cash for a Porsche Mate 9, the purpose of this model is to build prestige by associating Huawei with a top-tier Western brand. (That’s surely an important part of the Leica camera partnership too, by the way.) It’s also likely that an “aspirational” model like the Porsche Design Mate 9 will create a halo effect around its more attainable sibling.

It’s ridiculous and overpriced, but that’s precisely the point.

Other odds and ends on a working weekend:

• Look for a “first impressions” review piece on the Huawei Mate 9 later this week here on AC. The devices media have in-hand right now are running pre-production software, with a few bugs and glitches. We’re told these will be resolved in an OTA going out to all review units in the next couple of weeks. (Any “full” reviews you see for the next week or so will be based on what Huawei itself says is non-final code.)
• I’ve attended two phone launches this past week which have poked fun at the Galaxy Note 7. (First Wileyfox in London, then Huawei in Munich.) After detailing how safe and cool his company’s new fast charging tech is, CEO Richard Yu quipped “no explosions!” to chuckles from attendees. Samsung’s exploding smartphone is still a joke, and people are still laughing.
• Then there’s the air travel angle. All of the 10 flights I’ve taken in the past month (yeah… it’s been an unusually busy month) have had some sort of Note 7 safety warning, either onboard the aircraft, at check-in or at the gate. Now consider that commercial airlines carry around 3 billion passengers each year. Those unmissable Note 7 announcements are likely to continue until at least the end of 2016, which means hundreds of millions of potential consumers being hammered with the “Samsung phones are unsafe” message throughout the life of this thing. It’s hard to quantify that sort of impact.
• But hey! GS7 edge in coral blue looks pretty hot.

That’s it for this weekend. American friends, don’t forget to vote this Tuesday!

Gear VR games you need to stand to play

Some games aren’t meant to be played sitting down.

Samsung’s Gear VR delivers you tons of great games to play in VR. While plenty of them are playable while sitting down, that isn’t the case across the board. We’ve collected a few of the best games that are meant to be played while standing up. You might be able to get away with sitting down to play them, but you won’t get the best experience that way.

Read more at VR Heads!

Understanding memory card speeds and what works best for your phone

Buying an SD card shouldn’t be difficult. Learn what those numbers all mean and how to pick what’s best for you.

SD cards are a cheap way to provide extra storage for just about anything that can create or read a digital file. Most cameras use SD cards, as do audio players and recorders, digital photo frames, many laptops and a lot of phones. While we’re going to focus on the how what and why of using them with an Android phone, the overall ideas are the same and you’ll be just fine using this reference when buying an SD card for anything that can use one.

Buying an SD card can be a little frustrating. You need to find a reputable place to buy them if shopping online, you need to know which type you need and what the class rating means. It’s OK not to know this stuff, and we’re here to help you sort through it.

SD card form factors

Once you’re sure your phone can use an SD card, you need to know just what type of card to buy. SD cards come in different physical sizes, have different read and write speeds and different storage sizes.

Phones use the smallest microSD card form factor.

For your Android phone, you’re looking for the microSD form factor. SD cards come in three different sizes. An SD card is the biggest — a little larger than a postage stamp — and is used for things like stand-alone cameras. The Mini SD form factor is about half the size of a full SD card and they aren’t very popular. Chances are you won’t ever buy anything that needs a Mini SD card. The microSD card is about the size of your fingernail and the one we’re looking for.

When you buy a Mini or microSD card you often get an adapter in the package. The smaller card slides into the adapter so it can fit into something that needs a full-sized card — like your computer — as well as something like your phone that needs a microSD card. This makes it pretty handy when transferring pictures or video from your phone to your computer.

SD card storage versions

There is a method to the madness of all those letters you see.

The next thing you need to know is the storage version. You can buy microSD cards, microSDHC cards, and microSDXC cards. A microSD card was designed to hold up to 2GB of information, though a few 4GB versions are available that work outside of the specifications. microSDHC cards (Secure Digital High Capacity) are designed to hold up to 32GB of data. microSDXC (Secure Digital eXtra Capacity) cards are designed to hold between 32GB and 2TB of data. It’s important to know what version your phone can use. Most all modern phones — Android or otherwise — will be able to use a microSDHC card. Many newer phones are capable of using a microSDXC card.

