Welcome to the 434th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are last week’s big headlines:
- Google TV is rolling out profiles for real this time. Google has repeatedly denied the allegations. This time it seems to be valid. Profiles allow users to place their own preferences on a Google TV so there’s no arguing about how things are set up. Hit the link to learn more.
- You can see more apps including nasal congestion and cough detection. Google is now working on such capabilities on Android. The information was found in an APK teardown of the Google Health Studies app. The goal is, obviously, to help people sleep better.
- Google Assistant arrives at the Galaxy Watch 4 this week after a long delay. Galaxy Watch 4 users can go to the Play Store on their watch and install it like any other app. We thought that after Samsung and Google Watch worked together it would go down soon, but it’s better to be late than never.
- Google Photos has rolled out an update this week. The new update includes real tone filters that we first heard about at Google I / O 2022 Real tone filters help people of color better adjust their skin tone and this is a welcome change in the platform. Also available for iOS version if anyone is curious.
- The Android app on Windows 11 has rolled out in five more countries this week. These include France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom. This should dramatically increase the number of people who can use the new feature. It’s clearly coming as expected by many, but it’s good to see Microsoft making progress.
Catalyst black
Price: The game is free
Catalyst Black is a third-person shooter and developer of Super Evil Megacorp’s MOBA, Vainglory. This is a fairly ideal experience for a mobile game. There are different game modes to play, different weapons and gear to level, and you can play with (or against) your friends. This is primarily an online PvP experience so you usually take it out with other players for dominance. Fortunately, there are also some PvE components so you can take breaks if you need to. The mechanics are pretty clean and the game runs smoothly on our test devices. You can buy your way for an advantage, though, and it’s not a good thing for players.
Remote for Roku TV
Price: Free / 4.49
Remote for Roku TV is a third party remote for Roku TVs. It works pretty well. You can do basic things like navigating the UI, changing the volume, and controlling playback with the play and pause buttons. It allows you to cast pictures, videos and audio on TV through the app. It even lets you mirror screen on your Roku TV and we like it quite a bit. It’s rather new so it’s basically untested with all the Roku TVs out there. It can do good or bad for anyone.
The road to anger 4
Price: 99 7.99
Streets of Rage 4 is the latest game from the developers of Playdigious, Dead Sales, Evoland 1 and 2, Teslagrad and others. This game is a mobile remaster of the classic 1990s game. This is a side-scrolling bit’em up game where you complete levels by defeating opponents and bosses without defeating yourself. This variant includes new characters, 12 stages, a few different game modes, and a Mr. X Nightmare DLC that adds a few other things. Honestly, we don’t see much beat-up these days and it’s not just a nice entertainment, it’s still a fun game. The only problem we’ve seen is some startup crashes, but it goes away after you enter the game.
Duolingo is one of the most popular language learning apps of all time Duolingo ABC is a learning app for kids. It helps them learn how to read. Duolingo claims that it improves the literacy rate by 28% in nine weeks, but it usually depends on the baby. It targets three- to eight-year-olds and teaches them things like letters, spelling and pronunciation through mini-games and storytelling. It boasts of a total of 700 lessons. This is a powerful app in a place where we don’t see many powerful apps.
Ni No Kuni: Cross Worlds
Price: The game is free
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is a mobile tree game from Netmarble. It’s not actually half bad. The art style and animation are torn directly from the Ni No Kuni game and if you’ve played it before, you’ll also find some familiar music. This is an action RPG where you travel around the world, experience stories and beat the bad guys. We appreciate a good open-world RPG. In terms of trees, this is pretty standard stuff. Only time will tell if Netmarble is friendly to free players. The only other problem is that the auto-battle system makes the game a little boring. It’s definitely fun to watch though.
If we miss a news or release of a great Android app or game, let us know in the comments.
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