Tag Archives: Android

Android, Mobile, News

OPPO Steps Closer to Stock Android With Global ColorOS 12

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OPPO’s ColorOS has always been about customisability and self-expression. The company’s latest iteration: ColorOS 12 is no different but it does take a load off when it comes to OPPO’s visual customizations of the Android OS. OPPO said that the company’s decision to jump from ColorOS8 to 11 to match Android’s version number is a literal alignment of the OS with Android.

ColorOS is maturing as an OS. With ColorOS 12, the company is fine-tuning its approach to be able to adapt to multiple languages and layouts better than ever before. OPPO says the main theme of ColorOS this time around is “Inclusivity” and that changes made to the OS this round were mainly focused on catering to their 440 million users across 68 countries.

OPPO ColorOS 12
Source: OPPO

The biggest difference you will see in the approach is a reduction in OPPO apps and the use of many stock Android apps. The company has decided to reduce redundancy in its offerings by using Android’s built-in phone and messaging app and integrating more of Android’s built-in features for the new take on ColorOS. The company has “decoupled” the experience to allow users access to their own apps via an optional download from their app store.

Back to Basics with a Focus on Customization & Usability

However, that doesn’t mean that OPPO is leaving its own features to the wayside. Their approach to the design of the new iteration of ColorOS builds on their Infinite Design concept which carries forward from 11. Visually, the OS looks cleaner with more modern icons. On the backend, OPPO has optimised the OS to use a fraction of the resources it used before. ColorOS 12 sees a reduction of 30% of memory usage and 20% battery consumption – making it the most efficient ColorOS to date.

The efficiency doesn’t come at the cost of personalization. In fact, the latest iteration of ColorOS may be the most customizable yet. OPPO has enhanced customisation with more themes, icons and fonts in its theming engine. In addition, the company has also been working on optimising the OS further to be more intuitive and easier to use.

ColorOS 12 is focusing on the essentials. Instead of focusing on gimmicky features, OPPO has been working on enhancing more usable features like PC connect, FlexDrop and Phone Manager which allow users to have a more seamless experience across multiple devices. OPPO’s approach to providing a more seamless experience between phone and PC brings features like drag and drop, screen mirroring and even seamless file transfer between PC and phone. PC Connect only works with Windows for now.

OPPO is also focusing on device security. The company’s new OS brings Android’s privacy and security features front and centre. The OS makes features like Privacy Dashboard more accessible and comes with a better-optimised experience when to Approximate Location Sharing and Microphone and Camera Indicators. The company is also enhancing the security of their OS with in-house features such as private system, private safe, and app lock.

Open to Developers

OPPO is also committing to be open when it comes to the development of ColorOS. The company is making its camera SDKs openly available to developers moving forward. These SDKs will make some of the company’s best camera features such as Ultra Steady Video Shooting, HDR, and Super Wide-Angle available to developers.

OPPO Update
Source: OPPO

Timely Update Schedule

OPPO is committing to updating its devices consistently moving forward. This applies to devices released from 2019 onwards. Their flagship Find X series will be getting three major Android updates. The mid-range Reno, F- and higher-end A-series devices will be getting two major updates. Lower end devices will be getting a single Android update. According to the company, the single update is due to the lower memory specifications of lower-end A-Series models.

In addition to major updates, OPPO’s Find X series will also be getting four years of security updates. The Reno, F-, and A-series will be updated for three years.

Android, iOS, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Switching Between iOS and Android is Painless with WhatsApp Now.

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Switching digital platforms is still a thing in the modern world. Switching platforms today though is harder than ever before, especially when you buy a smartphone. You get to choose between an Android or iOS smartphone if you go out to the market today to buy yourself a new one. Most of the time as well, you are going to stick to what you had before.

There is a reason why it is difficult for you to change platforms when it comes to smartphones. A lot of times, your operating system (OS) and its apps require you to have a functioning account with its particular provider to take full advantage of the system and its ecosystem of apps and services. For example, if you are on an Android smartphone you are required to have a functioning Google account to access Google’s Play Store and their own apps like Gmail and Calendar. Likewise, if you are on an Apple iOS device, you are required to have a functioning Apple account.

There is an added complexity on Android devices too, because Android devices come from different manufacturers. Different manufacturers have their own unique ecosystem too that requires you to have a functional account that could be tied to their ecosystem. One of the most famous ecosystems outside of Apple and Google right now is Samsung’s ecosystem which requires you to have a functioning Samsung account.

