Google Chrome will soon let you hide its Reading List

Google recently added a Reading List feature in Chrome along with revamped profiles. The feature allows users to save articles to read later — similar to a service like Pocket. You’re essentially bookmarking an article that you can read when you have the time.

It turns out not everyone is thrilled to have the reading list icon on the right side of the bookmark bar. If you’re part of that club, there’s a way to turn it off in Chrome 91 Canary. Just right click on the bookmarks bar and uncheck the option. The new feature was first discovered by Reddit user Leopeva64-2.

Chances are you’re not even aware the reading list feature even exists, because it’s only available via a flag. But it’s apparently on by default in Chrome 91 Canary — and so is the ability to easily disable it.

Image via Leopeva64-2

According to the same Reddit post, Google is also testing something called “side panel,” which will make the reading list icon appear in the toolbar when the flag is enabled. Clearly, Google doesn’t know how to best implement this feature, but there are plenty of different options available. Personally, I think having a reading list feature built right into Chrome is convenient, and should easily sync across your devices.

“Everything seems to indicate that Google will move that button from the bookmarks bar to the toolbar, so the new item in the context menu might not be necessary in the future,” Leopeva64-2 said.

Chrome users should expect these type of features to roll out more quickly in the future. Google recently said it plans to introduce major Chrome update every four weeks — down from every six weeks. We should see Chrome 91 — and possibly an improved implementation of a reading list feature — introduced as a stable release in mid-May.

Google Chrome: Fast & Secure (Free, Google Play) →

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Galaxy Watch 3 update includes sleep score measurements and walking challenges

Samsung released the Galaxy Watch 3 last year as the company’s first traditionally-designed watch since 2018 (when the first Galaxy Watch arrived). Samsung has been slow to update its software to take full advantage of all the watch’s hardware, but now another update is rolling out with new health features and a few smaller UI changes.

Verizon is rolling out a new update for the Galaxy Watch 3, with a software build of R845/R855USQU1BUB2, that primarily focuses on new health features (via Droid-Life). First, you can now invite friends to customizable walking challenges, where Samsung Health will display who reached the goals in which order. New challenges still have to be created from within the Samsung Health app on your phone, but once you’re entered into one, you can check the status from the watch’s app (in the ‘Together’ section).

Sleep score on the Galaxy Watch3

The Galaxy Watch 3 (and most of Samsung’s other wearables) can already track your sleep, but there’s now a ‘Sleep score’ that rates your sleep from 1 to 100. It’s not clear what metrics are used to create the score, but it should serve as a better comparison point than simply counting the number of hours you are asleep.

Other new health features include reduced auto workout recognition time (for running, rowing machine, and elliptical) and improved integration with Samsung’s fitness videos. Samsung is also removing the seconds display from its built-in watch faces when the Watch 3 is in ambient mode, though most faces already didn’t display seconds when the watch was off.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Forums

Samsung has rolled out several other updates to the Galaxy Watch 3 recently. The watch received support for SmartThings Find in February, allowing it to be reported lost and located by any Samsung device with the Find service enabled. In January, Samsung enabled ECG and blood pressure monitoring support in 31 more countries, following approval by each countries’ medical organizations. The health features went live in the United States in September 2020.

Samsung Health (Free, Google Play) →

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Samsung is working on a new pair of wireless earbuds called Galaxy Buds2

Samsung has an expansive lineup of wireless earbuds, including the Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Galaxy Buds+. According to the most recent APK of the company’s Galaxy Wearable app, Samsung could expand its offering by adding another pair of wireless earbuds called Galaxy Buds2.

Galaxy Wearable 2.2.39 was just published to APKMirror (via Android Police). Within the APK, a new device with the name “Galaxy Buds2”, codename “berry”, and wearable type “earbud” was added to the “rules” file. This device is distinct from the Galaxy Buds Live, Galaxy Buds+, and Galaxy Buds Pro which are also mentioned in the file, suggesting this is indeed a new device.

Galaxy Buds2 reference in Galaxy Wearable

The lines also confirm the device supports connecting to multiple devices and connecting to non-Samsung devices, so you should be able to seamlessly switch them between your phone, tablet, and computer. Outside of those details, the APK does not contain any other references to “Galaxy Buds2” or “berry,” which means we will have to wait for the actual plugin APK to leak for more info.

Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Pro is pretty much new (and among the best truly wireless earbuds out there), but its Galaxy Buds Live and Galaxy Buds Plus are starting to get up there in age (as far as tech products are concerned). The alleged Galaxy Buds2 could fill in that gap as Samsung’s more aging earbuds are discontinued.

Unfortunately, we don’t know when the mysterious Galaxy Buds2 will be released. For what it’s worth, Samsung is rumored to launch a new Galaxy Watch sometime in Q2 2021, so perhaps the company will also use that event to unveil the new earbuds. If these new earbuds are popping up, it likely signals the start of an avalanche of information to come.

In any case, we’ll continue to keep our eyes peeled for anything related to the Galaxy Buds2.

Featured image of the Galaxy Buds Pro

Galaxy Wearable (Samsung Gear) (Free, Google Play) →

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T-Mobile bets big on Google services and Pixel phones

T-Mobile has announced a new partnership with Google that will see the carrier provide greater support for Google’s services and devices. Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google, described today’s news as a win for Android users, and an “even greater win for the Android ecosystem.”

The new agreement (via The Verge) means Android devices will come with several Google services pre-installed on all Android devices, including Google Messages (with RCS) and Google One. T-Mobile will also drop its own TV services in favor of YouTube TV, while expanding support and sales of Pixel devices.

T-Mobile said it has the most Android smartphone customers in the U.S., making today’s multi-year collaboration a big commitment toward reinforcing its investment in the Android ecosystem. If you remember, T-Mobile was the first carrier to launch a smartphone powered by Android, which wound up being the T-Mobile G1.

It’s huge for Google, too. Not only will its services be more prominently displayed for Android users. But Google’s line of Pixel devices will reach an audience where Android is already popular, potentially setting the stage for Pixel phones to be more successful against the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy line.

Maybe the biggest part of today’s news is T-Mobile making YouTube TV the default live streaming option. That means T-Mobile will wind down its Live, Live Plus, and Live Zone services. These services were only just announced at the end of last year as part of its TVision initiative. T-Mobile said that customers who opt for YouTube TV will be offered $10 off the regular price for a limited time, which comes out to $54.99 per month. Philo, meanwhile, will act as T-Mobile’s new base live TV service starting at $10 per month.

“This shift may surprise some given last year’s TVision streaming services launch,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert. “But innovation seldom follows a straight line. Since launching the TVision initiative, we’ve learned a lot about the TV industry, about streaming products, and of course, about TV customers. We also saw trends that made us take a fresh look at how to best do in video what we always do: put customers first.”

The news comes on the heels of a new Magenta MAX plan announced by T-Mobile, which offers unlimited data at unthrottled 5G speeds.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

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PS3, PS Vita, and PSP consoles won’t be able to buy digital games soon

Sony just released the PlayStation 5 a few months ago, but many people are still playing games on earlier consoles. However, Sony revealed today that it is shutting down part of the PlayStation Store on its pre-PS4 consoles, marking the end of full support for Sony’s long-discontinued platforms and the death of many digital games.

Earlier this month, reports started to circulate that Sony would close the digital stores for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, and PlayStation Potable later this year. It seems they were correct, as Sony confirmed today that the stores for all three platforms will be shut down over the next few months. The digital stores on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable will be retired on July 2, 2021, while the PlayStation Vita’s storefront will be closed shortly afterward on August 27.

Sony noted that even after the shutdown, you’ll still be able to re-download digital games you’ve already purchased, and vouchers for downloadable content will continue to work. Re-downloading games claimed through PlayStation Plus will also work, as long as you remain subscribed. However, you won’t be able to purchase new games or DLC, even with PSN gift cards. If you have a store balance in your PlayStation account, you won’t get a refund unless you request it (though the amount can also be put towards PS4/PS5 games).

The move means countless digital-only games will become completely unavailable, a disappointing end for anyone interested in preserving video game history. The PlayStation Vita will also effectively lose its backward compatibility with PSP games since it only works with PSP titles purchased through the online store — the Vita lacks a UMD disc drive.

Sony isn’t the only one shutting down functionality for its earlier consoles, as Nintendo closed the digital store for the Wii (Wii Shop Channel) in early 2019. The PS3’s other rival during the seventh generation of home game consoles, the Xbox 360, still has a functional store.

