A few months ago, Google announced it was going to put Android on laptops (and eventually, desktops), serving as eventual replacements for Chromebooks. Unlike those, though, these new Android laptops wouldn’t be low-quality, cheap, underpowered devices for school children to spill milk on, but devices actually competitive with Windows and macOS laptops. Today, the company finally allowed the press to use these new things.
Google describes Googlebook as a “totally fresh approach to computing,” bringing together Android, ChromeOS, Gemini, and premium laptop hardware from major manufacturers.
The idea is to create a laptop that feels more natural to use for Android phone users while retaining what makes a desktop OS useful, such as a full Chrome browser, desktop apps, a proper file manager, Linux support, and a full terminal environment.
Google is also trying to solve some of the biggest problems Android users have had when moving between their phone and laptop, and make the two devices feel like part of the same ecosystem.
I’ve been looking at some of the videos of people using and playing with these new Android laptops, and to be honest, I’m not impressed. I’m seeing quite a bit of jank, a complete lack of consistency, and apparently, a lack of Android applications optimised for desktop use. The close integration with your Android phone are nice, but of course, this also means another dollop of slimy lock-in, as I highly doubt Google will make it easy or even possible at all for, say, iPhones or other platforms to integrate quite as nicely as Android devices will.
Worse yet, there’s the elephant in the room: for just how long will Google care about this new platform? These laptops start at $900 and go all the way up to $1300 (and will be considerably more expensive here in Europe), which is a lot to ask for something Google might get bored of and abandon in a few years’ time. Ten or more years ago, in a slightly more innocent time, I might’ve been excited about Google bringing Android to laptops and desktops, but in 2026, I just can’t be bothered to care.
Also, and this doesn’t really matter, but “Googlebook OS”?
The Pixel Watch 4 is positioned as Google’s premium wearable—its circular display is larger than before and can hit up to 3,000 nits of brightness, so it stays readable outdoors without much effort. Plus, the LTE model adds some independence from your phone, including the ability to send satellite SOS messages if you are out of cellular range. Dual-band GPS also improves location tracking, especially in crowded cities or areas with weak signals.
Day-to-day use feels focused on speed and convenience. Charging is one of the standout improvements here. You can go from empty to full in about 30 minutes, and even a quick 15-minute top-up gets you to around 50%. That makes it easier to wear the watch all day and still track sleep at night without planning around long charging breaks. That said, while battery life is solid, daily charging will still be part of the routine.
Most of the core experience will feel familiar if you have used a recent Pixel Watch—including built-in Gemini for voice commands, along with a full set of health sensors such as heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature tracking, and sleep monitoring. Fitness tracking is reliable for runs, walks, and gym sessions, though it still leans more toward general wellness than advanced sports metrics. In all, this is a well-rounded Android smartwatch, and it makes sense if you want a watch that looks good and stays easy to live with.
October Prime Day FAQs
Is Prime Day once a year?
Prime Day happens every summer. Prime Big Deal Days (or October Prime Day) happens every October. Big Spring Sale happens every spring.
When is Prime Day in October?
October Prime Day is a two-day event that starts Oct. 6 and ends on Oct. 7.
Is Prime Day a scam?
No. Prime Day is a legitimate online sale from arguably the biggest and most reputable online retailer in the world.
From several independent reports, we’ve seen evidence of scammers using fake Android “interview” apps to target job seekers on the Indeed platform.
Indeed is one of the world’s largest employment websites, giving scammers access to a huge pool of potential victims, especially in a competitive job market.
What we found
A user in the UK posted on our forums after being instructed by a supposed employer on Indeed to install an “Interview App.”
A user in Brasil submitted an anonymized report after receiving similar instructions to install an APK named MyInterview from a link shared during a job interview.
Meanwhile, Reddit users discussed a “Indeed Interview” app that allegedly completely compromised one user’s phone.
The victim who installed the MyInterview APK said their phone began closing apps by itself after installation. They also shared a screenshot showing MyInterview listed under Android’s downloaded Accessibility services.
Common lures used by the scammers include:
“Complete your interview by installing the Indeed app.”
“Update your Indeed application.”
“Identity verification required.”
“Download our recruitment portal.”
“Salary agreement available after app installation.”
