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jeudi 15 septembre 2016

Google Photos hits v2.0 with new permanent album sorting

Google Photos Logo

Google Photos has been updated to version 2.0 in the past 24 hours, but don't get too excited, there hasn't been a complete overhaul of the popular photo storage app. However, Google has introduced a couple of handy new features, including permanent album contents sorting, and a couple of tweaks to the user interface.

The new permanent sorting of album contents is the big new feature, so we'll start with that. Essentially it does what the name suggests, Photo users can now sort the pictures in their albums by oldest first, newest first, or recently added, and these ordering changes will be saved for when you next pop in to look at the album, regardless of which device you log in from. Neat. This features essentially builds on the temporary sorting option that was implemented a couple of months ago along with the album overflow menu.

To sort your pictures, simply head into an album and then either open the overflow menu and select "edit album" or tap on the album name to begin editing. From here you should be able to spot a new icon in the top right that looks like a pair of arrows pointing up and down. Click that, and you'll be presented with your sorting options.

Google Photo album sorting feature

Left: old version. Center & Right: latest version

Other than that, the remaining changes with Google Photos 2.0 have been made to the user interface. Selfies appear to have disappeared from the list of quick search options in order to save some space, although the grouping can still be found by typing the term into search. There's a new icon that appears when rearranging photos in an album that displays how many pictures are selected. And finally,the 'Group similar faces' option in the Settings menu has been renamed to 'Face grouping' and also has a new description, although the functionality remains the same.

If you haven't spotted these changes yet, don't fret. Google will be rolling them out gradually, as usual. If you can't wait, you can always grab the signed APK from the link below.



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Trailer: The dreamlike Where Cards Fall will arrive in 2017

where cards fall

Roughly a year into full-time work on a game supported by the team behind mobile hit Alto's Adventure, The Game Band is finally ready to showcase a slice of its narrative-driven Where Cards Fall.

Last November, indie studio Snowman announced that it would lend The Game Band some of the talent that went into one of the prettiest endless runners to ever hit the Play Store — that'd be Alto's Adventure.

Since then, Snowman has been supporting The Game Band with art, design and marketing for Where Cards Fall. The Game Band's founder, Sam Rosenthal, has some solid cred of his own. He worked on Disney's Where's My Water and Activision's toys-to-life series Skylanders.

But up until recently, all we had to go on, beyond impressive resumes and a story from The Verge, was a piece of concept art. But late last month, we got this:

Inspired by Radiohead's "House of Cards," a song that seems to be about breaking up to built something new, Where the Cards fall is a coming of age story in which the narrative is driven by cards you built up and knock down. The cards make up the game world. The compose houses, parts of the landscapes, landmarks and so on.

The same deck of cards can be reconstructed to solve puzzles and progress the story, The Game Band's Sam Rosenthal said in an interview with The Verge. It's a casual game that won't deviate from its core mechanic, but it sounds like Rosenthal and company are hoping it's the game's atmosphere and experience that'll resonate with players rather than hooking the in with addicting gameplay.

"We're aiming for the game to feel like a bittersweet memory of adolescence," says Rosenthal. "Our visuals and soundscape are welcoming, yet slightly unnerving and melancholic."

It doesn't have a release date yet, but Where Cards Fall 's launch has been placed in the wide window of 2017. No platforms have been announced for the game — we'll keep our petitions handy just in case the Android OS gets snubbed. Will you be keeping an eye on this one? Let us know in the comments.



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How to create a 3D shooter for Android with Unity – Part two

P1000205

In part one, we saw how to create a basic 3D environment in Unity and then add first person controls and a camera, along with the ability to shoot. Hopefully, you will have found the process was surprisingly simple, though we're far from done just yet!

I mean, whoever heard of a first person shooter where you can't aim up and down? It's nonsense!

The solution to this one is easy though (sorry to leave you hanging!). All you need to do is click on your FPSController in the hierarchy. This will then show the children, which right now are your FirstPersonCharacter and your Gun. All we're going to do is move the gun from the FPSController to the FirstPersonCharacter. The latter is what controls the camera and so by making the gun its child, it will now follow wherever the camera points, which is the de facto 'head' of our character.

Hit play and you'll find you can now look left and right and up and down. And if you hit fire, the bullet will fly upward or downward in accordance with the angle of the gun – remember it is being spawned at the precise center of the gun and with its precise orientation.

Adding targets

Now we can aim properly, what we need next is something to shoot at! So let's create ourselves some targets. To do that, just create another GameObject using whatever shape you deem appropriate. A flat circle probably makes the most sense but how do we make one of those?

