Why I hold OnePlus to a higher standard

Probably one of the most influential smartphone makers in the tech-enthusiast sphere, OnePlus has been on everyone’s minds in one way or another in recent months. With the Nord taking the Internet by storm thanks to OnePlus’s unrelenting media blitz, I have started to realize why I feel I have been overly critical of the company at times. I purchased the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 6 with my own money, and I remember back then having to go over pieces I had written to dial things back a bit of my own volition. In some ways, I was harsh—overly so at times—in ways that I wouldn’t be when talking about other device makers.

OnePlus’s own origin story is tied to XDA history, with the OnePlus One shipping with Cyanogen OS, a commercialized version of the now-defunct CyanogenMod. The OnePlus One was, in pretty much all aspects, the enthusiast’s device. I remember at the time trying to get my hands on an invite, though I failed and had to settle for the Nexus 5 at the time. The irony of the “Never Settle” mantra at the time was not lost on me, given that it was extremely hard to actually get the device that I wanted. The OnePlus One certainly had its own fair share of compromises, but they were easy to ignore given the value on offer. Of course, OnePlus would then later go on to engage in a series of rather questionable advertising campaigns. Matters were made even worse with the launch of the OnePlus 2, which launched without NFC.

Even throughout this whole ordeal, OnePlus was still an enthusiast’s favorite. Bootloader unlocking, software images to fix your phone if it breaks, and in the case of the OnePlus One, two operating systems that you could choose from — these were enough to keep people hooked. When their deal fell through with Cyanogen, OnePlus began to develop what would become known as OxygenOS, and you could choose either Android variant to flash on your device. XDA forum users were finally being catered for directly by a company, something that hadn’t really been done before past the Nexus series of devices. Even then, Nexus smartphones were aimed at developers primarily, while OnePlus tried to cater for both developers and enthusiasts alike.

OnePlus has had a long and turbulent history, which puts it in a rather unique position from the viewpoint of an enthusiast like you or me.

The OnePlus 8T is OnePlus’ latest and greatest smartphone.

The OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X set the company back considerably

The OnePlus 2

Following the success of the OnePlus One, the OnePlus 2 was riding on the coattails of greatness. However, it failed to stick the landing. On paper, it was arriving without NFC, which riled up members of the enthusiast community considerably. However, when it arrived, things went from bad to worse. OnePlus was calling this device the “2016 flagship killer”, despite it launching in 2015, and it cost a decent bit more than the predecessor. It also came with the now-infamous Snapdragon 810, though it was admittedly a revised one that didn’t run as hot. OxygenOS did have some cool features, but it didn’t come with features that the users wanted. The drama finally reached its apex when end-users discovered that, despite being promised two years of updates, the “2016 flagship killer” would not get the 2016 Android version—Android Nougat. The company had gone back on one of their initial sales promises, and to enthusiasts who love getting smartphone updates, this was a grave error.

Following the release of the OnePlus 2, the company came back out again with another smartphone—the OnePlus X. Featuring the Snapdragon 801, it was designed to be an affordable mid-range. However, support for this device was dropped quite quickly, and it was yet again a testament to their lack of willingness to support their devices. It wasn’t a good look, and enthusiasts were beginning to become even more annoyed as they felt tricked. Around this time is when the company began the device-seeding program, a program where they would provide devices for free to developers.

The salvation of OnePlus: the OnePlus 3

The OnePlus 3

The OnePlus 3 was arguably the company’s first serious phone, and after the incredible mismanagement of the OnePlus 2, it was back to the drawing board. They needed to launch a smartphone that could compete with the best, fly under the “flagship killer” banner, and stand by the enthusiast community the entire way. It launched with OxygenOS 3, 20W wired charging known as “Dash Charge”, and NFC. All three of these things were enough to draw the enthusiast community back over, and what’s more, there was no invite system. This was the first smartphone from the company that I was able to afford, having bided my time with my Nexus 5 until I could no longer hang on to it.

