Welcome to the 434th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from last week:
- Google TV is rolling out profiles for real this time. Google has mistakenly started this initiative several times. This time it seems legit. Profiles allow users to save their own preferences on Google TV so there’s no arguing about how it’s set up. Hit the link to learn more.
- You may see more apps with snoring and cough detection. Google is working on such capability on Android now. The information was found in an APK teardown of the Google Health Studies app. The goal, obviously, is to help people sleep better.
- Google Assistant is coming to the Galaxy Watch 4 this week after a long delay. Galaxy Watch 4 users can simply head over to the Play Store on their watch and install it like any other app. We thought it would drop sooner as Samsung and Google work together on the watch, but better late than never.
- Google Photos rolled out an update this week. The new update includes the Real Tone filter that we first heard about at Google I/O 2022. The Real Tone filter helps better correct skin tones in people of color and it’s a welcome change to the platform. It is also available for the iOS version if anyone is curious.
- Android apps on Windows 11 are rolling out to five more countries this week. They include France, Germany, Italy, Japan and England. That will dramatically increase the number of people who can use the new feature. It came clean as many would have hoped, but it’s nice to see Microsoft making headway.
Black Catalyst
Price: Free to play
Catalyst Black is a third-person shooter and MOBA from Super Evil Megacorp, the developers of Vainglory. It’s a pretty standard experience for a mobile game. There are several different game modes to play, different weapons and gear to level up, and you can play with (or against) your friends. It’s mostly an online PvP experience so you’re usually battling other players for supremacy. Fortunately, there are some PvE elements too so you can take a break when you need it. The mechanics are pretty clean and the game ran smoothly on our test device. You can buy your profits, and that is never a good thing for players.
Remote for Roku TV
Price: Free / $4.49
Remote for Roku TV is a third party remote for Roku TV. It works pretty well. You can do basic things like navigate the UI, change the volume, and control playback with the play and pause buttons. It also lets you cast images, video and audio to your TV via the app. It even lets you screen mirror to your Roku TV and we really like that. It’s rather new so mostly untested with all the Roku TVs out there. It may work better or worse for some people.
Path of Rage 4
Price: $7.99
Streets of Rage 4 is the latest game from Playdigious, developer of Dead Cells, Evoland 1 and 2, Teslagrad, and others. This game is a mobile remaster of the classic 1990’s game. This is a side-scrolling beat ’em up game in which you complete levels by defeating opponents and bosses without being defeated yourself. This variant includes a new character, 12 stages, several different game modes, and the Mr. X Nightmare which adds a few other things. To be honest, we haven’t seen many beat ’em ups lately and this is not only a great recreation, but a fun game. The only issue we saw was a few startup crashes, but those should go away once you get into the game.
Duolingo is one of the most popular language learning apps of all time. Duolingo ABC is a learning app for kids. This helps teach them how to read. Duolingo claims it increased literacy rates by 28% in just nine weeks, but that usually depends on the child. It is aimed at children between the ages of three and eight and teaches them things like letters, spelling and pronunciation through the use of mini-games and storytelling. It boasts a total of 700 lessons. It’s a strong app in a space where we don’t see a lot of strong apps.
Ni no Kuni: Cross the World
Price: Free to play
Ni no Kuni: Cross Worlds is a mobile gacha game from Netmarble. It’s actually not that bad. The art and animation style is taken straight from the Ni no Kuni games and you’ll even find the music familiar if you’ve played it before. It’s an action RPG where you explore the world, experience the story and beat up the bad guys. We appreciate a good open world RPG. In terms of gacha, that’s pretty standard stuff. Time will tell whether or not Netmarble is friendly to free players. My only other gripe is that the auto combat system makes the game a bit boring. This should be fun to watch.
If we missed any news or a major Android app or game release, let us know in the comments.
Thank you for reading. Try this too:
