Android

TL;DR Samsung Wallet now supports digital car keys for Volkswagen EVs. It uses ultra-wideband (UWB) or NFC to allow users to access their cars without a physical key. The feature is available on Volkswagen ID cars running software version 6.0.1. Samsung Wallet has been steadily expanding support for digital car keys on Samsung phones. Last year, it added support for several car manufacturers like Mercedes, Volvo, and Porsche. Earlier this year, it also started supporting some Toyota cars. Now, the company is expanding car key support in Samsung Wallet to Volkswagen EVs. The integration was announced in an official blog post and will let owners of certain VW electric cars add their car keys to Samsung Wallet. They can then lock and unlock their cars, open the trunk, and even share digital car keys with trusted people to grant them temporary access to a VW vehicle.

Credit: Megan Ellis / Android Authority TL;DR Google Photos is preparing an “Overnight backup” feature to work around background backup delays caused by Android background limits like Doze mode. The feature will require keeping the app open in the foreground, plugging the phone into a charger, and leaving the device unlocked, while the app dims your screen to black. We’ve also spotted warnings for when the device gets too hot, as well as toggles for Wi-Fi or mobile data usage. Google Photos is one of the best cloud backup options for photos and videos on Android, especially if you prefer a set-and-forget approach (as long as you have free storage). However, Google doesn’t give you much control over when these cloud backups are actually undertaken, and you’ll also find yourself restricted by Android’s background limits in some instances. Google is now preparing a dedicated workaround: an upcoming “Overnight backup” feature designed to keep uploads running at full speed while you sleep. 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 Leaked images show a purported Motorola magnetic wireless charging puck called Moto Snap. The charger resembles Apple’s MagSafe puck, with a USB-C connection and braided cable. The “Snap” moniker implies an effortless, grab-and-go charger that eliminates the alignment fuss of traditional pads. Motorola continues expanding its hardware ecosystem with modern, premium accessories. Following recent leaks regarding a potential Moto Watch Ultra, newly surfaced information suggests the company is also developing a dedicated magnetic wireless charger. Dubbed the Moto Snap, this unverified accessory looks poised to rival Apple’s MagSafe and serve as the perfect companion for the Motorola Edge 70 Max. Apple popularized magnetic wireless charging years ago, setting an industry benchmark for convenience. Google recently embraced the standard, completely integrating it into its flagship hardware. However, legacy Android brands have noticeably lagged in adopting native magnetic charging. This latest leak from the Evleaks account on X indicates Motorola is bridging that critical feature gap.

TL;DR After Lenovo’s leak, we’re getting a glimpse of HP’s upcoming Googlebook. While HP’s leaked Googlebook doesn’t reveal much, it confirms a key software functionality called “Continue On.” Continue On is Google’s analog for Apple-style Handoff between different devices, and is making its first appearance in relation to Googlebooks. Google is reportedly preparing to reveal its first crop of Googlebook-labeled devices next month. Google won’t manufacture them itself, but will instead rely on other popular laptop brands. HP is expected to be one of these brands associated with making new successors to Chromebooks, and a recent leak shares the first look at one of HP’s upcoming offerings. An X account posing as, but not officially run by, leaker Evan Blass shared a glimpse of the upcoming HP Googlebook. This is the first leak of HP’s upcoming notebook under the officially confirmed Googlebook banner, and it follows previous leaks of similar devices from other brands, including Acer, ASUS, and Lenovo.

Credit: Tushar Mehta / Android Authority TL;DR The OnePlus 16 is tipped to offer a screen with a “global” 165Hz refresh rate. This presumably means it’ll support 165Hz in the system UI and in many apps. This would be a major improvement over the OnePlus 15, which only supports 165Hz in a few apps. OnePlus popularized the adoption of high refresh rate screens back in 2019, and subsequent OnePlus flagships have all offered high refresh rate panels. We’re expecting the OnePlus 16 to continue this trend, and a trusted leaker has now made some screen-related claims. Digital Chat Station on Weibo claims that the OnePlus 16 has a new screen that’s the industry’s first display to offer a “global” 165Hz refresh rate. The leaker adds that the phone will have new system animations that take advantage of the high refresh rate. Check out the machine-translated screenshot below.