The OnePlus 3 marked a new trajectory for the company. Guaranteed updates, promises made directly to the development community, and devices sent to custom ROM developers helped to mend burned bridges. One such promise was the release of camera blobs so that developers could use the OxygenOS camera and its processing capabilities on custom ROMs. While this wasn’t explicitly released, OnePlus designed the camera system in a way that allowed developers to pull the camera app, camera processing libraries, and port them to custom ROMs. One of the only major criticisms of the OnePlus 3 was its camera, though the release of the Google Camera mod a year later skyrocketed its popularity as it largely fixed this problem. The OnePlus 3 even had three major updates, seen by many as an attempt to make up for the OnePlus 2’s letdowns.

OxygenOS could have been so much more

Because the company’s own OxygenOS was created in the absence of what was essentially a commercialized custom ROM, I remember having high hopes for OxygenOS. I knew I wasn’t the only one either—I remember seeing discussions on /r/Android talking about how the OnePlus could be the cheaper, better Nexus series for developers and enthusiasts alike. With massive influence from the custom ROM community, I think many had visions of an operating system close to stock Android, but at the time, what they thought they would get was certainly not what they did actually get. OxygenOS took a long time to get right and lacked features deemed crucial by enthusiasts.

In the case of the OnePlus 2, there was a complete lack of customization features, and those coming from the OnePlus One felt conned. Cyanogen OS was feature-packed, and OxygenOS was just getting its feet off the ground. Plagued with battery problems and crashing apps (Facebook was a particularly bad offender), the custom ROM community saved the day for many who had this device. A friend of mine still had his own OnePlus 2 up until recently, and he told me how OxygenOS was basically unusable. It slowly improved over time, though OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5 was caught out for benchmark cheating—by us at XDA. One of the communities that OnePlus had relied on for enthusiast support had caught it out on its own negligence.

As OxygenOS improved over the years, it took a long time to get even the basic features right. The company only recently added a basic toggle for dark mode in OxygenOS 11, alongside an always-on display. Both of these features have been available on the phones of competitors for years. Enthusiasts love features, and OnePlus has barely provided them. OxygenOS is a bloated operating system, and not in the way that you may think I am talking about. There are now pre-installed apps from Facebook and Netflix, but it’s the bloat that you can’t see.

The OnePlus 6 and the OnePlus 3 – two smartphones I purchased myself from OnePlus.

Under-the-hood is where the biggest problems lie. The notifications system has been broken for years across multitudes of OnePlus smartphones. It was a problem on the OnePlus 3, on the OnePlus 6, the OnePlus 7 series, and it’s still a problem on the OnePlus 8 series and the OnePlus Nord today. My girlfriend’s OnePlus 7 Pro has even missed alarms, my own OnePlus 8 Pro frequently misses messages and emails, and my OnePlus Nord missed WhatsApp messages and emails. These issues aren’t confined to my bubble of contacts either—DontKillMyApp lists Oneplus as the worst offender across all OEMs for app killing. Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO? OnePlus is worse than all three, yet those are the three that have the worst reputation. Somehow, OnePlus often flies under the radar. Apps are killed all the time on all of my OnePlus devices, to the extent to which I’ve not seen before.

With a renewed brand identity in 2020, the company launched OxygenOS 11, one of the biggest stylistic changes that OxygenOS has undergone ever. Many have dubbed it a One UI lookalike, and I can honestly kind of see it. It puts a large emphasis on moving content that you interact with down to the lower half of the phone so that it’s easier to use one-handed. Many have an issue with this as they see it as a departure from the “stock Android” look that OxygenOS was known for, even if I would argue that it never really was stock Android. OxygenOS 10 had so many changes not only under the hood but visually as well.

How OnePlus designed OxygenOS 11 to make bigger phones easier to use

However, it can’t be denied that OxygenOS 11 is a world apart from OxygenOS 10. I personally quite like it, but it’s yet again another decision made that enthusiasts are not too fond of. The comment threads announcing this update were rife with criticism, with many questioning OnePlus’ change of direction. It’s not only just the company’s hardware, pricing, and developer community that has changed, but even their software has changed so drastically that many are looking to other brands for their enthusiast fix.

