Android

After a long wait, Meta this week announced the ability to transfer WhatsApp chat history, photos, videos, and voice messages from Android to iPhone while maintaining end-to-end encryption. The system uses Apple's Move to iOS app for Android phones, and can be initiated during the setup process for a new (or factory reset) iPhone. This article runs through the steps involved in transferring...

Since Apple launched AirTags, the company has been enhancing their security to prevent stalking using the Bluetooth devices. One of these enhancements includes giving Android phone users the ability to detect an unknown AirTag if it is close to them. ‌AirTags‌ are designed to play a sound when away from their owner and will also alert iPhone owners if there's an unknown tag nearby, but...

In iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you can enable anyone, even if they don't have an Apple device, to join a FaceTime call with you by creating a link to a FaceTime conversation that can be shared anywhere. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Using this new link facility, friends and family members who do not have an Apple account can log into a FaceTime call with you using a...

Though designed for iOS devices, Apple's Beats-branded Powerbeats Pro are also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets, so you can take advantage of Apple's wire-free tech even if you're an Android user or have both Android and Apple devices. The downside to using Powerbeats Pro with Android is that you do lose some functions, like Apple's unique H1 chip pairing features and its...

In just a couple of weeks, Apple is going to make it ridiculously easy for Android users to switch to iOS with an upcoming app alongside iOS 9 called "Move to iOS." It will give Android users the ability to wirelessly migrate contacts, message history, photos and videos, web browser saves, mail, calendars, and more. Until then, we have to do these things manually. Luckily, it isn't difficult ...

Though designed for the iPhone, Apple's AirPods are also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets, so you can take advantage of Apple's wire-free tech even if you're an Android user or have both Android and Apple devices. You do, of course, lose some bells and whistles like Apple's unique AirPods pairing features. AirPods work like any other Bluetooth headphones on an Android device,...

After Apple shut down the mechanism that Android app Beeper Mini was using to bring iMessage to Android users, Beeper Mini's developers today said that they have found a way to bring the app back, albeit with some major changes. The new version of the app requires users to sign in with an Apple ID, which was not needed with the prior version. All iMessages are also now sent and received...

Beeper Mini, a new app that ostensibly brings iMessage to Android devices with no need for sign-in with Apple ID credentials, today launched on the Google Play Store. Beeper Mini operates by identifying text message conversations from iMessage users and converting them to the recognizable blue bubbles associated with Apple's exclusive messaging service. This enables Android users to interact ...

Sunbird, an app that is designed to deliver iMessages to Android devices, has been temporarily shut down due to security concerns. Sunbird this week sent out a notification to users letting them know about the shutdown (via 9to5Google). Sunbird said that it was investigating security issues that had been raised by the Nothing Chats iMessage app, and shortly after, told users that Sunbird...

The iPhone 15's expected move to USB-C this year may motivate a large number of Android users to switch phones, according to a survey conducted by SellCell. SellCell asked over 1,000 iPhone users and over 1,000 Android users in the United States to gather its data. Of existing iPhone users surveyed, 63% said that Apple moving to a USB-C charging port would influence their decision to upgrade ...

Back in May, Google announced plans to introduce a new safety feature that would alert Android users about nearby unknown Bluetooth trackers, including AirTags, preventing people from being stalked with tracking accessories. The tracking alert functionality is rolling out starting today. Android smartphones will provide automatic alerts if an unknown Bluetooth tracker is separated from its...

Apple today launched Apple Music Classical for Android on the Google Play Store, expanding the app beyond the iPhone for the first time (via 9to5Mac). Much like ‌Apple Music‌ for Android, the ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app for Android largely mirrors the design of its iOS counterpart. Notably, the ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app for Android comes before Apple has made the app available for the iPad ...

Google is continuing on with its attempt to convince Apple to adopt the RCS messaging standard, publishing a new "it's time for ‌RCS‌" blog post. Promoted heavily by Google, ‌RCS‌ or Rich Communication Services is a messaging standard that is designed to replace the current SMS messaging standard. It provides support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, and bigger file...

