Welcome to the 435th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are last week’s big headlines:
- WhatsApp may soon add another feature. New feature is message editing. A screenshot of the new feature has started making rounds this week and it’s a fairly straightforward thing. You can definitely see an edit button on it. Click on the link to see the screenshot and learn more.
- Google is merging Google Meet and Google Duo. This is actually a pretty good decision. Both apps do more or less the same thing and they will grow faster with only one product working with a dedicated team. This is very different from the old Google where they will split these two services into four services for some reason. Fortunately, that old Google is gone.
- The official YouTube app received a major update this week. This allows you to cast on your TV while still being mostly usable. The new aspect allows the phone to accompany and the TV still displays the content This is actually a nice change because you can do things like reading comments and a lot of simple things with the new UI
- Google Play Points is going to be more useful. Google Play is changing things where you can use Google Play Points when checking out for in-app purchases. This will serve as a method of payment. This is similar to the way Samsung uses to point in the Samsung theme store. You can select points and pay with them. Hit the link to learn more.
- There are some issues with RCS Google Messages. One of our authors activated it and immediately started getting spam. He wrote an article about it and got a response from Google. Later, Google temporarily disabled RCS in India, noting that Indian businesses were abusing RCS to send promotional messages. You can hit the link to learn more.
The Lost Shadow: The Dark Knight
Price: The game is free
Lost Shadow: The Dark Knight is an action RPG with a fairly simple story. You play as a knight who embodies the last ray of hope in a world plunged into darkness by war. This is a 2D game and it’s a little weird at first. You get used to it very quickly. The world is full of bad people and you kill them by hacking and slashing. In the meantime, you get stronger, fight bosses and progress through the game. There is a card system that acts on your ability as well as your recovery item. There is also a passive game element where your hero becomes stronger even if you don’t play. Some may like it, others may not, but it’s not bad if you like this kind of game.
MonkeyWerx is an online shop that sells a bunch of things. It’s mostly a handmade thing you’ll find on Etsy, but it’s kind of great that it’s its own thing. The app works quite well. You can surf through store inventory, buy accessories, and listen to podcasts. There is also a blog section. The podcast is a military and political commentary so you can enjoy it or not depending on your taste. The accessories you can buy, though, look pretty good. I personally have never shopped with MonkeyWerx before, but I don’t see anyone enjoying a good beard on occasion.
Rotaeno is a new Japanese-themed rhythm game. The mechanics are quite standard. You can swipe, tap, and slide your fingers around the phone to hit the notes in a bit. It adds gyroscope support for a little extra zazz. Rhythm Game Composer has a lot of tracks from a few different genres. The developers promise more songs in future updates. The gyroscope feature works really well and it’s always nice to see a new rhythm game on mobile.
Pokedexus is an unofficial, fan-built Pokedex app for Android. It contains 898 Pokemon with all their variations. It has some small extras like a quiz game, leaderboard and some other mini-games to keep things interesting. We’re not really sure if this is a game or an app, but first and foremost it works as a Pokedex which makes it a companion app. It’s completely free to shuffle things without any in-app purchases or ads. It has an item dex, a power dex, a type dex and a nature dex so you can use it more than Pokemon.
Diablo is immortal
Price: The game is free
Diablo Immortal is the second huge mobile game release last month. The other was Apex Legends Mobile. It’s the same genre as other Diablo games. It is an action RPG with MMORPG-style interactions where you pick a hero, unlock powers and explore the world while collecting loot. You can interact with other players in different ways and this is a true MMORPG in that case. Otherwise, it is a mobile diablo game with some common mobile game flaws.
Yes, this game gets a second paragraph because the launch was not surprising. Apparently, there is a problem with the game on Samsung devices, including the Exynos chipset. Blizzard is looking at that as we talk. Otherwise, people usually seem to be enjoying the game. It will probably compete for the best honor of the year when December revolves around.
If we miss any big Android apps or game releases, let us know in the comments.
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