Future phones could use Google’s new touch-free motion sensor radar

• The FCC approved Google to test a new radar motion sensor technology called Project Soli.
• Using this radar motion sensor, a person could manipulate a smartphone, smartwatch, or other devices without actually touching anything.
• The testing of the motion sensor equipment required approval since Google needs to use power levels higher than what’s currently allowed.

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The FCC issued a late order on Monday giving permission to Google for testing a new type of motion sensor technology known as Project Soli. Google hopes that Project Soli could open the way for users to manipulate electronic devices without actually having to touch anything.

Those of you who remember Samsung’s Air View technology introduced with the Samsung Galaxy S4 might think this is similar to that. However, that is not at all the case. Project Soli uses radar to allow users to interact with electronic devices using hand gestures in the air. For example, one could “click” on a button on a smartphone by tapping your thumb and index finger together a good distance away from your phone.

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Google Fit wants you to start 2019 on a healthy note with a 30-day challenge

If there are New Year’s resolutions we can all get behind, they’re ones that relate to your health. Google hopes you actually stick to those resolutions with Google Fit and its #GetFitWithGoogle campaign.

The main component …

Because the device uses radar technology, Google needed special approval from the FCC to perform its testing. Originally, Google asked for permission to operate within the 57 to 64GHz frequency band, but the FCC is only allowing the company to go slightly above currently-allowed norms. Still, the FCC is granting Google special license in this case, even if Google didn’t get everything it wanted.

Radar can penetrate fabrics, which would allow users with gloves or other clothing to continue to operate the device. It would also mean users could manipulate a device in their pocket or backpack without having to remove it.

The FCC noted that this radar technology could also work on airplanes, which would allow a future radar-based device to be used even while in flight. However, the device would have to meet FAA rules and regulations.

Project Soli is only in a testing phase for now, so it will be quite some time before we see it in any commercial product. However, the prospect of waving your hands around in the air to operate a device sounds pretty cool and futuristic.

NEXT: You can now tell Google Assistant to make charity donations

Source: Android Zone

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Huawei might ring in the Chinese New Year with two new colors for the Mate 20 Pro

In China, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro comes in five colors: Bright Black, Sapphire Blue, Cherry Pink, Emerald Green, and Aurora. According to DroidShout, Huawei will soon debut two new colors for its flagship: Fragrant Red and Comet Blue.

Reportedly spotted on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, the Fragrant Red color doesn’t look to be a gradient. Instead, the color remains consistent throughout the back and might give off a shimmer due to the glass material.

Interestingly, celebratory ornaments surrounded the Fragrant Red color in the Weibo post. That means we could expect the color to debut around the Chinese New Year, which begins February 5 and lasts for 15 days.

Meanwhile, source codes mentioned a Comet Blue color. There’s nothing to show what it might look like, though we can presume it to be one solid color.

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Here are the best Huawei phones you can buy right now

Huawei makes and sells lots of smartphones, and it can get quite confusing for consumers who might want to buy them. The company has plenty of choices for those looking for the latest and greatest, …

To recap, the Mate 20 Pro features a 6.39-inch display with 3,120 x 1,440 resolution, three rear cameras, Huawei’s homegrown Kirin 980 chipset, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of expandable storage, a 4,200mAh battery that supports Huawei’s 40W Supercharge standard, and EMUI 9.0 on top of Android 9 Pie.

According to Huawei, the Mate 20 series shipped over five million units as of December 2018. The two new colors should help spur additional shipments in 2019.

NEXT: Huawei had an amazing 2018, at least with smartphone shipments

Source: Android Zone

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Moto Z4 Play renders suggest waterdrop notch, in-display fingerprint sensor

It’s a new year which means it’s time to start getting excited for the new phones we expect to launch in 2019. Today, we have some leaked photo and video renders for the upcoming Motorola Moto Z4 Play, which come courtesy of reliable leaker @OnLeaks (via ComapreRaja).

The Moto Z line of smartphones all work with the various Moto Mods. As such, you won’t find much of a difference in design with the Moto Z4 Play, considering it has to fit the parameters of the Moto Mods already in existence.