Of course, there are ways manufacturers have made porting from one platform to another easier over the years. The most notable effort of all is Samsung’s Smart Switch which makes porting and transferring data over any Android or even Apple device a breeze. It is not perfect though.

For the longest time, one of the most popular messenger apps that is available on both iOS and Android has been the biggest obstacle to switching platforms. That app is WhatsApp. There is a clear problem why too.

WhatsApp stores its data on your device. It regularly backs your messaging data into a cloud storage. On an Android device, the cloud storage of choice is Google Drive, which requires you to run a Google account anyway. On an Apple iOS device, you are relying on Apple’s iCloud storage services, which incidentally requires you to have an Apple account. You can see the problem here in itself.

While transferring your WhatsApp data over from platforms has been impossible if you are doing it over wifi, Samsung has rectified that with the latest Smart Switch version in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 announcement. But what if you are not on a Samsung Galaxy device? Or, what if you want to switch from an Android to an Apple instead?

That function is now hitting other Android and iOS devices. The service now allows you to transfer your entire chat history and conversations from one smartphone to another, no matter the platform. The transfer also includes your entire WhatsApp media library for good measure.

Of course, there are some caveats. Your WhatsApp can only be transferred over from one platform to another via a wired connection. At the time of writing, your Samsung Smart Switch will require a USB Type-C connection with the donor Apple device to extra all its data, including WhatsApp data. While WhatsApp have not specified the transfer method, we are assuming that a cabled connection is the most viable way to data to be shared between an Android and iOS device without having to merge and mash Google Drive and Apple iCloud services together.

This opens up a whole other world of possibility for smartphone users though. Since transferring data between platforms are becoming easier, changing your smartphones is a simpler affair than ever before. That also means that the power to decide is now in the hands of the users more than ever. You get to choose which platforms works best for you every single time you want to upgrade your device, and that should mean more competitive pricing on even more powerful devices, especially in between platforms.

Android, Mobile, News

Google Confirms the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro: This is What Google’s Next Smartphone Looks Like

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After endless leaks and rumours surrounding Google’s upcoming device, Google final confirmed that the device actually exists. The Google Pixel 6 series is now official with Google’s official Twitter account revealing a bunch of details and photos on the device. For the first time ever, the flagship will not have an XL variant. Instead, Google is going for the most conventional flagship naming of the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.

While Google has released a bunch of details on the device, there are still plenty of unknowns about the device at this time. For one, while Google revealed that there will be 3 cameras at the back of the new flagship, there are no mentions on their megapixel count. They revealed how the new devices would look too, including the available colour schemes that we would have to say looks great, at the same time revealing that there will be a telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom on the Pro variant.  

The Pixel 6 series also marks Google’s entry into the silicon manufacturing industry with their Google Tensor chip that is going to power the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro devices. Of course, it is going to be a Material You Android 12 device that is completely vanilla. Other than being completely optimised for Material You, the Tensor System on a Chip (SoC) is also supposed to come with new security core and Titan M2 to make the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro one of the most secure Android smartphones you can find in the current market. As per Google as well, the Tensor chip is also supposed to improve Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities in Pixel devices. Alongside an improved computational photography model, the AI and ML should tremendously improve the camera experience.

Of course, the new Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro comes in large and larger screen sizes at 6.4-inch and 6.7-inch respectively. There are no mentions on what sort of display it will come with, but we suspect it could be OLED as per previous Pixel device. We are also expecting the displays to feature 90Hz and 120Hz refresh rates respectively.

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    Source: Google
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    Source: Google
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    Source: Google
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    Source: Google
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    Source: Google
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There are no mentions as well on when Google will be releasing the Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro into the market just yet. If rumours are right, you can expect to see devices landing in the hands of users toward the end of September or early October 2021. Holding pages for the Google Pixel 6 series are already live in eight regions: USA, Canada, Australioa, UK, France, Japan, and Taiwan. Malaysia does not officially have Google Store anyway, which also means the only way for you to own a Google Pixel is to source it from third party vendors at this time, and the same is expected for the Google Pixel 6. Curiously Singapore’s Google Store does not list the Google Pixel 6 series yet, leading us to believe that Singapore may not be in that first region circle for the Google Pixel 6. They will eventually get it later on though as the device is made available in other regions. More information about Google’s Pixel 6 series can be found on Google’s own Blog, or their official Twitter page.

