Welcome to the 462nd edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the past week:
- Google merged its Waze and Maps teams this week. The company did it as a cost-cutting measure since both apps do the same thing. On the plus side, consolidation can help both apps. On the negative side, Waze may lose a significant amount of its independence. Click on the link for more information.
- Amazon wants to give users $2 a month to spy on their phone usage. The company wants to learn more about how people use their phones and the effectiveness of their advertising. It’s not accessible to everyone right now, and it certainly isn’t a lot of money. However, it may entice some people to do it.
- Google Chrome is getting less and less energy and memory. The two new savings features are rolling out right now and we should see them fully rolled out in the coming weeks. The memory saver puts tabs to sleep when not in use, and the battery saver kicks in when your machine’s battery is less than 20%.
- Google introduced a new spatial audio feature this week. It should land on Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 phones. Apps that support the feature include Google TV, HBO Max, Netflix, and YouTube. The list isn’t quite as long as Apple’s spatial audio offerings, but it’s a start. Click on the link for more information.
- Google Photos is testing a new search feature. The feature helps you find people by their faces. Some users have noticed that the Google Lens button has also been replaced with a search function. The way it works is tapping on someone’s face and Google Photos will show you more photos with that face. It’s pretty neat, actually.
Auto Scroll video for TikTok
Price: Free
Auto Scroll Video for TikTok is exactly what the name says. It automatically scrolls through TikTok so you don’t have to. It works well. You download it, give it accessibility rights and then configure it in the settings. From there, it will open automatically when you open TikTok and start scrolling. It is adjustable for shorter or longer videos as you come across them. It’s definitely an early days app and could use some tweaking. That said, it’s a good idea and otherwise pretty clean.
Airship Knights
Price: Free to play
Airship Knights is an idle RPG. Mechanically it is similar to many others. You get new characters, level them up and use them to progress through the game. Combat is largely automatic. The game has a charming premise, even if the voice acting is a bit amateurish. There is also a PvP mode along with plenty of places to unlock. It’s decent as far as idle RPGs go, but people who don’t like idle games won’t like this one either.
ZomokMe is an expense tracker especially for daily expenses. Allows you to enter your purchases and expenses. Moreover, you can also split checks among your friends if you split one of them. In everyday use, it’s easy enough to use, and you can definitely see your expenses as you go. You do have to create an account to use it, which isn’t ideal, but otherwise works fine. The only real downside is that it has a social element that doesn’t really work if your friends don’t sign up too.
Zombie hunter D-Day 2
Price: Free to play
Zombie Hunter D-Day 2 is the official sequel to the popular Zombie Hunter D-Day. The first game took place 80 days after the apocalypse and the second takes place 160 days after the apocalypse. That means the games are definitely connected. It is an FPS game where you face zombies and monsters while trying to avoid dying. There’s an arcade shooter quality to the game where you don’t really move much. The core of the game is shooting zombies from an almost fixed position.
Some other features include offline support, a gun merging mechanic, and tons of zombies to shoot. It’s free to play, but it’s not very greedy with its in-app purchases. It’ll be a hit-or-miss game for most, but it’s not a bad arcade shooter.
Paint MS version
Price: Free
MS Paint version is a mobile port of the Microsoft Paint application. It contains the tools you click and use. It doesn’t feel great with a finger, but it’s quite nice to use with a stylus or an S Pen if you have one. The app feels like an early build. There are some bugs, mainly because the menu system is not functioning properly. We think maybe the developer should have done a bit more testing before launch. But once they get it up and running, it’s a nice little drawing app that feels like old Windows.
If we missed any news or releases of major Android apps or games, tell us in the comments.
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