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The full list of current and upcoming Moto Mods

While we’ve seen many smartphone makers try and fail to sell smartphones with “modular” hardware features, Motorola seems to have been the most successful with its Moto Mods. Okay, they may not technically be “modular” …

However, that doesn’t mean there are no surprises here. The renders suggest that the Moto Z4 Play — and likely the vanilla Moto Z4 — could have a waterdrop notch, similar to the one on the OnePlus 6T and the Essential Phone.

The renders also suggest that the rear fingerprint sensor is no longer there. There doesn’t appear to be one on the side, either, which suggests that the Moto Z4 Play could feature an in-display fingerprint sensor (once again, just like the OnePlus 6T).

Check out the image and video renders below:

If you take a close look at the renders, you’ll also notice that the 3.5mm headphone jack is likely preserved with the Moto Z4 Play.

The Motorola Moto Z3 Play launched in August of 2018 for $499 and the Moto Z2 Play launched in June of 2017. It’s unlikely the Moto Z4 Play would launch in the summer of 2019, though — it’s more likely it will launch in the next few months since renders are already available. However, this could be a very early leak.

What do you think? Will these new design elements make the Moto Z4 Play a potential purchase for you? Or are Moto Z phones not on your radar? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: Motorola P40 leaks with punch-hole camera, 48MP primary snapper

Source: Android Zone

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USB Type-C, ‘the single cable of the future,’ will be more secure soon

With the vast majority of new Android devices supporting USB Type-C technology and USB Type-C ports showing up on lots of other new devices, there’s a good chance you already have more than a few pieces of tech with Type-C ports.

While having one cable for everything is incredibly convenient, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) — the big kahuna of USB technology — is worried about the future security of USB Type-C. That’s why the organization is rolling out its USB Type-C Authentication Program which it hopes will help make Type-C systems more secure.

The purpose of the program is to create a secure handshake between different USB Type-C devices. Let’s say, for example, you’re at the airport and want to charge your phone at one of those charging kiosks. However, you’re worried about the security of that charging terminal — is it compromised? With the authentication program in place, you won’t have to worry, as your phone will instantly approve (or deny) any connection using a database of certified equipment.

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What is USB Type-C?

If you’ve bought a new smartphone in the past couple of years, chances are it has a new port used for charging and possibly even audio. It’s called USB Type-C and as you’ve probably noticed …

However, for now, the authentication program is going to be optional, which obviously will prevent it from having much effect. In the future, though, the program could become mandatory which will help all USB Type-C equipment stay safe.

USB-IF president Jeff Ravencraft believes USB Type-C is “the single cable of the future.” If the connection protocol does, in fact, become the “one cable to rule them all,” we’re going to need as many security systems as possible to prevent nefarious persons from abusing the ubiquity of cables and ports.

This year, the latest iPads even include USB Type-C ports, the first Apple mobile product not to use one of the company’s proprietary ports. If even Apple is on board, USB Type-C could really be the cable of the future.

NEXT: It’s 2018 and USB Type-C is still a mess

Source: Android Zone

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T-Mobile offering BOGO Samsung Galaxy Watch deal (with lots of requirements)

It’s only the first few days into 2019, and T-Mobile is already offering a pretty decent deal. Right now, there’s a buy-one-get-one-free promotion at T-Mobile for the Samsung Galaxy Watch in both the 42mm and 46mm case sizes.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is the latest-and-greatest wearable from Samsung, released alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The smartwatch does away with the “Gear” branding and offers a good combination of features. Here at Android Authority, we voted it the best smartwatch of 2018.

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Here are the best T-Mobile deals and offers right now (November 2018)

T-Mobile is now the third biggest U.S. wireless carrier and could soon be the second if the Sprint merger works out. Its growth is due in part to the many aggressive T-Mobile deals and offers …

As has become the norm with T-Mobile promotions, there are a lot of caveats to this Samsung Galaxy Watch deal (which doesn’t seem very “uncarrier,” but whatever). To help you navigate the offer, we’ll do our best to summarize how it works below.

