Android

TL;DR A Ray-Ban executive has responded with humor to a spoof ad in London that highlights potential privacy issues in Meta’s smart glasses. Activists have replaced multiple Meta smart glasses ads across London with updated phrasing. Recent reporting suggests privacy fears with Meta’s next-gen smart glasses could be more heightened. While Meta and Ray-Ban continue to churn out new AI smart glasses, we’ve seen a wave of privacy-related concerns voiced about these glasses. Meta is definitely aware of at least some of these issues, as evidenced by a recent update. A Ray-Ban executive has now chimed in with a response, and it’s not what many would expect. For some background, activists in London have replaced Meta smart glasses ads in certain public spaces with ones that look similar to official Meta graphics, but have updated phrasing to reflect some of the privacy fears people have.

TL;DR A new Samsung teaser image includes a good look at the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The image doesn’t include any new details, but is the clearest official look we’ve gotten at the phone so far. Samsung will launch the Galaxy Z Fold 8 at an event in London on Wednesday. Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event is now mere hours away, kicking off in London tomorrow, July 22. Based on a healthy supply of leaks, we feel like we’ve got a pretty good understanding of what to expect from the show. Samsung’s also getting a little bolder with its marketing as we get closer to its showcase, with a new promotional image clearly showing the wider Galaxy Z Fold 8. The image was shared today on the official Samsung Mobile account on X. It shows K-pop star J-Hope holding a phone that’s partially obscured by shadows, but the phone’s unique, wide shape is still recognizable as the unannounced Z Fold 8.

Credit: Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Samsung has announced the launch of Health Assistant. The new assistant is designed to help users reach their health and wellness goals by providing insights based on information from Samsung Health’s five core pillars of wellness. The AI-powered personal assistant is currently available in beta for eligible US users. Health apps provide all kinds of data points you can use to improve your life. However, it can sometimes be difficult to understand what the data really means. And if you can’t interpret the meaning behind these insights, you won’t be able to take meaningful action to better your health. Samsung has a new solution that could help its Health app users get over that hurdle. In a new blog post, Samsung announced the launch of Health Assistant for the Samsung Health app. This assistant is an AI-powered personal health aide that’s designed to help you achieve your wellness and fitness goals. How does it help? As Samsung explains, Health Assistant connects important health data with understandable insights so you can ask the questions that will lead to better health guidance and recommendations.

TL;DR Samsung’s open-ear Galaxy Buds Able could launch in late September or October, according to new reporting. Past leaks have given us a decent idea about the Galaxy Buds Able’s design and other characteristics. The upcoming earbuds could compete with the Sony LinkBuds Clip and the Bose Ultra Open, which offer a similar open-ear clip-style design. We exclusively revealed the existence of Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Able back in April. Since then, follow-up leaks have revealed what they may look like, suggesting a clip-based open-ear design for the earbuds. With Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked less than a day away, one may have thought these earbuds might appear there. A new report suggests otherwise. Citing anonymous sources, South Korean publication ET News claims that the Galaxy Buds Able — which could be marketed as the Galaxy Buds On — will launch at a separate event in late September or October. The company reportedly hasn’t identified a specific date for the event just yet.

Credit: WinFuture TL;DR A new leak says Samsung will give a further preview of its upcoming Android XR-based smart glasses at Samsung Unpacked tomorrow. These smart glasses are said to come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip, will promise up to nine hours of battery life and up to seven refills with the charging case. The leak notes that these smart glasses may not fully launch tomorrow. Instead, a full launch could happen in fall 2026. While we already got a sneak peek at Samsung’s Galaxy Glasses renders, a new leak now sheds light on the actual hardware specs powering Samsung’s upcoming smart glasses, built in partnership with Google, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster. According to a WinFuture report, Samsung will unveil new details about its smart glasses tomorrow at Samsung Unpacked, where it will launch its new foldables and smartwatches.

TL;DR The camera-free Halliday G2 features binocular micro-LED projectors (1,600 nits peak brightness, 600 × 300 per eye), a four-mic array, a sub-50g weight, and over 12 hours of battery life. Built around “Meeting Flow,” the glasses provide real-time translation, live research lookups, captioning, thread tracking, decision confirmations, and automated post-meeting transcripts. The Halliday G2 is available for initial pre-sale today with a $10 refundable deposit for a $100 discount off the $599 retail price. Full shipments and prescription options launch in September 2026. While we’ve seen early concepts like the original Pip-Boy-esque Halliday AI glasses show off what micro-display tech could do, the smart eyewear market has overwhelmingly trended toward camera-toting frames. Today, Halliday has announced the Halliday G2, a new pair of lightweight AI smart glasses equipped with a binocular waveguide display, designed to put live meeting intelligence right in your field of view while still skipping the camera hardware entirely.