There is no easy to see difference between a phone that can use a microSDXC card and one that can’t. You’ll need to consult the documentation that came with your phone or hop into the forums and ask other folks who have already found the answer. The versions are backward compatible (a microSDXC card slot can use a microSD or microSDHC card) but there is no forwards compatibility, and if your phone can’t use a microSDXC card it won’t ever work.

SD card speed classes

No card is going to be as fast as the listed maximum.

Finally, you need to understand the speed class ratings. There are currently five different speed classes (listed slowest to fastest) — DS (up to 12.5 MB/s), HS (up to 25 MB/s), UHS-I (up to 104 MB/s), UHS-II (up to 312 MB/s) and UHS-3 (over 312 MB/s). There are also speed “subclasses” and those are listed with a number. You’ll usually see a 2,4 or 6 listed on a DS speed card. HS speed cards will have a 10 listed. UHS cards can also have a U1 to U3 rating.

These numbers are the highest speeds the card is capable of when reading data. No card is going to be as fast as the listed maximum. You’ll often see an actual rated speed listed on the packaging along with the speed class rating.

Deciding what you need

Are you thoroughly confused yet? Don’t be.

• You need to know what size SD card you need. If you’re buying for use in a phone, you need a microSD card.
• You need to know what storage version your phone is compatible with. If in doubt, ask the folks who sold you the phone or others using the same phone in our forums.
• The speed of the card you need depends on what you’re going to do with it.

The first two items on the list above are pretty self-explanatory. The wrong size card isn’t going to fit and anything you attach or insert into a phone needs to be compatible. The speed you’re looking for isn’t too difficult to suss out, either.

• The faster, the better. You’ll never run into a situation where an SD card is too fast. A UHS card isn’t needed to listen to stored music or stream video you have saved, but it won’t hurt anything to use it. Faster SD cards will more future-proof if you decide to shoot a lot of videos, especially in 4K.
• Never buy a card slower than Class 10. Class 10 cards are a great compromise between price and performance. They are plenty fast enough to transfer music or pictures to a computer (or the other direction), are fast enough if your phone camera has a burst mode, and are even fast enough to store Android application data. Your phone is probably capable of copying bits and bytes faster than the 25 MB/s when doing these things, but it’s not going to be able to process that data fast enough to see a noticeable difference.
• If you shoot 4K videos, the card is never fast enough. See item one in this list.

4K video has a need for speed.

Your phone needs to be able to copy video data to the storage as fast as it can. It copies this information from the camera a lot faster than it would if it were a regular data file. There is a noticeable difference between a few minutes of 4K video shot using a Class 10 card and the same video shot when using a UHS speed class card. Video can look blurry or fuzzy, audio can be out of sync or you can even see some skipped frames. Once you see it side by side you can’t unsee it, and I’ll save you the trouble and tell you up front that to shoot any HD video you need a UHS speed class card. Of course, shooting video directly to the phone’s internal storage is always better than straight to an SD card.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 makes for a great example here, so we’re going to use it. Remember, your phone may support different speed classes.

The Galaxy S7 supports microSDXC cards using the UHS-I speed bus. UHS-II cards will work in the Galaxy S7, but the extra speed is not supported — there are two extra points of contact that are not present on the S7’s card reader. To take pictures, store music or video on the card or to add some application data, any UHS-I card would work and may even be overkill. The thing to consider with the Galaxy S7 is that it has a really good camera that can take 4K videos. If you’re going to shoot 4K videos, you need a UHS-I class U1 card or better. If you use anything slower, you’ll see a difference in quality.

The bottom line: A faster SD card is always better

This is especially important if you’re going to be shooting HD or UHD video because you need to be able to write the raw data stream to the storage as fast as you can.

Using a fast card to do “normal” things like store files or copy pictures to a computer doesn’t hurt anything. It makes no sense to ever buy anything slower than an HS speed Class 10 card.

If you’d rather not know all this industry talk and just want to buy an SD card and move on, here’s the skinny. Find out what version microSD card your phone supports, and buy a good brand name card from someone you can trust (there are a lot of slow cards with the wrong label being sold at places like eBay) that’s as fast as you can find and you’ll be fine.