• This deal is open to both new and existing customers, even those of you who already have a smartwatch linked to your T-Mobile account.
• You will need to buy a Samsung Galaxy Watch (in either case size) under an installment plan. You’ll pay $0 down and then pay $15.63 per month for 24 months (for the 42mm size) or $16.67 per month for 24 months (for the 46mm size).
• That watch will need to be connected to a new Data with Paired DIGITS plan, which costs $10 per month.
• With one Samsung Galaxy Watch on your account connected to a DIGITS plan, you can then get a second Samsung Galaxy Watch under one of the previously-mentioned installment plans. You will also need to connect it to a DIGITS plan.
• The cheaper of the two watches will be paid off by T-Mobile via monthly bill credits, which will begin after two billing cycles.
• If you leave T-Mobile prior to paying off the watches, the total remaining price for both watches will be due.
• Additionally, you must maintain the DIGITS plans to get the bill credits.
• You may get up to six discounted watches with the purchase of six non-discounted watches, for a total of 12 watches.
• This deal is for well-qualified customers (i.e., those with good credit).

Basically, you’re paying for one watch over 24 months and then T-Mobile is paying for the second watch over 24 months. The only real downside is the DIGITS plans, which may or may not be useful to you (it allows you to use your phone number on your smartwatch).

If you’re interested in this deal, click the button below.

Samsung Galaxy Watch BOGO Deal

Source: Android Zone

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Deal: Launch your coding career with this 9-part kit

Every day is a deal day at AA picks, and today’s offering is for those of you looking to break into the lucrative coding game. The Complete Back-End Developer Bundle is subject to a huge price drop this week, so it’s a great excuse to start training.

The incentives to learn back-end developing skills are obvious: It’s a growing jobs market, the roles often pay well, and in some cases, you can work from anywhere. Whether you prefer that the comfort of your bed or the terrace of a beach bar, it’s quite a perk.

If you’re new to the jargon, the back end of a website refers to the mechanics of it. It’s the part which the user doesn’t see, but it makes the website work. The back-end developers handle the nuts and bolts, while the front-end bods hang the furry dice.

Web development can involve several programming languages. Fortunately, The Complete Back-End Developer Bundle covers the main ones, such as Java, Python, and Ruby. To be an effective back-end developer you should be a jack-of-all-codes.

The nine-part kit includes some 60 or more hours of expert-led tuition, so it’s appropriate that you’re given lifetime access. It’s available 24/7 too, so you can sharpen your skills in your spare time without giving up the day job.

The Back-End Developer Bundle:

Bootstrap 4 From Scratch With 5 Projects — $149.99 value
Angular 4 Crash Course For Busy Developers — $159.99 value
Ruby & Ruby On Rails Starter — $99.99 value
R Programming Hands-on Specialization For Data Science: Level 1 — $134.99 value
The Complete Java Developer Course — $149.99 value
Data Analysis With Python & Pandas — $64.99 value
Build Your First App With React Native — $19.99 value
Python Fundamentals — $99.99 value
SQL: Ultimate SQL & DataBase Concepts — $64.99 value

Despite the combined $950 value, the bundle is available for just $41 this week. That’s well under $1 per hour of training.

This is a time-limited deal, and it expires pretty soon. If you want to check it out, hit the button below.

Check it out!

The AAPicks team writes about things we think you’ll like, and we may see a share of revenue from any purchases made through affiliate links. To see all our hottest deals, head over to the AAPICKS HUB.

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Looking for a new phone or plan? Start here with the Android Authority Plan Tool:

This smart tool lets you filter plans by phone, price, data tiers, and regional availability. Stop overpaying for cell service you hate and a phone that you’re tired of. Use our Compare Phones & Plans tool to fully customize your mobile experience and painlessly transition from one carrier to another!

Source: Android Zone

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Report: For phones over $800, Apple owns 79% of the global market

• A new Counterpoint Research report details the premium smartphone segment for the third quarter of 2018.
• The report shows that Apple dominates nearly 80 percent of the ultra-premium segment and owns 47 percent of the total global segment.
• Samsung and Huawei are the secondary players, with OnePlus making major gains.

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The newest report from Counterpoint Research details the premium smartphone market around the world. Although most of the numbers shouldn’t be too surprising, Apple’s market share in the ultra-premium sector is larger than you might have expected.

According to Counterpoint, Apple’s global market share for phones with a price tag above $800 is a whopping 79 percent. Unfortunately, Counterpoint doesn’t break down which companies make up the other 21 percent, although we can safely assume it’s mostly dominated by Samsung and Huawei.