TL;DR A YouTuber has managed to get Android 13 running on the reMarkable Paper Pro, with the ability to switch back to the stock reMarkable OS in a few seconds. The Android setup is functional, with Kindle, browsers, audiobooks, productivity apps, Bluetooth keyboards, Wi-Fi, USB, GPU acceleration, and improved standby drain all working. The port isn’t publicly available yet. It requires Developer Mode, and the creator is still working on making installation and recovery safer before wider testing. The reMarkable Paper Pro is a digital paper tablet built mainly for writing, reading, sketching, and organizing notes. It is intentionally much simpler than a regular Android tablet, which is a big part of its appeal. But one creator has now figured out how to give it a completely different personality by getting Android 13 running on it. YouTuber Chalid Raqami recently demonstrated Android 13 working on the Paper Pro, and this goes well beyond getting the operating system to boot. He has spent quite a bit of time optimizing it for the tablet’s unusual hardware, to the point where Android actually looks useful enough for everyday tasks. The coolest part is that Android doesn’t have to replace reMarkable’s own software. Raqami can switch between the stock reMarkable OS and Android 13 in roughly 20 seconds.

TL;DR Google has updated the Pixel Thermometer app with a new gradient app icon. The new icon uses a white background and a blue gradient for the thermometer. The update also changes “Fitbit” to “Google Health” in the app’s options to connect thermometer data to Google Health. The Pixel Thermometer app might be niche for most users, but it can be pretty useful for quick temperature checks. While Google has removed the temperature sensor from the Pixel 11 series in favor of the new HiLight LED, older Pixel devices still support the thermometer app, and Google is now giving it a slight makeover. 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 Telegram has applied for a new “.gram” top-level domain. It could give users their own username-based domains in the “username.gram” format. The company might also let users create websites on their domains using natural language prompts. Telegram users do a lot more than just send and receive messages on the app. Telegram has useful bots and channels, and users can even manage their home lab with Telegram. Soon, the app might offer users a custom domain to host entire websites. In a new X post, Telegram founder Pavel Durov shared that the company has applied for a “.gram” top-level domain (TLD). If the application is granted, Telegram users could get their own username-based domains in the format: username.gram. Durov also added that Telegram might let users create websites on their domains with just one prompt.

Credit: Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR Some first-gen Pixel Watch owners saw a warning suggesting their watches would lose Google Health sync support. Google has now clarified that the warning was caused by a bug and confirmed that legacy Pixel Watch and Fitbit devices remain fully supported. Google Health requires Wear OS 4 or newer on Pixel Watch and other Wear OS devices, and Google has already fixed the erroneous warning. Some first-generation Pixel Watch owners got a rude shock yesterday after seeing a warning suggesting their smartwatch was about to lose support for Google Health sync. Folks took to Reddit to express their concerns and frustration with Google’s supposed move. However, the company has now confirmed that the warning was shown by mistake and that the original Pixel Watch remains supported.

TL;DR Google is reportedly holding its Googlebook launch event in New York City on September 15. The event could finally reveal the official name of the Android-based operating system we’ve been calling Aluminium OS. Google is also expected to showcase hardware from its launch partners and give media hands-on access to the first Googlebooks. After multiple leaks of Googlebook devices from the likes of Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS, we finally have a date for when Google is expected to officially announce its new laptop platform and reveal the name of the underlying software that has, until now, been known as Aluminium OS. According to Chrome Unboxed, Google has invited media to an in-person Googlebook preview event in New York City on September 15, 2026. The event is expected to be a full hardware showcase, giving us our first official look at Google’s Android-based laptop platform and the devices that will launch with it.

Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Google is launching a Gmail program that gives qualifying political committees an easier route past its usual spam filtering. The Gmail Verified Sender Program starts September 8 — less than two months before the 2026 US midterm elections. Participants must meet verification and security requirements and keep their spam rate below 0.3%. As if your inbox needed any more help filling up with political fundraising pleas, Google is about to give qualifying campaigns and committees an easier route past Gmail’s usual spam filtering. The new program arrives just in time for the final stretch before the 2026 midterms. As spotted by The New York Times, Google has announced a new Gmail Verified Sender Program that launches on September 8. Qualifying candidates, political parties, PACs, and other political committees will be able to avoid Gmail’s usual spam filtering, provided they meet Google’s requirements.

TL;DR The Spotify Car Thing was a dedicated streamer box for vehicles. Spotify turned off its servers in late 2024, effectively bricking the hardware. Open source efforts have tried to keep Car Thing active, and a new project recreates a lot of original functionality Back in 2021, Spotify set itself apart from competing music streaming platforms by launching its own dedicated hardware for your vehicle: the Spotify Car Thing. Especially if you had an older car that didn’t offer an easy way to use Android Auto, the Car Thing represented a cheap and easy way to enjoy streaming content from behind the wheel. While Spotify ultimately shut the project down, flipping the servers off in late 2024, there’s now a new open source project ready to breathe new life into Car Thing hardware. Spotify’s Car Thing offered a really straightforward package: a screen for finding Spotify content, and a big knob for easy interactions. But after Spotify pulled the plug on things, it wasn’t immediately clear what the future would look like for the abandoned hardware. While some users immediately started talking about hacking it, others cautioned that the very low-end hardware within didn’t offer a great platform for development. Nonetheless, we did see quite a few interesting projects emerge, and this week we’re learning about the latest one, called Mira.

