Ever since it launched on mobile Aspyr Media has been slowly releasing new DLC and updates for Civilization VI(Free) on iOS and Android. The most recent content updates have been for the Leader Pass while we’ve seen minor bug fix updates a few months ago. Ever since iOS 17.4 hit, the game has not been playable on iOS or iPadOS devices running it or 17.4.1. I hadn’t played the game on mobile at all since updating, so was not aware of this. Thanks to a tip from a reader over the weekend, I’ve been looking into this and have tried launching the game on all devices I have at home. Across four different iPhones and three iPads, the game does not let you play anymore. It gives you an error on launching, and remains on the splash screen shown below. I tried reinstalling it and had no luck. Aspyr confirmed that it is aware of this over a month ago, but there is no ETA on a fix.
Games and apps breaking on newer iOS versions isn’t new, but when you have a game like Civilization VI that costs more to get the DLC and game (outside sales) on mobile than other platforms, you expect some level of support. As of this writing, I don’t recommend buying the game on iOS until this is fixed. Who knows how long it will take as we still don’t even have updates to improve the visuals for iPads from years ago, let alone the current ones. If you’ve not played it yet, read our initial iPad review here and my updated review with expansions and more here based on how the game was when it still worked on up to date iOS versions then. I also reviewed the New Frontier Pass content and the state of the game in 2021 on iOS here. You can try out Civilization VI for free on the App Store for iOS here, and I recommend checking it again when either iOS or the game get updated to make sure it works before buying. I’ve reached out to Aspyr to check in on the status of the fix, and will update this news story if we hear back.
I never thought I’d see the day I’d become a “wearables” person, and it’s because I’ve spent so long on the Android side of things. For years, Android users waited in vain for manufacturers to make smartwatches that fit nicely and didn’t peter out after a mere eight hours off the charger. It wasn’t until these last few years after Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 4 that Android-based wearables offered feature parity to one of the most popular wearables, the Apple Watch.
Hands-On With Meta Quest 3
Thankfully, there is plenty more choice for wearables, not just between Apple and Android. Although some companies have left the connected wearables game—RIP Fossil and your delightful hybrid watches—plenty more remain, including mainstays from the fitness industry. Here’s a look at some of the latest smartwatches we’ve covered and which ones are worth buying if you’re shopping for one. iPhone users, you already know which one we’re going to suggest.
The Apple Watch Series 9.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it: you should have an Apple watch if you use an iPhone. Other smartwatches work with the iPhone, particularly for those of you who want more of a training device rather than a remote accessory for your smartphone. But for everyone else wielding an iPhone, the Apple Watch is it.
The Apple Watch has maintained a consistent price point throughout its lifetime. The Apple Watch Series 9 currently costs $400 for the 40mm size and $430 for the 45mm size. There’s also the Apple Watch SE, a pared-down version of the flagship Apple Watch, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, meant for rugged types who spend time outdoors or don’t mind wearing a bigger watch for the battery life.
The battery life of Apple Watches and the best ones for Android users is about the same. You’ll almost get two full days of notifications and time-telling, mainly if you use energy-saving modes. Apple has also done some work between generations of the Apple Watch. Siri’s common commands are available offline on the Series 9—something Google is still working on with Wear OS.
It took two generations, but Google finally delivered on its smartwatch promises with the Pixel Watch 2. The watch is comfortable for most wrists and pairs well with any of the dozens of available Android devices. Google also offers several different watchbands and finishes. The only downside is that the watchband employs proprietary connection mechanisms. Finding quality third-party watchbands is not as easy, and some of the Google Store’s offerings are pretty pricey.
The Fitbit app is what makes the Pixel Watch 2 a worthy wear. Its robust offerings include a daily readiness score, overnight body temperature tracking, sleep coaching, and stress monitoring. (Some features require a Fitbit Premium subscription, though they can be bundled in with Google One if you’re an all-in Android user.) The only drawback is that even with Health Connect, Fitbit doesn’t sync up with many popular third-party wellness suites without the help of a few other additional apps. I’m still trying to figure out how to count my Peloton workouts toward my weekly stats on Fitbit without manually entering the data.
Battery life is pretty average among most smartwatches available right now. Most of today’s Android-compatible smartwatches last as long as the Apple Watch—about a day and a half with the always-on display off. You can set the watch to a power-saving mode to eke out more time with it. But generally, smartwatches the size of the Pixel Watch 2 won’t make it two full days off the charger.
I used a Galaxy Watch 4 with a Pixel smartphone and the OnePlus 8, which was fine. However, the latest Galaxy Watch 6 has exclusive capabilities available only to Samsung smartphone users, including blood pressure and ECG monitoring, facilitated by apps available only through the Galaxy app store.
Like the Pixel Watch 2, the Galaxy Watch 6 can detect irregular heartbeats, track your sleep, measure your skin temperature as you sleep, and track your sleep patterns. It offers a larger display than the Pixel Watch 2—1.3 inches on the Galaxy Watch 6 versus 1.2 inches on the Pixel Watch 2—with less bezel. The Galaxy Watch 6 also uses a universal clasping mechanism so that you can buy watchbands anywhere.
My favorite part of Samsung Health is the new medication reminder offering, which simultaneously blasts the phone and smartwatch to hold me accountable for my pill. It’s louder than Apple Health and the Apple Watch’s quieter medication notifications. It functions like an alarm, and if you don’t take a second to mark whether you’ve taken your medication, it will nag you until you dismiss it entirely.
The OnePlus Watch 2 is a decidedly better smartwatch than the first-generation OnePlus Watch. But it is a big watch, and it is only available in one size. If it looks too big for you from the picture featured here, that’s because it is. However, if you think this honker of a wearable is something you’d sport after all, let me tell you the best part of the OnePlus Watch 2: it has the best battery life I’ve seen in a Wear OS watch in a long time.