More: The best microSD cards for Android

How to quickly access your notifications with the Honor 8 fingerprint sensor

Looking for an easier way to access your notifications than swiping down from the top of your Honor 8 screen? Sometimes it can be difficult to reach the top of the display without using a second hand or adjusting your grip, but luckily with the Honor 8 there is another way to access them that won’t make you do that.

Open the notification shade and tap on the Settings icon.
Scroll down and tap Fingerprint ID.
Tap to turn on Show notification panel under the Slide gesture category.

That’s all there is to it. Now you’ll be able to swipe down on the fingerprint sensor to access your notification pane anytime the phone is unlocked. Viewing your notifications, accessing settings and more can now be done easily with just one hand.

Android and chill: Writers are people, too

Disagreeing is cool. Being hurtful isn’t.

I really love peanut butter swirl ice cream. If I worked somewhere and it was my job to write about ice cream and I was to compare peanut butter swirl to chocolate or cherry vanilla, I would tell you I think peanut butter swirl is better. I can say why I think it’s better — peanut butter trumps the lack of peanut butter, in any configuration, not just a swirly one. Even though it lacks the delicious bits of meaty maraschino cherry it’s still better because of peanut butter to me. If I’m going to express my preference, it will be swirly and peanutty unless someone can invent ice cream that tastes like fried chicken.

100 people will have 100 different opinions. Every single one of them is valid, but 99 of them won’t match yours.

If ice cream blogs exist (I’m not sure and afraid if I look I’ll never leave) that means there will be a lot of people out there who disagree and think their chocolate is better than my peanut butter swirl. Some would take the time to comment on articles about ice cream and tell me why they think I’m wrong. I’d enjoy reading those comments because I’m really glad everyone doesn’t have the same opinion. But others would claim the Peter Pan / Skippy coalition is paying me under the table to ruin the good name of Neapolitan or whatever they like, and I’m no longer to be trusted whenever I write another article. Others would go further and insult me and berate me because I like peanut butter swirl better than anything else.

That sounds really petty and stupid, doesn’t it? Know what? It’s just as petty and stupid when it’s about phones and not ice cream.

In the past month or so I’ve seen writers derided and berated for having an opinion. Even worse, I’ve seen their family insulted, their bodies made fun of, their sexual orientation questioned and the size of their genitalia (both length and girth) remarked on. I honestly can’t understand it and am left with the feeling of WTF man, WTF. It’s just a phone, man. Stop.

Ridiculous comments won’t change anything except how others think about the person making them.

To be clear, there are relatively few people doing this sort of shit. It’s not terrible here at AC, though some do push the limit. (You know who you are.) When it’s done to me I don’t care. If I can think of something I feel is witty to reply with I’ll do it because I’m a bit of an asshole, but otherwise, I chuckle and move on to the next thing. Hearing that I should take all the money Google pays me for good reviews and get bigfoot’s ass hair surgically removed from my face was pretty funny. But others who do what I do for a living may find it very hurtful. That does bother me. We’re people writing about phones or game consoles or another cool tech products. Abuse — and to be clear, that’s exactly what behavior like this is — is never a pretty thing. Nobody deserves it, regardless of what they have said or typed.

The internet is a big place filled with people who don’t think the same way. Whether it’s about phones or politics or sports nobody has the right to abuse another person because they said something you didn’t like. We’re just regular people doing our job. Part of our job is to be publicly judged in open comments by people from all over the world. No matter what we say there will be people who disagree. This isn’t about disagreement. You should never stop voicing your opinion, no matter what anyone else says. I am also pretty sure that nobody wants any tech writer to lie about what they like or dislike to stave off shit comments. I can’t think of one good reason anyone would be so forceful and ignorant to another person because of words. I’ve come to the conclusion that if you feel a need to get toxic when you talk about phones you should talk to a professional about your feelings. If you do it “for the lulz” you’re just an asshole.

If you want people to listen to what you have to say, be respectful. It works.