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First-time million-dollar apps on Play Store half that of Apple App Store — again

A frequently-cited statistic is that the Apple App Store makes twice as much money as the Google Play Store, even though the Play Store is far larger and caters to far more customers.

It appears that …

We can make that assumption because Counterpoint does break down the rest of the premium segments (which Counterpoint defines as any phone priced over $400). In the lower-premium segment (phones priced between $400 and $600), Samsung dominates with 25 percent of the market. Apple comes in second with 21 percent followed by Huawei at 17 percent. Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi make up the bulk of the rest, with 14 percent going to a mix of other companies.

In the premium market (phones priced between $600 and $800) the fight is all Samsung and Apple, with Samsung owning 21 percent and Apple owning 61 percent.

Check out the chart below to see some more of the numbers:

Counterpoint

The chart above doesn’t give all the information though. For example, Huawei now owns 12 percent of the entire premium market, the first time the company has attained a double-digit number (the company had 9 percent in the previous quarter). This is yet further evidence of Huawei’s success in the smartphone industry in general, as 2018 was filled with industry milestones (and also filled with controversy).

Another bit of info you don’t get from the chart is that OnePlus is growing at a rapid pace in India, the U.K., and China. In India, OnePlus held onto the top spot in the premium smartphone segment, a title which the company stole from Samsung earlier in 2018. It’s absolutely possible that OnePlus could end up on the chart above in future quarters if its growth continues.

You can click here to read the full report from Counterpoint Research.

NEXT: Report shows how Apple is essentially handing the Indian market to Android

Source: Android Zone

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Beginner’s guide to Google Photos

Google Photos may be one of the best online services for people who love taking lots of pictures and videos with their smartphones. It combines cloud-based storage with its AI-based organization of images and clips. With these features, it’s a must for mobile photographers.

Let’s take a quick look at how to get started using Google Photos, including a look at its major features, and some tips that should make using the service easier for you.

What is Google Photos?

Google Photos officially launched in May 2015 as a standalone spin-off of sorts from Google+ Photos, which was based in the Google+ social network (Google would later retire Google+ Photos). It retained many of the features of the older Google+ Photos, as well as some new features.

The apps and the service were immediate hits with smartphone owners, hitting 500 million users by in May 2017, two years after it launched. Those users upload 1.2 billion photos every day. In June 2017, the company announced Google Photos had reached over 1 billion app downloads.

You can download the Google Photos app on both Android and iOS, and you can also go to the photos.google.com site to view your stored images and clips on a PC or mobile web browser.

Download for Android

Download for iOS

What’s the difference between High Quality, Original Quality, and Express options in Google Photos?

Google Photos has three storage settings to choose from, with some rather confusing labels. The “High Quality” setting is actually the middle pick of the two modes. It allows you to back up photos from your smartphone up to 16MP each or video clips at up to 1080p resolution to your Google Photos cloud account. Using the High Quality setting lets you upload an unlimited number of photos and videos for free, if they conform to those limits.

Google also recently updated its terms of service for videos stored on High Quality in Google Photos. The following video formats are supported: mpg, .mod, .mmv, .tod, .wmv, .asf, .avi, .divx, .mov, .m4v, .3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m2t, .m2ts, .mts, and .mkv. If you upload videos in other formats for High Quality, including the popular RAW format, they will be counted as part of your Google One storage limits.

Related

Google One vs the competition

Google’s updated subscription plans for cloud storage now fall under its new Google One program. Announced back in May, Google One is currently available for everyone in the U.S. and rolls out to users across the …

The “Original Quality” setting for Google Photos is the highest pick of the three modes. It will preserve the original quality, megapixels, and resolution of any photo or video you upload, which sometimes exceed the limits of the High Quality setting. However, for most smartphones with Google Photos installed, there is an upper limit of cloud storage for the Original Quality setting. They will be stored on the user’s Google One cloud account, and they will share storage space with the user’s Google Drive documents and Gmail email messages.