What OnePlus could have been

Look OnePlus, I get it, the enthusiast market isn’t the most profitable. Enthusiasts want everything as cheap as possible like the OnePlus One. They want affordable tech at the right price. They don’t want smartphones that rival the Samsung Galaxy S20 in price, but all of that is slowly what you have become. While I would argue that the OnePlus 8 Pro is fantastic value for money when compared against other flagships of a similar price, your company has become far-removed from its origins. I love my OnePlus 8 Pro, and I wish I could have reviewed it as it is one of my favorite phones of this year. I know I’ve been harsh at times, and the OnePlus 8 Pro would have been the most glowing review of one of your devices yet. Many of the software issues that I had with the OnePlus 7T Pro were fixed, but alas, it’s still not perfect. “Never Settle” feels like any other basic company tagline now, not a statement of excellence to be touted as a sign of superiority over other brands.

The OnePlus Nord is a prime example of what feels like an exploitation of the “Never Settle” tagline. This company was born out of a dedication to enthusiasts, yet €400 is a tall ask for a mid-range smartphone. I can pick up the POCO F2 Pro for anywhere from €400 to €439 on Amazon in Europe, and it far outclasses the Nord. There’s no 90Hz display, but everything else about it is far superior. The Realme X50 even offers the same Snapdragon 765G and a 120Hz IPS display, and that costs about £70 less. The Nord felt undercut in the market before it even arrived in the market, yet seemingly survived on hype and brand recognition alone. OnePlus has always been about hype, but the Nord feels like more than that. It feels like a complete departure from what OnePlus once stood for.

I could generally always excuse the creeping up of prices as the company always had more to offer with each iteration, and the OnePlus 8 Pro feels very close to a perfect smartphone in a lot of regards. It offers a near-perfect smartphone experience for a price still consistently less than the very top-end smartphones, and that still feels very OnePlus to me. The company made use of the enthusiast community to help build its stature at the very beginning, and yet a lot of what it does now feels like neglect to that very same community. OnePlus has begun to stand on its own, and seemingly no longer feels the need to go blow-for-blow in terms of features with competitors to compete. It survives on brand recognition alone, and that brand recognition includes a public perception of OxygenOS being a bloat-free, clean, close-to-stock experience that it just is not.

And then there’s that recent news that co-founder Carl Pei stepped down from the company with ambitions to start a new hardware venture. The company’s other co-founder, Pete Lau, is still at the company and holds the position of CEO. However, he recently took on an additional role as Senior Vice President and Chief Product Experience Officer of OPLUS, an investment firm that oversees OnePlus, OPPO, and possibly others. Why did Carl Pei leave the company so soon after a major product launch? Who can say? However, departing the company at this time has had many wondering the reason for Pei’s departure. There are also rumors that OnePlus will be launching two new affordable Nord smartphones in the US too, so it’s clear that OnePlus has been very busy.

There has been a total shift in brand identity from OnePlus, and I think Pei’s departure is evidence of that. OxygenOS has been redesigned from the ground up and OnePlus as a whole is also making a massive push with their Nord branding. With a smartwatch on the horizon, it’s clear that OnePlus is no longer the small, enthusiast-built company it once was. They’ve already made a TV, they’re investing in audio heavily, and now they’re having a go at the mid-range and budget segments too. As OnePlus dilutes its portfolio with more and more products, it will shift its brand identity entirely.

I’m particularly harsh on OnePlus as it still feels like the enthusiast brand, but with each new release, it feels like it strays further and further towards being just another OEM.

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Here’s our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

‘Tis the weekend of leaks. In the past two days, we have seen two high-profile upcoming phones leaked through renders. First, we got a good look at the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, and then the Samsung Galaxy S21. Now, we have our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

This leak comes to us courtesy of @OnLeaks once again, lending his reputation towards confidence in this leak. As mentioned before, the Samsung Galaxy S series for 2021 could be called either the Samsung Galaxy S21 or the Samsung Galaxy S30 — depending on the name that Samsung settles on eventually. For now, we presume it will be called the Galaxy S21, and the device pictured here is the top-end “Ultra” variant.

As one would expect, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra in these leaked renders looks fairly similar to the Galaxy S21 leaked renders. The difference comes in the display, which is expected to slightly curved, as is usually the case with more “premium” phones. @OnLeaks mentions that the screen diagonal is between 6.7″ to 6.9″, and there is a centered selfie punch-hole camera on the front. The device will measure about 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm, 10.8mm if you measure thickness at the camera bump.

