Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Deal: The ZTech Qi-charging wooden alarm clock is now under $18

Qi Charging LED Wooden Alarm Clock

Your bedside table usually needs two things: an alarm clock and a phone charger. This Qi-charging wooden alarm clock combines the two, adds some novelty to your decor, and is under $18 with our promo code.

The clock displays the time, date, temperature, and humidity right in front of you to start your day. The entire top panel is a Qi wireless charger so you can simply set your phone on top and wake up to a full battery.

The days of alarm clocks being large black boxes with bright green figures are gone. This clock comes in black, brown, and tan colors to complement your room. The LED display responds to clapping or other significant noise.

The Qi-charging wooden alarm clock at a glance:

  • Light up the screen by clapping your hands or making noise.
  • Display time, date, temperature, and humidity in crisp LED lights.
  • Set up to three alarms to wake up without hitting snooze.
  • Place your phone on top of the clock and start charging instantly.

This wooden alarm clock has a retail value of $40, but you can pick it up for just $17.60 with the promo code 20SAVE20. You'll see it on offer for $21.99, so just bang in the code at the checkout for an even better deal.

The clock is ticking on this temporary deal, so hit the button below to snap yours up.

$17 .60
Qi Charging LED Wooden Alarm Clock Use offer code: 20SAVE20
Save $22 .39
Buy it Now
Qi Charging LED Wooden Alarm Clock Buy it Now
Save $22 .39 $17 .60
Use offer code: 20SAVE20

Is this deal not quite right for you? To see all our hottest deals, head over to the DEALS HUB.



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The best and most influential mobile games of the decade

Ten years ago, mobile gaming was still in its infancy, with both big and small developers still figuring out the platform. As smartphone tech evolved, so did mobile gaming. It has come a long way since 2010 and we are here to take a look at some of the best and most influential games of the decade — from the early pioneers to the big competitive titles of recent years.

The best mobile games of the decade

  1. Angry Birds
  2. Fruit Ninja
  3. Doodle Jump
  4. Crossy Road
  5. Plague Inc.
  6. Monument Valley
  7. 80 days
  8. Alto's Adventure
  9. Reigns
  10. Threes
  11. The Room
  12. Ingress/Pokémon GO
  1. Asphalt series
  2. Modern Combat
  3. PUBG Mobile/Fortnite
  4. Call of Duty Mobile
  5. Hearthstone
  6. Vainglory
  7. Stardew Valley
  8. Minecraft
  9. Final Fantasy 1-9
  10. The Bard's Tale
  11. Summoners War/Puzzles & Dragons
  12. Supercell games

Editor's note: The order of the games is arbitrary. They are not ranked from best to worst. All of the games on the list were included because of their quality, popularity or influence.

The arcade game pioneers

Angry Birds (2010)

Angry Birds is the quintessential mobile game. Today it is a global franchise with too many sequels and spin-off games to count and it even has two movies under its belt. Yet, when Angry Birds first came out it was just a small game with big promise. What turned it into a smash hit was its innovative and fun gameplay. It took advantage of touch controls to create satisfying and intuitive gameplay, with every level presenting its own unique and inventive challenges. Angry Birds didn't rely on microtransactions for progress either. Unlocking new birds was as easy as completing levels and mastering the game's physics. Addictive, entertaining, easy to pick up and play — Angry Birds is without a doubt a mobile game classic.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

Fruit Ninja (2010)

Before the novelty of touchscreens had worn out, tapping and swiping arcade games were everywhere. Yet, none had such a simple but brilliant premise as Fruit Ninja — slashing watermelons, oranges and pineapples with a swipe of your finger, as they fell rapidly across your screen. Every slash and subsequent splash were as satisfying as the next, thanks to buttery smooth gameplay. Of course, the game's success brought about many copycats, but none executed the idea with the same finesse as Fruit Ninja. Both challenging and entertaining, it is a great game to play on the go to this day.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

Doodle Jump (2010)

While Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja utilized touchscreens to their best effect, Doodle Jump took advantage of another smartphone component — the gyroscope. This allowed for innovative motion-based gameplay. Tilting your phone was all you needed to do to propel yourself up endless platforms. But Doodle Jump upped the challenge by placing many obstacles and enemies in your way, which you can shoot by tapping on the screen. Charming, fast-paced but also quite difficult at times, the game was an instant hit on both iOS and Android. Like other arcade games of the era, it didn't have an ending — the goal was getting a high score. But that's what made it fun and why it's one of the best mobile games of the decade.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

Free but not pay to win

Crossy Road (2014)

Simple and cute, this is Crossy Road. Another arcade-style endless game, which turned into a perfect way to pass the time on mobile. The gameplay is incredibly simple — just tap to cross the road avoiding cars and trains. Its charming retro-style certainly helped the game's popularity but so did the various characters and maps you could earn simply by playing. Of course, you could also buy characters but compared to most games of the time, Crossy Road allowed you to have fun without spending a fortune. This is what makes it a mobile game staple and one of the most influential games of the decade.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

Plague Inc. (2012)

At the peak of swine flu panic, Ndemic Studios had the brilliant idea to release a game that challenged you to infect the world with a disease of your own making. At the time, few strategy titles had made it to the Play Store, but Plague Inc. proved the platform was more than suited for it with its tactical but at times unpredictable gameplay. It all starts with infecting patient zero. After that, you need to help the plague evolve and spread. You can choose different strains to evolve, help the virus adapt to different environments and much more. All without having to pay a single cent! Plague Inc. is a great game to play on your commute to this day and undoubtedly a mobile classic that will be a favorite for many even in the decade to come.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

The made for mobile indies

Monument Valley (2014)

If there is one title that made people realize that purchasing mobile games is worth it, it is Monument Valley. This breakthrough indie managed to hit all the right notes. Its mysterious atmosphere, gorgeous minimalist visuals and impossible architecture puzzles made it an instant classic. Monument Valley is challenging without being too difficult and although short, its beautiful design can keep you coming back for more. Today, the game also has a sequel which is just as excellent as the original. Together, they are two of the best games on the mobile platform and certainly two of the most influential indies to ever make it on the Play Store.