With the always-on display off, the OnePlus Watch 2 lasts up to 100 hours off the charger. OnePlus employs two processors: one to handle the smartwatch’s lighter loads, like step counting and touch input, and one to take on the heavier loads, like apps and workout tracking. OnePlus’s health suite isn’t as robust as a Pixel Watch 2 with Fitbit or the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 with Samsung Health. But at least it syncs up with Health Connect.
Google is making it easier for people to find their misplaced devices, including Android phones.
The Alphabet-owned search giant on Monday released a new version of its “Find My Device” feature that integrates a new, crowdsourced network of over 1 billion Android devices, according to Google. It’s Google’s equivalent of Apple’s popular “Find My” feature that lets users locate registered devices including laptops, phones and earbuds.
The new service will hit phones in the U.S. and Canada first and eventually be available worldwide.
For Android users, this means owners will be able to locate their devices even when they are offline. “Find My Device” can now ring a device or show its location on a map — previously, it had to be connected to the internet, Google said in a blog post.
Pixel 8 and 8 Pro mobile phone users will be able to find their devices even if they are turned off or their battery is dead. And starting in May, everyday items like keys and wallets made findable by location tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee will join the network. The new Find My Device works with devices running Android 9+.
Google said the network “is secure by default and private by design. Multi-layered protections built into the Find My Device network help keep you safe and your personal information private, while keeping you in control of the devices connected to the Find My Device network.”
Google said the new feature will also eventually be compatible with headphones from JBL, Sony and other brands.
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News Streaming to discuss her reporting.
Your phone is the guardian of your digital life. It has that video of your child’s first words, the heart-warming message from your significant other that never fails to cheer you up, and the latest save from your favorite mobile game. You have invested time in getting it just the way you want, and there are irreplaceable memories onboard. Spending a couple of minutes backing up is a small price to pay to ensure you don’t lose it all.
Updated March 2024: We verified all steps, updated Samsung’s backup steps, and added screenshots to illustrate.
Table of Contents
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Backing Up to Google
The simplest and easiest backup option is Google’s cloud service, which is built into Android.
Android via Simon Hill
Go to Settings, Google, and choose Backup.
You can see how much storage is available for the Google account you are signed into listed at the top.
Below that, you will likely see an option that says Backup to Google Drive with a toggle next to it. (If you have Google One installed, it might say Backup by Google One.) Make sure it is toggled on.
There is a Back up now button beneath. Tap it. Remember that backups can take several hours to complete if you haven’t backed up before. It’s best to leave your phone plugged into a charger and connected to Wi-Fi overnight.
The section at the bottom shows details of your backup. Tap on Photos & Videos and make sure that Backup is toggled on. You can also do this in the menu in the Google Photos app.
At the bottom of the Backup details section, you can tap Google Account data (also accessible via Settings > Accounts > [Your Google Account] > Account sync). This is where you can choose what to sync with your Google Account. The list of toggles that appears here differs based on the apps and services you use.
Managing Backups and Extra Storage
Google via Simon Hill
You can find your backups in the Google Drive app by tapping the menu at the top left and choosing Backups.
It can be a challenge to stay under Google Drive’s free 15 GB of storage, so you might consider signing up for a plan with Google One. You can get 100 GB for $2 per month or $20 annually, 200 GB for $3 per month or $30 annually, or 2 TB for $10 per month or $100 annually. Once you subscribe you will see options for even more storage from 5 TB for $25 per month or $250 annually all the way up to 30 TB for $150 per month. You can share this storage with up to six family members.
The Google One app offers more insight and control for your backups, found on the Storage tab listed under Device Backup.
You might not want to pay for extra space, so let’s look at how to back up files directly to your computer before we dip into alternative backup services.
Backing Up to Your Windows PC
Google via Simon Hill
It is easy to back up files from your Android phone on a Windows PC. Here’s how:
TrampolineTales’s superb slot machine-based roguelike Luck be a Landlord($2.99) is discounted on iOS, Android, and Steam right now. The Steam Deck Builders Fest is currently on, and I figured this would be discounted for PC, but I also noticed it is also down to its lowest price yet on both iOS and Android. The Steam discount is 56% off while the mobile discount is up to 50% off depending on platform and region. If you’ve not gotten it yet, read my review of Luck be a Landlord on iOS here covering the launch version of the game. Since launching, it has gotten quite a few updates with new balance adjustments and fixes. Watch the Luck be a Landlord launch trailer below:
As for potential future updates, I hope we get landscape mode support to iOS this year if it is still feasible. Luck be a Landlord is currently $4.39 on Steam and $2.99 on iOS. If you’ve not gotten it yet, you can buy Luck be a Landlord on the App Store for iOS here and on Google Play for Android here. A Steam demo is available here if you want to sample it before buying. I definitely recommend it on both iOS and Steam DEck. Have you played Luck be a Landlord yet on any platform or will you be buying it during this sale?
Following the Coral Pukei Pukei event going live, Niantic and Capcom have revealed the Monster Hunter Now(Free) April 2024 event list and roadmap for the game on iOS and Android. The Coral Pukei Pukei event continues, but a whole event dedicated to Deviljho is planned from April 29th. To prepare for this, thunder element quests will take place from April 15th to April 22nd featuring more rewards from Zinogre, Tobi-Kadachi, and Tzitzi-Ya-Ku. The MH 20th Anniversary quest continues with part 2 as well. This takes place from April 22nd until May 26th with a new layered t-shirt releasing only during this event. Qualily’s Special Quests return during the month as well from April 8th until April 14th with rewards now including Wander Droplets and more. Check out the Monster Hunter Now April 2024 event list and roadmap below:
If you’ve not played Monster Hunter Now recently or are planning to just start playing, I put together tips and tricks for the game, details on the weapons, special skills, the current monsters list, my wishlist for future update monsters, and more. You can grab Monster Hunter Now on the App Store for iOS here and on Google Play for Android here. The in app purchases include different sets of gems and upgrades. Check out the official website here. What do you think of Monster Hunter Now if you’ve been playing it and what do you think of this set of events?