Android, Mobile, News

Older Android Devices Will Lose Access to Google Services Come September

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It looks like it’s the end of the road for Android devices running Android 2.3.7 and older. Android 2.3.7, better known as Gingerbread, was one of the more significant updates to Android as the operating system began to become more mainstream. However, it looks like it will also serve a new significance as the cutoff point for Google Services.

The announcement comes to light after a post on the Android Support Forums by community manager, Zak Pollack. In the post, the move is explained to be part of the “ongoing efforts to keep [our] users safe”. Of course, from a security perspective, the move will make things easier as security updates to Android can now focus on updating newer devices. That said, the distribution of active devices that fall into this category is negligible which isn’t surprising considering Gingerbread came out in 2010. Google’s last update in April 2020 showed that Android 9.0 (Pie) is currently the most common version of the OS in the market.

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Photo by Mark Boss on Unsplash

While it may seem a little harsh, the ending of support is nothing new. We’ve seen companies drop support for devices and software before. So, if you’re still running Android 2.3.7 on your devices, it would be advisable to update to Android 3.0 Honeycomb – if available.

Come September 27, 2021, any device running Gingerbread will face errors logging into Google apps like Google, Gmail, YouTube and Maps. That said, the OS itself will still be usable. However, accessing YouTube, Gmail and other Google apps will require the use of the browser. Keep in mind, that Google Play Service will also be affected. So, accessing the Google Play Store may be an issue for these devices.

Google’s move to drop support isn’t a controversial one considering how far Android has come since then. This and the fact that an increasing number of manufacturers are committing to updates for their devices. Most recently, Samsung committed to three year support for updates for their current device line up. Other manufacturers have also followed suit.

Accessories, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

TAG Heuer X Super Mario is a US$ 2,000 Smartwatch and We Are Not Sure About It

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TAG Heuer is a respectable watchmaker. They are one of the most recognisable brands in the world of watch makers and collectors. Sure, compared to brands like Patek Philippe, Hublot, and even Rolex, TAG Heuer seems to sit at a lower position. Still, they make watches that would still cost you anywhere from MYR 3,000 and above. They also made some of the most memorable collection pieces in the world of watch making.

TAG Heuer is a little different than most luxury watchmakers though. They are a little more adventurous with their branding. While plenty of watchmaking brands refrain from being title sponsors in the sporting world, TAG Heuer was aggressive in promoting their brand in the sporting world. Their most significant push was into the world of Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsports, as official timekeepers for the longest time.

They are also, to this day, the only luxury watchmaker that dabbles in the world of smartwatches. Of course, because Apple develops their own watch with a very guarded WatchOS, Samsung’s Tizen OS is also a brand exclusive, and FitBit’s interface is not exactly created for smartwatches, TAG Heuer is left with Google’s Wear OS. Then again, this is not TAG Heuer’s first Wear OS smartwatch.

SBG8A13.EB0238 STILLLIFE 2 4 5
Source: TAG Heuer

The Connected series, as they call it is the watchmaker’s only Wear OS line-up. It is still currently the only luxury Google Wear device to hit the market. With prices starting at US$ 2,000, you can have your TAG Heuer Connected built with different materials to suit your taste. Now, you can look dorky with a new Super Maria limited edition too.

Yes, to be fair, the Super Mario collaboration from TAG Heuer is not really an announcement of a new product. It is merely an expansion, or a limited edition of an existing product line. The collaboration also brings with it new watch faces exclusive to the series. They are all Super Mario inspired. With the new watch faces, you also get new notification animations, especially when you hit a fitness goal let’s say.

While it is merely just a Google Wear OS device, there are some uniqueness to a Connected that makes it somewhat desirable. It has a proper crown that rotates and pushes in as a button for easier navigation of Wear OS. It has two very well-defined button too for more navigation work on your watch. Physical buttons and knobs on a smartwatch, we think, is the best way to navigate its interface still. The TAG Heuer x Super Mario Connected watch obviously has the very recognisable Mario branding on the crown. But all Connected smartwatches comes with TAG Heuer’s signature thick bezel look and stellar build quality; those are given because, TAG Heuer.

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Source: TAG Heuer

You can expect the TAG Heuer x Super Mario Connected smartwatch to cost north of US$ 2,000 (MYR 8,401*). It is a special limited edition after all. In a sense, the Super Mario smartwatch should also appeal to the younger crowd, which is what TAG Heuer wants anyway. There is a problem, however. That problem lies mostly with Wear OS.

