Google Play is adding support for private personal Android apps, allowing users to build an app with tools like Google AI Studio and run it on their own devices without publishing it publicly to the Play Store. "These personal apps won't show up in Google Play's search or listing pages, and won't be shared with anyone except for the app's creator," reports TechCrunch. From the report: The idea comes as more people are experimenting with building their own applications via AI for specific, personal needs. However, being able to use that app on their own Android device has meant publishing to Google Play, making it accessible to the Play Store's some 3 billion users. That led many to limit their vibe-coding efforts to web apps that could run on any device instead of something built natively for Android.
Now, Google says Android device owners can vibe-code an app using Google AI Studio, then launch it for their own use. These apps are still required to comply with Google Play's existing policies but allow users to experiment more directly with building apps for Android. Initially, the feature will be available to users in the U.S., age 18 and up.
[...] In the months ahead, the company said that users will be able to share their vibe-coded creations with a network of trusted friends. That means the apps you built for family or friends, or maybe your child's T-ball league, could be used with a small group of people, without having to go public on the Play Store. And if the app ever really becomes popular, there will be a way to shift the personal app to one that's published on the Google Play Store for everyone to try, after completing the trust and safety reviews.
Google has already added a few AI features to the Play Store, but a lot more are coming. The previously released Ask Play feature is expanding to offer more AI-powered discovery options in Google's app store, and Google is also using AI to build a recommendation engine called Game Finder. For people who have embraced AI to build their own apps, the Play Store will soon offer a way to privately host and share those creations.
Google rolled out Ask Play in 2025 as a small chatbot interface on Play Store listings. It lets you ask questions about an app or game, either by typing it in manually or choosing from a list of suggested queries. Starting today, Ask Play is expanding into a more general way to search for apps and games. You ask the robot questions, and it generates recommendations that can include detailed comparison charts. Gemini will roll out a similar capability soon.
Google's other AI discovery announcement focuses on games. The new Game Finder feature leans on all the usage data Google's app platform has hoovered up over the years, featuring insights into the way 1.2 billion people play games on Android. It builds a profile called Gamer DNA and matches you with players who have similar DNA.
Rambler, Google's AI-powered dictation feature, seems genuinely useful. At its core, Rambler is like your phone's existing dictation tool, only much smarter. It can automatically edit your speech into a more polished end product. It'll eliminate your filler words like "um" and ah," shape up your grammar, and understand your intended meaning (e.g., if you say "we need to pick whole milk...I mean, oat milk," Rambler will type "we need to pick up oat milk.")
This is the type of feature most of us would like to have on our phones, there's only one problem: Despite developing the Android operating system, Google decided to make Rambler a Pixel 11-exclusive feature. As such, if you have a non-Pixel phone, like a Samsung or a Motorola, you're out of luck, unless you want to upgrade to one of Google's smartphones—or, as it turns out, download this third-party tool instead.
"PixelBoard" adds Rambler to any Android
As reported by Android Authority, developer Akshay Kadam modded Google's Gboard app and uploaded it to GitHub under the name PixelBoard. Kadam advertises PixelBoard as a "supercharged Gboard mod" sporting features from the Pixel 11 series—including AI writing tools, and, notably, Rambler.
According to Kadam's GitHub page, PixelBoard runs side-by-side with the Gboard app on your phone. You don't need to replace the existing app or uninstall it, nor do you need to root your Android. Still, this is an unofficial port that requires sideloading onto your Android device. While the tool comes from a public GitHub page, exercise caution if you want to give it a shot.
If you do, Kadam's GitHub page has detailed instructions for downloading the app on your phone. It seems you have three options: You can download PixelBoard directly from GitHub, then install it from the notification drawer or File Manager on your phone; if you're a developer, you can sideload the app by connecting your phone via USB with USB Debugging enabled; and, finally, you can patch the stock Gboard APK using Morphe Manager. (Kadam recommends the first method.)