Back in 2022 at the annual Code Conference, where tech luminaries submit to on-stage interviews, an audience member asked Apple CEO Tim Cook for some tech support. “I can’t send my mom certain videos,” he said, because she used an Android device incompatible with Apple’s iMessage. Cook’s now-infamous response was, “Buy your mom an iPhone.”
Cook’s remark and Apple’s recent decision to block a third-party app from bridging the Android-to-iMessage interoperability chasm are two of the many examples of allegedly monopolistic behavior cited in the US government’s antitrust suit against Apple. Central to the case is Apple’s practice of “locking in” iPhone customers, by undermining competing apps, using its proprietary messaging protocol as glue, and generally making it challenging for people to switch to other phones.
Those accusations are backed up by lawyerly references to the Sherman Act. But the complaint also shows the Department of Justice crafting a cultural narrative, trying to tell a technology tale with a clear message—like an episode of crime drama Dragnet, says antitrust expert William Kovacic, who teaches at George Washington University and King’s College, London.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the DOJ and more than a dozen state attorneys general, claims that in addition to degrading the quality of third-party apps, Apple “affirmatively undermines the quality of rival smartphones.” Because messages sent between iPhones via Apple’s proprietary network appear in blue bubbles, but those from Android phones appear in green and are excluded from many iMessage features, Apple has signaled to consumers that rival phones are of less quality, the suit alleges.
The suit includes references to the negative cultural and emotional impact of the restrictiveness of some Apple products. It ranges beyond the typical antitrust case, in which investigators might focus on supracompetitive pricing or the conditions of corporate deals that restrict competition. The core of US antitrust cases has long been proving consumers paid higher prices as a result of anticompetitive practices. But a few key paragraphs within the 88-page filing mention the exclusion and social shaming of non-iPhone users confined inside green chat bubbles, distinguishing this case from some of the more recondite explanations of tech market competition in recent years.
“Many non-iPhone users also experience social stigma, exclusion, and blame for ‘breaking’ chats where other participants use iPhones,” the suit reads. It goes on to note that this is particularly powerful for certain demographics, like teenagers, who the Wall Street Journal reported two years ago “dread the ostracism” that comes with having an Android phone.
The DOJ argues that all of this reinforces the switching costs that Apple has baked into its phones. Apple is so dominant in the smartphone market not because its phones are necessarily better, the suit alleges, but because it has made communicating on other smartphones worse, thereby making it harder for consumers to give up their iPhones.
Legal experts say this social stigma argument will need much stronger support to hold up in court, because it doesn’t fit with traditional definitions of antitrust. “What is Apple actually precluding here? It’s almost like a coolness factor when a company successfully creates a network effect for itself, and I’ve never seen that integrated into an antitrust claim before,” says Paul Swanson, a litigation partner at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver, Colorado, who focuses on technology and antitrust. “This is going to be an interesting case for antitrust law.”
Regardless, the DOJ’s complaint builds a powerful message from the cacophony of consumer voices that have vented frustrations with iMessage’s lack of interoperability in recent years. And it’s part of a broader, democratizing theme introduced by Jonathan Kanter, the Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, says Kovacic, who previously served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission. “Kanter basically said, ‘We’re trying to make this body of law accessible to ordinary human beings and take it away from the technicians,” Kovacic says. “Storytelling is overstated in some ways, but my sense is that a lot of work went into this filing.”
The argument is one that some Apple critics have made for years, as spelled out in an essay in January by Cory Doctorow, the science fiction writer, tech critic, and co-author of Chokepoint Capitalism. “The instant an Android user is added to a chat or group chat, the entire conversation flips to SMS, an insecure, trivially hacked privacy nightmare that debuted 38 years ago—the year Wayne’s World had its first cinematic run,” Doctorow writes. “Apple’s answer to this is grimly hilarious. The company’s position is that if you want to have real security in your communications, you should buy your friends iPhones.”
In a statement to WIRED, Apple says it designs its products to “work seamlessly together, protect people’s privacy and security, and create a magical experience for our users,” and adds that the DOJ lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart” in the marketplace. The company also says it hasn’t released an Android version of iMessage because it couldn’t ensure that third parties would implement it in ways that met the company’s standards.
“If successful, [the lawsuit] would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect,” the statement continues. “It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology. We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it.”
Apple has, in fact, not only declined to build iMessage clients for Android or other non-Apple devices, but actively fought against those who have. Last year, a service called Beeper launched with the promise of bringing iMessage to Android users. Apple responded by tweaking its iMessage service to break Beeper’s functionality, and the startup called it quits in December.
Apple argued in that case that Beeper had harmed users’ security—in fact, it did compromise iMessage’s end-to-end encryption by decrypting and then re-encrypting messages on a Beeper server, though Beeper had vowed to change that in future updates. Beeper cofounder Eric Migicovsky argued that Apple’s heavyhanded move to reduce Apple-to-Android texts to traditional text messaging was hardly a more secure alternative.
“It’s kind of crazy that we’re now in 2024 and there still isn’t an easy, encrypted, high-quality way for something as simple as a text between an iPhone and an Android,” Migicovsky told WIRED in January. “I think Apple reacted in a really awkward, weird way—arguing that Beeper Mini threatened the security and privacy of iMessage users, when in reality, the truth is the exact opposite.”