Google today announced that Android users will be able to add emoji reactions to SMS texts received from iPhone users in Google's Messages app. This feature and other improvements to the app will begin rolling out in the coming weeks. Given that the Messages app on iOS lacks support for the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol, emoji reactions from Android users will appear as annoying ...

A popular launcher on the Google Play Store that looks to recreate the iOS experience on Android smartphones has surpassed 50 million downloads as it gets updated with design changes and features coming to the iPhone with iOS 16. The app is not new to the Google Play Store and has been recreating the iOS experience on Android for the last three years. Starting with iOS 13 and for every...

Google's Android team today launched a new "Get the Message" website that again calls on Apple to adopt Rich Communication Services or RCS for the Messages app. Google has been pushing Apple to adopt ‌RCS‌ for months now, with no response from Apple. ‌RCS‌ is designed to replace the current SMS messaging standard. It offers support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages,...

Apple has scaled up its orders for iPhone 14 components, in contrast to faltering Android devices, DigiTimes reports. Ahead of the launch of the ‌iPhone‌ 14 lineup in September, Apple has reportedly increased its component orders from suppliers. This comes in stark contrast to a range of Android brands, which continue to face sluggish sales, according to supply chain sources speaking to DigiT...

Google today announced that support for its Switch to Android app on iOS is rolling out to all Android 12 smartphones, which means iPhone users can now take advantage of the app's transfer features to swap over to any device that supports Android 12. Prior to now, the Switch to Android app for the ‌iPhone‌ was limited to Google's own Pixel phones, so it worked with a limited number of...

Google has urged Apple to adopt Rich Communication Services (RCS) in its Messages app in a "lyric explainer video" for Drake's "Texts Go Green." ‌RCS‌ is designed to replace SMS messaging and touts support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, bigger file size, improved encryption, and more. Google has advocated the new communications protocol for several years....

Following a number of enthusiasts successfully adding a USB-C port to the iPhone, engineer Ken Pillonel has explained how he added a fully functional Lightning port, including support for charging and data transfer, to a Samsung Galaxy A51. After posting a preview of the project earlier this month, Pillonel has now shown how he completed the conversion in detail. The complex process involved ...

Following a trend of enthusiasts successfully switching the iPhone's Lightning port for a USB-C port, engineer Ken Pillonel has added a functional Lightning port to a Samsung Galaxy A51. Pillonel was the first to gain notoriety for modifying an iPhone X to add a functional USB-C port, which went on to sell for over $86,000 at auction. His latest project sought to achieve the inverse and...

Apple has seemingly removed the ability to buy and rent TV shows and movies in the Apple TV app for Android TV and Google TV in the latest update to the app. When the ‌Apple TV‌ app launched on Google TV early last year and Android TV in the summer, it included the ability to purchase and rent movies and TV shows from the iTunes store, as well as access to ‌Apple TV‌+. The app is available...

Google for the last several years has been pushing a new communications protocol called Rich Communication Services, or RCS, which is designed to replace the current SMS standard. ‌RCS‌ offers support for higher resolution photos and videos, audio messages, bigger file size, improved encryption, and more. For the last few months, Google's senior vice president of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, ...

Google today announced its 2022 product plans for the Android operating system, and several of the upcoming additions clearly mirror existing Apple features. The new functionality will allow Android smartphones and Google products to match capabilities already available with the Apple devices. Fast Pair, a Google feature that enables Bluetooth accessories to instantly pair to an Android...

Apple today released a new "Tracker Detect" app on the Google Play Store, with the app designed to allow Android users to locate AirTags that might be nearby. According to the app's description, Tracker Detect looks for item trackers that are separated from their owner and that are compatible with the Find My Network, so it will locate AirTags and other Find My-enabled devices like the...

The iPhone 13 lineup depreciates in value at almost half the rate of the Google Pixel 6, according to research by SellCell. The Pixel 6, Google's latest flagship smartphone, launched just two months after Apple's ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup. Despite being touted as a leading Android competitor to the ‌iPhone‌, the Pixel 6 suffers from considerably worse depreciation. In the first month after...