Credit: Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Google Calendar users will now be able to block other users. Events and invitations from blocked users are removed from your Calendar. This feature is rolling out for Google Workspace customers and Workspace Individual subscribers. Tired of your Google Calendar getting clogged up with spam and unwanted invitations? Google is finally letting you do something about it. The company is rolling out a new feature designed to address this very problem. Google Calendar users will now be able to block other users. When someone is blocked, any event or invitation from them will be removed from your Calendar. You’ll also no longer receive new Calendar invitations from that person.

TL;DR Spotify’s Running Mode is now available on Android, giving Premium users custom playlists tailored to their running workouts. Users can customize workouts, genres, music discovery and BPM, with options for familiar songs, new music, Beat Matching and optional Audio Coaching. Running Mode is available in select markets, including Canada and the US, but requires a Spotify Premium subscription. I try to work out at the gym at least four days a week, and I know the struggle of finding the right music can sometimes be harder than the lifts. Some days I need an energetic playlist to get me through heavy lifts, while other days, when I’m taking it easy, I need relaxing music to keep me calm. Running is really no different — the right music can make a huge difference when you’re running, and Spotify knows that. Late in July, the music-streaming giant rolled out Running Mode for iOS, a feature that generates custom playlists for runs. And now it’s finally landing on Android. Spotify details Running Mode in a blog post, indicating that it will let users customize playlists by choosing one of 25 presets. From there, you can further fine-tune the playlists by customizing your workout type (interval, steady, pyramid, and more), duration of workout, and beats per minute. Workout types are subsequently divided into genres to let you fine-tune your playlist even further.

TL;DR Google has started rolling out Android’s advanced flow for installing apps from unverified developers. The sideloading process includes a restart and a 24-hour wait, while ADB remains exempt from the verification requirement. The rollout comes ahead of developer verification enforcement, which starts September 30 in four countries. Google’s controversial new rules for installing apps from unverified developers are getting very real fast. We first learned in March that Android would introduce a new process for users who still want to sideload those apps, complete with a 24-hour waiting period. Google has now started rolling out that “advanced flow” ahead of the first checkpoint for developer verification. The news comes from Google’s Android Community Engagement Manager Mishaal Rahman (formerly of this parish), who announced the rollout in a post on the r/Android subreddit. Google is calling this the first version of the advanced flow and says it’s rolling out gradually, so you may not see the new setting immediately. The post also fills in several important details about how the system works in practice.

TL;DR Comcast is rolling out a new way to protect your home with Xfinity. The new offering is called Xfinity Shield, and it is available starting today. One of the offering’s highlights is WiFi Motion, which detects motion based on radio frequency signal changes between the gateway and a connected device. From security cameras to connected sensors, there are plenty of hardware solutions you can use to protect your home. Comcast, however, has a different idea on how to defend your home from threats. That solution is rolling out today as a new Xfinity offering. In a blog post, Comcast announced the launch of Xfinity Shield. According to the company, this is a “first-of-its-kind” platform for home protection. At the core of Xfinity Shield is what the company calls “WiFi Shield.”

TL;DR Google Home started experiencing a service interruption late yesterday. Impacted hardware would silently fail to respond to voice commands. Google now says that the issue has been resolved. The convenience of a full-blown smart home setup is one of those things that’s difficult to truly appreciate until you’re really living it — and once you are, just as hard to go back from. Being able to control everything from the lights to the temperature with just a few voice commands is the kind of luxury that’s very easy to get used to, but what do you do when all that control infrastructure breaks down? That’s just what Google Home users have been dealing with since late yesterday evening, but the good news is that their ordeal is finally over. Google confirms in comments across Reddit’s Google Home sub:

TL;DR Gemini in Chrome is now available to Android users across the US, bringing page summaries, contextual questions, Google app connections, and Nano Banana image tools directly into the browser. Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers also get Auto Browse, which can handle multi-step web tasks. Google has added safeguards for Auto Browse, including protections against prompt-injection attacks and confirmation prompts before Gemini completes certain sensitive actions. Gemini in Chrome is already available for desktop users, and Google is now bringing the experience to Android users across the US. On your phone, it essentially gives Chrome its own built-in AI assistant that can understand the page you’re looking at and help you do more with it. For example, if you open a long article and only care about the main points, Gemini can summarize it for you. You can also ask questions about the page, pull in information from Google apps like Calendar and Keep without constantly switching around, and even use Nano Banana to generate or tweak images while you browse.