A simple solution would be for us to use a cylinder and then change the dimensions. So go to GameObject > 3D Object > Cylinder and then drop it into your Scene.

Cylinder Insert

After changing the scale to make it appear flat, add a second flat cylinder just in front of it and half the size right in the center. I created two more materials – one red, one white – and used those to color the outer and inner circles respectively. The result is something resembling a target and with no 3D modelling necessary. You'll notice that this should already have a capsule collider attached and you're also going to need to tick 'Is Trigger' in the inspector for the outer ring.

Target Finished

The reason we're doing that is because we don't need the target to respond to collissions but we do want to know when something comes into contact with it so that we can detect when it's being shot and get it to react accordingly. So create a script and call it 'TargetBoom' (make sure you created the script in your Scripts folder and your materials in the Materials folder…). Enter the following code:

  public class TargetBoom : MonoBehaviour {      public GameObject explode;      // Use this for initialization      void Start () {            }            // Update is called once per frame      void Update () {            }        void OnTriggerEnter(Collider other)      {          Instantiate(explode, gameObject.transform.position, gameObject.transform.rotation);          Destroy(gameObject);          Destroy(other);          }  }  

The 'onTriggerEnter' event is what tells us when something interacted with the trigger, so anything here will occur only once an object touches our target. In our case, we're destroying both the target and the bullet but not before instantiating an explosion (the same way we instantiated the bullet). The explosion is a particle effect and if you're not sure what that is or how to make one, then you can find out more in my creating a 2D platform game in Unity post (see the section called 'Adding gore').

Now attach this script to the target you've created, create your particle effect and drop it into the relevant slot in your inspector – you should know how to do all this by now. If you check that post, you should also find how to add an exploding sound effect on the collision to complete the effect should you so desire.

It should all look like this when you're done (sans optional sound effect):

Target Finished

Now just copy and paste your targets around the screen a little to make as many as you want and enjoy some target practice!

I've added a little script to make the objects move left and right, which I also borrowed from the 2D platformer article. Add this script to the targets and remember to fill out the variables in the inspector if you want to make them move left and right.

  public class ObjectMove : MonoBehaviour  {      public float amounttomovex;      public float speed;      private float currentposx;      private float currentposy;      private int facing;         void Start()      {          currentposx = gameObject.transform.position.x;          facing = 0;      }        void Update()      {          if (facing == 1 && gameObject.transform.position.x < currentposx - amounttomovex)          {              facing = 0;          }            if (facing == 0 && gameObject.transform.position.x > currentposx)          {              facing = 1;          }            if (facing == 0)          {              transform.Translate(Vector2.right * speed * Time.deltaTime);          }          else if (facing == 1)          {              transform.Translate(-Vector2.right * speed * Time.deltaTime);          }      }  }  

Of course, it wouldn't be a huge leap to make these targets into enemies by making them swarm on the player and kill us on collision! For now, try shooting the targets and see what happens…

2 Targets

Adding mobile input

Now it's time to add mobile input so that we can actually control this thing without a mouse and keyboard. Thankfully, this is pretty easy again thanks to some more ready-made scripts in the assets we already imported.

With any luck, you should have a script in your assets called 'MobileSingleStick Controll'. You can find this by just searching for 'MobileSingle…' in your project window. Now just drag and drop this anywhere into your hierarchy and it will automatically create a button for you and an arrow pad. Hit 'Play' and you can test this on your PC by using your touchscreen (if you have one) or pressing the 'Esc' key and then using the mouse to try dragging the joystick button around. You'll find that this joystick allows you to walk around the screen, while the button handles jump.

Pretty simple! Except right now you can't look around, so we need to fix that. Simply copy the first joystick and then paste it into the same parent object. Now just change the horizontal and vertical axis names to 'Mouse X' and 'Mouse Y' respectively. This means the control will act like a mouse rather than a cursor.

Anchor Buttons

You'll want to increase the size a little too and adjust the position. Remember to use the 'anchor' option in the inspector to anchor your controls relative to the bottom corners of the screen. I also made my jump button turquoise (yeah, it's pretty ugly) and put it in the top right. This is easier to tap when you're running and it looks a little nicer than being a long white button. You can add a texture of your choice later. What you'll be left with is this:

With Controls

You'll also find that tapping or clicking anywhere on the screen makes the character fire. This is because the first screen touch is interpreted as a left click. This isn't a terribly elegant solution to our controls but it will do for now. So let's give it a go…

Playing on mobile

All that's left for us to do is actually test this game we've made on our mobile device!