Even as Apple has faced accusations of hoarding iMessage’s security properties to the detriment of smartphone owners worldwide, it’s only continued to improve those features: In February it upgraded iMessage to use new cryptographic algorithms designed to be immune to quantum codebreaking, and last October it added Contact Key Verification, a feature designed to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks that spoof intended contacts to intercept messages. Perhaps more importantly, it’s vowed to adopt the RCS standard to allow for improvements in messaging with Android users—although the company did not say whether those improvements would include end-to-end encryption.
The US Department of Justice had long been expected to file an antitrust lawsuit against Apple. But when the suit arrived Thursday, it came with surprising ferocity.
In a press conference, attorney general Merrick Garland noted that Apple controlled more than 70 percent of the country’s smartphone market, saying the company used that outsize power to control developers and consumers and squeeze more revenue out of them.
The suit and messaging from the DOJ and 15 states and the District of Columbia joining it take aim at Apple’s most prized asset—the iPhone—and position the case as a fight for the future of technology. The suit argues that Apple rose to its current power thanks in part to the 1998 antitrust case against Microsoft, and that another milestone antitrust correction is needed to allow future innovation to continue.
Like the Microsoft case, the suit against Apple is “really dynamic and forward looking,” says John Newman, a law professor at the University of Miami. “It’s not necessarily about Apple seeing direct competitors,” he says. “It’s more about them trying to grab the territory you would need if you were going to even try to compete against Apple.”
Antitrust action in the tech industry has been a focus of the Biden administration’s agenda, which has seen suits brought against both Amazon and Google by the DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission. “This case demonstrates why we must reinvigorate competition policy and establish clear rules of the road for Big Tech platforms,” Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar told WIRED in a statement.
Rebecca Hall Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, says that though the government almost always faces an uphill battle in antitrust cases, the Apple case appears relatively solid. “It’s a lot stronger than the FTC Amazon monopolization lawsuit from last year,” she says. “And yet, it’s very hard to win antitrust cases.”
In a statement, Apple spokesperson Fred Sainz said that the lawsuit “threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” including the way its products work “seamlessly” together and “protect people’s privacy and security.”
Apple has long argued that keeping its mobile operating system, app store, and other services closed offers greater security and safety for customers. But Newman says that the DOJ complaint indicates that Apple doesn’t enforce these policies consistently as would make sense if the goal was to protect users.
“Instead [Apple] heavily targets the types of app developers that pose the biggest competitive threat to Apple,” Newman says. The DOJ alleges that restrictions Apple places on iMessage, Apple Wallet, and other products and features create barriers that deter or even penalize people who may switch to cheaper options.
History Repeating
The antitrust case against Microsoft in the late 1990s accused the company of illegally forcing PC manufacturers and others to favor its web browser Internet Explorer. It is widely credited with causing the company to be slow to embrace the web, falling behind a wave of startups including Google and Amazon that grew into giants by making web services useful and lucrative.
When asked about the threat the new antitrust lawsuit might pose to Apple’s business, a DOJ official noted that “there are actually examples where companies, after having been charged and had to change business practices because they violated the antitrust laws in the long run, end up being more valuable than they were before.” Microsoft, thanks to its success in cloud services and more recently AI, is now the most valuable company in the world.
The Honor Magic 6 Pro is a strange phone. It folds innovative new AI features, secure 3D face unlock, cutting-edge battery tech, and a powerful camera into an expensively sleek body. But the MagicOS software is buggy, the camera is inconsistent, and it’s one of the most expensive Android phones on the market. (It’s also not officially available in the US.)
While the Honor Magic 6 Pro has delighted and impressed me over the past couple of weeks, it has also frustrated and confused me. It can be oh-so-slick one minute and trip up the next. So is it smoke and mirrors or innovative magic? The answer seems to be a bit of both. If you crave innovation and don’t mind a few quirks, the Honor Magic 6 Pro delivers.
Now With More AI
At the launch, Honor talked up the AI-powered features in the Magic 6 Pro, a lot. We tried Honor’s eye-tracking at MWC, where my colleague glanced at commands in an Alfa Romeo app to start and stop the car and even have it drive forward and back. When this rolls out, it will let you do slightly more mundane things, like expand a notification with a glance when your hands are full.
While eye-tracking is not available yet, there were a couple of AI features I played with for my review. Magic Text lets you quickly extract text from an image. If there’s a phone number in there, you can tap to dial it. You can also drag and drop extracted text into another app. So far, so handy.
With Magic Portal, you can touch and drag content, such as a passage of text, an image, or a screenshot, over to the right and drop it into another app, like Gmail or Notes. The screen you are in folds away, and a vertical row of possible apps appears on the right as you hover. It can be useful for stuff like addresses, which you can drag into Maps for directions. It looks super slick, but I’m not sure how often you’ll remember to use it.
These new features hint at how much more important AI will become on our phones. It’s worth noting that they are processed on-device using Honor’s MagicLM, its very own large language model. Honor is also working on a new AI-powered tool that can use your photos and text prompts to generate video, which sounds intriguing and leads us neatly to the other headline feature of the Magic 6 Pro: the camera.
Classy Camera
Crazy-big, powerful cameras are all the rage in China’s flagship phones (see the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, Oppo Find X7 Ultra, and Nubia Z60 Ultra). The Honor Magic 6 Pro is no exception. It has a 50-megapixel main lens with a variable aperture (f/1.4 to f/2.0), a 180-megapixel periscope telephoto lens that offers 2.5X optical zoom but goes up to 100X digitally, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. Around the front is a 50-megapixel camera paired with a 3D depth camera in a central pill-shaped cutout at the top of the screen.
