Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Welcome to the 473rd edition of Weekly Android Apps. Here are the headlines from the past week:
- Google rolled out an update this week this kind of fixing an Android Auto problem. You normally cannot open Google Maps on your phone when Android Auto is active. This latest Google Maps update enables this for a small number of users. We don’t know if that was even intentional, but we sure hope it was.
- Vivaldi browser on Android now lets you play YouTube videos in the background. This allows you to listen to music, podcasts, or just regular videos without needing to be locked into the app. The big update also included performance improvements, UI scaling options, timing reminders, and more.
- Samsung’s Camera Assistant app is now available for more One UI 5.1 phones, including the S22 Ultra and others. The app has several options that the stock camera app doesn’t, and it even fixes some of the shutter lag on some S23 Ultra phones. Those with older Galaxy phones on the One UI 5.1 update can check the Galaxy Store to see if it’s available for you.
- Mozilla has done a study to see if apps protect user privacy. Turns out a lot of them aren’t. Examples of the worst offenders include the Google Play Store, Twitter, and TikTok. Click on the link to see the results of the Mozilla study.
- AI has been a big topic of conversation this week. Qualcomm used an Android phone to generate an AI image in less than 15 seconds no internet connection required. In the meantime, Bing and Edge apps powered by Microsoft’s ChatGPT arrived on mobile this week, although you must be part of Microsoft’s preview program to use it. Samsung’s Bixby uses AI to clone your voice to answer phone calls on your behalf, but it’s only available in Korean at the moment. Finally, Gboard may give users the ability to generate AI images from text. Click the links to learn more about each AI product.
NoteFor
Price: Free / $1.49 per month
NoteFor is a diary or diary application. It has a minimal user interface that lets you write down your thoughts and life comfortably. There’s nice formatting for everything, and it’s also slightly themed. You can keep multiple logs if you want, and everything syncs with the PC version of the app if you want. We also like the ability to export your journal as an EPUB, so it’s usable by ebook reading apps. There’s an 1,800 character limit, which may irritate some people, but it’s honestly not a big deal. We think this one is pretty good overall.
Starfall Fantasy: Neverland
Price: free to play
Starfall Fantasy: Neverland is an open-world MMORPG. It looks like most of the category. You run around, talk to NPCs, do quests, and progress through the story as usual. The game world is colorful and you can do things like chat with other players. You can also do things like be a farmer if you want. In keeping with the standard, here you will find a mounting system, as well as the possibility of purchasing and decorating your own space. The features are too numerous to list here, but it ticks a lot of boxes. The only real gripe is that everything is basically on auto mode all the time, so you spend a lot more time watching the game than playing it. It takes away a lot of the charm, and we hope the developers add a full manual option eventually.
Colloquiums: Creative Discourse
Price: Free
Symposia is a community app for artists and creative types. It’s almost like a LinkedIn for creatives. You can join the network, connect with people and network with other artists. The Google Play description says it’s genuine, which is usually a giant red flag that it’s not. However, social feed, chats and all that can be useful if you’re trying to expand your reach in the community. It’s not very popular yet, so there aren’t a ton of users, but it’s something to watch in case it ever gets bigger.
ultimate sackboy
Price: free to play
Ultimate Sackboy is a mobile version of the Little Big Planet franchise. The game uses characters and design elements from console games, but that’s about it. The game has players racing through levels to try and take first place. The races are fairly easy at first but increase in difficulty fairly quickly, as is normal for a free-to-play mobile game. Players upgrade their characters with clothing, and there’s also online PvP if you want to try it out. It has the bones of a decent mobile game, but it definitely needs a coat of polish, especially when it comes to the wait timers.
PicSo
Price: Free / $9.99 per month / $69.99 per year
PicSo is an AI art generator app, and one of many new on the Play Store these days. It lets you create unique AI images just by asking it what you want. The screenshot above is a bit misleading, as you can do a lot more than just request anime girls. He also does guys too. It worked pretty well in our tests, but there’s room for improvement, as there is with most AI-generating apps.
The only downside is the price. It’s a bit pricey for monthly usage, and it seems to limit the number of images a user can create with a credit system. We think a credit system disguised as a subscription system is a little misleading, but if the developers fix it, that’s otherwise good.
If we missed any important news or releases of Android apps or games, let us know in the comments.
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