To do that, head over to File > Build Settings and then make sure that you drag your scene into the window that says 'Scenes in Build'. This is important, as only the scenes included here will actually make it into your final product. Where it says 'Platform' you of course want to select 'Android' and where it says 'Texture Compression' choose 'ECT'. This will ensure maximum compatibility across Android devices but it does mean you can't use transparencies in your textures.

Build

Hit the option in the bottom left that says 'Player Settings' and you'll be able to make some more changes in the inspector. You'll need to create your private key sign under 'Publishing Settings' (use the debug for now) and you'll need to create a package name. Under 'Resolution and Presentation' you can remove support for portrait orientation (because that's just weird for a 3D shooter). You can also choose your Minimum API Level.

Now just hit 'Build and Run' with your Android device connected and it should create and install your app! If it asks where your Android SDK is, then just point it at the right folder.

Screenshot_20160912-103748

Once it's installed, have a little play and see what you think. You might find that you want to adjust the sensitivity or positioning of your joysticks to get the feel just right. But either way, you now have a first person shooter up and running on your phone with responsive touch controls! This is very much the 'bear bones' of a game but by adding some enemies and challenges and fixing up the UI… it's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to see it becoming something more.

Level 2!

I did mention something about creating another type of environment however, so just quickly before we wrap up, let's take a look at how you might go about building a second level and letting the player travel there.

To start with then, I've created a flat door-like structure with a faint portal texture and placed it somewhere in the level. This will be our level's end point. I'm making it a trigger and adding a new script called 'Gateway' to send us to the next level. That script looks like so:

  public class Gateway : MonoBehaviour {        // Use this for initialization      void Start () {            }            // Update is called once per frame      void Update () {            }          void OnTriggerEnter(Collider other)      {          if (other.tag == "Player")          {              Application.LoadLevel("level2");          }      }  }  

This script will be attached to the doorway and now, when the player comes into contact with it, Unity will load the scene called 'level2'. So save the script and attach it to your doorway, then make sure that the FPSController is tagged with 'Player' (you'll find this option if you select it and look in the inspector).

Level 2

We also need to make our 'level2' and the easiest way to do that is to select the scene we've already created in the 'Scenes' folder and then go to Edit > Duplicate to make an exact copy. Rename the new scene 'level2' and add it to the build settings as you did earlier. Once all this is done, delete all the level elements (your cubes, targets etc.) from the scene and get ready to build the new level from scratch.

This time, you're going to insert a 'Terrain' instead of a plane from the 3D Objects menu though. What's fun about this, is that it allows you to insert mountains, hills, potholes and more – and even to plant trees around!

Before we can have any real fun with this though, you'll want to import another package just like you did before with the character assets. This time you want to pick 'Environment' (Assets > Import Package > Environment) and that will give you things like textures and 3D models that you'll be free to use. These include trees, grass and lots more generic environmental stuff for you to play with.

Strange World

Now select the terrain in the scene and you'll be able to do all sorts of fun things in the inspector. You can 'paint on' various different textures or mountain formations, invidually place trees (or any other type of 3D model) and more. I've created something alien using a combination of the provided assets and my own sprite as a texture…

Closing comments

And with that, I shall leave you to have a play. As you can see, the possibilities really are endless and Unity makes it all very simple to make your ideas a reality, with minimum hassle and coding. My advice as always though, would be to start with something relatively simple that you can finish. That way, you're much more likely to actually complete your project and get to enjoy the excitement of having something you built available for download on the Google Play Store. Be sure to share your creations in the comments!



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mercredi 14 septembre 2016

Muviz puts a nifty music visualization graphic right on your navbar, no root required

There's a new music visualizer that can float on your device's navigation bar, dancing along to your tunes, while almost any music app is cranking them out. Dubbed Muviz, this navbar app is on the Play Store now and it won't require root access to work.

Even if your device doesn't have a navbar, you can still set Muviz's visualizer to sit on the screen just above your hardware controls. And if you're using an app that claims the space below the navbar, Spotify, you can have the visualization bar displayed above it.

Muviz comes with a library of visualizer designs, and its developer indicated that it'll keep adding to that collection. You can also customize the colors of the visualizer. Customization options include the shape, sizes, and colors of the visualizer, and  you can also pick colors from your wallpaper if you're one for consistency.

And if all of that isn't a deep enough range of customization, Muviz comes bundled with a creation tool that'll allow you to tinker with the finer details of the visualizer. It's a free app and, again, you don't have to root your phone or tablet to get it to work. And relatively speaking, it doesn't ask for any suspect permissions.

If a Muviz installation is part of an effort to deck out a new device, or to update its apps, you might want to consider a music streaming app and service to serve up tunes for the visualizer. If so, check out our roundup and review of the best streaming apps available for Android.