The telephoto lens is easily my favorite thing about the camera. While it technically only supports 2.5X optical zoom, it can achieve 5X lossless zoom by cropping shots from the 180-megapixel lens. The 5X zoom shots I took with the Magic 6 Pro are my favorites, capturing bags of detail and realistic colors. The main camera is also solid, with impressive dynamic range, depth of field, and good low-light performance.
Color inconsistencies and some weird processing mar an otherwise excellent camera. The weakest link is the ultrawide, which lacks the optical image stabilization present in the other lenses, sometimes stretches the edges of shots, goes overboard with smoothening, and dials the color vibrancy way up. The color matching across the trio is generally poor, and the processing is sometimes heavy-handed, ironing out the noise but veering into oil painting territory, particularly if you zoom in beyond 5X.
You can record smooth video in 4K at up to 60 frames per second with any of the main camera lenses. The autofocus is swift, and there’s a Movie mode option for a more cinematic feel. There’s also a Pro mode in the camera if you want to shoot RAW or dig deeper into the settings. Selfies taken with the front-facing camera are above average, and it can also capture 4K video, though it tops out at 30 fps. The Honor Magic 6 Pro can snap lovely photos, but I had to delete misfires a little too often.
In the unlikely event that 2 TB is not enough, you can increase your storage, but the option to upgrade to an even larger plan is available only for current subscribers and in select countries. Here are the plans (no annual discount on the 10-, 20-, or 30-TB plans):
5-TB Plan: For $25 per month or $250 per year (£20 or £200 in the UK), you get 5 TB with family sharing, the same perks as the original tier, 10 percent back on purchases from the Google Store, and a VPN for Android and iOS.
10-TB Plan: For $50 per month (no annual plan) (£40 in the UK), you get 10 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
20-TB Plan: For $100 per month (no annual plan) (£80 in the UK), you get 20 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
30-TB Plan: For $150 per month (no annual plan) (£120 in the UK), you get 30 TB with family sharing and the same perks as the 5-TB plan.
Google One Benefits
The main benefit of a Google One plan is the extra cloud storage you can share with up to five family members. While families can share the same space, personal photos and files are accessible only to each owner unless you specifically choose to share them. Everyone in the family can also share the additional benefits (provided you all live in the same country).
Let’s take a closer look at those benefits:
Access to Google Experts
You get instant access to Google experts for general questions or tech support for any Google product or service. You can contact support by phone, chat, or email through the Google One app 24/7. Response times for phone and chat are 2 to 3 minutes, while emails can expect a response within 24 hours.
Google via Simon Hill
Extra Editing Features in Google Photos
This adds features like Magic Eraser, enabling you to delete unwanted people or objects from the background of your photos, Portrait Light and Portrait Blur, enabling you to brighten faces and eliminate shadows or blur backgrounds for that bokeh effect, and HDR to enhance brightness and contrast. All features work with eligible shots in your Google Photos app. These features are available on Google Pixel phones, even if you don’t subscribe to Google One.
Cash Back on Purchases
The 200-GB plan nets you 3 percent back in Google Store credit for any Google Store purchases. The 2-TB plan and above nets you 10 percent back. If you’re thinking about buying multiple Google devices, this could prove useful. It can take up to one month to get the credit after your purchase, and it will have an expiry date attached.
VPN for Android and iOS
All plans now come with Google’s virtual private network service, VPN by Google One, for Android and iOS devices. It’s good for privacy and designed to prevent logging (so no one can see what you are doing on the internet), but it is a limited service compared to our favorite VPNs, chiefly because it works only with Android and iOS devices (no web support), and there’s no option to choose servers in specific countries.
Dark Web Monitoring
This is another security feature that scans the dark web and notifies you if any of your personal information (such as your email address or date of birth) is found there. If any of your data shows up, it will suggest next steps, such as setting up two-factor authentication. You can choose exactly what personal data it looks for and make changes at any time via the Google One app. You will also find some basic advice on things like how to avoid malware or create strong passwords.
Google Workspace Premium
Both the Premium plans include Google Workspace Premium, which gives you enhanced features in Google Meet and Google Calendar. For example, you can have longer meetings with background noise cancelation, or create a professional booking page to enable other folks to make appointments with you.
Nest Aware
Only included in the UK so far, a Nest Aware subscription that includes extended storage of video from home security cameras is now part of the 2TB Premium plan and above, starting from £8 per month or £80 per year. Considering Nest Aware costs £6 per month or £60 per year on its own, this seems like a great deal.
Fitbit Premium
Again, only included in the UK so far, Fitbit Premium is now included as part of the 2TB Premium plan and above, starting from £8 per month or £80 per year. Considering that Fitbit Premium currently costs £8 per month or £80 per year on its own in the UK, this deal is too good to pass up.
Gemini Advanced
Google’s AI chatbot (previously known as Bard) is “capable at reasoning, following instructions, coding, and creative collaboration,” according to Google. It can understand and generate high-quality code in various programming languages, and you can input text, images, or code. Google also plans to roll Gemini into Google apps, like Gmail, Docs, Slides, and Meet, but there’s no fixed release date for this yet.
Extra Benefits
A couple of things fall into this category:
Google Play Credits: You will occasionally get credits to redeem in the Play Store on books, movies, apps, or games. The amount and frequency vary.
Discounts, Trials, and Other Perks: You may get offers for discounted Google services or hardware, extended free trials of Google services, and other perks (for example, Google offered everyone upgrading to a 2-TB plan a free Nest Mini). These offers pop up and disappear seemingly at random.
How to Subscribe to Google One
If you want to sign up, it’s easy. Create or log in to a Google account, then visit the Google One website or install the Android or iOS app.