The next big change will be with the camera. While the camera island follows the same design cues as we saw in the leaked renders for the regular variant, the Galaxy S21 Ultra will have a bigger camera island to accommodate the camera flash as well as the fourth rear camera. The camera specifications are not yet revealed, but one can expect a setup involving regular, ultra-wide, and telephoto/periscope lenses to begin with.

Samsung was widely rumored to be adding in S Pen support to the S-series lineup, possibly reserving the feature for the top models. However, OnLeaks mentions that the Galaxy S21 Ultra does not have a dedicated slot for the S Pen. This means that the stylus cannot rest within the phone as it does on the Note series, but the new devices could still support the stylus and house it externally as it does on a few Galaxy Tabs.

We hope to learn more about the upcoming devices soon.

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Huawei Mate 40 Pro leak reveals 5nm Kirin 9000 SoC, circular camera bump, and curved display

Huawei is all set to launch what is widely believed to be the Chinese giant’s last flagship smartphone lineup for some time: the Mate 40 series. The company has already confirmed a launch event for October 22, where it’s expected to unveil two new smartphones: the Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro. Now ahead of the official launch, a new leak has revealed some of the key aspects of the Pro model, including the overall design, display, camera, new Kirin chip, and more.

According to WinFuture, the Mate 40 Pro will feature a 6.76-inch OLED display with a screen resolution of 2772 x 1344. Just like the regular Mate 40, the display will be curved on its sides and feature a pill-shaped cutout to accommodate front cameras.

As seen in the renders, the phone will feature a circular camera module that seemingly resembles the iPod Shuffle button layout with Leica branding visible in the middle.

In line with previous leaks, the report notes the Mate 40 Pro will be powered by Kirin 9000 octa-core SoC, featuring 3x ARM Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 2.54GHz, 1x ARM Cortex-A77 core at 3.13GHz, and 4x ARM Cortex-A55 efficiency cores running at 2.04GHz. The Mali G78 GPU will handle the graphics side of things. Further, the report adds the chipset will be built on TSMC’s 5nm process and come with an integrated 5G modem.

In Europe, the Mate 40 Pro will be offered in only one memory variant: 8GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 flash storage with no microSD card expansion, according to the report. Coming to the cameras, the Mate 40 Pro is said to be packing a 50MP f/1.9 primary sensor with OIS, a 20MP f/1.8 ultra-wide-angle sensor, and a 12MP f/3.4 telephoto shooter. Meanwhile, there will be a 13MP f/2.4 selfie camera and a 3D sensor (ToF) on the front.

Lastly, the phone will reportedly pack a 4,400 mAh battery with support for 65W SuperCharge fast charger, Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6, wireless charging support, and will come running Android 10-based EMUI 11 with Huawei Mobile Services (HMS).

The exact pricing and availability details remain unknown for now. With the official launch just a few days away, however, we won’t have to wait too long to learn about the missing bits.

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Source: WinFuture

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These are the best PUBG Mobile emulators right now

A major reason for the rise in popularity of mobile gaming is that most of them are free of cost. Of course, they come at the expense of advertisements or in-game purchases, but the real essence of the game seems mostly intact. Take, for instance, PUBG. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is originally a PC and console game, but the mobile version which is free of cost has managed to gain a wider audience as well as solid revenue numbers.

Now if you are more adept with the combination of a mouse and keyboard, when it comes to shooter games, I don’t blame you. It is just natural. But having played the game for almost two years now, I think it is pure fun even on a touchscreen. The good thing is you can play almost any Android game, including PUBG Mobile, right on your PC using an emulator. It’s a simple piece of software that lets you simulate an Android device on your computer.

PUBG Mobile Tips & Tricks: 20+ tips to help improve your game!

Here are five emulators that you can use to play PUBG Mobile on your computer:

A word of caution though, Android emulators usually rely on the Google Play store to install apps, including PUBG Mobile. If you’re in India, the recent ban around Chinese publishers, there is a high chance that you won’t be able to download the game if you reside in the country. Some of the emulators that we have mentioned below, offer support for side-loading APK files. However, if you are planning to take that route, then make sure you get that from a reliable third-party app store. Additionally, you need to be aware of the fact that while PUBG Mobile allows you to use emulators, you will only be able to play with players that are using the same method to play the game.