Download from Google Play Store


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Animation Throwdown: TQFC now available world-wide

animation-throwdown

Are you a fan of card games and cartoons? Animation Throwdown: TQFC may be your next favorite Google Play Store title. Especially if you are fond of Fox series. This trading card game features characters from renown animated shows like Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, Futurama, American Dad and King of the Hill.

Animation Throwdown: The Quest For Cards has been available in select markets for some time now, but today it spreads its horizons to other lands. The application is finally available world-wide!

There is plenty of fun to be had here. Aside from collecting cards of your favorite cartoon personalities, you will be able to enjoy 25 chapters and online battling.

best card games for androidSee also: 10 best card games for Android19

Now, what about the money factor? The app is free, but that doesn't exactly mean it will be cheap. There are in-app purchases available, and some of them can get pretty pricey. But of course, true fans won't mind spending a few bucks here and there…. or maybe even some hundreds. In addition, the energy system will ensure you don't go around playing all day (unless you pay up).

Regardless, the app is ready and you can get it straight from the Google Play Store. Who is signing up?

Download Animation Throwdown: RQFC now


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Europe promises free Wi-Fi for all, faster internet at home, and 5G

EU flags in front of European Commission in BrusselsShutterStock

The European Commission has been pretty busy lately, not just in dealing with the post-Brexit mess, but also with their digital initiatives. With the new €120 million grant, the EU plans to provide free Wi-Fi in every EU town by 2020. It also wants to make sure that by 2025, 5G is fully deployed across the continent and every European household has an internet download speed of at least 100Mbps.

The State of the Union Address proposes to equip every European village and every city with "free wireless internet access around the main centers of public life by 2020." The guiding principle is that connectivity should benefit everyone. In the same vein, the Commission is hoping to deploy 5G across the EU by 2025. According to the speech, this would potentially create two million more jobs in the EU.

5g logo mwc 2015 1See also: 5G networks – state of the industry6

Another ambitious plan is that the EU wants to provide a super-fast broadband connection with a download speed of at least 100Mbps to every home in the Union. This might be quite a challenge for the EU, considering the fact that at the time the 2016 EU Digital Progress Report came out, only 71% of the EU had access to a Next Generation Access connection – which promises a speed of 30Mbps+.

The proposal gets interesting when it comes to copyright and piracy issues. The EU wants the overhaul of Europe's copyright rules and wants to empower journalists, publishers, and authors. In theory, it sounds wonderful, but real-life impacts are dubious to say the least. The proposed change is similar to laws in Germany and Spain where search engines pay when they show article snippets. Ironically, however, publishers are likely to suffer in the end because it leads to fewer snippets, fewer clicks, less traffic, and naturally, less money.

Search giants like Google clearly isn't too happy about this part of the proposal, but it gets worse for Google. The newly-proposed Copyright Directive will insist that video platforms "have an obligation to deploy effective means such as technology to automatically detect songs or audiovisual works which right holders have identified and agreed with the platforms either to authorise or remove." This means Google will be required to screen every video before it's uploaded, extra work that I'm guessing Google probably would not want to do.

While the European Commission's plan for EU's future connectivity seems promising, its inflexible and somewhat counterintuitive copyright initiative sounds like it will end up inconveniencing the end-user, not benefitting them. But either way, my guess is the UK is out of this, so no "free Wi-Fi in every town" for my fellow Brits, unfortunately.

While the European Commission's plan for EU's future connectivity seems promising, its inflexible and somewhat counterintuitive copyright initiative sounds like it will end up inconveniencing the end-user.

What are your thoughts on these proposed plans? If you are a publisher or writer in the EU, do you think you will benefit from the new copyright rule? Let us know in the comments below!

The EU parliament building where the landmark decision was reachedSee also: No more roaming fees in Europe from mid-201724


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10 best card games for Android

best card games for android
Card games are a fantastic form of entertainment. They work anywhere and everywhere, they're small enough to fit into a bag for travel, and there are many different kinds of card games out there. It was one of the first seriously popular genres on mobile and it has evolved a lot since the good old day sof just playing Solitaire. Here are the best card games on Android!


AI Factory Limited best best card games for androidAI Factory Limited collection

[Price: Varies]
AI Factory Limited is a developer on Google Play that specializes in board games and card games. It has a variety of games to choose from, including Euchre, Hearts, Gin Rummy, Spaces, and Solitaire. All of these games have free version (with ads) and paid version to remove advertising. They're not always much to look at, but they're solid as a rock. These are great options if you need something simple that just works. Click the button below to check out the developer's entire collection!