TL;DR Philips Hue could launch a new camera called the “Screen Sync” at IFA Berlin in September. The camera will be mounted on top of a TV or monitor and will be able to sync Hue lights with the content playing on the screen. It could feature a single ultrawide camera. Philips Hue lights can already sync with the content playing on your TV using the company’s synchronization tools, such as the Philips Hue Play HDMI sync box and the Philips Hue Sync TV app. However, it seems the company could soon launch yet another way to sync your smart lights with your favorite movies and TV shows. According to a report from HueBlog, Philips Hue will launch a new camera for Hue Sync at IFA Berlin later this year. The report also states that the camera could be called the “Screen Sync.” The report also includes a couple of images of the camera, which were allegedly spotted during an online presentation.

TL;DR The latest One UI 9 beta improves the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display. Privacy Display now plays well with videos playing in picture-in-picture (PiP) mode. It leaves the rest of the screen unobscured by the Privacy Display tech, so the phone can be used normally. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s Privacy Display feature has its pros and cons. It might not be as effective as dedicated privacy screen guards, but it’s also more flexible. It can be set up to hide notifications only or work with specific apps. Now, Samsung is making it even better with the latest One UI 9 update for the S26 Ultra. According to an X post from leaker Ice Universe, the latest One UI 9 Beta 4 update improves the Privacy Display’s integration with picture-in-picture (PiP) mode. So, if you’ve enabled Privacy Display for YouTube and you play a video in PiP mode, only the PiP window is obscured by Samsung’s display tech. The rest of your phone’s display will remain perfectly bright and normal.

TL;DR As part of its departure from North America and Europe, eligible OnePlus phones and tablets will jump from Oxygen OS to Color OS. Leaker Yogesh Brar has shared a list of OnePlus phones that are eligible for Color OS 17. The list appears to be based on the existing software update commitment that OnePlus has promised to continue honoring. As such, we’ve also added some missing phones and tablets that are likely to be eligible as well. OnePlus confirmed sad news last week when it announced its departure from the North American and European markets. As part of the change, OnePlus is retiring Oxygen OS in favor of Color OS, and users will be able to voluntarily switch to Color OS 17 with the option to roll back to Oxygen OS later. The company hasn’t shared which phones will receive the Color OS update, but leakers are chiming in with a tentative list of OnePlus phones eligible for the transition. According to Yogesh Brar on X, these are the OnePlus phones eligible for Color OS 17:

TL;DR Snapseed is rolling out two new toggles in Camera Settings for geotagging and saving original photos. The toggles are currently live in version 4.1.1.948762742 of the app. This update comes on the heels of Snapseed gaining new camera tools and support for additional RAW formats just this month. The Snapseed 4.0 update in May brought a trove of new additions to the Android app. Since then, we’ve seen the app gain new camera tools, as well as support for more RAW formats last week. We can now add a couple of more features to that list. A Snapseed update has introduced fresh new toggles to geotag images and save original photos. These inclusions also mean the understated Camera Settings page in Snapseed is getting a little crowded. The “Location Metadata” toggle is disabled by default, and enabling it will require the user to grant the required location permissions (via 9to5Google).

Credit: Ryan Haines / Android Authority While the Moto G series was once one of the leading picks for budget phones, the last few years have been a bit rocky for the brand. This is especially true for the Moto G Play (2026). While it has a strong battery and decent enough camera, these upsides are largely spoiled by its short update policy, poor processing power, and questionable durability. While it isn’t necessarily a bad phone in a bubble, there are plenty of other devices within a similar price range that are better buys. Below, let’s take a look at a few newer and refurbished options that would make natural alternatives to the Moto G Play (2026).

TL;DR Google has updated Play Services and Play Store with new features. The Play Store will give users the option to add an app’s widgets to the home screen during installation. Google will also soon roll out the ability to display a phone’s IMEI number on the lock screen. Google has released new updates for the Play Store and Google Play Services, bringing a bunch of under-the-hood improvements and new features to both, including a feature we’ve previously spotted under development. Play Services update brings IMEI to your lock screen The latest version of Google Play Services (v26.28) is here, and users can now choose to display their device’s IMEI number on the lock screen. This can be helpful for lost or stolen phones. However, prominently displaying a phone’s IMEI number can also allow malicious actors to track or clone the device. Fortunately, it seems Google will leave it up to users to decide whether they want their IMEI displayed on the lock screen when the feature rolls out.

Credit: Hadlee Simons / Android Authority TL;DR The ARMSX2 emulator for Android has just gained Material You theme support. This new update also brings background library music, playtime metrics, and a few other tweaks. This follows recent updates this week that delivered faster CPU and GPU emulation, as well as auto-save capabilities. ARMSX2 has made massive strides in just a matter of weeks, and it’s quickly become one of our favorite emulators on Android. Now, the PS2 emulator has gained a few more additions in recent updates. ARMSX2 v2.6.4 was released earlier today, and one of the most notable additions is a Material You color theme. Material You is Google’s design language and extracts a wallpaper’s colors for use across the system theme and third-party apps. Indeed, I can confirm that the PS2 emulator gains different color themes when you switch wallpapers and color options.