The good news is there are a set of smartphones can get around the storage limitations of the Original Quality setting in Google Photos. If you own the original Google Pixel or the Google Pixel XL, you can upload photos and videos at the Original Quality setting on Google Photos for free and never hit a cloud storage limit until the end of 2020. If you own the Pixel 2 or Pixel 2 XL, you can also upload as many photos or videos you want at the Original Quality setting until the end of 2021. After that timeframe, any new photos or videos you take with those phones will be compressed down to the High Quality resolution and megapixels for Google Photos storage.

The most recent Google smartphones, the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, have a similar deal for Google Photos in terms of storage. Owners can upload as many photos and videos at the Original Quality setting on Google Photos for free until the end of 2021. After that, any more photos and videos they upload will be converted down to the High Quality settings.

91Mobiles

For people with a limited amount of data on their smartphone plans, particularly in developing countries and markets such as India, Google Photos recently added an Express backup option for some users. This will compress any photo down to just 3MP before it is uploaded to Google Photos, and videos are also cut down to the standard 480p definition. The Google Photos app also recently added the option to cap the amount of mobile data used by the app. Users can limit it to 5MB, 10MB, or 30MB, or they can choose for Google Photos to not use any mobile data at all when uploading content.

Google Photos AI grouping of images into groups and albums

Google Photos also uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify items in your pictures. Those items can then be placed in their own groups and albums. If you take a lot of photos of your dog with your smartphone, Google Photos will see it, then group all those dog photos into one album on your app or the Google Photos website. In fact, an update in 2017 added the ability to identify the specific dog in the pictures when uploaded.

When you tap on the albums section of the Google Photos app, it shows you three categories on top to search for the image you want to find: People, Places, and Things. The People category shows images of faces, and the Places category shows locations, based on both geotagging information and also identifying specific well-known landmarks in the photo. The Things category can not only show non-human subjects but also photos and videos taken for specific events, like birthdays or vacations.

Photo books support in Google Photos

If you see a group of images in Google Photos and want to bring them into the physical world, the service also lets you order Photo Books from your collected images. In fact, using AI, Google Photos arrange the book, adding the photos it think are best. Of course, you can still manually select which images go in the photo book as well. Pricing for these books begin at $9.99 and they can be ordered on the website and in the Google Photos apps.

Editing images in Google Photos

Google Photos also lets you edit your photos, either in the apps or on its website. There’s an auto selection which allows Google Photos to create what it believes is the best looking version of that photo, and a number of other filters you can select like Vista, which turns color images into black and white photos.

You can also manually adjust the light, color, and pop options on your images with sliders, and you can also change the aspect ratio and angles of your pictures within Google Photos as well.

Sharing Google Photos content with others

Another nice thing about Google Photos is you can actually share images you upload with others, even if they don’t have the Google Photos app. All you have to do is select a photo, video, or album, tap on the Share icon in the Google Photos app and type in who you want to share an album with. You can also type in a phone number or email address. Then just type in a personal message if you want and then tap on Send. Shared albums can support up to 20,000 total items. You can also use the Share feature to upload photos and videos to your social networking accounts like Facebook and Twitter.

What is Google Photos Assistant?

 

Google Photos Assistant (not to be confused with the Google Assistant AI digital helper) is designed to help you keep track of your library of photos and videos. It will generate cards with suggestions on which photos can be turned into collages, animations, and movies. It will even use machine learning to show you pictures in your account that you might want to delete. Assistant will also offer notifications for alerts like if you are using up your storage space.

More Google Photos tips and tricks

Here are some more tips and tricks you can try out while using Google Photos:

• Live Albums is a recent feature addition to Google Photos. Just make an album, select the people you want to see in that album, and Google Photos will automatically put pictures of those folks in that album.
• Another recent addition lets you see information about a specific photo, such as its date, its file size, and where it was taken, by just swiping up on that photo.
• You can automatically create movies from your Google Photos pictures by tapping on Assistant, and then select Movie. You have 10 different categories to choose from, including Love Story, Selfie Movie, and Doggie Movie.
• If you share a photo or album with others in Google Photos, they can now “like” images by tapping on a heart icon.
• There’s a Color Pop feature that lets you keep the color on the subject of an image in Google Photos, but then turns the background into black and white.
• If you make motion pictures with your Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 phone, Google Photos lets you turn them into GIF images.

Conclusion

That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using Google Photos. Stay tuned, we will update this post with more information and new features as they release.