I’m not trying to say you should like the peanut butter swirl as much as I do. Nor am I saying your opinion is any less valid than mine or anyone else’s. I’m just saying you don’t have to be a jerk about it. Being cool to other people — especially when you don’t agree — never hurt anyone.

Have a recipe for the best ice cream of them all and remember to keep things chill.

How to set up Google Home

At long last, Google’s answer to Amazon Echo is here.

Whether you pre-ordered yours the instant you saw it during Google’s presentation or just grabbed one at Best Buy or Walmart on a curious whim, Google Home is in your home, which now begs the question: how do you make this little white air freshener work? Without a screen, Google Home is reliant on a smartphone to set up, just like a Chromecast. In fact, you’ll use the same app you set up your Chromecast with, the recently renamed Google Home app.

Plug the power adapter cord into the base of your Google Home.

Plug the power adapter into an outlet. The unit will automatically boot up, introducing itself and directing you to the Google Home app to finish setup.

Open the Google Home app.
Tap Devices, the TV and speaker icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Tap Set up in the card for your new Google Home.

Once the app has found your Google Home, tap Continue to set it up.
The app will connect your phone to Google Home’s temporary hotspot to continue setup.

Once connected, Play test sound to ensure its connected and connected to the right unit.

If you hear the tone made by your Google Home, tap I heard it.
Select a name for your Google Home. The Home has a selection of rooms to pick from for your unit’s name.

If you want to name your Google Home something besides a room name, select Other and type in the desired name.

Once you have a name you’re happy with, tap Continue.
Choose a Wi-Fi network to connect your Google Home to. It will default to the network your phone is currently connected to, and if you want Google Home to get the Wi-Fi password from your phone rather than typing it in, tap OK.

Once your Wi-Fi password is inputted, either by the app itself or manually, tap Continue.

Google Home will take the Wi-Fi credentials you just gave it and attempt to log in.
Once it connects, tap Continue.

Google Home will now fetch and install an update.

Once the update is installed, tap Sign in to add your Google account to the device for Google Assistant to use.
Select a Google Account to use with Google Home. You can only have one account associated with the device at the moment, so make sure the account you select is the one you want everyone in your household to use. Tap Continue as (Your Name).

On order for Google Assistant to be more useful as a personal assistant, it needs access to your personal information, such as your calendar and to-do list in Google Keep. Tap Allow.

In order to provide local weather and traffic, Google Home asks for its home location. If the address it brings up is correct, tap Set Location. Otherwise, Edit the location by tapping the pencil icon.
You can sign up for email updates on new Google Home and Google Assistant features by swiping right on the toggle next to Get email notifications. When you’re satisfied with your answer, tap Continue.

In order for Google’s music functions to work properly, link up your services. If you subscribe to Google Play Music and YouTube Red, those will already be linked to your Google Account. Tap Link to connect Pandora or Spotify to Google Home. You can also select the service you want as a default, putting a blue dot next to it before tapping Continue.

Google Home can cast music and YouTube to other Google Cast devices if it can see other devices that are attached to your account. Make sure your Cast devices are turned on and that they show up, then tap Connect.
Once your updates and preferences are set, you can start using Google Home. Tap Continue.

Google Home offers a tutorial on using the new device, which you can start by tapping Continue.

Speak the sample command to your Google Home and see the response. Once you’re done with each command, tap Continue.
Your setup is complete. Enjoy your new Google Home!

As a reminder, the top of your Google Home is a touchpad. You can tap the center to pause the current music or readout, you can long-press the center to get Google Assistant’s attention, and you can run your finger in a circle around the top of the device to turn Google Home’s volume up and down.

Google Home

• Google Home review
• These services work with Google Home
• Google Home vs. Amazon Echo
• Join our Google Home forums!

Google Store Best Buy Target

Pick between four great lifetime VPN subscriptions with huge savings

With how much of our life is online these days security is something that you need to be focused on. Ensuring that your connection is secure when you are entering your banking details or composing those private emails should be something that you think about each time you connect to the internet. Unfortunately, you can’t always connect to your home Wi-Fi, but using a VPN can get you a much safer connection, but that comes at a cost.