Download now on Google Play!

euchre best card games for android

ascension best android card gamesAscension

[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Ascension has been around for ages but it's still one of the best card games available. This title is a fantasy card game similar to the likes of Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone. You'll collect various cards and then build decks so you can duel other players. The base game contains more than 50 cards, each with their own set of powers. You can also purchase one of many expansion packs available in the game that unlocks additional content and more cards. DLC is one of the better ways to do in-app purchases, and you can play the game for free before you buy anything.

Download now on Google Play!

ascension best android card games

card wars kingdom best card games for androidCard Wars Kingdom

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Card Wars Kingdom is the latest Adventure Time themed card game from Cartoon Network. Like most freemium CCG titles, you'll be tasked with finding a ton of awesome creatures and then using them to duel other players. The game features hundreds of characters to collect, level up mechanics to make them stronger, and an online PvP element to help keep things interesting. It is freemium which isn't the greatest thing, but most players seem to enjoy it and its quirky humor quite a bit.

Download now on Google Play!

clash royale best card games for androidClash Royale

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Clash Royale was released in early 2016 and immediately vaulted to being one of the most popular card games ever. This one plays a lot like Hearthstone and features many of the same mechanics. You'll be collecting cards based on the characters of the Clash of Clans universe and then using them to duel other players. It has one of the healthiest online communities that you can find these days. You can even join a clan to share cards and challenge clan members. It's a freemium game which is its worst quality, but everyone else has played it so why not right?

Download now on Google Play!

deckstorm duel of guardians best card games for androidDeckstorm: Duel of Guardians

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Deckstorm: Duel of Guardians is DeNA's venture in the card game world and it's actually not half bad. Like most card games, it has a ridiculous collection of cards that you can use to build a deck. You then use that deck to march through the campaign modes or online against real people. Deckstorm's PvP mode is made in such a way that duels only take five minutes which makes it great if you don't have a lot of time. It's freemium which sucks, but it should be a fun play for a while before that becomes a problem.

Download now on Google Play!

best android gamesSee also: The best Android games!182

exploding kittens best card games for androidExploding Kittens

[Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases]
Exploding Kittens is a relatively newer game and it's already one of the best card games around. The way this one work is you play with two to five players. Each player draws cards until one of them gets an exploding kitten. If they don't have a diffuse card, their game is over right there on the spot. You can also play local multiplayer or with strangers on the Internet. It's a quirky and goofy little game with artwork done by The Oatmeal. It is a pay once game with the in-app purchases accounting for optional DLC.

Download now on Google Play!

hearthstone best Android card gamesHearthstone Heroes of Warcraft

[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Hearthstone Heroes of Warcraft is one of the most popular card games out there. With that comes a fairly large and loyal following of players that you can watch on Twitch or YouTube at your leisure. The game itself comes with hundreds of cards so that you can build some truly unique decks. It also features the ability to make multiple decks and duel them as you see fit. It gets semi-regular updates to include new content and the game is almost exclusively multiplayer. It's free with in-app purchases, but it's also cross-platform so you can play it on other platforms aside from your smartphone.

Download now on Google Play!

Pokemon TCG Online best card games for androidPokemon TCG Online

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Pokemon TCG Online was actually around before the Pokemon Go craze swept up the world. It's a fairly standard, but decent card game where you must collect Pokemon, create a deck, and then duel it out. It plays out like most Pokemon games where you'll get to choose your starter and then continue from there. There are plenty of cards to collect and tournaments to join which helps keep things interesting. It's not bad as far as card games go, even if it is a freemium game.

Download now on Google Play!

reign best card games for androidReigns

[Price: $2.99]
Reigns is one of the most unique card games on this list. In this one, you are tasked with ruling a kingdom. Each card that gets drawn is a decision that you have to make. You swipe left or right Tinder-style to render your decision. If you did good, you live for another year and if not, you die and you have to start over. The game isn't as deep as others on this list, but it's a fun little time killer that can get fairly humorous at times. It's also a pay-once game which is getting progressively rarer in this genre.

Download now on Google Play!

triple triad best card games for androidTriple Triad

[Price: Free]
Triple Triad is a port of the actual card game from Final Fantasy VIII. For those who don't know how that works, you play against an AI opponent and get five cards. Each player lays a card down trying to take down a card adjacent to it. The winner gets to keep a card from the opponent and vice versa. It's not the most in-depth game out there as it is a mini game that was ripped out of a much larger (and older) game, but the nostalgia value is high and it's a good little time killer. It's completely free for now, but the developer does have in-app purchase support included which may show itself in a future update.

Download now on Google Play!

Related best app lists:

If we missed any of the best kids games for Android, tell us about them in the comments! To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.



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