Wear OS is in a weird place now. We want to say that Google’s Wear OS is undergoing a transformation journey, one that we cannot see. Google announced that they are partnering exclusively with Samsung to move Wear OS into the future. Samsung’s huge success with their Tizen OS means that they are a prime candidate to co-develop the next wearable OS with. Samsung will also be giving up Tizen OS for that matter but gaining a whole new community of developers in return.

There are rumours that the next Wear OS that is co-developed with Samsung will require a new set of hardware to properly run. That also means that older hardware like TAG Heuer’s Connected smartwatch might not be able to run Wear OS. While Qualcomm has claimed that older Snapdragon for wearables can run later versions of Wear OS, we cannot be sure until the next iteration of Wear OS hits devices.

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    Source: TAG Heuer
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The TAG Heuer X Super Mario smartwatch comes with its own special edition case and obviously its own special straps. Its looks are subjective to its wearer, to be fair. To us, it looks like a regular smartwatch. It features whatever the regular Tag Heuer Connected smartwatch features too, including the current generation Google Wear OS.

It is a cool smartwatch to own if you have the money. At the same time, it might be a risky buy. Smartwatches are not statement piece material. A smartwatch must be functional as well, and of course, updated. In that case, the TAG Heuer x Super Mario Connected smartwatch’s price tag comes with a big ‘if’. It is great if it updates to the next Wear OS, it will be a glorified paper weight if it does not.

*Approximately based on exchange rate of US$ 1=MYR 4.20 on xe.com as of 14/07/2021

Android, Mobile, News

[MWC 2021] Samsung Shows Off One UI Watch for Upcoming Galaxy Watch 4

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It has been nearly a month since Google’s I/O keynote. In that same time, we were reeling back from the shock we got from the keynote itself about Google and Samsung joining hands to co-develop Android Wear moving forward. That announcement also means that Samsung is abandoning their Tizen OS for future Galaxy Watches. It also seems like Samsung might give up on the idea of their own unique looking UI on their smart watches with the announcement. Now, it does not seem so.

They call it the One UI, and yes, it is based on Google’s Android Wear UI. At least according to Samsung, One UI is developed and built jointly with Google for the Galaxy Watch platform. It is meant to be a unified platform that combines the best of both Google’s wearable platform and Samsung’s Watch platform.

All this is meant to create a Galaxy Watch experience that is familiar but somewhat new to users. But at the same time, the new One UI platform is designed to be more integrated with your Android smartphones as well. That also means that you get a more unified experience between your smartphone and your Galaxy Watch.

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Source: Samsung

With the new One UI, the Galaxy Watch responds almost simultaneously with your Android smartphone. For example, if you change the information you want on your clock app on your smartphone, the changes will be reflected on your Watch as well. When you download apps with a complementing app for the Watch, your Watch downloads and installs the complementing apps at the same time too. When you block calls or messages from your smartphone, that gets directly translated on your Watch as well.

The biggest difference between the older Tizen OS powered Galaxy Watch and the new upcoming One UI powered Galaxy Watch is where you get your apps. One UI gets all its apps from Google’s trusty Play store. That should be good news to Galaxy Watch users though. It means you get access to popular apps like Google Maps, and YouTube music, finally.

Samsung is not the only one that gets the benefits of this partnership though. Samsung is bringing their clever watch face design tool for developers into the Android Wear ecosystem. That also means that designing watch faces for Android Wear is even easier now. More watch faces is always better, especially if you can get great looking watch faces from the Galaxy Watch ecosystem.

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Source: Samsung

Of course, the new One Ui unified platform from the Samsung and Google partnership will be featured in the new upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch device. The full functionalities of One UI will also be announced and showcased in the upcoming Samsung Unpacked event. There are already leaks of how the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 floating around on the internet, and all of those gets us more excited about Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 that is coming soon.

Android, Mobile, News

Android 12 Beta 2 is Out Now! What is New?

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Android 12 is undoubtedly the most anticipated Android operating system (OS) to date. It is not too difficult to see why it gained its popularity. Despite all the excitement though, it will be a few months before we see Android 12 coming to Android smartphones in full force, especially smartphones that comes with manufacturer skins like Samsung.