Tencent Gaming Buddy

Tencent Gaming Buddy is the official emulator offered by the developers of PUBG Mobile. It is also the best and safest bet if you want to play PUBG Mobile on your PC. Apart from being optimized to run the battle royale game, this emulator offers other games under the Tencent portfolio. To download the Tencent Gaming Buddy emulator, head over to the official website over here. Download the installation file and install it on your PC. Open the emulator to download the necessary files required to run PUBG Mobile. There will be an option to set a custom path in case you don’t want the game to install in your default directory. Once the game is installed, you can start playing directly using your keyboard and mouse. There are also options to customize the layout depending on your needs.

  Download Tencent Gaming Buddy

Bluestacks

One of the oldest ones out there, Bluestacks is available for Windows as well as Mac. It’s one of the most commonly used Android emulators and besides gaming, this is great for using all sorts of Android apps. Apart from having the Play Store preinstalled, there is a built-in app store. There is also the option to simply drag and drop APK files from your PC to instantly install on the emulator. One can set a custom display resolution along with custom memory, CPU, and storage allocation. The free version of Bluestacks comes with ads, but the paid version removes all of the distractions.

To play PUBG Mobile on Bluestacks, first, download the emulator from here. Once you have got the installation file, run that and install it on your PC. Open the emulator and sign in with your Google Account. There should be an option to search for apps on the top right. Search for PUBG Mobile and download the game. Once it is done, you can start playing on your PC.

  Download BlueStacks

LD Player

A fairly new emulator for PUBG Mobile, LD Player is available for Windows. This one also offers custom settings for display resolution and resource allocation just like Bluestacks. We specifically found the easy to access Android shortcuts to be one of the best features of this emulator. It can run most of your recent and popular Android smartphone games directly on your PC and can take full advantage of your PC hardware. You can download LD Player from here. Once it is downloaded, install the emulator on your PC. Open the emulator and let it load all the resources. You should see a bunch of apps pre-installed, including the Google Play Store. Open the Play Store, log in with your Google account and search for PUBG Mobile. You can then download the game just like you would do on your smartphone.

  Download LD Player

NOX Player

NOX Player is another recommended Android emulator that is available for both Windows and Mac. It was specifically made for gamers who wanted to play smartphone games on a PC. It’s a pretty good emulator allowing you to set your keyboard controls manually, and it has already been optimized for playing PUBG Mobile. You also get support for taking screenshots and screen video recording along with sideloading APK files in case you don’t want to use the Play Store. There are also some options to allocate system memory and CPU. To download the NOX player, head over to this link. Run the installation file and once the emulator is installed, you need to login to the Play Store using your Google account. Search for PUBG mobile on the Play Store and install it on the emulator.

  Download NOX Player

MEmu

MEmu is yet another popular Android emulator that is available for Windows devices including desktops, notebooks, 2-in-1 devices, and tablets. This emulator is claimed to offer the best compatibility so you can use this even if you have an old system with low-end specifications. Play provides the highest performance and greatest compatibility. You get a wide variety of customizations along with support for popular games like PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, Clash of Clans, Free Fire, Clash Royale, Brawl Stars, Arena of Valor, etc. It also offers one-click Android system creation/clone/deleting, allowing you to run multiple Android instances simultaneously. Download the MEmu emulator over here and follow the same steps as given above to play PUBG Mobile on your PC.

  Download MEmu Player

PUBG MOBILE - NEW ERA (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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The Google Assistant Driving Mode announced at Google I/O 2019 seems to finally be rolling out

After announcing Google Assistant‘s Driving Mode back at Google I/O 2019, Google seems to finally be rolling out the feature on Android. The new feature is supposed to serve as a replacement for the Android Auto app on smartphones.

Two weeks ago, a few users started to see a new navigation UI in the Google Maps app. Last week, we discovered evidence that tied the rollout of this new navigation UI to Google Assistant’s Driving Mode. Today, I found that the new navigation UI has been enabled on several of my devices, including the Google Pixel 4, the LG Velvet, and the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro. The navigation UI that I’m seeing is the same one that a handful of users saw a few weeks ago, and I’ve discovered a new settings page that further corroborates that this new navigation UI is indeed part of Google Assistant’s driving mode.