Source: Android Zone

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We hope Samsung sticks to this Pie update roadmap (Update: Changed)

Update, January 2, 2018 (10:22 AM ET): We hoped Samsung would stick to its published roadmap of Android 9 Pie updates for its devices, but (as somewhat expected) that’s not going to be the case. Per SamMobile, Sammy has switched around the list a bit.

The good news is that some devices had their rollout dates moved up, so you will see Pie sooner. This is the case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. There are also some new devices on the list, like the Samsung Galaxy J7 Neo and the Samsung Galaxy J8.

The bad news, however, is that some devices have been removed from the list, such as the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018 model). This is peculiar and might simply be an oversight from Samsung. We’ll have to wait and see. The most recent list is here (you can scroll down to see the old list for comparison):

• Galaxy Note 9 (January 2019)
• Galaxy S9 (January 2019)
• Galaxy S9+ (January 2019)
• Galaxy Note 8 (February 2019)
• Galaxy S8 (March 2019)
• Galaxy S8+ (March 2019)
• Galaxy Tab S4 10.5 (April 2019)
• Galaxy A6 (April 2019)
• Galaxy A6+ (April 2019)
• Galaxy A7 2018 (April 2019)
• Galaxy A8 Star (April 2019)
• Galaxy A8+ 2018 (April 2019)
• Galaxy A9 2018 (April 2019)
• Galaxy J2 (2018) (April 2019)
• Galaxy J2 Core (April 2019)
• Galaxy J4 (April 2019)
• Galaxy J6+ (April 2019)
• Galaxy On7 (2018) (April 2019)
• Galaxy J4+ (May 2019)
• Galaxy J6 (May 2019)
• Galaxy J8 (May 2019)
• Galaxy J7 2017 (July 2019)
• Galaxy J7 Duo (July 2019)
• Galaxy J7 Neo (July 2019)
• Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 (August 2019)
• Galaxy Tab A 2017 (October 2019)
• Galaxy Tab A 10.5 (October 2019)

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Original Article, December 24, 2018 (11:57 AM ET): Samsung celebrated Christmas a little early in the form of its stable Android 9 Pie update with One UI for Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus owners. In addition to the rollout, SamMobile reported that Samsung updated its Members app with its Android 9 Pie update roadmap.

According to the roadmap, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus will receive Android 9 Pie in January 2019. Even though the update is rolling out to the phones starting today, the carrier variants might not see the update for another month.

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Hands-on with Samsung One UI and Android Pie on the Galaxy S9

Samsung recently announced an all-new user interface for its phones. It’s called One UI, and it aims to simplify Samsung’s notoriously feature-packed software while also making everything more visually appealing.

If you own a Galaxy S9 …

Next in line is the Galaxy Note 9, which looks to receive its Android 9 Pie update in February 2019. We’re not sure why the newer Galaxy Note 9 will get the update after the older Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but there it is. Keep in mind that the Galaxy Note 9 might also get Android 9 Pie ahead of schedule.

Following Samsung’s 2018 flagships are the company’s 2017 flagships: the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note 8. All three phones will receive Android 9 Pie, along with One UI, in March 2019.

SamMobile

Things then get a bit crazy. The Android 9 Pie rollout is expected to go from April 2019 with Samsung’s Galaxy A7, A8, A8 Plus, and A9 (2018) through October 2019 with the Galaxy Tab A 10.5. A slew of devices will also get the update between April and October, such as the Galaxy Tab S4, Galaxy A8 Star, and much more.

You can see the full list of devices that will get Android 9 Pie in the above screenshot. You’ll also see that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are not on the list — both devices received two major Android updates, usually the quota for flagship Android smartphones.

NEXT: Hands-on with Samsung One UI and Android Pie on the Galaxy S9

Source: Android Zone

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How to Add Web Push Notification to Your WordPress Site

Do you want to add push notifications to your WordPress site? Push notifications allow you to send notifications to users even when they are not visiting your website.

In this article, we will show you how to easily add web push notifications to your WordPress site. We will also talk about the best WordPress push notification plugins and how to send desktop & mobile push notifications from your WordPress site.

What is Push Notification?

Push notifications are clickable messages displayed on top of user’s desktop or notification area on their mobile device. They can be shown even when the user’s browser is not open.

