Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Welcome to the 482nd edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from the past week:
- Google Authenticator has a new feature. With that, you can now back up your two-factor authentication records to your Google account. This is great since most of its competitors already do, and most of our best two-factor authentication apps do. That means Google has caught up. However, there are some questions about encryption, so keep an eye on it.
- Qualcomm introduces a new upscaling technology called Snapdragon Game Super Resolution. The company says the feature can upscale games from 1080p and 30 FPS to 4K and 60 FPS. It’s available for a few games and should roll out on a larger scale later this year.
- Google Bard is making slow but steady progress. It can now help you to write code in 22 programming languages ​​and also help you to create Google Sheets functions. Google warns that even if the code itself works, the code may not work as intended. Google staff weren’t thrilled with Bard when it launched, but it seems to be steadily improving.
- Microsoft added a feature to Edge that lets you follow content creators. It doesn’t work properly, and the malfunction sends every website you visit to Bing’s API. This is, of course, a pretty serious invasion of privacy. Microsoft promises to fix the problem, but until that happens it’s probably a good idea to switch browsers.
- Google has announced a new prompt for Android apps. The new prompt lets you know when there’s a new version of an app in the Play Store when an app crashes. Since fixing updates crashes most of the time, Google relies on the developer to fix the problem until the user sees it. Click the link to learn more.
The Oregon Trail: Boom Town
Price: Play for free
The Oregon Trail: Boom Town isn’t the kind of game you think it is. It takes the hardcore survival elements of its 50-year-old original and replaces them with simulation and adventure elements. It plays a bit more like FarmVille with a little survival twist. They build a farm and harvest crops. The harvest is used to craft items or as part of requisition requests from the other villagers. There are many games on Google Play that play like this. However, this one contains nice little historical facts along with a few other things. It’s ok, but I wouldn’t call it great.
Galaxy Enhance-X
Price: Free
Galaxy Enhance-X was originally launched in 2022 but was eventually withdrawn and re-released in 2023. It acts as a photo enhancer for Samsung phones. It’s available now for the Galaxy S23 series, but Samsung intends to bring it to other devices in the Galaxy lineup later this year. It works pretty simply. You import a photo, choose your enhancement, choose your level and the app will make its enhancements. There’s even a nifty little slider tool that lets you view the old photo and the new phone. Galaxy S23 owners can click the button below and download it from the Galaxy Store.
Subway surfers explode
Price: Play for free
Subway Surfers Blast is the latest game from SYBO Games, the developers of Subway Surfer. This is a match 3 game and plays like most match 3 games. You arrange the shapes, remove them from the board and clear levels as you unlock different things. There are special rewards you earn by playing with friends and various power-ups to help you through the game. There’s also a decoration element, something we’ve seen in hundreds of other match-three games. It has offline support, which we always appreciate, but otherwise it’s similar to other games in its genre.
find the photo
Price: Free / $6.99
Find that Photo is an app that helps you find photos in your local storage. It uses AI, like most apps do these days, to try to find a photo based on a description. The app will index your photos and the photos will then become searchable. In our test it worked perfectly. There’s definitely some tweaking and work to do, but we like where the idea is going. Typically, these types of features are only available with cloud services. There’s an in-app purchase, but thankfully it’s not a subscription like most other AI-powered apps.
Honkai: Starway
Price: Play for free
Honkai: Star Rail promises to be one of the biggest releases of 2023. It comes from MiHoYo, the same developers of Genshin Impact. However, it’s nothing like Genshin Impact. It’s a JRPG with turn-based combat. There is no open world, but you can traverse different environments, fight enemies and play through the story. We’ve only been at this for a few hours, but the story seems well told, with good voice acting. The combat is a bit basic, but it gets the job done. There are some errors such as B. Cutscenes coming in at lower framerates than expected, but developers are responding to such issues and planned fixes are on the way. It will be one of the most popular games of the year for gacha fans.
If we’ve missed any big news or releases about Android apps or games, let us know in the comments.
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