Table of contents for Issue 49 in Android Advisor

Google has announced that it’s changing the name of its wrist-sized OS from Android Wear to Wear OS by Google. The rebranding is rolling out now and should start appearing on phones and watches in the coming weeks. To say Android Wear is in need of a change is something of an understatement. Google’s smartwatch OS received its last major update in February 2017 with version 2.0, after months of delays. It’s been two years since Google announced any new features to Android Wear, and some manufacturers have abandoned the platform due to low sales. Android Wear started out with lots of promise, but it fizzled out almost as quickly as it arrived. While the first crop of watches were praised for their smart, circular designs (a direct contrast to…

The first developer preview of Android P has arrived, and with it Google is ready to show off the next phase of its mobile vision. And notches are all the rage. As previously rumoured, it will introduce display cutout support for Android apps, letting developers “take full advantage of the latest device screens with full-screen content”. And it’s not just the status bar and home screen that will get the support. Google is expanding support for notched displays into all areas of Android P, including APIs so developers can get creative with their apps. According to Google, “Cutout support works seamlessly for apps, with the system managing status bar height to separate your content from the cutout. If you have critical, immersive content, you can also use new APIs to…

£229 inc VAT from fave.co/2pF3ZWy Huawei traditionally goes for mid-to-high-end smartphones and leaves the more budget versions to its sub-brand Honor. With the P Smart, though, it’s now well into budget territory. It has an 18:9 screen, a decent processor and dual rear cameras, plus the latest version of Android along with Huawei’s new EMUI 8.0 software. Design In 2017, 18:9 screens were the new fashion, but now it’s clear that you can have one even if your budget won’t stretch to even a mid-range phone such as the Honor 7X. Check the specifications (page 57) and you’ll note that the P Smart is pretty much just a slightly smaller, lower-spec version of the 7X. Starting with the screen, it’s 5.65 inches across, with a 2160x1080 resolution. That gives it…

£799 inc VAT from fave.co/2GDEIWx Rather than call it the P11, Huawei has decided to follow up the P10 with the P20. There are three phones in the range, a Lite version with a 5.8in screen, a ‘standard’ option (page 65), and a Pro model which is a little larger with a 6.1in display. It’s the latter we’re looking at here. Design The P20 is, just like the Mate 10, a redesign rather than an iteration of the P10. Perhaps that’s one reason why it’s the P20 and not the P11. In any case, it has rounder edges than its predecessor but, more noticeably, a glass back. Without doubt it looks much better than the sandblasted aluminium of the P10 and comes in a range of colours including Twilight, which…

Google has released its annual report on Android security and the message is clear: The devices running the latest version of Android are among the safest you can buy. Through a combination of features such as Google Play Protect and Instant Apps, the bug bounty program, and machine learning, Google says Android 8 “has achieved a strength of protection that now leads the industry”. That’s great news if you’re using a Pixel or have a Galaxy S9 on the way. But if you have one of the millions of phones that will never receive an Oreo update, the biggest issue with Android security is one that’s plagued the platform for a while: fragmentation. At last count, just 1 percent of Android users were running Oreo on their phones, compared to…

Xiaomi has announced its Mi Mix 2S, an upgrade on the Mi Mix 2 with an enhanced camera that integrates AI, improved performance, wireless charging and more. It’s available to buy now from fave.co/2uL0frp priced £481. New features It was no surprise to see Xiaomi add the 2.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, Adreno 630 GPU and 7.5W Qi wireless charging to the Mi Mix 2S. The result is up to 30 percent increased performance and 15 percent improved power efficiency, plus added convenience. Though wireless charging is slower than cable charging (the Mi Mix 2S will wirelessly charge in two hours and 40 minutes), it’s handy to be able to throw down your phone and not fiddle with cables. The Chinese firm has increased the screen-to-body ratio and created a…

£739 inc VAT from fave.co/2sXJKXV Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is the first flagship to hit the market in 2018. The S8 was almost a perfect phone, so can Samsung really make it even better? Read on to find out. Design It’s immediately clear that the Galaxy S9 is very much a new version of the S8, rather than a radically new device. Like a point upgrade in software terms if you like, so this is essentially the Galaxy S8.1. With an almost identical design to its predecessor you’d be hard pressed to notice the difference, especially from the front – the bezels above and below the screen are a fraction smaller. The device is also shorter than the S8, and it’s a bit thicker and heavier at 8.5mm and 163g, but…