An analysis by Malwarebytes Android Malware Researcher Nazeeh Sulaiman showed that these Android apps impersonate Indeed’s login page before creating a VPN connection after an applicant enters an email address. Static analysis identified the apps as Trojan.Droppers, capable of installing additional untrusted apps.
At the time of writing, the final payload was spyware, although we initially expected a banking Trojan. Once the malware is granted the Accessibility permission, it effectively takes over the device. The interesting thing here is that it can prevent users from uninstalling the malicious app. When the user taps Uninstall in Android Settings, the malware simply forces the screen back, preventing removal.
How it works
Scammers advertise fake job openings on Indeed and lure applicants into installing a fake Android app that impersonates Indeed and present itself as an interview tool.
After confirming their application, job seekers receive instructions like these:
In this example the job seeker is instructed by a “recruitment firm” to download and install the app, connect to the VPN, create an account, and enter an invitation code. They are then told to keep the app open while waiting for confirmation.
This malicious app is not affiliated with Indeed. The company’s official Android app, Indeed Job Search, is distributed through Google Play, not through an APK supplied in a recruitment message or an unfamiliar interview website.
The interview process on Indeed does not require applicants to install a separate app, confirmed by an Indeed spokesperson:
“Interviewing through Indeed’s platform happens entirely in a browser and never requires downloading a special app. Any message asking a job seeker to download an app to participate in an interview is not legitimate. We encourage job seekers to avoid clicking links or downloading files from any message directing them to do so.”
It’s worth pointing out that the dropper is not necessarily the final payload. It’s an initial-stage app intended to install another malicious or unwanted app onto the device, often after bypassing a victim’s caution with a seemingly legitimate pretext. Even if the fake Indeed app does not visibly steal data itself, it can serve as a delivery mechanism for more dangerous malware.
A VPN connection is perfectly legitimate in many situations, but there is no obvious reason for an interview app to create one immediately after an applicant supplies an email address.
In a malicious workflow, a VPN can give an app substantial influence over the device’s network traffic. It may allow attackers to route communications through systems they control, hide what the app is doing, or support later stages of the attack. The VPN behavior alone does not prove that traffic was intercepted or modified, but combined with brand impersonation and dropper functionality, it is a serious warning sign.
The fake app’s presence in Accessibility settings is also concerning. Accessibility services can view screen content and perform actions of behalf of the user, making them attractive to malware developers. In the screenshot supplied to us, MyInterview was disabled, so there is no evidence the service was active on that device. Nevertheless, its presence as a downloaded Accessibility service is relevant to the overall risk assessment.
How to stay safe
A job interview should not require you to sideload an Android app, enable a VPN connection, or install software from an unknown source.
In this campaign, the supposed interview app is simply the lure: it impersonates Indeed, establishes a suspicious network connection, and is designed to deliver additional malware.
Before using any recruitment platform, make sure you understand its hiring process and be suspicious of requests that deviates from it or move you to another platform.
Don’t install apps just because someone tell you to, especially if you have to especially if you have to install them outside Google Play.
Verify job offers through independent channels. In some of the reported cases, the companies either did not exist or not have offices in the cities where they claimed to be hiring.
The Indeed spokesperson added:
“Job seekers are at the heart of everything we do, and their safety and trust are a top priority. We are aware of scams involving individuals instructing job seekers to download an app to complete a virtual interview. These are in no way affiliated with Indeed, and we strongly condemn bad actors who exploit the trust job seekers place in our platform and brand.
For more on how to verify a legitimate Indeed app and spot the warning signs of a fake one, visit our Help Center.”
The slow but steady march to the grave for the Android Open Source Project continues. Every few months Google hammers another big nail in the coffin of Android as an open source effort, and I’ve documented them all here on OSNews (nail, nail, nail, nail, nail), coming to the conclusion long ago that for all intents and purposes, Android is no longer an open source operating system.
The latest move, however, is just petty.
According to GrapheneOS on [Twitter], Google has apparently replaced public, instant code downloads for Pixel phone drivers with a manual request form. Instead of publishing code directly to open developer platforms where anyone can grab it, Google now requires developers to fill out a Google Form and wait for someone to send them a Google Drive link.
What used to take a couple of hours is now taking weeks.
I’m perhaps misremembering, but I vaguely recall discussions decades ago about what, exactly, it meant to “make source code available”, as open source licenses state in a variety of words. Would mailing a paper print-out by classic post satisfy such requirements? Could you write the source code on a brick and throw it through the user’s window? Could you hire a church choir to sing it? These are all silly examples, but before everyone had internet access, this was a relevant question.