Once you do have PixelBoard on your phone, head to Settings > System > Languages & input > On-screen keyboard (or Manage Keyboards), then enable PixelBoard. Tap the keyboard switch button or spacebar selector, then choose PixelBoard as the input method. To use Rambler, choose "Rambler Dictation" from this settings page, choose "Voice typing," then, under "Dictation type," switch from "Standard" to "Rambler."
Hopefully, Google brings Rambler to more phones in due time. But, until then, you can use PixelBoard to bring the feature to your device on your own.
LineageOS has released its first version based on Android 17 – earlier than expected.
We’ve been hard at work rebasing all of our changes and features since Android 17’s release in June. Android 17’s first release mainly contained iterative improvements and some UI/UX refinements, but due to our previous efforts adapting to Google’s heavy refactoring over the last several versions, we were able to rebase onto Android 17’s code-base faster than anticipated. Yes you read that right: We’re early this year!
This release also includes the latest Android security patches (October 2026), as well as a brand new browser-based USB flash tool to make installation easier. Many of the applications included with LineageOS have also been updated and improved, like its music player, image editor, web browser, and so on. The project also did a full accessibility audit of its installation process and application suite, which has already resulted in severalk accessibility improvements.
LineageOS serves as the base for countless custom Android ROMs, so it’s great to see the project do this well.
When I went to Google’s presentation on its new Googlebooks, it was an act of convenience. I happen to be near New York City, so I’m used to schlepping my way onto a bus for media events. As the Performance desk lead, I really don’t have any personal interest in Google’s successor to its Chromebook venture, especially since it’s packed with “AI.” So I was there mostly to support our AI expert, Ben Patterson.
But one bit of news caught my attention: You get access to the bootloader.
A brave new (old) world
This requires a bit of context. See, I’m an Android guy. I started my tech journalism career on Android-focused sites, back when smartphones were still the hottest, newest tech on the planet, and tons of people were obsessing over every new model. One of the most exciting parts of Android was the ability to modify the software fairly easily. You could “root” them to get access to all the various bits and bobs, or even load up your own custom-cooked, open-source operating system, colloquially called a ROM.
I have tried all of these flavors of custom Android ROMs.
Various
Rooting and ROMs are still a thing in the Android world, but they’ve fallen off by an order of magnitude since the glory days of 2010-2015. Somewhat because phones are far more locked down, aside from some where open access is a feature, like Google’s Pixel line or the Fairphone. But mostly it’s because phones are powerful and flexible enough to do pretty much everything you want now, no risky or skilled modifications required.
I installed an AOSP-based ROM on my Barnes & Noble Nook Color e-reader to turn it into one of the first full-power Android tablets. But I can’t remember the last time I looked at an Android phone’s bootloader, despite trying dozens (maybe hundreds!) of different ROMs back in the day.
Googlebooks are, at least in the purest technical sense, Android-powered laptops. They’re running Intel and Qualcomm chips — some of the same ones that power Windows laptops, in fact. But Android software is based on open-source code, loath as Google is to admit that these days. That means it should be possible, if not easy or straightforward, to modify it. At the NYC event I asked various representatives from Google and its hardware partners if they would allow users to wipe the laptops clean and install Windows, and they didn’t have an answer ready for me.
Foundry
Fast forward to this week, and we have confirmation via Google support that Googlebooks will arrive with an unlockable bootloader. For those of you who’ve never dug deep into an XDA forum to find a Gapps ZIP that will work with your tweaked CyanogenMod build, that means you should be able to load up custom ROMs.
That’s got the nerdiest part of my soul extremely excited. Custom ROM developers advanced Android’s early years in ways that might be invisible to those outside of that particular niche. Google, Samsung, and others apparently took direct inspiration from the ways that developers modified their software in order to improve it, particularly in terms of the user interface and performance.