Medisafe offers short videos for most medications where a doctor describes the medication and explains possible side effects and other useful information. The app will even flag possible interactions if you are taking multiple medications. The free version is excellent, but you can get rid of ads and unlock some extra customization options with a subscription ($5/month or $40/year).
How to Set Reminders on an Android Phone
There are various ways you might set a medication reminder on an Android phone.
Use Google Assistant
Google via Simon Hill
The quickest and easiest way to set a reminder on your Android phone is to use Google Assistant. For example, you can say, “Hey Google, remind me to take my pill every day at 9 am.”
If you have a family group set up, you can also set reminders for other folks in your family by saying something like, “Hey Google, remind Jenny to take her pill every day at 8 pm.”
To review and tweak any reminders you have set, say, “Hey Google, show my reminders.”
Use Google Calendar
You could also set up medication reminders in Google Calendar. Open the Calendar app, select a day, tap the Plus icon, and choose Reminder. You can specify a time and tap where it says Does not repeat, then change to Every day or set another interval. When you are happy with the details, tap Save.
Use a Medication App
As we said above, of the many medication apps available for Android, our top pick is Medisafe’s Pill Reminder and Med Tracker. This slick app is the Android version of the iPhone app we recommend above, and it’s easy to set up and offers the same wealth of features. You can set reminders for multiple medications, track your consumption, set up refill alerts, track symptoms, and get warnings about possible interactions.
How to Set Reminders on a Samsung Phone
Photograph: Simon Hill
Samsung Health App
As well as the methods listed above for Android phones, Samsung offers excellent medication reminders in its Health app on Samsung phones. Here’s how to set them up:
Earlier today, Mojang announced and released the Minecraft($6.99)Marketplace Pass subscription. This includes over 150 pieces of content made by creators available to subscribers. This content covers worlds, skin packs, and more with new content refreshed each month. A free Character Creator item set will be available to subscribers to claim each month. The subscription is priced at $3.99 per month. Content will rotate out as well and the FAQ page confirms that you will need to purchase content that leaves the catalog if you want to continue using it while playing. Packs will not be deleted from your storage until you delete them. Watch the trailer for the Minecraft Marketplace Pass below:
If your subscription ends or you cancel it, you can purchase and download any world template saved to your cloud storage within 18 months of the subscription ending. Monthly character creator items can be kept after being claimed. Mojang also confirmed that Realms Plus includes the Minecraft Marketplace Pass. If you subscribe to Minecraft Marketplace Pass and want to use Realms Plus, you will need to cancel the former and subscribe to Realms Plus. The subscription is available to access from all devices with Minecraft Bedrock Edition. This includes mobile as well of course. It isn’t available in the Java Edition. What do you think of the Minecraft Marketplace Pass and will you be subscribing or using the free trial to check it out today?
Following pre-installation going live earlier this week, HoYoverse has released the newest major Genshin Impact(Free) update. Genshin Impact version 4.5 “Blades Weaving Betwixt Brocade” brings in an alchemic potion shop in Mondstadt, the new 5-star playable character Chiori, the Chronicled Wish system for characters and weapons together, the Training Guide for developing characters, new mini-games, and more on iOS, Android, PS5, PS4, and PC platforms. Full patch notes for the update are here on the official HoYoverse blog for the game. This update also adds the Uraku Misugiri and Dialogues of the Desert Stages weapons, an update for the Genius Invokation TCG with new character cards and action cards. Watch the new Genshin Impact version 4.5 update trailer below:
An update to Google Wallet has further simplified the process of getting all your passes in one place. Per this week’s release notes for , spotted by Android reporter , Google says movie tickets and boarding passes will now be surfaced automatically after purchase, as long as the confirmation email has made it to the user’s Gmail inbox. It might not work for every theater chain or airline just yet, but Google says the feature is live for “some” and more should be added in time.
Google little by little has been tweaking Wallet to make it more useful. The company last month so Android smartwatch users could have easy access to their tickets from their wrist. That includes boarding passes, event tickets, gym memberships, loyalty cards and more. Per the latest release notes, Google has also added a way for users to manually archive most of their passes from either their smartphone or smartwatch. These will be moved to a section called Archived Passes, where users will be able to undo the action if they’ve made a mistake or need to refer to an old pass.
Motorola Moto G Power 5G 2023 for $200: My main problem with Motorola phones is that there’s no NFC (6/10, WIRED Review), which means you can’t use them to pay your ticket fare on the off chance you left your wallet at home. Motorola also only promises one OS upgrade (with three years of security updates). You can get a much better deal with the devices above. However, there is a headphone jack, a microSD card to expand the 256 GB of storage, and a charger in the box.
The Nokia G400 5G (6/10, WIRED Review) is a fine phone, but its software policy just isn’t as good as our top recommended devices above and its performance can be stuttery when you juggle multiple apps. The Nokia G100 was OK until the display started locking up and wouldn’t accept touch input. I tried a second unit and ran into the same issue. I have also tested the Doogee S89 Pro, a rugged smartphone. While I didn’t run into any glaring flaws, it’s a pain in the butt to carry around and uncomfortable in the hand, too. Sure, there’s a massive 12,000-mAh battery, but it didn’t last as long as I expected. The company has a spotty record with software updates, too.
Sort of. Any of our top picks are excellent choices, but if you can wait until May or June, we’ll have a broader lineup to choose from. Motorola will likely unveil more of its budget Moto G lineup soon. TCL will release its 50-series this summer, HMD Global might have some budget devices in tow by July, and we will likely see a Pixel 8A at Google I/O in May.
Consider Last Year’s Flagship Phones
If none of these phones have the features you want or they aren’t as powerful as you’d like, your best option is to look for last year’s flagship smartphones, which might be steeply discounted. Sometimes they’re easy to find, but manufacturers may stop selling them altogether. Keep in mind that you’ll lose a year of software support, but that’s often still better than the software support available on cheap phones anyway. The OnePlus 11, for example, has dipped as low as $499. Samsung’s Galaxy S23 has started to creep down toward $600.