If you cannot wait to try out the new interface though, you can always go ahead and work with the Beta version of Android 12. If you have a device that supports Android 12 Beta as well, you are in luck because Android 12 Beta 2 has just been released. On Android 12 Beta 2, you are also one step closer to working with the full Android 12 that is supposed to come in August 2021 or so. But what is new on the second Beta version of Android 12?

Privacy Dashboard

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Source: Google

Google talked about the Privacy Dashboard in their Google I/O 2021 keynote. Privacy is more important than ever in today’s world. Manufacturers and developers alike are putting more emphasis on privacy as well than ever. They are also giving more control and power ever to their users.

This Privacy Dashboard is one of them. It gives you more control and visibility over what hardware are being used by different apps and what access different apps have on your device. The dashboard can also help you understand the way and why apps need access to certain things on your device.

Mic and Camera Indicators

Smartphones are terrible at telling you that certain things on your smartphone is being used for something. While the Privacy Dashboard does add a little more control and transparency, it is also important to know when something is being accessed or used. It is especially true when it is your mic or camera that are being used. With the new indicators, users can easily and quickly find out which apps are accessing either the camera, or the microphone, or both in real-time. You can also easily and quickly bar the access of mic and camera in that case.

Mic and Camera Toggles

To completely block off any access to your Microphones and Cameras was virtually impossible on a modern smartphone before this. With Android 12, you now can. That feature is now available to play with in Android 12 Beta. You do have to go through some checks to see if your device supports the function or not. Once you turn off access to the mic and camera though, no apps can access both functions at all.

Clipboard Read Notification

Clipboards is naturally something we put out of our mind. It is the list or a collection of texts or things we copied from websites, notes, documents, and anything as such. Android 12 Beta now notifies you if the clipboard is being used in a particular app. A toast will appear at the bottom of the screen each time a clipboard item on another app is being accessed or read by the app you are currently using.

Simpler Connectivity Options

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Source: Google

The networking page and access has been completely redesigned on Android 12. One of the primary focus on Android 12 is its intuitiveness. They completely overhauled the network connection screen to do just that. You can now switch between their network providers and WiFi easily and quickly. The new Internet Panel also allow users to quickly troubleshoot network connectivity issues.

Android 12

Android 12 was announced, and its first Beta launched at Google I/O 2021. The new platform is expected to fully release by August 2021 onward and partnering manufacturers will release their own versions of Android 12 soon after. Google’s Android 12 also features one of the platform’s largest visual overhaul in its history. The platform now features something they call Material You in their design language. The UI is designed around more personalisation and more intuitiveness than ever. Find out more about Android 12 on our release write-up here, or you can also visit their website for more information on Android 12 Beta 2. At the same time, you can visit the Android 12 Beta devices page to find out if you have a compatible device.

Android, Editorial, Lifestyle, Mobile, News

[Google I/O 2021] Android 12 is a Big Visual Change for You

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Android is currently the most popular mobile operating system (OS) in the world. At least 72% of the entire smartphone market in 2021 runs on Android. That is also mostly because there are so many Android offerings out in the market that fits almost all sorts of budget.

There is also another good reason why Android becomes the OS of choice for plenty of enthusiasts. The fact that no two Android devices looks and feels the same is one of them. You could put a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra beside another similar device with similar colour option but when you pick them up, they could feel completely different in terms of its interactions and layout. If you are its owner, you know which one of the smartphones is which the moment you pick it up. Of course, there is the fact that you cannot unlock the other smartphone.

#Android12: Designed for you

Android 12 is not the largest update in terms of added feature on the user interface (UI), technically. It is the largest though in terms of visuals. The concept for the 12th major iteration of Android, as Google puts it, centers around You.

They call the new design language Material You. That also means that the design language is not entirely different from before. It is technically an evolution of the older Material design language. Thing is, it is not like the old Material design felt dated in 2021. Its simplistic and minimalistic language still does well enough in 2021, and we think beyond.

Still, Android 12 is coming and here are the major changes we think you might like; at least we like the changes.

More Personalisation

Source: Google

Colours turn out to be everything in our lives, and that includes our smartphones. We all wanted dark mode at some point in the past two years. Admittedly, Dark Mode looks sick and made our smartphones look extra sleek. But it does get a little boring when everyone starts doing the same things.

Adding some colours is a way to go to make your device even more unique to you other than having different home screen layouts. That is what Android 12 is, colours for your life. The UI can cleverly extract dominant colours and determine complementing colours from your wallpaper and turn your whole theme around that chosen colour. That extends even to the new widgets Material You is introducing. Of course, you can change those colours as well in the settings, if you want to have a different colour scheme for your theme. You technically can decide how thick you want your on-screen volume control knob to be too.

