Top Android stories of the week (August 5th)
The amount of Android news each week can be overwhelming, but you can follow the best of the best with an app called EarlyBird – News for Android. It includes ALL of the Android news you crave and lets users decide what matters most to them.
This week, EarlyBird received a BIG UPDATE. You can now subscribe to topics so you never miss stories about your favorite things! Download the app on the Google Play Store or, for desktop users, find related discussion in the Android Forums News section.
Here’s what you picked as your favorite news stories for the week:
10. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s iris scanner works in the dark
(27 Likes) If you’ve been wondering if iris scanner on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 will work in low-light scenarios, we’ve very happy to inform you that it does. The source video shows the iris scanner working just fine in a pitch black room. Just keep in mind that you do need to keep you face aligned properly with the display for the iris scanner to work properly.
9. 2016 Nexus devices rumored to have a fingerprint swipe gesture
(27 Likes) We’ve seen this feature in devices from Huawei, and now it seems that Google could be adding it to stock Android as well. If the rumor is true, the 2016 Nexus smartphones will have a gesture where you can swipe down on the rear fingerprint sensor and it will display your notifications (like a swipe down from the top of the screen does).
8. Rumor says Google will launch the 2016 Nexus smartphones on October 4th
(27 Likes) A “trusted source” of Droid Life claims that Google and HTC will be launching this year’s Nexus smartphones on October 4th. This would put the launch of these Nexus devices 2 months after the rumored release of Android 7.0 Nougat.
7. A future update to Google’s Camera app will bring photo grid options and more
(27 Likes) In an exclusive from Android Police, an upcoming update to Google’s Camera application will bring more photo grid options as well as a toggle for the grid options within the viewfinder. It’s not yet known when these features will be coming to the app, but it’s expected to be released when Android 7.0 Nougat is made official.
6. Multiple retailers are sold out of the NVIDIA Shield Tablet K1
(27 Likes) Android Authority just noticed that the Shield Tablet K1 is sold out at NVIDIA, Amazon and Newegg. An NVIDIA representative says they haven’t received any information about it being discontinued, so it could be back in stock soon.
5. Android will now notify you when a new device is added to your account
(28 Likes) Currently, Google will send an email if you sign into your account from an unknown device, but the company will be adding a new way to get alerts about login activity. A native notification will be delivered to other Android devices associated with your account.
4. According to reliable leaker, Android Nougat will be launching next month
(28 Likes) Evan Blass (@evleaks) has provided us with a better idea as to when Google will be releasing Android 7.0 Nougat. The leak states the operating system will launch in August with the 8/5 security patch. Blass also states that the Nexus 5 will be left behind with this update, although it should continue to receive monthly security patches.
3. Android 7.0 could have “Night Light” mode and double tap to wake
(29 Likes) It’s becoming more obvious that a fully leaked build of the final (or close to final) version of Android 7.0 is now out as Android Police has some more details about what we could expect. Their latest exclusive rumor article talks about new features like Night Light (previously called Night Mode), double tap to wake is coming to ambient display,
2. Leak shows what Google’s new Nexus-exclusive launcher could look like
(32 Likes) Android Police has just published some GIFs that show us what the launcher on the 2016 Nexus smartphones will look like. If true, it seems the Google search bar is going away and will be replaced with a calendar widget and Google pull tab. It also looks like the app drawer button will be going away and instead the user will pull up from the dock on the home screen.
1. Google announces they are turning on HSTS encryption for their search page
(38 Likes) Google takes encryption very seriously and today they’ve announced the implementation of HTTP Strict Transport Security (aka HSTS) for Google.com. Google has had encryption enabled for a while now, but HSTS takes it a step further by preventing users from mistakenly heading to HTTP URLs.
What’s YOUR top news item for the week?
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