Android

After a long wait, Meta this week announced the ability to transfer WhatsApp chat history, photos, videos, and voice messages from Android to iPhone while maintaining end-to-end encryption. The system uses Apple's Move to iOS app for Android phones, and can be initiated during the setup process for a new (or factory reset) iPhone. This article runs through the steps involved in transferring...

Since Apple launched AirTags, the company has been enhancing their security to prevent stalking using the Bluetooth devices. One of these enhancements includes giving Android phone users the ability to detect an unknown AirTag if it is close to them. ‌AirTags‌ are designed to play a sound when away from their owner and will also alert iPhone owners if there's an unknown tag nearby, but...

In iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you can enable anyone, even if they don't have an Apple device, to join a FaceTime call with you by creating a link to a FaceTime conversation that can be shared anywhere. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Using this new link facility, friends and family members who do not have an Apple account can log into a FaceTime call with you using a...

Though designed for iOS devices, Apple's Beats-branded Powerbeats Pro are also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets, so you can take advantage of Apple's wire-free tech even if you're an Android user or have both Android and Apple devices. The downside to using Powerbeats Pro with Android is that you do lose some functions, like Apple's unique H1 chip pairing features and its...

In just a couple of weeks, Apple is going to make it ridiculously easy for Android users to switch to iOS with an upcoming app alongside iOS 9 called "Move to iOS." It will give Android users the ability to wirelessly migrate contacts, message history, photos and videos, web browser saves, mail, calendars, and more. Until then, we have to do these things manually. Luckily, it isn't difficult ...

Though designed for the iPhone, Apple's AirPods are also compatible with Android smartphones and tablets, so you can take advantage of Apple's wire-free tech even if you're an Android user or have both Android and Apple devices. You do, of course, lose some bells and whistles like Apple's unique AirPods pairing features. AirPods work like any other Bluetooth headphones on an Android device,...

Google today announced the launch of Android XR, an operating system created for extended reality (XR) headsets and smart glasses. Android XR is Google's equivalent of visionOS, the operating system that runs on the Apple Vision Pro headset. Android XR is designed for the "next generation of computing," and Google has teamed up with Samsung for the operating system. Google is providing a...

Google today revamped its Switch to Android app for the iPhone and iPad, introducing a streamlined interface, a new icon, and changing the name to Android Switch as part of a rebranding effort to lure new ‌iPhone‌ users. The app is designed to make it easy for ‌iPhone‌ users to swap over to an Android-based device like a Google Pixel. It can transfer contacts, calendar events, photos, and...

With the launch of iOS 18, Apple added support for RCS, or Rich Communication Services. ‌RCS‌ replaces SMS/MMS as the default messaging standard for any "green bubble" conversations, and because it's more modern, it supports features like read receipts and typing indicators. ‌RCS‌ is also supposed to support emoji reactions from Android users, but it wasn't working properly when ‌iOS 18‌...

Epic Games has successfully forced Google to change its Play Store business model following the conclusion of a 2020 antitrust lawsuit. A U.S. judge today decided that the Google Play Store has an illegal monopoly, and Google has been ordered make multiple changes as a result, reports Reuters. Google will need to allow Android users to download rival app stores like the ‌Epic Games‌ Store...

Some Android smartphones have been found to contain a hidden security vulnerability that could allow remote access to user data, alarming cybersecurity experts and leading to a halt in the use of these devices by a major intelligence contractor, The Washington Post reports. The vulnerability, identified by the security firm iVerify, involves a pre-installed application known as Showcase.apk, ...

Apple's TV app could be available on Android smartphones and tablets in the future, according to a job listing spotted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is seeking a senior Android software engineer to join the Apple TV app team. The engineer would be tasked with leading the development of "an application used by millions to watch and discover tv and sports," which heavily suggests that...

Google today announced several new AI features that it is building into the Android 15 operating system, giving us some insight into what Apple's iPhone operating system will be competing with later this year. According to Google, Android has been designed with AI at its core, and Gemini is a foundational part of the Android experience that works at the system level. There is an AI powered...