TL;DR Plex is rolling back a controversial UI change, bringing its primary navigation menu back to the left-hand side after moving it to the top. The update adds several quality-of-life improvements, including easier access to favorite libraries and the ability to favorite and reorder Live TV and DVR sources. The revamped experience is still in testing, with preview access on Apple TV and Roku and beta access on Android TV; Fire TV support is coming later. Trying to fix what isn’t broken is always a risky choice. There’s always going to be a split among users, with one side critiquing the unnecessary change, and the other side complaining about it never innovating. For media streaming platform Plex, the criticism around its ambitious redesigned TV interface has gotten so loud that it’s rolling back some of the biggest changes. The company announced the change in a new forum post, indicating that rethinking the UI change came as a direct result of customer feedback.

Credit: Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority TL;DR WHOOP Advanced Labs is expanding to users who don’t have a wearable membership. Testing through WHOOP Advanced Labs starts at $150. The company is also adding GRAIL’s multi-cancer early detection test to the Advanced Labs portfolio. In 2025, WHOOP launched Advanced Labs, which combines clinical lab testing with recorded WHOOP data for deeper insights into your health. This offering initially served as a way to provide more value to a WHOOP membership. However, the company has now decided to expand the service to more users. Today, WHOOP announced in a press release that it is dropping the membership requirement for Advanced Labs. As a result, the service’s clinical testing will be available to anyone who is willing to pay up. If you’re interested in giving it a try, testing through Advanced Labs will start at around $150. WHOOP claims comparable assessments cost more than $3,000 through traditional health care settings.

TL;DR Samsung’s Galaxy S26 FE has just appeared in an extensive leak detailing practically everything about the phone. This leak also confirms some of the smartphone’s hardware, including the 6.7-inch 120 Hz display, a triple rear camera, and the Exynos 2500 chipset. Much like some recent smartphone launches, we expect the Galaxy S26 FE to also see a price increase. Samsung is expected to unveil the Galaxy S26 FE soon, but a long parade of leaks, including a recent unofficial hands-on video, has already left little to the imagination. We’re now being treated to the full Galaxy S26 FE specs sheet and some of its features, thanks to an extensive leak of digital materials. More than two dozen images obtained and published by Android Headlines offer a detailed picture of the smartphone’s hardware and its features. First things first, we’re getting visuals on the three launch-day colors of the Galaxy S26 FE, reportedly named Blueberry, Pistachio, and Graphite. While we already knew what colors the smartphone would be available in, this is the first time their official names have leaked.

The Garmin Instinct 3 is down to $349.99 at Amazon right now, a $150 cut from its $499.99 recommended retail price. That’s 30% off RRP, bringing this rugged Garmin back to its all-time low and matching the Prime Day price from June. See the deal at Amazon

TL;DR Paramount Plus already has an ad-supported tier, but it still costs $9 a month. The service has reportedly now started testing limited free access on Android phones and tablets. So far, Paramount does not appear to be promoting this free streaming method. Every streaming platform out there asks us to make a few decisions: Is this content something we’re interested in? Is it worth paying for? And if so, how much? With streaming prices on the rise pretty much everywhere, and platforms constantly dropping and picking up new content, many of us find ourselves reevaluating that balance over and over again. Today we’re learning about an all-new option that one provider has quietly started playing with, as Paramount Plus experiments with the idea of free, ad-supported access. Paramount Plus already offers a plan with ads, but not the free kind. The service officially has just two tiers: ad-free Premium for $14 a month, and Essential with ads for $9 a month. But now Paramount is also apparently starting to give some Android users access to a limited selection of ad-supported episodes of programs, with no subscription needed at all (via Cord Cutters News).

The Eufy Security Indoor/Outdoor Camera C31 is built for people who want a single camera that can monitor more of their home’s surroundings. This wired Eufy camera works indoors or outdoors, and there’s a solid deal on it at Amazon right now. See the deal at Amazon

The Garmin Venu 3S has dropped to $294 on Amazon, down from its $449.99 recommended retail price. That saves you $155.99, which is a 35% discount off the RRP, and it is easily the best deal we have seen on this watch ever. The best year-to-date price was $329.99. Right now, Amazon is undercutting that by a solid margin, so this is a strong time to grab it if the Venu 3S has been on your list. See the deal at Amazon