£159 inc VAT from fave.co/2I55PXw A bit like smartphones, smartwatches haven’t changed much over the last few years despite being a much newer category. We’ve had all kinds of problems, particularly with battery life so hybrid devices have quickly become a great alternative. Fossil’s Q Commuter is a particularly stylish yet useful wearable. Design We really liked the old-fashioned vintage style of the original Q Grant (which now has a new design we’re slightly less keen on), but the Q Commuter has a more sleek and modern look. You can also get the Q Nate for a more rugged outdoors sort of style, among others. The Commuter features a 42mm metal body that comes in silver, gold, rose gold or black – all neatly matched with a leather or metal…

If you want to surf the web privately and securely, even when you’re out and about connecting to public Wi-Fi, a virtual private network (VPN) is what you’re looking for. You can also use a VPN to access blocked content such as BBC iPlayer if you’re outside of the UK, or the American version of Netflix. If you’re looking to do so on your Android phone or tablet, you’ll be pleased to hear that there are plenty of great VPN apps for Android. Please note that it is against Netflix, BBC iPlayer and other blocked content’s terms and conditions to access them using a VPN, so we advise you to do so at your own risk. NordVPN Price: From $2.75 per month (around £2) URL: fave.co/2CSqdrT Billed as the world’s…

Android Auto will work in any car, even an older car. All you need is the right accessories—and a smartphone running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or higher (Android 6.0 is better), with a decent-sized screen. Add a few handy apps and phone settings, and you can make your smartphone version of Android Auto just about as good as the dashboard version. Android Auto wasn’t always this easy. When it debuted in 2015, you needed either a new car or pricey aftermarket hardware to run Google’s infotainment system of the future. Google brought a standalone Android Auto app to smartphones the following year, allowing anyone with an Android phone to use the simplified menu system for music, navigation, phone calls, and messages. More recently, Android Auto added support for Google Assistant and…

Having introduced the new trend with its Mi Mix, Xiaomi will once again jump on the 18:9 ‘borderless’ display bandwagon with its next flagship. The Xiaomi Mi7 will be announced in standard and Plus models, and could arrive in June. It will pack some powerful hardware, including the Snapdragon 845 and a colossal 8GB of RAM, and it could be one of the first flagships to feature a fingerprint scanner embedded in the display. It could also be the first second Xiaomi phone to include 7.5W wireless charging – as we saw on page 8, the firm has also launched the Mi Mix 2S with 7.5W Qi. Release date The Mi6 was announced in China on 19 April 2017, and began shipping in June. Xiaomi follows an annual release schedule…

£599 inc VAT from fave.co/2GuhL87 The P20 is one of two new Huawei phones launched in Paris in March along with the P20 Pro. We went hands-on with the P20 prior to the event to see what Huawei is doing differently in 2018 for its flagship P line of phones after last year’s impressive Mate 10 Pro. Design The P20 is a radical design departure from last year’s P10. Where there was once sandblasted aluminium and bezels there is now glossy colourful glass and a pesky notch for the selfie camera. The phone will be available in black, champagne gold, twilight, pink gold and midnight blue. Gone is the headphone jack in favour of USB-C audio, though Huawei puts a 3.5mm headphone jack adaptor in the box. It’s a flagship…

One of the best things about Android is the fact you can customize not only the way it looks but also how it behaves. One way to do this is by downloading a new launcher, an app that changes the stock interface with a shiny, new alternative. But, with so many to choose from, how do you decide which one to use? We’ve rounded up the best Android launchers for 2018. What is an Android Launcher? When you use an Android phone or tablet the part that you interact with – the icons, navigations buttons and some settings – are all part of the user interface that sits on top of the operating system. Unlike with iPhones, on Android this can be replaced really easily by downloading a launcher app…

Regardless of what it tells you, it is possible to send a text message via Google Home using the free app IFTTT, as we’ll explain below. ) There are a couple of catches to this method: • All text messages are sent from the phone number of the primary Google account holder associated with your Google Home, regardless of whether you have set up multiple user accounts. (This has led to some very interesting text conversations with myself.) • You’ll need to set up an IFTTT applet for each contact you want to be able to text, so it’s best used for your most frequent contacts. Send a text on Google Home using IFTTT 1. You’ll need to download the free IFTTT app from fave.co/2I83tar and then either sign into…