5G is the latest cellular network and it’s widespread enough that you should try to stick to phones that support it. It’s not completely replacing 4G LTE, so you’ll see this in your status bar as you roam around the country. You can read more about it here, but in short, 5G comes in two major types: sub-6 and millimeter wave (mmWave). The latter is usually only available in flagship phones and allows you to access superfast speeds, but you’ll rarely encounter mmWave (think select areas in major cities and certain venues, like stadiums and airports). Sub-6 isn’t much faster than 4G LTE, but it has a broader range and is more widely accessible these days. Most of the smartphones we recommend here support sub-6 5G, even ones as low as $200.
Check Network Compatibility
If you buy an unlocked phone on this list and try to take it to one of your wireless carrier’s retail stores, they may tell you it isn’t compatible with the network. It likely is. Just use a paper clip or SIM ejection tool to pop the SIM card out of your current phone, then slide that SIM into your new phone. If it doesn’t work at first, reboot the phone or wait a couple of hours.
If you need a new SIM, try ordering one online from your carrier or see if they’ll give you a SIM when you activate a line in the store (if you’re starting coverage). Tell them you have a phone. Many times, reps will want to sell you a phone; that’s one potential reason they might hassle you into buying a different device in the store. Having said that, please make sure whatever phone you buy will work on your wireless network. Listings on retailers like Amazon should state clearly which networks a device will be compatible with. Also, make sure the listing says the phone is being sold “unlocked.”
Square Enix has released a new SaGa Emerald Beyond gameplay trailer today focusing on Siugnas, Dismal King. Siugnas is one of the protagonists of the game, and this new trailer shows off what happens after he has been removed from his throne. He gets recruited as a general and is sent to take on many invaders. His story is about regaining his abilities as the Dismal King. If you’ve not kept up with it, SaGa Emerald Beyond is a brand-new mainline SaGa game, and the first in nearly a decade. It will be out next month for mobile, PC, and consoles simultaneously worldwide. It is also a standalone game. Watch the SaGa Emerald Beyond Siugnas, the Dismal King, trailer below:
SaGa Emerald Beyond launches on April 25th worldwide across iOS, Android, Switch, Steam, PS5, and PS4. If you missed the gameplay showcasing exploration and compaions, watch it here. Pre-orders and pre-registrations are not up for the game on mobile yet, but you can wishlist SaGa Emerald Beyond on Steam here ahead of its release date. If you haven’t played a game in the series yet, read Shaun’s reviews for Romancing SaGa Minstrel Song Remasteredhere, Romancing SaGa 2here, Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legendhere, Romancing SaGa 3here, SaGa Frontier Remasteredhere, and also SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitionshere if you’re curious about the mobile versions. Have you played a SaGa game before on any platform, and what do you think of SaGa Emerald Beyond so far?
In another example, Yue asks the phone to find a gift for his grandma who cannot get out of bed. It generated an interface with several products within carousels, and each row had a brief explanation of why the product might be a good fit. He settled on the Kindle.
Yue then did a long-press on the product card to ask another query: “What is the screen made of?” The phone generated the answer as a paragraph of text below (notably with no sources), and when he then asked to watch unboxing videos, it added a row of YouTube videos on the topic.
This wizardry is reminiscent of Siri cofounder Dag Kittlaus’ onstage demo of Viv way back in 2016, which was designed to be a conversational smart layer that let users interact with various services. His live demo also included asking by voice the digital assistant to book him a hotel room in Palm Springs. Clearly mighty impressed, Samsung snapped up Viv later that same year, and we’ve not really seen anything of it since.
You can get a pretty good glimpse of how Brain Technologies’ tech works with its app, Natural AI, which it released in 2020. Yue says his company pioneered the large action models that can enable a digital AI assistant to execute tasks. Since the company had an early start, its AI can purportedly generate interfaces for more than 4 million functions it has trained since 2016. That should cover almost anything you can do on a computing device. “Instead of going to apps, apps come to you,” he says.
But Yue doesn’t think we’re moving away from apps just yet. That’s why this concept device is still an Android phone. If you don’t want to converse with the AI, you can access apps just like normal. The touchscreen isn’t going away either, and he believes this concept is the right combination of AI and a graphical interface.
Brain Technologies has apparently already received tremendous interest from other manufacturers, and Yue says it’s the only AI company the Emerson Collective (Laurene Powell Jobs’ venture capital firm) has invested in. It seems almost inevitable that we’ll see its generated interfaces in more kinds of devices in the future.
“Everything is app-centric,” Yue says. “We’re trying to build a human-centric future. We’re trying to give people more power in this relationship. At the end of the day, whatever the next best interface is, wins.”
Sierra, a startup developing AI-powered agents to “elevate the customer experience” for big companies including WeightWatchers, Sonos, and SiriusXM, is of a similar view, stating that, in the future, a company’s AI version of itself will be just as, if not more, important as its app or website. “It’s going to completely change the way companies exist digitally,” says Bret Taylor, who left his job as co-CEO of Salesforce to start Sierra.
Human After All
The founders of A Phone, A Friend—Tomas Ramanauskas and Tomas Dirvonskas—echoed the same sentiments on making phones more personal with the help of AI. “We think that AI gives an opportunity to humanize this relationship to actually make it more human instead of just this cold, transactional, attention economy kind of thing,” Ramanauskas says.