You know how you can swipe up from the bottom of your phone to go home and swipe on the side to go back? How there’s an easy shortcut to turn on the rear camera flash and make a quick flashlight? Yeah, both of those showed up in custom Android ROMs and other modifications years before they were stock in either Android or iOS. The prospect of seeing users customize the operating system in Googlebooks is absolutely tantalizing.
Google
…but it’s not very likely to happen
But there’s a fly in this particular ointment. The early Android ROM scene was so vibrant specifically because millions and millions of people were excited about smartphones. It was the Wild West, and everybody wanted the fastest horse. For the same thing to happen with Googlebooks, Google’s AI-laden “reinvention” of the laptop, people will need to be excited about Googlebooks. And I don’t see that happening, not even to the degree that people were interested in Chromebooks when they debuted back in 2011.
There’s an extremely narrow slice of the consumer market for whom I think a Googlebook purchase makes sense. You need to be A) really, really happy with your Android phone, B) really want a new laptop, C) not reliant upon any tools or software that only works on Windows or Mac, and C) not particularly bothered by a lack of native game support. Oh, and you need to have a budget of about a thousand dollars or more, because even limiting the RAM to 8GB isn’t making Googlebooks cheap.
Michael Crider/Foundry
There’s a faint possibility of an exciting new world in custom laptop software. But it’s very faint indeed without a large, dedicated group of people making it happen. And as much as I want to see it, I doubt that I will.
For the last 15 years, you've been able to buy a Fire tablet from Amazon. Which Fire tablet? It doesn't matter—like Kindles, they have been pretty much the same year to year. The company's new tablet lineup is a big change, though. Amazon has dropped the Fire branding in favor of Alexa, and the new Alexa Tablets are now Google-certified Android devices.
Throughout the history of Fire Tablets, Amazon downplayed its use of Android. They ran Android apps from the company's Appstore platform, but there was no Google integration with "Fire OS." However, Amazon shut down its app store last year. The new Alexa Tablets run full-fledged Google-y versions of Android with the Play Store and all the apps you'd expect. This contrasts sharply with Amazon's Fire Sticks, which have abandoned Android for the custom Linux-based Vega OS.
The Alexa Tablet lineup consists of three devices, all redesigned with unibody aluminum housings. The Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $230, and the Tablet 11 jumps to $330. They run on the budget MediaTek 8189 processor, but that's still an upgrade from the last-gen Fire tablets. Both devices have 16:10 display ratios that are better for watching video, but the flagship tablet is a little different.
Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series is excellent, and its devices are perhaps the best foldable smartphones you can buy. (Though we'll see if the iPhone Duo stacks up later this month.) The very best of these devices, the Galaxy Z Fold Ultra, comes with everything Samsung has to offer in a folding smartphone, which doesn't come cheap. Samsung lists this device at $2,099.99, which could buy you two or three laptops, let alone one foldable. But during the even after October Prime Day, you can save 19% on this device and take advantage of big discounts on Samsung's other foldables.
When closed, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra has a 6.5-inch 1080p display, perfectly usable as a typical smartphone experience. But once opened, you get an eight-inch 120Hz display with a much higher resolution of 2256 by 2504, effectively turning the Z Fold 8 Ultra into a small tablet. It comes with the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip as the Galaxy S26 line, which means performance is on par with Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup. You also get some of the benefits of the S26 Ultra's cameras: The Z Fold 8 Ultra has a 200MP wide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens, and a 50MP ultrawide lens. And since this is a foldable phone, you also get two selfie cameras: One 10MP ultrawide on the inside, and one 10MP side on the outer display.
Amazon's deal on the Z Fold 8 Ultra is great, but it's still expensive. You save $415, but you still need to put down $1,684.99. Alternatively, you could take advantage of Amazon's deal on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. This device is 18% off, down to $1,549.99 from $1,899.99. This is Samsung's "passport-shaped" foldable, with a smaller 5.5-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch 120Hz inner display. It, too, runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, though you miss out a bit on cameras: The Galaxy Z Fold 8 doesn't have a 200MP shooter, but has a 50MP wide and a 50MP ultrawide. It also comes with 10MP selfie cameras on the inner and outer displays.
