Android Studio Canary adds initial support for Apple’s new M1 Macs

Besides the web, Android is probably one of the most accessible development platforms. Physical Android devices can be incredibly cheap, and there’s no shortage of emulator options for testing. And of course, the actual IDE, Android Studio, works on almost every desktop platform in existence, including macOS.

However, Android Studio has been missing something: ARM support. While ARM-based processors have mostly been used in mobile devices, we’re starting to see them used in laptops and even desktops. Even Apple recently got in on the action with its ARM-based M1 chipset powering the latest Macbook Air, Macbook Pro 13, and 24-inch iMac.

Because this is a recent transition, Apple has built-in a compatibility layer to allow x86-based programs to run on M1 Macs, and it seems to work pretty well. But nothing beats native. Thankfully, Google is working on a solution.

The latest Canary build of Android Studio (15 as of writing this) brings initial native support for M1 Macs. There are still a lot of things missing, but the basics work.

• You can build and run JVM-only apps (the C++ compiler isn’t finished).
• You can use the design tools, like the layout preview.
• You can use the built-in emulator with Android 11 and Android 12.

Of course, there are also a lot of things that don’t work yet.

• You can’t do any native C-based development, since the NDK and build tools don’t yet run on ARM.
• Once you update to Canary 15, you won’t be able to do an incremental update to the next version.
• A lot of debugging tools don’t work out-of-the-box. This includes the database inspector, layout inspector, and others. There’s a workaround for this over on JetBrains’ issue tracker.
• There are some UI issues with the emulator.

Neither of these lists is fully exhaustive, so be sure to check out Google’s blog post for more details.

Seeing builds of Android Studio for ARM is encouraging. While this is only for macOS right now, it hopefully opens the door for ARM builds for Windows or even Linux in the future, which could lead to developing for Android directly from Android.

While we wait for that utopic future, though, if you have an M1 Mac and you want to try this build out, head over to Google’s blog post for more details on what’s new and what you might need to get it up and running.

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LG’s latest financial report shows why they had to stop making smartphones

LG recently left the smartphone market, and while many in the tech community were saddened to see one of the most iconic Android OEMs go away at its worst moment, it was also a long time coming, as LG smartphones have been consistently generating losses for LG even though they’ve tried everything to turn the situation around. The phone maker that put out hits such as the Nexus 5 and the LG G2 wasn’t the same anymore, and LG’s phone division was in a permanent downhill. With LG even attempting and failing to sell off their business, closing shop was imminent. Now, we have an even bigger picture of why that is thanks to LG publishing their Q1 2021 results.

And, well, the results speak for themselves. Through the first quarter of 2021, their device sales actually managed to increase through all of their other branches, except for—you guessed it—their smartphone division (via: GSMArena). Now, these numbers don’t actually reflect the moment they announced their very public drop out of the smartphone market. But LG apparently managed to sell KRW998.7 billion worth of phones through Q1 2021, which is roughly the same amount as they sold last year. By contrast, all other LG divisions managed to increase their revenue considerably, putting their total revenue at a total of KRW18.8 trillion.

There’s a few takeaways from these numbers, but let’s start with the most obvious one: making phones is just not worth the effort anymore for them. Through 2020, LG sought to revitalize their brand by introducing new devices and smartphone lines unlike anything else we’ve seen from them so far. Given how their Q1 2020 and Q1 2021 numbers are the exact same, it’s probably safe to say that didn’t work out. On the contrary: their other divisions actually grew in revenue, which puts the smartphone division’s numbers into even further shame.

LG is set to sunset their smartphone division completely by the end of July, redeploying all of their personnel through the corporation and liquidating their assets. Right now, they’re still selling smartphones, although it’s the models that are already on the market. We’ll probably want to keep an eye on LG’s numbers for Q2 2021, which will be the last trimester to include data from their smartphone division.

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Google Pay adds new ways to save money with grocery deals and more

With a major revamp to Google Pay out of the way, Google can focus its attention on improving the platform with new features. Starting today, Google said it’s rolling out three new features to save money, pay for transit fares, and better understand your spending.

Google said it has teamed up with Safeway to make finding weekly grocery deals from the Google Pay app. Users will be able to take advantage of thousands of deals across more than 500 Safeway stores in the U.S. Google said Pay users can also find similar deal at Target stores nationwide. To find the latest grocery deals, simply tap “View Weekly Deals” in the Google Pay app.

Image: Google

Google said that Pay users can also purchase transit tickets in more cities. The search giant said it will soon add Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area to the list, joining the more than 80 cities and town that support buying and using mobile transit tickets in the app. In the future, Google said that Pay users on Android will be able to access transit tickets right from the app’s home screen.

Finally, Google highlighted a recently added feature to Pay that makes it easy to see your spending by category or business. If you search “food,” for example, you’ll see how much you’ve spent on food this month and the transactions related to food. Google said you can get more specific by search for a specific type of food or even a business name.

These new features bolster a Google Pay app that underwent a major overhaul last year, becoming an all-in-one bank, finance tracker, and contactless payment service. The revamped experience is merely a precursor to a Plex bank account service Google plans on launching this year. With Google I/O coming up, the company could use that event to share more details about its plans.

Google Pay: A safe & helpful way to manage money (Free, Google Play) →

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Samsung Internet now has an optional bookmarks bar

Samsung Internet is one of the few pre-installed applications made by a phone manufacturer that people actually want to install on other devices, thanks to its speedy Chromium base and customizable interface. The app has received several improvements over the past few months, like a Chrome-style tab grid and new privacy functionality, and now a popular feature found in most desktop browsers has arrived.