The widespread availability of the internet and software like git solved these issues, which makes it all the more petty that Google now requires an actual application process, waiting times, and Google Drive dumps just to get access to the source code for Pixel drivers. Google is clearly trying to kill whatever’s left of the Android Open Source Project’s rotting corpse, only barely technically complying with any license requirements only because they’re obligated to.
The Android team at Google must be a hoot at parties.
Whenever the EU steps in to regulate the big technology companies, the response from news outlets and bloggers (often funded or outright owned by right-wing extremists) is to claim it’s just a bunch of dumb , tech-illiterate bureaucrats telling the vastly more intelligent and superior technology companies what to do. Of course, this is just propaganda. Case in point:
Something big just happened. As the Open Home Foundation’s Android developer for Home Assistant, I was invited by the European Commission (EC) to consult on Android interoperability. The call for feedback was part of the Commission’s work under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). For anyone unfamiliar, the DMA is an EU law that defines and regulates “gatekeeper platforms” – those that offer “core” services like search engines, app stores, and messaging platforms – to make digital markets fairer and more open to competition. As you might imagine, I had plenty to say about Google’s restrictions on Android, especially the tech giant limiting wake word detection to its own Gemini assistant, a concern I surfaced in our Home Assistant 2026.3 Release Party. To put it plainly, Google had no grounds for limiting Android interoperability in the first place, other than to give itself the upper hand. We knew our community deserved better, and that’s what we told the Commission.
The result? The EC listened to us and all the other organizations that contributed. On July 16, 2026, the European Commission adopted a decision under the DMA that requires Alphabet (Google’s parent company) to open up eleven Android features, including always-on wake word detection, ambient sensor access, and screen automation – to all assistants, on equal terms.
What’s really interesting is just how deeply technical and detailed this new EU decision really is. Timothy Nibeaudeau laid out the technical details of how wake word detection on Android works for the European Commission – in short, a DSP runs a really tiny model in a process isolated from the network to detect just a specific wakeword, and only once that wakeword is detected does it hand things off to a larger model running on the actual main SoC – and the EC’s new decision accurately and precisely describes this method and wrote their decision to take every detail into account.
When I was invited to share these limitations (and others) with the Commission, I didn’t hold back. Which is why we were thrilled to discover an impressively precise and technically accurate decision from the EU: it correctly describes the two-stage wake word architecture, the DSP, the isolated process, and the role coupling. The report went down to details we only figured out by reading Android’s source code ourselves. […]
↫ Timothy Nibeaudeau
The idea that the European Union and Commission are a bunch of dumb, illiterate bureaucrats imposing impossible, unworkable, unrealistic demands on poor, hardworking, honest technology companies is a bunch of propaganda paid for by these very same companies, and every decision and ruling by the EU around the Digital Markets Act further confirms this by having strong technological underpinnings and being based on the actual workings of the technologies they cover. The EU does a lot of dumb things – as any government body does – but you don’t get to enjoy a nearly two-thirds approval rating for nothing, especially not in the face of the state of the world today.
The Digital Markets Act has already proven to be incredibly effective, and this is exactly why the right-wing propaganda against it is reaching an ever crazier fever pitch. When basic consumer protection legislation makes the most powerful companies, right-wing media empires, and even the most powerful country in the world throw tamper tantrums like toddlers, you know you’re doing something right.
Given that Android phones have been around for nearly two decades now, there comes a time when Google has to end support for one of its older software versions. For a couple of years now, Google Play services has been supported on devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or newer. That has changed over the past few weeks, with Google deciding to retire this software version after a nearly 11-year run.
At some point, an operating system version needs to be left behind – and I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable to no longer support Google Play Services on an operating system version that’s 11 years old. However, this is Android we’re talking about, and devices running Android 6.0 were probably sold much more recently than 11 years ago, when the operating system version was new. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if devices running Android 6.0 are still being sold today.
I doubt this is something that will affect many people who read OSNews, but there’s bound to be edge cases – Android 6.0 devices silently doing their job that are now just a little less useful. I’m thinking of really cheap tablets that can still play video just fine, retro gaming handhelds that don’t magically lose the ability to emulate SNES games, that sort of stuff. The numbers will be small, but if you happen to be among them, this can be a really annoying deprecation.