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Installing a PWA is about to feel more native on Android

Progressive web apps (PWAs) will feel more like traditional apps on Android. The Chrome Developers Twitter account revealed it’s introducing a new installation dialog that provides users with a richer experience.

“Starting today on Android, some users will get a richer PWA installation dialog on Twitter,” the Chrome Developers account said on Twitter.

Starting today on Android, some users will get a richer PWA installation dialog on Twitter.

– Want the same for your PWA?
– Easy. Add the `description` and `screenshots` member to your manifest and you're done.

Read https://t.co/dBVxQmQMcU more for details pic.twitter.com/h8Sczroz4L

— Chrome Developers (@ChromiumDev) March 29, 2021

Going forward, developers can add the “description” and “screenshots” member to their manifest. As you can see in the screenshot shared by Chrome Developers, the installation dialog looks a lot more like installing a native app, with screenshots and a short description.

Twitter is the first to take advantage of the richer PWA installation dialog, but Android users should expect other services to offer improved web app prompts. The feature itself doesn’t change the behavior or performance of PWAs, but making it feel more native might encourage more installations from Android users.

According to Google, developers must follow specific criteria for the richer dialog prompt to properly display. For images, weight and height must be at least 320px and at most 3840px. Screenshots must also have the same aspect ratio, and only JPEG and PNG image formats are supported.

The description and screenshots properties are currently used only in Chrome for Android, and requires an experimental flag be enabled in Chrome 90.

Progressive Web Apps offer a more streamlined alternative to downloading a full app, while still providing users with instant access to the experience. For a service like Twitter, the differences between a native app and a PWA are minimal, as the company keeps its website and mobile apps pretty similar.

The only issue with these prompts is that if a user opts not to install a progressive web app for a site they frequently visit, they may have to constantly deal with the pop-up, which could get annoying fast.

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Android 12 Developer Preview 2.1 is here with fixes for WebView crashes

Google released the second Developer Preview for Android 12 two weeks ago, with new permissions, visual changes, and important bug fixes. However, it introduced a new bug that caused some applications to crash constantly, which has now been fixed. Google published Android 12 Developer Preview 2.1 earlier today, which claims to fix WebView crashing issues.

There are countless reports of Google, Gmail, and other apps that rely on WebView (the system component that displays web content in native Android apps) not working properly on the Android 12 Developer Previews, though some claim a recent update to the WebView through the Play Store fixed the bugs.

The Android 12 Developer Preview 2.1 update also fixes a few other problems that were frequently reported, including the back gesture not working, the clock widget breaking, and issues with NFC payments through Google Pay. The full release notes from Google is below.

Android 12 Developer Preview 2.1 release notes

Developer-reported issues

• Fixed an issue that prevented the go back gesture from working in certain cases. (Issue #180932529)
• Fixed issues that users were having when using contactless payments through Google Pay. (Issue #180725322)
• Fixed an issue that caused text in the notification drawer to be difficult to read when rendering over the top of some apps. (Issue #180647015)
• Fixed an issue that caused java.lang.Deprecated to be marked as deprecated. (Issue #180705308)
• Fixed an issue that prevented apps that were targeting Android 12 from using version 2.7.0-alpha01 of WorkManager. The fix is included in version 2.7.0-alpha02. (Issue #180884673)

Other resolved issues

• Fixed an issue with WebView that prevented developers from enabling or testing Schemeful Same-Site changes on Android 12.
• Fixed an issue where upgrading to Android 12 from a production build without wiping data could lose HID controls for previously-paired Bluetooth devices.
• Fixed an issue where videos that were shared from the Camera app could be sent using the wrong encoding.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the text for the clock widget on the Home screen to be cut off on some devices.
• Fixed an issue where empty pages on the Home screen were sometimes not removed.
• Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent users from accessing the notification shade.

If you want to give the new Android 12 Developer Preview 2.1 release a try and you’re not on Android 12 already, you’ll need to manually download and flash the latest available build from the Android Developers website. Those of you already on Developer Preview 1 or 2 should get the new release as an Over-The-Air (OTA) update. The list of compatible devices remains the same — you’ll need a Pixel 3/3 XL, Pixel 3a/3a XL, Pixel 4/4 XL, Pixel 4a/4a 5G, or Pixel 5.

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