Aside from desktop, web push notifications also work on mobile devices. This allows you to reach your users across devices with latest updates and offers. Web push notifications have proven to be a very effective way to convert website visitors into customers and loyal followers.

Why Add Web Push Notifications to Your WordPress Site?

We have already discussed that 70% of people who leave your website will never come back. This is why you need to convert those website users into subscribers or customers.

You can do this by utilizing multiple channels at once. This includes email marketing, social media, mobile or SMS marketing, and web push notifications.

While email lists are still the most dominant and effective marketing tool at your disposal, push notifications for us are proving to be quite effective.

Here is why:

• Users need to give their explicit permission to receive push notifications. This means they are already interested in what you have to offer and are more likely to engage with notifications.
• Push notifications are shorter and demand less attention than email or social media updates.
• There is no algorithm, so nearly 100% of messages are delivered.
• Users can control how their devices display notifications, they can snooze them, or turn them off entirely.
• Not as many companies are using it.

Popular sites including Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and many others understand the importance and are already using web push notifications.

These notifications are more engaging than SMS, email marketing, and social media platforms. According to a survey, push notifications have a 50% higher open rate than email and twice as much click-rate.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to add web push notifications to a WordPress site.

Setting up Web Push Notifications in WordPress with OneSignal

OneSignal is a free push notification service for WordPress websites. It allows you to easily add push notifications to any website.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the OneSignal plugin. Need help installing the plugin? See our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the plugin will add a new menu item labeled OneSignal to your WordPress admin bar. Clicking on it will take you to the plugin’s settings page.

The settings page is divided into Setup and Configuration tabs. The setup tab is actually detailed documentation on how to setup OneSignal push notifications in WordPress. It has the same steps that we will show you in this tutorial.

To setup OneSignal, you will need to add API Key and APP ID into the plugin settings.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Setting up OneSignal Push Notifcations

First, you need to visit the OneSignal website and click on the get started button next to the Web Push option.

You’ll be asked to provide your email and password to create a free account. After your account is created, you’ll reach the OneSignal dashboard.

On the dashboard, click on the ‘Add App’ button to create your first app.

You’ll be asked to provide a name for your app. You can use anything here that helps you identify it.

Next, you’ll need to select a platform. You can select multiple platforms for an app. For now, we recommend selecting ‘Web Push’ and click on the next button to continue.

In the next step, you’ll be asked to select an integration method. Go ahead and click on ‘WordPress Plugin or Website Builder’ box and then select WordPress.

When you scroll down a bit, you will see a ‘WordPress Site Setup’ section.

You need to enter your website name, URL, and upload a logo. This logo would appear in your notifications, so we recommend using your site icon (favicon) or website logo.

Below that, you will see a toggle that you can turn on if your WordPress site is not using SSL/HTTPS. You can only send web push notifications from a secure HTTPS URL. If your WordPress site is not using HTTPS, then you need to turn this setting on and enter a label.

A label is basically a subdomain hosted on OneSignal servers using a secure HTTPS URL. This subdomain will be used to send your push notifications.

If you want to setup HTTPS on your own WordPress site, then see our step by step tutorial on how to move WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS. We highly recommend using your own domain with SSL than a subdomain on OneSignal, so you’re not forever locked in to their platform.

Once you are done, click on the save button to store your OneSignal settings. You’ll now see the API keys that you need to copy.

Now, you can switch back to OneSignal plugin settings on your WordPress site and switch to the ‘Configuration’ tab. You need to paste the APP and API keys you copied earlier.

These API keys will only allow you to send push notifications via Chrome and Firefox web browsers.

You will also need Safari Web ID in order to send Push notifications via Safari web browser.

To get the Safari API key, you need to switch back to OneSignal website and go to the settings page for your app. Once there, you need to click on the edit icon next to Apple Safari.

Next, you’ll be asked to enter your website title, URL, and optionally upload a site icon.

Click on the Save button to store your settings. After that, you’ll see your Safari Web ID on the screen which you need to copy.

Once again, switch back to the plugin’s settings page on your WordPress site and paste the Safari Web ID under the configuration tab.

Don’t forget to click on the save button to store your plugin settings.