Drivers of cars from the Volkswagen Group using alternative Android versions like GrapheneOS, LineageOS, or /e/OS have been unable to use the VW app for some time. This means they can neither check their vehicle’s remaining range from their phone, schedule service appointments, nor control charging and air conditioning. The car manufacturer has made changes to the app’s backend that only allow devices with Google’s pre-installed Play Services. When asked by heise online, VW stated that affected users should not expect a timely reopening. “However, they are looking into it.”
Rumours had been circulating for a while, but now it’s official: OnePlus is effectively retreating from the European and US markets.
Today, our hearts are undoubtedly heavy and mixed with emotion. As part of the proactive global strategy adjustment, OnePlus has decided to conclude new product rollouts in Europe and North America.
Once OnePlus’ co-founder Carl Pei left the company (and founded Nothing), things have been feeling shaky for OnePlus, once the undisputed darling of the more technical part of the Android crowd. Their phones got more expensive, their minimalist, close-to-stock Android version got progressively worse, and they started lagging in updates, too. My OnePlus Watch 3, for instance, which was promised to get WearOS 6 at some point, but never got it – meanwhile, WearOS 7 has already been released. No, this news is not particularly surprising.
Luckily, the company claims it will honour its warranty and update support obligations for existing products in Europe and the US, which is nice, but also something they’re legally obligated to do (at least in the EU). A snag here is that the only update path the company offers is to ColorOS, from its parent company Oppo, which many more traditional Android and OnePlus users certainly won’t be happy about. Something is better than nothing, I suppose, and I’ll reserve judgment until I see what ColorOS 17 will be like on my other OnePlus product, a OnePlus Pad 3.
It’s just one more victim of western markets (illegally) consolidating on Apple and Samsung (while a few Pixels rummaging in the margins).
Google released a series of Chrome 151 updates on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, covering desktop, Android, and iOS platforms, while ChromeOS devices began receiving their latest Chrome Beta update a day earlier. The latest Desktop Update introduces new Beta and Early Stable builds for Windows, Mac, and Linux, alongside stability and performance improvements across multiple platforms.
Chrome Beta and Desktop Update Reach Version 151.0.7922.34
The latest Chrome Beta Desktop Update has been released for Windows, Mac and Linux, updating the Beta channel to version 151.0.7922.34. Google said a partial list of changes is available through the project's Git log. Users interested in moving between release channels can do so through the available switching options, while any newly discovered issues can be reported by filing a bug. The company also pointed users to its community help forum for troubleshooting and discussions about common issues.Google also introduced an Early Stable Desktop Update, rolling out Chrome 151 versions 151.0.7922.34 and 151.0.7922.35 to a small percentage of Windows and Mac users. According to the company, a complete list of changes for the build is available in the release log, with additional information provided for its Early Stable rollout process.
Chrome 151 Expands Across Android and iOS
On Android, Chrome 151 (151.0.7922.29) entered an Early Stable rollout for a limited number of users and is expected to reach more devices through Google Play over the following days. Google stated that the release focuses on stability and performance improvements, with complete technical changes documented in the Git log.The Chrome Beta release for Android, also carrying version 151.0.7922.29, is already available through Google Play. Google said users can review a partial list of changes in the Git log, while information about new features is available on the Chromium blog alongside updates covering the web platform.For iPhone and iPad users, Chrome Stable 151 (151.0.7922.25) is scheduled to appear on the App Store within hours of the announcement. Similar to the Android release, the update delivers stability and performance improvements. Meanwhile, Chrome Beta 151 (151.0.7922.26) for iOS is expected to reach the App Store over the next few days, with Google publishing a partial change log for the release.
ChromeOS Beta Update Also Released
Ahead of the broader Chrome 151 announcements, Google began rolling out a Chrome Beta update for ChromeOS and ChromeOS Flex on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. The Beta channel is being upgraded to OS version 16733.19.0, paired with browser version 151.0.7922.23, for most supported ChromeOS devices.Google encouraged users across all releases to report newly identified bugs through its official reporting system, submit feedback directly through Chrome, or seek assistance via its ChromeOS and Chromebook community forums. The company also reminded users that instructions for switching release channels remain available for those interested in testing future Chrome Beta and Desktop Update builds.
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