If you're looking for the most affordable foldable Galaxy phone, you could consider the Galaxy Z Flip 8. As the name implies, the phone flips, not folds, meaning it has a much smaller footprint than Samsung's other devices. With it, you get a 4.1-inch cover display, which opens up to a 6.9-inch 120Hz 1080p inner display. It also runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, but it has the least powerful camera options yet: a 50MP wide lens and a 12MP ultrawide. There's only one 10MP selfie camera on this device. However, the Flip 8 is also Samsung's most affordable. Right now, Amazon has it 19% off, down to $974.99 from $1,199.99.
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Samsung makes a lot of devices, but if you want the best of its "traditional" smartphones, your only option is the Galaxy S series, including the current Galaxy S26 series. While these devices can get quite pricey—particularly the S26 Ultra—Amazon has discounted all of the smartphones in the line for the final hours of October Prime Day. You can save up to 32% right now, and the most expensive options have the biggest savings.
The cheapest of the bunch is the Galaxy S26 FE. This is the "budget" model of the Galaxy S26 line, but still a great phone in its own right. It comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with three rear cameras: a 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and an 8MP telephoto. (You also get a 12MP selfie camera.) It has a 4900mAh battery, runs the Exynos 2500 chip, and 8GB of RAM with either 128GB or 256GB of storage.
Samsung's standard S26 is probably the best balance for most people. It offers a smaller 6.3-inch AMOLED display with three rear cameras: 50MP, a 12MP ultrawide, and a 10MP telephoto lens, with a 12MP selfie camera. Crucially, with the S26 you get the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, which offers better performance than the Exynos 2500. The smaller footprint gets a 4300mAh battery, with 12GB of RAM. While this model does come in 256GB, only the 512GB model is discounted, which is the case for the other phones here. For the S26's features with the FE's larger display, go with the Galaxy S26+. This option comes with a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, with a higher resolution than either of the previous devices. The rest of the features are the same, however, minus the 4900mAh battery.
But for the best Samsung has to offer, choose the Galaxy S26 Ultra. This option comes with Samsung's biggest and best display, a 6.9-inch AMOLED with the same solution as the Galaxy S26+. It has Samsung's best cameras, too: a 200MP wide lens, a 10MP telephoto lens, a 50MP periscope lens, and a 50MP ultrawide. It has a 5000mAh battery and either 12GB or 16GB of RAM—if you opt for the 1TB model.
Google has published security fixes for Android. The October updates are available for Android operating system versions 14, 15, 16, 16-qpr2, and 17 where “qpr” stands for Quarterly Platform Release. QPRs are interim updates Google pushes out between major yearly cycles.
These Android security bulletins contain valuable information for Android users. The updates are important as they fix several vulnerabilities rated as Critical, which can be exploited without users even doing anything.
However, we don’t write about them very often. The main reason for that lack of attention is that many Android users aren’t able to get the updates immediately and lots of others will never see them.
Google’s October fixes list Android 14 and newer, but a substantial share of the Android ecosystem still runs older software. In the distribution figures reported about last year, roughly four in ten devices were running Android 12 or earlier. This was while Android 13 still received updates which ended early March 2026.
And then there is the patch gap caused by device vendors meaning that even phones that remain supported may have to wait until the vendors test and sometimes modify the patches, so they work with their devices. And other vendors are on a different stride. For example, Samsung lists devices including the Galaxy S22 series and several Galaxy A models on a quarterly rather than a monthly security-update schedule.
You can imagine that cybercriminals love to get their hands on known vulnerabilities that many users have not yet been able to patch. Looking at the number of users that are unable to patch immediately that makes for an enormous target group.
How to stay safe
Get the updates as soon as they are made available to you is the most important word of advice here.
