Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Welcome to the 364th edition of
Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the last week:
- Parler is making a comeback sort of. The CEO posted a message this week. Apparently the site is returning sometime in the near future. Tim Cook also said the app could come back to the Apple App Store if the service improved its moderation techniques. Hit the link to read everything.
- WhatsApp’s privacy policy is still causing a bunch of problems. The chat app delayed the change because everybody hated it. People flocking to other services basically crashed Signal’s servers. It’s so bad, the Indian government even asked WhatsApp to walk back its changes. We’ll keep you up to date, but the WhatsApp thing is a pretty big fiasco right now.
- CBS All Access is changing its name. It’ll be Paramount Plus after the change. The service is also launching in the Nordics and Latin America around the same time. Everything should happen between February 24th and the middle of March with more worldwide launches occurring later this year.
- There are some things coming out about potential Android 12 changes for apps. The first is a new app hibernation feature. The feature basically clears the cache after it puts an app in hibernation to save space. We don’t know a lot yet, but more details should come when the Android 12 betas come out. Additionally, Google might be reworking its split screen mode by letting users group apps together and launch them simultaneously. Samsung phones and a few other OEMs already have this feature but it’ll be nice to see in stock Android.
- The founder of Pebble launched a new app this week. Beeper is a massive all-in-one messaging app with support for a bunch of popular services. It boasts support for Discord, Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook Messenger, and some others. It also boasts support for iMessage, although that part is a little iffy when it comes to the finer details. Hit the link to learn more and you can sign up for the beta as well.
Raising Archangel
Price: Free to play
Raising Archangel is an idle game mixed with an RPG. It’s fairly standard in terms of mechanics. You raise characters, they do stuff in the background, and you earn resources to use for further upgrades. The game includes a bunch of gear and other stuff to help the process along with a PvP mode. It’s a little heavy on advertisements since it’s the main way to earn the secondary in-game currency. It definitely has some issues but it’s a fun little time killer.
CoreSpecs
Price: Free
CoreSpecs is a neat little tool. The app lets you see sensor data information from all of the sensors on your phone. It supports well over a dozen sensors, including the usual stuff like a accelerometer and gyroscope. It also includes support for heart rate sensors, pedometers, humidity, light, and other stuff. Your device has to have the sensors in order for the app to show data for it but otherwise it worked pretty well in our testing. There isn’t really too much of a use case for such an app, but one exists should you want one.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Dream Score: Soccer Champion
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Dream Score: Soccer Champion is a soccer and team management simulator. Players build their teams, help them win, and upgrade their teams over the course of the game. There is also a PvE and PvP mode in case you want to test your skills against other players. It features a deep upgrade path, the ability to define your strategies, and some other stuff as well. This one takes a while to get into to see all of the features, but it definitely competes well with other soccer simulators on Google Play.
Colorize
Price: Free / $5.99 per month / $29.99 per year
Colorize is a photography app. It changes black and white photos into photos with color. Users can scan their photos into the app and it uses an algorithm to add color. You can also use images from your gallery if you want to. That’s basically all the app does. It also worked quite well in our testing. There is an optional subscription. It allows for an unlimited number of photo conversions, unlimited number of photo saving, etc. It’s not needed for short projects but you may want to invest for a month and cancel later if you intend on using it a lot.
Credit: Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Princess Connect! Re:Dive
Price: Free to play
Princess Connect! Re:Dive is a new gacha RPG. Well, it’s sort of new. The game actually launched in Japan back in 2018 and only recently launched to global audiences. There is also an anime and some other media. The game is like most gachas. There is a heavy focus on the story and also with summoning characters to play with. You can upgrade characters, go through the story, and do some other stuff as well. Players seem to enjoy the game’s generosity toward its players and the game’s cutesy artwork. It should end up pretty popular.
Thank you for reading! Check these out too:
If we missed any big Android apps or games news or releases, tell us about them in the comments!