As you can see in the screenshots embedded below, the “Google Assistant settings” item in the “Navigation settings” of Google Maps has been updated with the description “manage driving mode.” Previously, the description for this item said “Google Assistant settings”, and tapping this item merely opened the general settings page for Google Assistant. Now, tapping this item opens up a new driving mode settings page for Google Assistant. Strangely, though, toggling “driving mode” on this page doesn’t actually disable the new navigation UI for me, and I’m also unable to activate Google Assistant’s Driving Mode through a voice command. It’s possible that the feature has only partially rolled out for me, though.

The Google Assistant Driving Mode UI that was shown off at Google I/O 2019 looks very different compared to what has been rolling out for some users these last few weeks. It’s possible that Google is still running A/B tests for the UI, but it’s also possible that Google significantly changed the interface since it’s been over a year from the announcement. Here’s a screenshot gallery showing off the new UI:

The rollout of Google Assistant Driving Mode on my devices doesn’t seem to be tied to any particular version of Google Maps and the Google App. My LG Velvet is running Google Maps version 10.52.3 and Google App version 11.32.5.23, my Pixel 4 is running Google Maps version 10.52.3 and Google App version 11.31.9.29, and my ZenFone 7 Pro is running Google Maps version 10.52.2 and Google App version 11.32.5.23. All of these devices are signed into my primary Google Account, though, so I’m likely one of the lucky few to have received this feature as part of a server-side test.

You can download the latest version of Google Maps and the Google App from the Play Store links embedded below, though there’s no guarantee you’ll get this feature by updating your apps. Since this feature has started to appear on some devices in the last few weeks, we’re probably not far off from an official announcement.

Maps - Navigate & Explore (Free, Google Play) →

Google (Free, Google Play) →

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Samsung Home Up update adds convenient share sheet customization

Samsung on Friday released an update to its Home Up app, which is available as part of the company’s fantastic Good Lock experience. The update includes a handful of new features, including a Share Manager, which gives users the ability to customize the share sheet.

“You can place apps that you use often to the front of the sharing window and hide features and apps that you don’t need,” Samsung said of the update. “You can hide items such as shared data info, Nearby share, and Direct share and only show apps of your choosing in the sharing window.”

The update to Home Up is incredibly useful for a few reasons. If you have a lot of apps installed, scrolling through the old share window could be exhausting. By being able to pick and choose what apps show up in the share sheet, the process is far more streamlined. Samsung also includes a toggle that will add an icon to reveal hidden apps, so you can look through your entire app library on those rare occasions.

Users can also choose individual targets from their favorite apps. If you like sharing content on Instagram, you can share directly to your Feed, Stories, or Direct. Small changes like this really improve the experience, cutting down on the time you’d have to manually do everything yourself.

The Home Up app update is available in the Galaxy Store via Good Lock. It’s compatible with all Samsung devices running One UI 2.5. If you’re unfamiliar with Samsung’s Good Lock, it’s a set of tools that allows users to customize their Galaxy device. It features a ton of different modules — too many to list here — so if you own a Galaxy phone, it’s well worth checking out.

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Via: AndroidPolice

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Trusted Contacts is joining the Google graveyard

If you rely on Trusted Contacts to keep track of friends and family, we have some bad news: Google on Friday announced the app is joining the company’s graveyard. It’s another service in a long list of services that have gone way too soon.

Announced at the end of 2016, Trusted Contacts was a location sharing app that let family and friends know you were safe. You could request someone’s location, and that person could approve or deny your request. You could also see a person’s recent activity and device battery status.

Trusted Contacts later added features like customized timeouts and permanent location sharing following a request. The app also eventually allowed users to see where someone was directly in Maps — and therein lies the rub. In the last several months, Google Maps has since added real-time Location Sharing, essentially making Trusted Contacts moot.

“As a result, the Trusted Contacts app will be removed from the App Store and Play Store today, and will stop being supported after December 1, 2020,” Google said. “If the app is installed on your device, you can continue to use it until then.”

Users will be able to download their trusted contacts until December 1. After that, they will be unable to see the live location you are sharing with them from the app.

If you want to continue sharing your location with friends and family, you can do so in Google Maps. Even better, you can now utilize Live View with Location Sharing, making it easy to see where someone is, including distance, in relation to you.

There’s a running joke about Google killing off services not long after they’re announced. The demise of Trusted Contacts joins a long list of apps and services Google has killed off, including my personal favorite Google Allo.

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