For most Android phones this is the general idea: open Settings, find Software update or System update (sometimes under System or About phone), check for updates, and follow the instructions to download, install, and restart. The menu names vary between vendors and even models, but the process is broadly the same.
If that doesn’t work for you or you can’t find instructions for your specific device, post what you’re looking for in the comments. We have lots of helpful readers.
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Amazon’s October Prime Day sale has brought the latest Google Pixel Watch 5 (45mm, LTE) down to $444.99 from $529.99, its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. PCMag calls it the best smartwatch for Android users, largely because Gemini is built in so deeply—the assistant works proactively, so it can surface your flight details on the way to the airport or suggest a contact's number while you text about dinner plans, and a new AI-powered Health Coach reviews your workouts with tailored feedback, though some of its fitness advice sits behind a paid subscription.
Helping all of those AI features along is a faster Qualcomm processor that Google says improves the overall performance of this smartwatch by 20%, while RAM increases from 2GB to 3GB and storage doubles to 64GB compared with the Pixel Watch 4. As for its health hardware, Google left it largely untouched, so you still get heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, ECG readings, skin temperature, GPS, and sleep tracking, with reportedly accurate findings. The catch is that this remains an Android-only watch, requiring Android 12 or newer, and some of the better AI features work best with a newer Pixel phone.
Physically, the Watch 5 doesn’t stray far from its predecessor, keeping the familiar domed display under 3D Corning Gorilla Glass while adding new watch faces that curve around its edges—with the screen reaching up to 3,000 nits and adjusting to ambient light, so it should remain easy to read during a sunny afternoon run or in a dim room. As for its durability, its IP68 and 5ATM ratings mean you can wear it through a workout, at the beach, or in the pool without worrying about dust or water. And charging shouldn’t necessarily be a nightly routine, either, with the watch lasting up to 56.5 hours in testing. Heavier use will cut into that figure, but you should still have a good chance of making it through two full days with enough power left to track your sleep overnight.
Googlebooks are Google's latest attempt to carve out a piece of the premium laptop market, and tight integration with Android phones is a key part of that effort. Now that Googlebooks are available, we're learning of some frustrating limitations of that plan. For now, Googlebooks will only play nicely with your phone if you have a Pixel.
When Google announced the launch window for Googlebooks, it said the laptops were "engineered to work with your Android phone right out of the box." But as with many things Google, the truth is more convoluted. We have since learned that you need Android 17 for any of the nifty integrations to work. With a compatible Android 17 phone, you can seamlessly stream apps to your laptop, access files on your phone, mirror notifications, and continue where you left off in certain apps when switching from phone to laptop.
You might think that the latest Samsung phones, which shipped with Android 17, would be ready for this experience. You'd be wrong, though. Some early Googlebook adopters have complained that phones like the Z Fold 8 won't work with the laptops. While the devices appear to see each other, the phone doesn't stay connected. Google representatives have sinceconfirmed that these "Better Together" features are not currently supported on even the latest Samsung phones. An update that brings support to Samsung phones will roll out in "the coming weeks."
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Amazon’s October Prime Day is in full swing, and the Sony WH-1000XM6s have dropped to $378 from $459.99, taking about $82 off Sony’s current flagship over-ear headphones and bringing them to their lowest price to date, according to price trackers. Released in 2025, the XM6 builds on an already strong formula with better noise cancellation, more microphones, and plenty of control over how your music sounds. Lifehacker Shopping Editor Daniel Oropeza called them the best over-ear headphones he tested in 2025, a title they still hold, and he singled out both their audio performance and noise cancellation for praise.
That noise cancellation is helped by one of the bigger upgrades Sony made with the XM6 over the previous model—increasing the microphone count from eight on the XM5 to 12. Those microphones help power the active noise cancellation, Ambient Sound mode, and Adaptive Sound Control, so the headphones can respond to what's happening around you and automatically adjust how much outside sound gets through as your environment changes. There’s also plenty to tinker with in Sony’s companion app, including a customizable EQ for dialing in the sound to your preferences. You can even see which Bluetooth codec is currently being used—the XM6 supports LDAC alongside AAC, SBC, and LC3.
