OnePlus Games receives a minor visual refresh, preps a “Smart resolution” feature

The OnePlus Games app, previously OnePlus Game Space, is a one-stop shop for all your gaming needs. It comes pre-installed on most OnePlus phones and lets you access your game library, check out your game stats, enable optimizations and enhancements, and more from one centralized space. The app last received a major redesign last year, which brought a new icon, a dark blue theme, and other UI tweaks. Now the app is getting a new update which brings a minor visual refresh and also reveals some of the upcoming features that will make your gaming experience even better.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

OnePlus Games version 3.0.0 has started rolling out and while it’s not a huge update, it does bring along a minor visual refresh. Essentially, the update changes the background color from dark blue to metallic black. Another small change we notice is that gaming stats have been consolidated into the three-dot menu. Previously, there was a dedicated button for accessing game stats which appeared right beside the three-dot menu.

Screenshots credit: XDA Member Some_Random_Username

Within the new APK, we have also spotted evidence for an upcoming feature called “Smart resolution.” Strings we have discovered indicate that this new gaming enhancement would automatically adjust the screen resolution based on your phone’s temperature and battery level. From what we can gather, it looks like the Smart resolution feature will be able to detect if your device is under too much stress and getting hot or if the battery is too low and will automatically scale down the screen resolution and graphics quality. However, it looks like it will only work with select games.

<string name="smart_resolution_confirm_ok">Exit game</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_confirm_title">To enable Smart resolution, the game needs to be restarted. Exit the game now?</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_confirm_title2">To disable Smart resolution, the game needs to be restarted. Exit the game now?</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_hint">Only some games are supported</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_message_oupo">Automatically adjust the screen resolution based on your phone temperature and battery level.</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_message_yijia">Automatically adjust the screen resolution based on your phone temperature and battery level.</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_title_oupo">Auto resolution</string>
<string name="smart_resolution_title_yijia">Auto resolution</string>

The Smart resolution feature is still under development and isn’t accessible to users. We don’t know when it will go live. It’s also unclear if will be made available to all the latest OnePlus smartphones or select models only.

OnePlus Games version 3.0.0 hasn’t started rolling out widely. However, you can sideload the latest APK from APKMirror.

OnePlus Games (Free, Google Play) →

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Thanks to XDA Member Some_Random_Username  for the tip!

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The long-rumored Pixel Watch might finally arrive next year

Google has been developing its own Wear OS software platform since 2014, but in all that time, the company has never sold a Google-branded smartwatch with the software. There have been rumors of a smartwatch with the Pixel brand (or simply Google’s name) for years, and according to a new report from Business Insider, it might happen for real next year.

According to Business Insider (via The Verge), Google is working on a smartwatch that it plans to release next year, under the codename Rohan. It will supposedly run the latest version of Wear OS, paired with a circular design, “no physical bezel,” and health and fitness tracking. Business Insider was not able to determine if Google will produce the watch in multiple sizes, like Samsung does with its Galaxy Watch series.

Unfortunately, not only does the watch reportedly require daily charging (like some other Wear OS smartwatches), but it also supposedly uses proprietary watch bands. Apple also uses proprietary bands on its watches, but Fossil, Samsung, Mobvoi, and other companies use standard bands on their Wear OS smartwatches — giving those watches thousands of affordable options for replacement bands.

The LG Watch Sport (left) and Watch Style (right), which reportedly came from Google’s first attempt at a Pixel Watch.

There have been many rumors about a possible Pixel Watch over the years. Evan Blass (@evleaks on Twitter) reported in 2018 that a Pixel-branded watch was going to arrive alongside the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and WinFuture said the watch would come in three variants with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100. Google confirmed later in August 2018 that it wouldn’t release a Pixel Watch that year, and Business Insider claimed in 2019 that the watches were ultimately cancelled and re-worked into the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style.

More recently, Front Page Tech published a video about the Pixel Watch, which mentions the same ‘Rohan’ codename as this latest report. However, it’s not clear if the render images shown in the video match Google’s current hardware design.

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The long-rumored Pixel Watch might finally arrive next year

Google has been developing its own Wear OS software platform since 2014, but in all that time, the company has never sold a Google-branded smartwatch with the software. There have been rumors of a smartwatch with the Pixel brand (or simply Google’s name) for years, and according to a new report from Business Insider, it might happen for real next year.