Google today introduced the Find My Device network for Android-based products, mirroring the functionality of Apple's ‌Find My‌ network that's designed to locate Apple devices. Like Apple ‌Find My‌, the Android ‌Find My‌ Device network is able to use the millions of Android devices (running Android 9 or later) out in the wild to track down lost, stolen, and missing Android products. A lost...

Google today began letting Android customers know that it will soon launch a promised Android-based Find My Device network, reports 9to5Google. Google announced the upcoming ‌Find My‌ feature last year, but it has not yet debuted because Apple and Google were working to develop a cross-platform solution for unwanted tracking alerts. Code in iOS 17.5 suggests that Apple is adding support for...

In November, Apple announced that the iPhone would support the cross-platform messaging standard RCS (Rich Communication Services) in the Messages app starting "later" in 2024, and Google has now revealed a more narrow timeframe. In a since-deleted section of the revamped Google Messages web page, spotted by 9to5Google, Google said that Apple would be adopting RCS on the iPhone in the "fall...

Apple's iPhone 15 lineup sets a new standard in value retention, outperforming its predecessors and leading the pack among 2023 flagship smartphones, a new report finds. New data from SellCell, an aggregator of buyback prices from over 40 vendors, reveals that the ‌iPhone 15‌ range, particularly the 256GB Pro Max model, is depreciating at a notably slower rate compared to other flagship...

As we shared this morning, the team behind the Beeper Mini iMessage for Android app has announced a plan that will let Android customers use a jailbroken iPhone to register a phone number with iMessage in order to get the Beeper Mini service working. Just days after Beeper Mini launched on December 5, Apple objected to the way it was using iMessage servers with "fake credentials," and blocked...

The developers of Beeper Mini, the iMessage for Android app, are back with another attempt to keep Apple's blue bubbles onside, and this time they will ask users to generate their iMessage registration data with the help of jailbroken iPhones, MacRumors has learned. Beeper Mini operates by identifying text message conversations from iMessage users and converting them to the recognizable blue ...

iMessage for Android app Beeper Mini is once again having connectivity issues, which it has attributed to Apple. Last night, Beeper Mini stopped working for some people, and the company confirmed that Apple was "deliberately blocking iMessages from being delivered" to approximately five percent of Beeper Mini users. At the time, Beeper Mini said that uninstalling and reinstalling Beeper Mini ...

After Apple shut down the mechanism that Android app Beeper Mini was using to bring iMessage to Android users, Beeper Mini's developers today said that they have found a way to bring the app back, albeit with some major changes. The new version of the app requires users to sign in with an Apple ID, which was not needed with the prior version. All iMessages are also now sent and received...

Beeper Mini, a new app that ostensibly brings iMessage to Android devices with no need for sign-in with Apple ID credentials, today launched on the Google Play Store. Beeper Mini operates by identifying text message conversations from iMessage users and converting them to the recognizable blue bubbles associated with Apple's exclusive messaging service. This enables Android users to interact ...

Sunbird, an app that is designed to deliver iMessages to Android devices, has been temporarily shut down due to security concerns. Sunbird this week sent out a notification to users letting them know about the shutdown (via 9to5Google). Sunbird said that it was investigating security issues that had been raised by the Nothing Chats iMessage app, and shortly after, told users that Sunbird...

The iPhone 15's expected move to USB-C this year may motivate a large number of Android users to switch phones, according to a survey conducted by SellCell. SellCell asked over 1,000 iPhone users and over 1,000 Android users in the United States to gather its data. Of existing iPhone users surveyed, 63% said that Apple moving to a USB-C charging port would influence their decision to upgrade ...

Back in May, Google announced plans to introduce a new safety feature that would alert Android users about nearby unknown Bluetooth trackers, including AirTags, preventing people from being stalked with tracking accessories. The tracking alert functionality is rolling out starting today. Android smartphones will provide automatic alerts if an unknown Bluetooth tracker is separated from its...

Apple today launched Apple Music Classical for Android on the Google Play Store, expanding the app beyond the iPhone for the first time (via 9to5Mac). Much like ‌Apple Music‌ for Android, the ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app for Android largely mirrors the design of its iOS counterpart. Notably, the ‌Apple Music‌ Classical app for Android comes before Apple has made the app available for the iPad ...