Battery life is another reason the XM6 works well as an everyday pair—it can last up to 30 hours with ANC enabled and 40 hours with it switched off, although your actual runtime will vary depending on how you use them. That should comfortably cover a few days of commuting or work, as well as most long-haul flights. Sony has also kept the 3.5mm headphone jack for times when a wired connection makes more sense, such as plugging into an airplane entertainment system or an older audio device.
October Prime Day FAQs
When is Prime Day?
October Prime Day begins Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 7. It happens every year during October.
When does Prime Day end?
October Prime Day ends on Oct. 7, 2026. It’s a two-day online sale.
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.
Your phone can play games. You already know this if you’ve perused an app store in the last 15 years, or seen the absolute dregs of YouTube advertising. But did you know that your phone can play PC games?
And I don’t mean an emulated build of Age of Empires that looked old even running on Windows XP. I mean new Steam games, downloaded from your own Steam account, played right on your phone.
This is a super-cool development, using a lot of the same tech that makes the Linux-based Steam Deck play nice (ha!) with Windows games. But as you might expect, it’s also a bit janky.
Full access to local Steam games in an Android app
The tool in question is called GameHub, an app from accessory company GameSir, which has at least been around for a while. That means this isn’t some sketchy, fly-by-night operation. And sadly, it’s only for Android at the moment—sorry iPhone users, this is predictably a little more hackery than Apple is comfortable with.
GameSir
GameHub is an app that interfaces with Steam (and other game stores, including Epic Games Store), downloads full-fat PC games to your Android phone’s local storage, and plays them using a flavor of the Proton compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Android and Arm hardware. You launch the app, log into Steam, download games, then play them—it’s all fairly straightforward. You even get access to cloud saves, if they’re supported by said games.
That said, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that playing PC games locally on an Android device comes with lots of issues. The good news is that it works; the bad news is that it doesn’t work with everything. I loaded the app up on my Galaxy Z6 Fold—a fairly powerful phone, though a couple of years old now—to do some testing.
Testing out old and new games
Predictably, low-power 2D games work the best here. I was able to get my favorite short break game, 20 Minutes Till Dawn, downloaded and running without any hiccups. This is a minimal 2D game based on the Unity engine—it’d probably be pretty easy to get an Android port made, if the developer wanted one.
Flanne
Hades 2 is a bit of a midpoint for this test. Technically, the gameplay is all 2D, but there are up to a dozen or so polygonal models going over the 2D background at any given time, plus a lot of effects, some pretty serious high-res sprites, and voice acting.
The game eventually downloaded and played on my phone, but for some reason GameHub kept trying to download the demo version at first. It took several tries to get it up and running, and when I did, it could only go at about 30 to 45 frames per second once combat started. That’s certainly playable, but far from ideal.
SuperGiant
Then I tried Absolum, a wonderful 2D beat-em-up from last year. With all-2D gameplay, it should do at least as well as Hades 2. Maybe even better. Yet… it wouldn’t launch at all. Dang.
Alright, let’s go for some older titles then. Skyrim is an obvious choice, which has been re-released a dozen times and runs fine on the 10-year-old Arm-based Nintendo Switch. It downloads and launches, though getting through the pre-load screen requires you to use the phone screen as a touchpad. Once launched, I’m in the familiar interface and running at 60 frames per second. Nice!
Bethesda
Another classic 3D favorite of mine is Just Cause 2, and it has about the same technical requirements as Skyrim. So I downloaded it and… it won’t launch. Bummer.
Time to try the hardest test here: my favorite current obsession that’s also a visual treat, Dead as Disco. (Incidentally, this one works fine on handheld gaming PCs.) It’s a full-power Unreal Engine 5 game, but it only needs a few gigs of storage. I loaded it up… and it demanded a Visual C++ component—an Arm64 one, for a bit of additional insult.
Michael Crider / Foundry
So yeah, playing any particular game you want via GameHub is a bit of a crapshoot. Older games and 2D games are much more likely to work well, though a few more recent ones should also be playable.
It’s a bad time to be a PC gamer, but this is a passable solution for now
The GameHub app and interface itself is surprisingly good. You can browse all of Steam and Epic and see which games are in your personal library, and a “compatibility” rating for most games shows you how likely it is that it’ll actually run.
The app offers touchscreen controls, too, if you’re feeling masochistic. But it obviously works best with an attached controller. I connected an 8BitDo Bluetooth model that I’ve used and enjoyed for a couple of years, and had no issues—the games read it as a standard Xbox-style input.
GameSir
GameHub also offers a lot of tweaking if you want to invest some time and effort into trying to get games to work. For example, I tried three different GPU drivers to see if I could get Absolum to launch. (It still didn’t launch, but I appreciate the option to tinker, and the 1.7-star compatibility rating was verified.) You can even add Steam game shortcuts to your phone’s home screen, if you’re so inclined.
Is GameHub an alternative to a Steam Deck? Absolutely not. But GameHub is free, works with the phone and the games you already own, and gives you a portable option that doesn’t rely on cloud streaming. If you happen to own and enjoy at least one of the games that work well with the system—and I fully admit that that’s a big if—it’s a good way to play on the go without spending four figures on extra hardware.
Ads are everywhere on Android. For most of us, the answer is either to sit through the ad, or pay up for a service's "premium" tier. While services like YouTube Premium can genuinely be worth it, they aren't for every app. Thankfully, there are options: All you need are free apps or extensions, easily available from the Play Store or alternative app stores, including one option that can block virtually all ads on Android.
Use BlockAds to block all ads on Android via a local VPN
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
If you want a single app that blocks everything, start with the aptly named "BlockAds." It’s a free, open-source app you can install directly from GitHub or via the F-Droid store. It’s not available on the Play Store, so the installation method will depend on where you live and when you’re installing it. If Google’s new rules are in place, you’ll need a 24-hour cooling-off period before you can sideload apps.
Once installed, activate BlockAds, giving it permission to add a VPN profile. When enabled, BlockAds will activate its own VPN profile that will stay enabled in the background. While it uses a VPN profile, it’s not a VPN service like Proton VPN in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s a local VPN that filters the traffic on your device itself. It uses DNS filtering to automatically block traffic to ad servers and trackers, quietly disabling them in the background. All your regular activity continues, but the annoying ads in any app disappear, without needing to root your device. There is one downside to using this method: Android only lets you enable one VPN profile at a time, so if BlockAds is taking up the VPN slot, you can’t use an actual VPN to protect your internet usage or to spoof your location.
Use private DNS to customize ad blocking across all apps
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
If you don't want to use a VPN profile, or a third-party app, DNS filtering is another path. This method blocks known advertiser domains, effectively blocking most ads you encounter on the web. Android OS comes with a built-in option that lets you change the DNS server to whatever you like, but there are also services that use DNS filtering to remove ads and trackers as you browse the internet, like AdGuard's free DNS filtering. All you have to do is change the DNS address. Go to Settings > Network and Internet > Private DNS and switch to the Private DNS provider hostname option, then enter the hostname. In this case, to use the free service, enter "dns.adguard-dns.co" and hit the Save button.
It's important to note that DNS filtering might break some sites or apps with full-screen ads. This is where a more flexible option like NextDNS can help. Once you create a NextDNS account, you get a personal DNS hostname URL, where you can customize which filters to use and add websites to a whitelist as well. Plus, you can enable or disable protection as needed. After you sign up for NextDNS, go to the Setup section to find your URL. NextDNS, though, isn't completely free. You get up to 300,000 queries for free per month, and the unlimited Pro plan costs $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year.