According to Business Insider (via The Verge), Google is working on a smartwatch that it plans to release next year, under the codename Rohan. It will supposedly run the latest version of Wear OS, paired with a circular design, “no physical bezel,” and health and fitness tracking. Business Insider was not able to determine if Google will produce the watch in multiple sizes, like Samsung does with its Galaxy Watch series.

Unfortunately, not only does the watch reportedly require daily charging (like some other Wear OS smartwatches), but it also supposedly uses proprietary watch bands. Apple also uses proprietary bands on its watches, but Fossil, Samsung, Mobvoi, and other companies use standard bands on their Wear OS smartwatches — giving those watches thousands of affordable options for replacement bands.

The LG Watch Sport (left) and Watch Style (right), which reportedly came from Google’s first attempt at a Pixel Watch.

There have been many rumors about a possible Pixel Watch over the years. Evan Blass (@evleaks on Twitter) reported in 2018 that a Pixel-branded watch was going to arrive alongside the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, and WinFuture said the watch would come in three variants with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100. Google confirmed later in August 2018 that it wouldn’t release a Pixel Watch that year, and Business Insider claimed in 2019 that the watches were ultimately cancelled and re-worked into the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style.

More recently, Front Page Tech published a video about the Pixel Watch, which mentions the same ‘Rohan’ codename as this latest report. However, it’s not clear if the render images shown in the video match Google’s current hardware design.

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POCO X3 Pro was the best-selling phone in Europe on Amazon this Black Friday

The Black November Friday shopping season is finally over, but device makers are still pouring over sales data from last month. One of the more interesting data points might be from Xiaomi, which shared on social media that the company’s Poco X3 Pro was the best-selling smartphone in several European countries over the Black Friday shopping period.

Senior Xiaomi executive Lu Weibing shared on social media site Weibo (via GSMArena) that the Poco X3 Pro was the best-selling smartphone during Black Friday on Amazon in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Amazon doesn’t (publicly) share historical information for the best-selling products during a given timeframe, but an archived version of the Amazon Germany’s ‘Best Sellers’ page on November 29th (the Monday after Black Friday) did show the Poco X3 as #1. As of December 2nd, the phone has fallen to second place on Amazon Germany.

Amazon Germany Best Sellers page, as of Dec 2, 2021

The price of the Poco X3 Pro was slashed for Black Friday, with the 6GB RAM/128GB storage model dropping to €179 (down from €249), and the 8GB RAM/256GB storage version falling to €200-220 (down from €299). That’s a pretty great price for a phone with a Snapdragon 860 chipset and 120Hz screen, and it’s certainly a better deal than most Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales we saw on smartphones in the United States.

Xiaomi’s Lu Weibing pointed out the sales were another indicator that Xiaomi is gaining traction in western European markets. The Poco X3 Pro was already a great budget flagship at its original price, as explained in our full Poco X3 Pro review, and dropping the price on an already-great device is usually a winning move. Here’s hoping Xiaomi will start selling smartphones in the United States at some point in the near future — we could really use more competition here in ‘Murica.

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Microsoft Edge now says Chrome “is so 2008” if you try to download it

Microsoft has arguably gone too far already with forcing its new Edge browser on users by making it harder to switch your default browser on Windows 11, as well as blocking apps that redirect certain Windows links to your favorite browser. But it turns out things can always get worse, as Microsoft’s browser is now actively insulting Google Chrome if you try to download it using Edge. As reported by Neowin, when you open the download page for Chrome in Microsoft Edge Canary, you may now be greeted with a message saying “that browser is so 2008”. The message naturally urges you to keep using Edge, and there’s no obvious way to dismiss it, either.

In fact, there are two different messages you may see, with another one simply saying that Edge runs on the same technology as Chrome “with the added trust of Microsoft”. We weren’t able to get these messages to appear on our end, but you can see them below.

It’s only natural that Microsoft believes its browser is better than the competition, but it could easily be argued that this behavior is user-hostile. Microsoft already tries to prevent users from downloading competing browser if you use Bing to search for any other browser, with a huge chunk of the page taken up by an ad banner for Edge. This extra attempt, in addition to the other controversial moves by Microsoft we mentioned above, seems somewhat desperate. In fairness to Microsoft, Google is also known for heavily advertising its Chrome browser on its own webpages, but it doesn’t go to the same lengths Microsoft has gone to.

At the same time, Microsoft has been bundling features that are unnecessary at best with the Edge browser.  Recently, the company added a “Buy now, pay later” feature to the browser, which could potentially encourage users to spend more money than they have.  This has been the target of significant backlash, and it could end up driving some users away.