If you like vaporware and looking at phones and gadgets you’ll never own, then Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the trade show for you. This week’s annual menagerie revealed new devices like the TCL Nxtpaper 14 and a working model of Motorola’s rolling phone display. Other brands—namely Samsung—used the…
I tried to wear the OnePlus Watch 2 for a short weekend workout but couldn’t. The watch is too big for me and too dense. It’s not just me, either; I asked my partner if his wrists would be interested in trying on the smartwatch, and he rejected it after seeing the relatively ginormous 47mm display. “That’s way too big for me. You know that’s why I hate wearing a watch.”
OnePlus Open is the ‘Phablet” We’ve Been Waiting For
The Watch 2 is OnePlus’s second attempt at a smartwatch, and while it’s so much better than the first-generation release, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. For one, the OnePlus Watch 2 is too large and cumbersome for daily carry—especially if you want to wear it to take advantage of all the new health and fitness tracking capabilities. It’s also missing some features that should be standard from wellness-centric watches, including fall detection and an LTE connection on the go. At least this time, the OnePlus Watch runs actual Android software: this is the first OnePlus smartwatch to feature Wear OS.
How big is the OnePlus Watch 2?
How big exactly is the OnePlus Watch 2? Hopefully, the photo I’ve provided comparing it with two other major Android smartwatches gives you an idea. The watch is more significant than the Pixel Watch 2 and Galaxy Watch 6 in 42mm, which I typically wear.
In terms of dimensions, the OnePlus Watch is 47mm x 46.6mm x 12.1mm, which makes it a little bigger and a little thicker than the larger variant of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Surprisingly, the listed specifications say the OnePlus Watch 2 is a few grams lighter than the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Note that these weights do not include the watchbands.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 (left), the OnePlus Watch 2 (middle), and the Galaxy Watch 6 (right) all crammed onto the author’s tiny wrists.Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
A great second attempt
I have yet to test the OnePlus Watch 2 beyond wearing it and pawing at the software, which I’ll address shortly. I’m still looking for a way to sport it for a walk around the neighborhood. It’s so big on me that it doesn’t fit under my sleeves.
If you’re into the masculine, almost tactical aesthetic, this watch could have a place on your wrist. It comes in two colors: Black Steel and Radiant Steel, the latter of which OnePlus sent over. The sage greenish hue of the Radiant Steel watchband helps cut through some of the heaviness of the smartwatch’s exterior trimmings.
There are two side buttons on the OnePlus Watch 2, just like on other Android watches. If you’re wearing the watch on your left hand, the button on the right-hand bottom side is a regular push-button, while the top is supposed to be reminiscent of a dial. The rotating dial is legitimate; it’s just not enabled by the software for whatever reason. Thus, the top button is merely a fancy-looking push button to help the watch look more like a timepiece than a wrist display. I wish it worked like the dial on the Pixel Watch.
Admittedly, OnePlus isn’t a brand I think of when I’m making a resolution to track my health, but the OnePlus Watch 2 can do so through its OHealth app. The app can track over 100 types of movement, including “leisure” activities like tug of rope. It can also track sleep, stress levels, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels. The runners in my life have also mentioned the watch’s ability to track advanced running metrics, like ground contact time and VO2 max. I’m burnt out on deciding if Apple Health on the Apple Watch or Fitbit on the Pixel Watch is my favorite “wellness” aggregator, which makes it hard to get excited about starting over with a new health suite.
Inside, the OnePlus Watch 2 takes a hybrid approach to how it does processing. The company compares it to a hybrid sports car: one engine to take on the hefty loads and one to take care of everything else. In the case of the OnePlus Watch 2, it’s two disparate chipsets: the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5, which takes care of wellness and body tracking, and the BES 2700 MCU, a background processor that’s always on to handle things like calls, notifications, step count, and features within power saving mode. It’s not the first time an Android smartwatch has done this, but OnePlus could help set a precedent for others in the category who may be struggling to deliver on battery life and performance as promised. If only Fossil had enough runway to explore this route before shutting down its smartwatch division.
Welcome, Wear OS 4
Why does the application drawer on the OnePlus Watch 2 look like the Apple Watch? Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
The biggest caveat about the last OnePlus Watch is that it ran homebrewed software when other smartwatches in the ecosystem were transitioning to Google’s rebranded Wear OS. OnePlus’s take on the Wear OS 4 interface is fine—it’s the first to usher in Wear OS 4’s new ability to offload notifications to the co-processor. But its app drawer is reminiscent of a watchOS-wannabe, which is grating. The panning app drawer works with the Watch 2’s larger display, but I’d rather OnePlus does what Samsung does with its app drawer, which splays apps across the screen and allows me to scroll up and down rather than every which way.
What I’m trying to say is this: I’m on an Android device. Why does it look like I’m in the Apple ecosystem?
The best battery life
The last thing to note about the OnePlus Watch 2 is that it’s lauding up to 100 hours for its smartwatch as long as you use it in “smart mode.” This mode turns off the always-on display and limits GPS activity to half an hour. Even if you proceed with the AOD, the OnePlus promises at least 48 hours, which is already better than what Samsung and the Pixel Watch purport. And since OnePlus made SupeVOOC a thing, it’s on the smartwatch, too: the proprietary charger can charge the device fully in an hour.
I tested the charging speed of the OnePlus Watch 2—it’s faster than what I’d get waiting for the Pixel Watch 2 to reload before I head out on the town. I’ve yet to test the battery’s total capacity and will report in the full review.
Struggling to feel it paired against the claws, but I will for science. Photo: Florence Ion / Gizmodo
I plan to follow up with a full assessment of the OnePlus Watch 2 as soon as I can figure out how to wear it comfortably. Namely, I’m curious about the data sharing between OHealth and the rest of the Android ecosystem. Google’s been reconfiguring how it syncs data through Health Connect, and I’m seeing its benefits within Fitbit and some of the third-party equipment I have on hand.
