Technology

In Android 11, Google has added new functionality to its multitasking pane or recent apps view — that handy flow of thumbnails that lets you view all your active apps and choose which one you want to use. As of Android 10, you’ve been able to choose from three different ways, not only to access your multitasking pane, but to navigate your home screen. These three methods are named, appropriately, after the types of buttons that appear at the bottom of the screen: gesture navigation, two-button navigation, and three-button navigation. In this article, I’ll explain how Android 11 added a couple of interesting features to two out of the three methods. But first, here’s how you switch from one to the other. Pull down from the top of the screen to access your app drawer, and tap on your setup i...

Respawn’s battle royale Apex Legends is getting its long-awaited crossplay feature next week, the developer announced on Thursday. Crossplay will arrive on October 6th alongside the new limited-time “Aftermarket Collection” event. The feature, first announced back in June, is launching into beta for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms, meaning those three groups of players will be able to play with and against one another for the first time since the game’s February 2019 launch. There won’t, however, be cross-progression, meaning you can’t take your console account with you to PC or vice versa, as you can in games like Destiny 2, Fortnite, and Warzone. Get revved up for the Aftermarket Collection Event. Take part in the cross-play beta, dive into the new “Flashpoint” LTM, take on cha...

For anyone who wanted to watch Mulan but didn’t want to sign up for Disney Plus, the movie is heading to Amazon, FandangoNow, Vudu, and other digital retailers on October 6th. The film is currently available to preorder for $29.99. Mulan debuted on Disney Plus on September 4th as a “Premier Access” title. Disney Plus subscribers could spend an additional $30 to own the film. In order to keep the film, however, they had to keep up their Disney Plus subscription, which costs $6.99 a month. Now, Disney is making the movie available (for purchase) to anyone, anywhere. Mulan is available to preorder in SD, HD, or 4K UHD. Disney’s decision to move Mulan, which was originally intended for a theatrical release, to Disney Plus came at a pivotal moment for the company. Like other studios, Disney’s t...

Bossa Studios, the developer behind the cult classic Surgeon Simulator and the recently released Surgeon Simulator 2, has taken the bold step of making Surgeon Simulator 2 free for doctors, nurses, and surgeons working in Britain’s National Health Service. To get your copy, all you need is a working NHS email address, a PC, and this link. The Surgeon Simulator franchise is known for its antic, physics-based model of surgery; it is in no way similar to the actual thing itself, which for casual players is a blessing. “Surgeon Simulator 2 is absolutely NOT a viable medical training tool,” said Dr. Idris Morgan in a press release. Morgan is a real doctor who also streams and makes YouTube videos under the name Doctor Mim. A screenshot of Surgeon Simulator 2. Bossa Studios “However, I do enjoy ...

Google’s new Chromecast can run Microsoft’s xCloud if you’re prepared to sideload the game streaming service, The Verge can confirm. The functionality was previously demonstrated over on Reddit by u/kiddj55, and we’ve since been able to install the Xbox Game Pass app on our own hardware and access cloud streaming to play Gears of War 5. Much like Google’s Stadia game streaming service which also works, xCloud isn’t yet officially supported on Google’s new hardware. That means you’ll have to sideload xCloud if you want to install it. The process involves finding an APK for the Xbox Game Pass app online, finding a way to transfer it to your dongle (here’s a guide from Android Police on doing exactly that), and then change the Chromecast settings to allow apps installs from “Unknown Sources.”...

Today, let’s talk about a couple little things that could turn into a big thing. In January 2019, Mike Isaac reported a noteworthy development about Facebook at the New York Times. In the months to come, he said, Facebook would unify the technical infrastructure powering Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. To the user, these changes would be invisible. But to Facebook itself, there were clear strategic imperatives to merge the apps. Among them: the move came just as the US government was beginning to consider an effort to break the company up. In the nearly two years since, the government’s effort has accelerated. On September 15th, the Wall Street Journal reported that an antitrust case against the company could come by the end of the year. But Facebook’s effort to puree its family of apps...

Google’s fall hardware presentation was a slickly-produced 30-minute affair with four products, as expected. You can experience it with our liveblog here or catch up on the biggest announcements here. Outside of some very neat software tricks, there were no big surprises. But it turns out that we didn’t know every single detail there was to know about the Pixel 5 and the Pixel 4A 5G. And with every new small detail it became clear that Google has decided to play it extremely safe with these phones. Every decision it made was about bringing costs down without compromising the fundamentals. “What the world doesn’t seem like it needs right now is another $1,000 phone,” hardware boss Rick Osterloh told a small group of reporters after the event. I asked him directly if these phones were design...

Update October 1st, 7AM ET: Yet again, ULA stopped the launch mere seconds before takeoff, after a sensor reported a faulty reading. The main combustion chambers in the engines did not ignite, and CEO Tory Bruno says the rocket and the payload are “safe and unharmed.” Original story: After many weeks of delays due to faulty equipment and bad weather, the United Launch Alliance is set to launch its most powerful rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, lofting a classified spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. The mission is finally ready to fly a full month after the rocket’s first launch attempt, which was aborted just three seconds before liftoff. The rocket going up on ULA’s mission is the Delta IV Heavy, a giant vehicle that consists of three rocket cores strapped together ...

At today’s Google event, the company announced that its Recorder app, which is available for Pixel 2 or newer phones, is getting a nice update that should make it a lot easier to search through audio files. The update will allow you to select a snippet of audio from a recorded clip, which you can then either share or remove from the larger audio file. Additionally, you can search for specific words in a recorded transcript and delete them. So if you’re someone like me who tends to say “uh,” “um,” or any other crutch word during interviews, you can theoretically find and remove them with this new update. According to Google, you’ll be able to use this feature offline, in the same way its live English transcription function works without needing internet access. The company announced the fea...

Astro is debuting its first set of in-ear headphones, the A03. It’s an unexpected step for the company, which traditionally makes over-ear gaming headsets, like the new A20 Gen 2 and the mainstay A40. They’re $49.99, so while not the most affordable wired option, it’s a reasonable price considering they offer punchy sound, and a snug fit with three sets of silicon tips included, each of which provide quality sound isolation. And if you want to use them to listen to music, or stay on the phone, while you game with an over-ear headset, the A03 has a flat cable to sit comfortably between your skin and the ear cup. The A03 plugs in via 3.5mm, so another perk is that it’s compatible with every current platform, like the PC, PS4, Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite, as well as Android ...