It’s not easy to buy a new smartphone in 2026 without spending a fortune. Carrier incentives and trade-in bonuses help, but prices are headed in the wrong direction, and it doesn’t appear we will see relief anytime soon. That’s why it’s important to take every opportunity you can to save money. Thankfully, there are a ton of older flagships still worth picking up — with the Pixel 8 Pro at the top of my list. Its blend of current performance, extended software support, and excellent price makes it an ideal choice for people who don’t want to feel compromised just because they don’t want to spend over $1,000 on a device.

Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Google Maps is testing shifting the Gemini icon to the bottom-left of the navigation screen, moving the exit icon to the right, and relocating the alternate routes icon above the report button. AI suggestion prompts within Ask Maps could also change from horizontally scrollable cards to a vertical list, displaying all five suggestions instantly without scrolling. A new Plus icon inside the input field will add quick options to “Post a tip or photo” and “Update a place,” linking directly to the upcoming Tell Maps feature. Building on its recent push to transform navigation with upcoming Personal Intelligence and conversational Ask Maps trip-planning features, Google Maps also appears to be working on tweaking its interface to make its AI features much easier to access while you’re on the move. Google Maps v26.30.00 includes code for a few upcoming visual changes that improve one-handed usability and streamline how AI prompts are displayed, and we’ve managed to activate these changes ahead of their rollout to give you an early look. You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.

The launch of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 series is nearly upon us, with this marking the first time in a while that I’ve excitedly anticipated the arrival of a Samsung smartwatch. So what changed? This year, I became the owner of the Galaxy Watch 8, and the smartwatch has become an integral part of my sleep tracking. At the same time, competition in the wearables market is heating up. Companies like Google are diversifying their offerings with devices like the Fitbit Air, while premium smartwatch features are no longer limited to the top manufacturers. For the Watch 9 to really stand out for me, it needs to address a weakness of the Watch 8 — battery life.

The first Android phone I bought was a Samsung foldable — the Galaxy Z Flip 3. I upgraded to the Galaxy Z Fold 4 the following year, but somewhere along the way, Galaxy foldables lost me. I kept trying review units of newer models, but they never convinced me they belonged in my pocket full-time. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 came the closest to earning a permanent spot in my pocket, and I used it for weeks at a time on multiple occasions throughout the past year. There were still a few lingering flaws about the Galaxy Z Fold 7 that held me back, but Samsung has the perfect opportunity to fix them with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Give me a foldable worthy of the “Ultra” name, and I’m back in. But given the rising cost of smartphones across the board, I can’t justify spending upwards of $2,000 on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra if it doesn’t offer these specific improvements.

TL;DR Adobe is introducing a new “AI Playground” feature in its Project Indigo iPhone camera app. The feature will let users make AI-powered edits to their photos. It will also use AI to provide users with feedback on their photos and to teach them how to take better pictures. Last year, Adobe launched an iPhone camera app built by a team that included two of the minds behind the popular Pixel Camera app. The app, called “Project Indigo,” offers a bunch of useful features, including manual controls and the HDR+ approach of the original Google Camera to capture photos with better dynamic range. Now, Adobe is introducing some impressive new features in the app. Adobe today announced in a blog post that it’s adding an “AI Playground” to the Project Indigo camera app. This is an experimental feature that uses Google’s Nano Banana model, but the company says it could switch models in the future, or even offer different models to different users as a kind of A/B test.

Credit: C. Scott Brown / Android Authority TL;DR Leaked material for Qualcomm’s unannounced SM8475 chipset has appeared online. This is believed to be the Snapdragon 4 Gen 6 processor. It looks like the chip could gain a dedicated DSP and AI processor for the first time in the Snapdragon 4 series. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 series of chips usually powers very cheap Android phones. Now, it looks like the company’s upcoming Snapdragon 4 Gen 6 has leaked online ahead of its formal release. NotebookCheck apparently obtained a confidential diagram sheet for the unannounced SM8475 chipset, claiming it’s likely the Snapdragon 4 Gen 6 processor. The outlet claims that the chip is built on TSMC’s 4nm process, much like the previous processor. Furthermore, it’s powered by two Kryo Gold CPU cores (apparently Cortex-A78) and six Kryo Silver cores (said to be Cortex-A55). This would be a very pedestrian CPU setup in 2026, although it should deliver smooth everyday performance on budget phones.