Get a desktop-class ad-blocking experience with Firefox and uBlock Origin
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
After Google’s new Manifest V3 changes, getting a full-fledged ad-blocker that updates in real time is becoming more difficult, even on desktop. On Mac and Windows, Firefox is perhaps the biggest champion of ad blockers, supporting the full uBlock Origin extension natively.
It’s the same story on Android as well. Firefox is the best way to run the full uBlock Origin extension, with its dynamic blocking and customizable filter support. If you want to use it, install the Firefox app on Android, tap the Menu button, and go to Extensions. Here, search for and install uBlock Origin. Once it’s installed, ads from websites will disappear automatically. The default setup is enough for most users. But if you want to customize it, you can go to uBlock Origin extension’s settings page to add extra filters.
Watch YouTube ad-free (with premium features) using NewPipe and DuckDuckGo
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
The most reliable way to block ads on YouTube these days is to pay for Premium, as Google makes it quite hard to block ads for free. That said, there are plenty of workarounds. The best way is to get out of Google’s system altogether using the NewPipe app, an alternative YouTube client that’s hosted on the open-source F-Droid app store (similar to the BlockAds app we discussed above). The app plays YouTube videos ad-free, and you can also access features like background playback and offline downloads (usually reserved for YouTube Premium subscribers). You can search for and play videos, but you can also subscribe to channels and build your own YouTube feed in the NewPipe app.
If you don’t want to install an app from third-party app stores, try using DuckDuckGo's browser. It has a built-in YouTube ad blocker, which uses the robust filters from the uBlock Origin extension discussed above. Just load up a YouTube video in the browser, and you should be good to go. If you still see ads, make sure that the feature is enabled from Menu > Ad Blocking > Block Ads on YouTube.
Block trackers and ads without any setup using Brave
Credit: Khamosh Pathak
If you just want an ad-free browsing experience without the need for installing and updating third-party extensions, try the Brave browser. It’s one of the best privacy-focused browsers out there, and the Android app is quite easy to use. It blocks trackers and ads by default. There are no switches to flip, and no extensions to enable. The default ad-blocking works for YouTube videos as well.
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For a flagship smartphone that launched just over a year ago in July 2025, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has held its price well, which makes the current discount worth a look. The 256GB unlocked model in Mint is down to $1,349.99 on Amazon from its $1,499.99 list price, a $150 cut that price trackers show is the lowest the Fold 7 has reached so far. Anyone who would rather have the newest Galaxy on the market can step up to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 for about $300 more—you're spending serious money either way, so it's worth making the most of One UI with these settings and hacks that help you get the most out of whichever one you pick.
As for the phone itself, its eight-inch AMOLED screen (when unfolded) gives you the extra space that makes split-screen multitasking genuinely useful, while its 120Hz refresh rate and 2,600-nit peak brightness keep scrolling smooth and the display readable outdoors. And when you fold it shut, the 6.5-inch cover screen with its wider 21:9 aspect ratio gives you enough room for a comfortable on-screen keyboard, meaning you can handle quick replies without constantly unfolding the phone. Samsung also refined the hinge with the Fold 7, slimming the body to 4.2mm when unfolded and trimming the weight to 215 grams, and the result is a phone that feels better balanced and less unwieldy over a full day of use (to learn more, check out our in-depth review here).
That improved handling is backed by the hardware inside, where a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip and 12GB of RAM keep heavy multitasking smooth, while the camera system, built around a 200MP main sensor alongside a 12MP ultrawide and a 10MP 3x telephoto, holds up across lighting conditions. That said, its 4,400mAh battery is modest for a screen this large, and while its IP48 protection covers water immersion, it does not resist dust, so beach and trail use calls for some care. For anyone still weighing their options, our roundup of the best Android phones you can buy in 2026 covers the alternatives.
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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