Better, Faster, More Sensible Animations

Source: Google

The UI is designed to be more intuitive and allow certain things to come up front and center for you. For example, picking up the device can turn your screen on, but the fluid animations can flash up according to how you pick up your device. The display might come to life from the bottom of the device up, or vice versa. It responds to touch and gestures too, apparently.

The most visible change on Android 12 in terms of animations though is on your lock screen. On Any Android device, you can view your notifications via your lock screen. You can close the notifications from your lock screen too. Once you cleared out your notifications though, Android 12 brings out your clock front and center to let you know that you are all caught up and tell you the time, obviously.

With Material You as well, Google have supposedly improved animation load times and speed by up to 22%. The development team somehow found a way to cut back on CPU loads for animations which both sped up the animations and extend battery life in the process. On top of that, the cut back in CPU reliance also means that older and lower-end devices can benefit the full animations of Android 12.

Bigger Means Better

Source: Google

A part of system designs in Material design is making things more compact, cleaner, simpler, and more minimalistic. A lof of quick access spaces and buttons are made smaller, more rounded, and take up so little space you could cram a million of them on your large 6-inch display. They sort of rolled back on that for the sack of intuitiveness and better-looking spaces though.

In Material You the notification is a much cleaner space to look at. Gone re the clutter that you might see in the current iteration of Material design. The notification page is much easier on the eyes to navigate and work with as well with a slightly larger interaction space.

You see the biggest change in Quick Settings though. Instead of little round balls that you are used to, they are now bigger buttons to work with. This not only prevents clutter, but also wrong presses when you use your device one-handed. The have added Google Pay and Home Controls button too for you to quickly access your ewallet payment gateway and even quickly control your Home IoT devices just through a couple of taps.

Privacy Dashboard

Source: Google

Transparency over data collection and sharing has been one of the most important features we look for in our smartphones today. Apple’s iOS now allows you to track each app and what they do with your data. For Android, it is a little different.

Instead of implementing app specific algorithm to identify what data is being used by each app and how, Android 12 gives you a one stop shop to understand what apps are using what and when. The dashboard allows to check also the kinds of permissions you give each app. You even can revoke access of the apps too from one Privacy Dashboard.

At the same time, Android 12 tells you when an app is using your camera or microphone. In some ways, Android 12 can help you track which apps use the two items when it does not need to as well. You can either revoke camera or mic privileges from apps via Privacy Dashboard in that sense.

There is more to that, however. You can revoke the entire systems access to both microphone and camera. All you have to do is pull down the notification bar, and then pull down again to quick access and turn off camera, or microphone access, or both. In that case, even if you launch your camera app, you are not going to see anything.

Regarding location, sometimes apps do not need to know where you are precisely. In that case, Android 12 allows you to set “approximate location” sharing with some of the apps that you feel might not need your precise location. An example of that kind of app is the weather app, to tell you what the weather is like in your general area.

And More…

Source: Google

There are more subtle changes in Android 12. To be really honest, we have not had our hands-on with the Android 12 Beta just yet, because we do not own devices that supports Android 12 Beta at this time. We are hoping that the list might expand a little more soon though. If you want to get your hands on Android 12 Beta, you can check if your devices are supported at the Android 12 Beta page.

Lifestyle, Mobile, News

Clubhouse to be Available on Android Worldwide by Friday!

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Last week we saw Clubhouse finally taking the plunge into Android. The blogpost from Clubhouse themselves, dated 9th May 2021 said that they will be pushing into the Android market with a Beta app starting with their home market, the United States of America. Apart from their home market though, they said they will be pushing into other English-speaking markets in the coming weeks.

We thought that we will only get Clubhouse in two to four weeks. To be fair, while Malaysia is considered a major English-speaking nation, English is not necessarily our first language if we are being politically correct. In that case, we were guessing that nations like Singapore and probably India to get Clubhouse first before Malaysia. India mostly because of its population density and the various Android devices that the market houses as well. The large and diverse sample sizes could prove useful for the Clubhouse development team in bug testing, stress testing, and even diagnosing porting issues.