We can only hope that these messages are removed from Edge as quickly as possible, but the fact remains that they were pushed to users in the first place when they never should have been.

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Microsoft Office’s Windows 11-inspired design is now available

Microsoft has begun rolling out the new design for its Office suite of apps on Windows to the general public, the company announced today. Microsoft initially announced this new design for the Office apps back in the summer, and it’s meant to align with Windows 11, which launched just two months ago.

The new design features a cleaner look with a lighter emphasis on the accent color of each app. Instead, the frame of the window as well as the rest of the app, will follow the system’s dark or light theme by default, though you can change this. The ribbon also looks a bit different, and it now looks more like a floating panel that pops out of the window. It also uses rounded corners, in typical Windows 11 style.

Microsoft says it’s also working in adding support for the Mica transparency effect that’s characteristic of Windows 11. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this is the effect you see in the Windows 11 start menu, the Settings app, and other parts of the OS that use transparency.

While the new Office design is inspired by Windows 11, Windows 10 users also get access to it, though the Mica effect won’t be available to them. Also, Windows 11 users are apparently being prioritized for this design. If you’re running the new OS and you have a Microsoft 365 subscription enrolled in the Current Channel or a Microsoft Office 2021 perpetual license, then you can access the update right now by using the Coming soon toggle in the title bar of Office apps. If you’re still running Windows 10, only some users can currently do this, and the update will continue to roll out over time. Microsoft says the update is currently available to 50% of users running the latest version of Office.

If you’re trying to enable this feature, there are some things worth noting. The Coming soon toggle is only available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, but Outlook doesn’t let you enable the new look. You’ll need to enable it in of the other four apps, but once you do, it will be applied to all your Office apps, including Access, Outlook, Project, Publisher, and Visio.

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Android 12L Developer Preview 1 arrives for the Lenovo P12 Pro

Android is constantly changing and improving, and the platform has matured over the years to be one of the most dominant operating systems in the world. Android 12 is the most recent Android version, arriving in an anti-climactic AOSP source code drop at the start of October. It was followed by a Pixel series rollout a few weeks later, alongside the launch of the Google Pixel 6 series. At the time, we had already gotten our hands on what we thought was Android 12.1, though we later learned that it would be called “Android 12L” and that the first beta release would arrive for the Pixel lineup in December. Android 12L Developer Preview 1 is now available for the Lenovo P12 Pro, and you can install it already.

Read more: Here are all the new features and UI changes in Android 12L

Interestingly, we already know a lot of what Google has planned for Android 12L. It’s an update primarily focused around large-screen foldables and tablets, which is why Google has partnered with Lenovo to launch the first developer preview. In its current state, there’s not a whole lot that can be tested on regular smartphones. Android 12L doesn’t do much aside from adjusting the layout of multiple system interfaces in order to take advantage of larger displays with a screen width greater than 600dp, meaning that you’ll need a tablet to see them.

Android 12L Developer Preview 1’s changelog is pretty short as a result, and it’s stuff that we’ve already seen documented.

• The first large screen optimized Android OS with new APIs for application developers to provide a better app usage experience in landscape mode, including easier multitasking, system UI optimization and more.
• Security patch updated to 2021-11-01

If you’re an average user, there’s no real reason to install this developer preview yet. It will likely have bugs and other problems, not to mention that the install process itself is painful. You need to make sure your P12 Pro is the Wi-Fi edition only, and installing Android 12L will wipe your device. Not only that but there’s a pretty long list of problems right now, too.

• ‘Copy apps& data’ in OOBE is not supported.
• Fingerprint unlock is not supported
• Face Unlock is not supported
• TOF sensor related function is removed
• Stylus key function is not supported but basic function works
• Touchpad functions with two fingers are not supported
• Touchpad swipe up/down/left/right with 3 or 4 fingers are not supported
• Miracast function is not supported
• Screen output via cable (extended screen) can be supported when force desktop mode> is turned on in developer menu.
• Cast Via HDMI (extended screen) can be supported when <force desktop mode> is turned on in developer menu.
• VPN is not tested and may not work properly
• WIDI is not supported
• Please manually connect keyboard to your device via bluetooth to display battery info of keyboard in Settings.

You can rollback using Lenovo’s official rollback tool, but again, that will also wipe data on your device, and it requires a Windows operating system to run. If you want to try out Android 12L on your Lenovo P12 Pro, then you can check out the official developer site to learn how to install it.

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