VPN subscriptions can get pricey, but not all of them have to be. There are a number of great options out there, some of which you can pay for by the year, but there are also some that come with a one-time lifetime fee. If you are looking to take advantage of a lifetime license, you can do some pretty afforadably right now. Here are some of the best deals you can get on a lifetime VPN subscription.

HotSpot Shield

• Regular Price: $99.95
• Deal Price & Savings: $49.99 (49% off)
• Key feature: Best Connection Speeds

Of the variety of VPN services that are out there, HotSpot Shield offers some of the best connection speeds available. You can connect to 20 different virtual networks around the world to keep your browsing secure, bypass local censorship to view additional content and much more with it. You can take your public Wi-Fi sessions private in just one click and much more with HotSpot Shield VPN.

See at Android Central Offers

Windscribe VPN

• Regular Price: $900
• Deal Price & Savings: $49.99 (94% off)
• Key feature: Browser Extension

Ease of use is definitely one of the strong points for Windscribe VPN, and the browser extension is a big part of that. In just a few clicks you can be connected to a secure network on which you can block most ads and not leave a trace of what you’ve been up to. You can use Windscribe VPN on all your devices at the same time, so you never have to sacrifice your security to browse on a different device.

See at Android Central Offers

VPN Unlimited

• Regular Price: $499.99
• Deal Price & Savings: $20 (94% off)
• Key feature: The Price

You simply can not go wrong with the price of VPN Unlimited at just $20. With servers in 53 different locations, which span accross 39 countries, you’ll be able to quickly and easily switch between servers while on the go. Securing your browsing sessions is super simple, and you have unlimited bandwith and unlimited high speed connectivity. For less than a nice dinner out on the town you could have a lifetime of access to a great VPN service.

See at Android Central Offers

VPNSecure: Lifetime Subscription

• Regular Price: $450
• Deal Price & Savings: $39 (91% off)
• Key feature: Anti-Logging Policy

One of the biggest things that sets VPNSecure apart from the competition is its anti-logging policy, meaning that nothing you do will be logged and tracked. You can connect up to five devices at the same time, so you don’t have to worry about ending a session on one device to start on another, and you also have unlimited bandwith. You’ll also have access to servers in more than 46 countries, a hidden IP address and more with VPNSecure.

See at Android Central Offers

Best News Apps for Android

Extra, Extra, read all about it with these great Android apps.

Keeping informed on the go is one of the many things that our smartphones are incredible tools for. During the everyday hustle and bustle it’s easy to ignore the world around you, but the news is everywhere. Including on your phone.

Android has a plethora of great apps to choose from thanks to the massive selection in the Google Play Store. But if you’re looking to get your daily news fix, we recommend you check out this little lot.

• Flipboard
• The Guardian
• SmartNews
• USA Today
• BBC News
• Google News and Weather
• MSN News
• AP Mobile
• Feedly
• Nuzzel
• News Republic

Flipboard

For many, Flipboard is the default news app for Android. It’s been around for a while and was one of the first apps to make reading the news less boring with its image-heavy, magazine-style layout.

One of the other merits to Flipboard is its customization. It’s your news, your way. So beyond selecting topic areas of interest, you can also add in your own feeds so you’re missing out on nothing.

Flipboard to this day makes reading the news a pleasure.

Download: Flipboard

The Guardian

The Guardian is one of the most respected brands in journalism, delivering international news as well as a fresh perspective on American politics from across the pond.

Their Android app is simple to navigate and robust, filled with investigative deep dives, commentary, and videos to keep you informed on the latest breaking news around the world. Sign in via your Google or Facebook account to customize your homepage and follow your favorite critics and columnists so you’re always in the loop on the news and stories you care most about.

Download: The Guardian

SmartNews

Just as the name implies, the SmartNews app is designed in a very clever way so that you can quickly read all the latest headlines from around the world. News categories are displayed as tabs (referred to in app as “channels”) at the top of the screen, giving you the option to swipe through them one by one, or jump straight to the sports section with a tap. When you tap a story, swipe over to SmartView and the whole story loads almost instantaneously.