We were proven wrong though. Just a week in and Clubhouse announced that the rest of the world will be getting Clubhouse on their Android devices. According to their twitter post that is about 14 hours old, the Clubhouse version of Android will see the light of day in Japan, Brazil, and Russia by Tuesday; that is tomorrow. Nigeria and India will see the Clubhouse app by Friday morning. The rest of the world will get the app by Friday too, albeit in the afternoon. Our prediction that India might get the stuff sooner than Malaysia did sort of come true.

Clubhouse on Android, as per mentioned last week, is still in Beta stage though. There will still be some bugs on the app, and we can expect the Android app to not have all the features available to users from the iOS camp. We are expecting improvements to come over the coming months to bring the Android version of the app to what the iOS users are already familiar with though. The only function we do not expect to make it into the Android app in Malaysia at least is their payments function. That feature is also not available on Clubhouse on iOS in Malaysia too.

You can expect Clubhouse to gain traction quickly in the Android playing field too. Despite other social media giants like Twitter and Facebook launching their own Clubhouse-like features, they have not gained the traction to match Clubhouse and therefore proved unpopular among users. But of course, there is one thing that might prevent a large influx of Android users into Clubhouse though. Clubhouse remains an invite-only platform. For you to start an account with Clubhouse and join conversations, you must have an invite from your friends already on the platform.

There are also issues and controversies raised surrounding the app itself too. There are issues concerning its security and privacy at some point. The app has also been criticized for not being friendly to the hearing-impaired community. The app is still quite young though; it is barely a year old, to be fair. There is still plenty to improve on at this point. Currently, the app has focused a little more on creators with plans to fund over 50 audio shows on Clubhouse as part of an accelerator program. They are also planning to introduce in-room tipping for creators, paid events, and even subscriptions into Clubhouse soon. Live podcasting from us anyone?

Android, Lifestyle, Mobile, News, Social Media

Clubhouse Coming to Android After More Than a Year in iOS Exclusivity.

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There was a debate that raged on a bit in a certain new and upcoming social media app. The app was valued at US$ 4 Billion (MYR*) at its most recent fundraiser too. That social media platform is Clubhouse, and the debate was whether or not Clubhouse should remain an iOS exclusive platform.

For over a year, Clubhouse has remained exclusive to iOS. That is not without good reason though. Developing on iOS is a little more straightforward because there is not a tonne of scaling to work with, everything is based on roughly the same hardware architecture. You do not have to take different versions of iOS and iPhone devices into account either, the SDK will do its job and standardise experience across all iPhone devices. Obviously, with the amount of Android devices out there for different market segments, things become a little more complex when you want to develop on Android. This was the case of WhatsApp on iOS and Android all over again.

Still, the voice based social network app has been one of the most popular apps since the pandemic broke out and everyone in the world is expected to stay at home and lock themselves up. It gave people another way to stay connected with the rest of the world. It gave way to Elon Musk to connect with other people from other parts of the world without physically meeting them. Elon Musk could be one of the reasons why Clubhouse blew up too.

Still, because Clubhouse was a thing, Android users are now asking for the feature on their devices. Clubhouse also have been reportedly working on its Android app for some time now. Earlier in the year Clubhouse finally announced that they are going to put Clubhouse in Google’s Play Store. This week, they came through in the United States of America (U.S.A.).

Source: Clubhouse

The Clubhouse app is now in open Beta state in Google Play Store. While that means you get access to the most basic functions of Clubhouse like joining a chat room and moderate a chat for example, there are still some things that users on Android will not get access to for the time being. For one, Android users will not be able to report someone else for now. That feature will come soon though according to Clubhouse.

Translation and localisation will not yet be available as well on the Android version. Understandably, Clubhouse on Android is still limited to the U.S. and will be rolling out to other English-speaking regions within these few weeks. You cannot create club or manage any clubs at the moment too with the Beta version of Clubhouse on Android. You can read the full list of missing features on Clubhouse’s FAQ page.

The team behind Clubhouse is also noting that they will be collecting feedback from the community on the app. In the coming weeks, the team will be fixing all kinds of bugs and add more features before finally releasing the app properly on Google Play Store as a full app. The only thing that they have not changed their stance on is the invite-only system. You have to be invited into the app to sign up for an account. Signing up for the app is free though.

The Clubhouse app will be available in Beta in the U.S. region for now. As Mentioned the app will roll out in other English-speaking regions soon after. If you are keen to get on the platform with existing invites at hand, you can head over to Google Play Store to register as an interested user and be the first Android user when it becomes available in your region.