TL;DR Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is rolling out Collections, a long-requested feature that lets you group related notebooks for easier organization. Collections work like playlists or photo albums, offering a flexible alternative to traditional folders without changing how you use the app. The feature is rolling out gradually and is currently limited to personal organization, with no support for sharing Collections yet. Fresh off its rebrand from NotebookLM, Gemini Notebook is getting one of its most useful quality-of-life upgrades yet. Google has started rolling out Collections, a feature that helps you organize an ever-growing library of notebooks instead of leaving everything piled into one long list. The easiest way to think about Collections is like playlists on Spotify or albums in Google Photos. You can group related notebooks however you like, whether that’s work projects, holiday planning, recipes, or research. Give each topic its own space, and finding what you need becomes much quicker.

Credit: Akshay Gangwar / Android Authority TL;DR Google Maps is getting ready to integrate Gemini’s Personal Intelligence feature. The feature could let Maps surface reservations, flights, and other relevant information by connecting with Gmail, Google Photos, and other Google services you’ve linked. We also spotted new “Connected Content Apps” and “Personalization” settings in Maps, although they’re currently non-functional. Personal Intelligence in Gemini is designed to make the AI assistant more helpful by connecting information from apps like Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and other Google services. Instead of treating each app as a separate silo, the feature lets Gemini pull together the most relevant information across your connected accounts to deliver more personalized responses. Now, it looks like Google is getting ready to bring some of this magic to Google Maps.

TL;DR Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S12 and S26 FE just showed up referencened in the Google app. Google compiles a list of future devices set to arrive with a free premium Google AI trial for new owners. The new models may launch sometime this September — if not sooner. We are just days — hours, even — away from Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event, when, this Wednesday, we expect to see it introduce the latest Galaxy Fold, Galaxy Flip, and Galaxy Watch models. But for as excited as we are about those launches, they aren’t the only new Samsung products currently on our radar. Looking a little further out, we’re also anticipating some new tablets with the Galaxy Tab S12 series, as well as the next addition to the Galaxy S26 family with the launch of the Galaxy S26 FE. While those will likely have to wait for another Samsung event, we’ve already got some early evidence showing that prep work for their arrival is well underway. You’re reading an Authority Insights story. Authority Insights brings you all the latest exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage from the Android Authority team that you won’t find anywhere else.

TL;DR Samsung is expected to launch a new wide foldable, called the Galaxy Z Fold 8, at a Galaxy Unpacked event this week. The wide foldable is tipped to have a 16:10 aspect ratio when closed and a 4:3 aspect ratio when opened, and these leaked images preview what it looks like. See the Galaxy Z Fold 8 ahead of Unpacked in its three retail colorways: Graphite, Cream, and Lavender. Samsung is gearing up to launch new foldables at a Galaxy Unpacked event that’s just days away — and the leaks are heating up. We expect to see three new models, the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and the Galaxy Z Flip 8. The base Galaxy Z Fold 8 might be the most exciting, as it will sport a new wide aspect ratio that could excel at handling widescreen media, like videos and games. A new set of leaks from Roland Quandt on Bluesky shows the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in every color but one. We’ve seen the Galaxy Z Fold 8 in leaked renders before, but the latest images show the foldable from almost every angle. They provide a peek at the dual-camera system on the rear, the shorter and wider aspect ratio when opened, and the new cover screen. You can see the wide foldable in its three standard colorways: Graphite, Cream, and Lavender.

Credit: Supplied by Samsung TL;DR Samsung has launched the Samsung Galaxy Card in the US, its first credit card in the market. The company is promising benefits like 5% cash rewards on Samsung purchases and 3% cash rewards on purchases via Samsung Wallet. Select customers can start applying for the Galaxy Card today, while general availability kicks off on July 22. Apple launched the Apple Card way back in 2019, but you were out of luck if you wanted a credit card from an Android phone maker. However, it’s now Samsung’s turn to offer a similar proposition as it just launched the Samsung Galaxy Card in the US. Samsung says the Galaxy Card is the company’s first credit card in the US, adding that it’s a Visa card issued by Barclays US. This isn’t the firm’s first credit card in general, though, as it already offers a Samsung Card in Korea. But it’s still a pretty notable announcement.

TL;DR Chrome Canary has a new feature that can fill forms with information from across your Google account. Google says the information filled in this way isn’t visible to anyone and isn’t used to train AI. We don’t know when to expect the feature in stable Chrome. Google’s cooking up an AI-supercharged autofill for Chrome. Chrome Canary’s debuted a new feature called Find and Fill with Gemini, which uses AI to automatically find the information to fill in forms from across different parts of your Google account. As spotted by Windows Report, Find and Fill with Gemini can now be switched on in Chrome Canary via browser settings. Once enabled, the enhanced autofill feature can look through your data stored in Google apps like Photos and Gmail to fill fields in online forms using info you haven’t manually saved in Chrome.