You can now visit your website in a new incognito browser tab. You will see a push notification popup on the top and a bell notification icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.

The push notification popup will also appear on mobile browsers.

Note: The appearance of push notification popup prompt may differ based on http/https settings of your site.

Now, you may be wondering why this push notification prompt looks different than what you see on some other websites?

Normally users see the browser default notification prompt, which looks something like this:

Now the problem is that, if a user clicked on ‘Block’ button, then they will never see a prompt for subscribing to notifications. To fix this, OneSignal comes with two different prompt types.

The first one is the push notification popup and the other one is the subscription bell icon. Both of them are fully customizable, and you can change them to meet your needs.

Step 2. Customizing The Push Notification Popup Prompt

The basic push notification popup is quite simple. It uses generic language and displays your site’s logo. You may want to customize that to make it more personal.

Simply switch to the configuration tab under OneSignal plugin’s settings page on your WordPress site and scroll down to the ‘HTTP Pop-Up Settings’ section.

You need to click on the toggle next to ‘Customize the HTTP Pop-Up Prompt text’, and then start adding your own text.

Don’t forget to click on the Save button to store your settings before testing the prompt.

Step 3. Customize the Bell Notification Icon

Normally, the browser prompt for notification and the popup disappear when a user dismisses them.

What if users later change their mind and want to receive push notifications?

The subscription bell in OneSignal allows you to keep showing users a prompt to subscribe push notifications on your site.

The bell icon is also fully customizable from the plugin’s settings page. Simply scroll down to ‘Prompt Settings & Subscription Bell’ section and turn on the customization options that you want to change.

You can then scroll down and change settings for each option you want to customize. Ideally, you would want to change bell icon colors to match your own theme colors.

Note: We don’t use the bell icon because we feel it’s a bit too intrusive.

Step 4. Sending Push Notifications from Your WordPress Site

By default, the OneSignal plugin automatically sends push notifications for all new posts published on your website. If you want, then you can turn this feature off from plugin’s settings page under ‘Automatic Notification Settings’ section.

You can also manually send a notification when you publish or update a post. Simply edit a WordPress post or page, and you will see the OneSignal meta box under document settings column on the right.

If you are using the old classic editor, then you will see the meta box like this:

Check the box next to ‘Send notification on post update / publish’ and then click on update or publish button.

OneSignal will now send your article as a push notification to all your subscribers.

Send a welcome push notification to new subscribers

You can also send a welcome push notification to your new subscribers. Visit OneSignal’s settings page in your WordPress admin area and scroll down to the ‘Welcome Notification Settings’ section.

Now when a new subscribes for push notifications, they will receive a welcome notification on their device. Depending on their browser and device the notification may look different.

That’s all, you have successfully added web push notifications to your WordPress site.

You can also send custom notifications from the OneSignal app dashboard. The process is quite intuitive and you can follow onscreen instructions once you login to OneSignal.

Other Good WordPress Push Notification Plugins

It is important to choose the right web push notification service from the start. Since most providers try to lock you in their platform, changing your push notification service can result in losing your old subscribers. Meaning if you switch, then you will be starting from scratch.

This is why we recommend asking the provider you choose for all settings you need to configure to make your subscriber list portable.

At WPBeginner, we use OneSignal because it has the features that we need at a reasonable price.

• OneSignal offers a free WordPress push notification plugin with unlimited mobile push and web push notifications for upto 30K subscribers.
• Even their free plan includes features like segmentation, localization, tracking with Google analytics, and a robust API.
• You can use it with all top email marketing services to send your newsletter emails via web push notifications

WordPress is all about choices. Here are some other WordPress push notification plugins that you can also try.

• PushEngage Web Push Notifications – This is the connector plugin for PushEngage, a push notifications service provider. They have a free plan limited to 2500 subscribers, 120 notifications, and 5000 clicks.
• PushAlert – Web Push Notifications – Helps you connect to PushAlert web push notification service. They also offer a free plan limited to 3000 subscribers.
• PushCrew – Connects your website to PushCrew’s push notification service. They offer a free plan limited to 2000 subscribers.
• PushAssist – Connector plugin for PushAssist web push notification service. Their free plan is limited to 2000 subscribers.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add web push notifications to your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to get a free business email address for your website.

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