Samsung Internet Beta 14.2, which is now available on the Play Store, has a new option to display a bookmarks bar in the web browser. The setting works on both phones and tablets, even though there’s not much room for it in a portrait screen layout. You can hold down on the bar to add the current page, create a folder, or edit it in the bookmarks manager.

The bookmarks bar in Samsung Internet can be enabled by tapping the browser’s menu button, selecting ‘Settings,’ then opening the ‘Appearance’ menu. There are no options to customize how the bar appears in the browser — the ability to show the site icon (especially only the site icon) would be nice to see in a future update. To add pages to the bar, tap the star-shaped bookmark button, then move the newly-created bookmark to the ‘Bookmark bar’ folder.

The new bookmarks bar isn’t too helpful on phones, but it is a great addition for tablets and Samsung’s DeX desktop mode. Unfortunately, Samsung Internet still doesn’t have a robust sync solution that works with desktop web browsers (the official Chrome extension doesn’t automatically sync and is broken for many), so copying your bookmarks from a PC to Samsung Internet is difficult at best.

If you want to give the new functionality a spin, download Samsung Internet Beta from the Play Store below. The feature should arrive on the regular release channel soon.

Samsung Internet Browser Beta (Free, Google Play) →

Thanks to Android TestingCatalog for spotting the feature!

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ChargePoint’s new Android Auto app will help you find nearby EV charging stations

ChargePoint has announced its app is now compatible with Android Auto, allowing drivers to more easily find a nearby charging station from their vehicle’s infotainment display. ChargePoint currently operates the largest electric vehicle charging networks across Europe and North America. Integration with CarPlay was added in November of last year.

With Android Auto integration, drivers will be able to view a map with nearby stations, check a station’s status, see more information about a specific station, and even begin a charging session once a car is plugged in. The experience will also let drivers know when a busy charging station becomes available.

“At ChargePoint, we know that the shift to electric mobility relies on driver experience, and ChargePoint’s Android Auto app is another pivotal step in the evolution already underway, driven by software and increased connectivity,” said Bill Loewenthal, Senior Vice President, Product, ChargePoint. “By integrating essential charging data directly into the vehicle’s infotainment system, drivers are even more empowered and informed.”

ChargePoint’s network includes over one hundred thousand charging locations across Europe and North America. Support for Android Auto is available beginning today in the U.S., Canada, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. According to ChargePoint, drivers will need the latest version of the company’s app installed on a device running Android 6.0 and above.

“The enhanced connection between app and vehicle represents the next step in how drivers and passengers are fueling mobility and how ChargePoint is delivering technology solutions to fit the needs of EV drivers now and in the future,” Loewenthal said.

ChargePoint previously updated its iOS app with support for CarPlay, giving drivers access to many of the same features listed above. Although it’s been a long wait for Android Auto integration to arrive, it’s nice to finally see it rolled out.

ChargePoint (Free, Google Play) →

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Microsoft details what’s new in Microsoft 365 for April

Today, Microsoft published its usual monthly roundup of all of new Microsoft 365 features. This one is for the month of April. As usual, there’s plenty going on.

As you’d expect, there are new Teams features. Polls are getting an improvement, so if you’re an external guest, you can get the same experience as someone that’s not. There are also two new types of polls: open text and multiple-choice quiz.

Live transcription is another thing that we saw earlier this month. If you’re following along with the transcription or if you’re catching up later, you can see who was speaking when it was transcribed.

Another new item is meeting recap. That includes the recording, transcript, chat, and attached files. It shows up in the Details tab, so if you miss a meeting, it’s easy to catch up.

Next up is Microsoft Excel. You can finally track changes in an Excel workbook. Being that co-authoring and collaboration has been a key part of the Office suite for some time now, the Show Changes option was highly requested. It’s available now.

In Word, you can now export a document as a PowerPoint presentation. It uses AI to suggest images, icons, videos, themes, and fonts in the presentation that it makes for you. It’s available now in Word on the web.

Over in Outlook on the web, there’s a new update that puts shortcuts in a toolbar in the left side of the window. You’ll see shortcuts for other Office apps, email, calendar, and so on.

Next up is Planner and Tasks, which are both apps in Teams. More labels are being added. Rather than choosing between six, you can choose from 25.

There are a few other changes. Microsoft introduced its Viva platform, where Connections is available now and Learning is in preview. Visio got support for AWS architectures this month as well.

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Google Play is cracking down on misleading app names and icons

Google has announced some important changes for developers who publish their apps in the Google Play Store, which are set to go into effect later this year. Once they are established, the search giant said it will crack down on apps that mislead users, either with their title or icon.

One of the policy changes relates to app metadata, which includes app title, icon, and developer name. Here are a few of the changes:

• Limiting the length of app titles to 30 characters
• Prohibiting keywords that imply store performance, promotion in the icon, title and developer name
• Eliminating graphic elements that may mislead users in the app icon

Any app title, icon, and developer name that doesn’t follow these policies will be booted from the Google Play Store. Google shared some screenshots to illustrate what an acceptable listing looks like compared to listings that are deemed misleading.

Google’s “dos” and “don’ts”

In addition, Google has shared new guidelines for Google Play Store listing preview assets. That includes graphics, screenshots, videos, and short descriptions that help inform users about an app’s features and functionality.

“Assets that don’t meet our guidelines may be ineligible for promotion and recommendation on major Google Play surface like Apps and Games home,” Google said.

In the company’s updated Google Play Store guidelines, Google said preview assets must accurately represent the app or game, and also provide enough information to help users decide whether to install. Developers must also refrain from including buzzwords, including “free” or “best” to describe their app or game. Google recommends that developers “instead focus on providing meaningful information about the unique aspects of your app or game?”

Finally, the search giant said Google Play Store listings must feature preview assets that are localized correctly and easy to read. These new guidelines will go into effect in the second half of 2021.

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