The news here is curated from both newspapers and online news sources, giving you a well-rounded view on the day’s events. You’re also able to customize and tweak your experience by adding and reordering channels to suit your needs. There’s even a Late Night TV channel for those interested on a humorous take on the news, featuring, monologues, comedy bits, and other highlights from the network’s late night programming.

It’s a one-stop shop for all your news needs.

Download: SmartNews

USA Today

If you like your daily news with an American flavor, then the USA Today app should be right up your street. It’s bright and colorful to look at and packed with large images. It grabs your attention, visually, and doesn’t let go.

And it’s packed with just about everything you could want. News, sports, weather, celebrity gossip, photo galleries, even offline support so you can download your articles before heading out of cellular range. You can even keep up with the day’s news without reaching for your phone with Android Wear support.

Download: USA Today

BBC News

Britain’s national broadcaster delivers the news around the globe through round-the-clock TV broadcasts, but it also has itself a pretty nice Android app to deliver what’s going on in the world today.

It’ll also deliver that round-the-clock video coverage, though that might be dependent on location. Otherwise you’re looking at breaking news, a wide range of topics to follow and an offline mode so you can catch up on a plane or on the morning commute on the London Underground.

Download: BBC News

Google News and Weather

If all you want is a simple app to show you the headlines and maybe the daily weather, check out Google News and Weather. It pulls in sources from Google’s vast network that includes aggregated 65,000 publications.

It lacks some of the customization available elsewhere but it’s a more ‘no-frills’ approach to serving you the headlines. And it has a nifty looking dark theme, too, if you like those.

Download: Google News and Weather

MSN News

Microsoft’s news app is actually pretty good, though it may also have slipped your attention so far. If you have a Microsoft account you can sign in and keep your customizations in sync across devices, which includes your Windows 10 PC.

It’s got a vast library of sources to pull content from and allows you to follow topics you’re most interested in. Whether that’s a sports team, a celebrity, a particular subject area of interest, the MSN News app will take good care of you.

Download: MSN News

AP Mobile

If you want breaking news from one of the most highly-regarded organizations in the business — the Associated Press — then this is the one for you. Real-time updates of breaking events around the globe and a decent looking app and widget await inside. AP Mobile as very few little frills, just the news you want, when you want it.

And it’s available in English and Spanish, which is a nice touch.

Download: AP Mobile

Feedly

If you prefer to get your news delivered in RSS form, Feedly is pretty much the default choice these days. Rising from the ashes of the Google Reader shut down, Feedly has evolved and refined its service and app, and it’s a pretty good choice all round.

Feedly also integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Buffer, OneNote, Pinterest and LinkedIn for social sharing of all the things and the app itself is a pretty good reading experience. It’s pretty light and snappy these days and it doesn’t try to cram too much in.

Download: Feedly

Nuzzel

The developers behind Nuzzel believe that in our social media dominated world, the best news aggregators are actually your friends and other influencers. Nuzzel lets you discover the best news stories shared by your friends on Facebook and Twitter without the rest of the noise that goes along with social media feeds. Another key differentiator for Nuzzel is their belief in the power of the email newsletter. You can sign up for newsletters from your favourite influencers or topics, or use Nuzzel to create your own and share the top 5 stories from your Nuzzel feed along with your own personal commentary

It’s easy to scroll through the discover page and find topic feeds that interest you organized by topic. Add topics of interest to your favorite and sign up to receive daily email newsletters with the top stories of the day. Nuzzel believes this is a better way to engage with trending news than scrolling through cluttered social media feeds. If you agree, you’ll definitely want to check out Nuzzel.

Download: Nuzzel

News Republic

One of News Republic’s best features is its ‘smart’ capabilities, meaning it learns your preferences as you use it. Then, in turn, caters more to your individual tastes without you having to set your own preferences.

Apart from that it delivers breaking news headlines in a well-designed, easy-to-use application and can also be used to create your own daily news digest. There’s a lot crammed in, like RSS support, and with so much going on it’s definitely one for the news junkies out there.

Download: News Republic

Where do you get your news?

So, those are our best picks, but what about yours? If you’ve got a particular favorite not mentioned on this list be sure to drop it into the comments below!

This article was originally published in February 2015. It was recently published in November 2016 with the addition of Nuzzel, SmartNews and The Guardian.