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80 days (2014)

Often regarded as the best mobile game of all time, 80 days is interactive fiction at its finest. Before it, the genre was largely ignored, but 80 days proved it was perfectly suited for the mobile platform. You take on the role of valet Jean Passepartout and your goal is to help your employer circumnavigate the globe in 80 days, similar to the Jule Vernes novel. However, 80 days blends real history with steam punk elements, offering a huge variety of branching narratives. Choices matter! 80 days weaves an enthralling narrative and every game feels like a new adventure. Like Monument Valley, you will have to purchase it to enjoy it, but it's a mobile classic that everyone should play at least once.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

Alto's Adventure (2015)

Alto's Adventure is beautiful and masterful in its simplicity. This indie is the type of rare mobile game which offers a zen-like experience. It achieves it thanks to a combination of minimalist graphics, atmospheric soundtrack and wonderful gameplay. Alto's Adventure is simple to pick up, but the difficulty racks up quickly without being frustrating. On the contrary, mastering the game is a slow but satisfying process. All of these factors combined made it an instant hit that has influenced many mobile games that came after it. However, the closest you can get to the original experience is the game's official sequel — Alto's Odyssey.

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Reigns (2016)

The King is dead. Long live the new king — you! Reigns is a strange but captivating indie title which puts you in the shoes of a monarch. You must reign over your kingdom, while carefully balancing finances, keeping the populace happy, as well as controlling the growing influence of the clergy and army. The gameplay is simple — you can make one of two choices by swiping cards. The results can be strange, hilarious or horrifying. Because of that Reigns has a huge replayability value, making it an incredibly popular out-of-the-blue indie that managed to capture everyone's attention. Today, the game has two sequels in the form of Reigns: Her Majesty and Reigns: Game of Thrones, which present their own unique challenges and weave their own entertaining stories. It is without a doubt one of the best mobile indies of the past decade.

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The puzzles that dazzled us

Threes (2014)

A puzzle so addictive and simple, it spawned 2048 copycats — this is Threes. Another game with a simple but brilliant premise. In a 4-by-4 grid, you combine number cards to form higher numbers. All you do is swipe up, down and sideways. However, although it might not seem like it on the surface, Threes is not a mindless swiping game. It is a puzzle with depth that allows you to test and employ different strategies every time you play. It is the Tetris of the mobile era, making it one of the best and most influential mobile games of the last decade.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

The Room (2013)

The Room is the gold standard of mobile puzzle games. Today, it has a variety of sequels and spin offs, but when it first came out it was a unique atmospheric puzzle. It starts off simple — you find yourself in a room with a locked box. The goal is to unlock it and escape. A lens item allows you to cleverly uncover hidden secrets, while the story is told with the help of scattered letters found around the level. Although the story is a bit cliched, the music is excellent and provides a great ambience. The puzzles themselves are clever and challenging, providing hours of entertainment. It is a classic and one of the most influential mobile games of the decade. At time of its release was competing with Machinarium — another puzzle game which deserves an honorable mention.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

The genre-defining mobile games

Ingress/Pokémon GO

Ingress is the true augmented reality pioneer. When it came out, it achieved what at the time seemed impossible — brought video games into the real world. But the game that borrowed Ingress' underlying systems made AR titles what they are today — Pokémon GO. It was a true global phenomenon when it came out in 2016, although its early implementation had its problems. It made you feel like you were a part of a real Pokémon adventure, appealing to both young and old. Pokémon GO has actually ironed most of its flaws out throughout the years and today it offers a full and rich experience that you can enjoy with friends. Despite its diminished playerbase, Pokémon GO remains one of the most influential mobile games of all time. And it couldn't have made it as far without Ingress.

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GET INGRESS

Asphalt series

If there is one name that comes to mind when thinking of racing mobile games, it's Asphalt. This game series is truly genre-defining. The Asphalt games even predate smartphones — Asphalt: Urban GT was the first mobile game of the series. It debuted on the Nokia N-Gage in 2004. Of course, the Asphalt games have come a long way since then. Today, they are not only the best arcade racing games on Google Play — they set the standard for graphics. Asphalt 9: Legends, the latest in the series, offers impressive visuals and smooth gameplay. Races are thrilling and competitive and range from classic to Time attack and Hunted. Topped off with 82 cars to choose from, Asphalt 9 is the quintessential mobile racing game.

GET IT ON GOOGLE PLAY

From small shooters to battle royale

Modern Combat: Sandstorm

Every genre has to start somewhere. In the case of mobile shooters, one of the pioneers that paved the way for today's smash hits was Modern Combat. Together with N.O.V.A., these two Gameloft games were among the first true multiplayer FPS games on Google Play. And although Modern Combat launched in 2009, it still deserves a spot on our list precisely because it demonstrated that shooters can be a mobile staple. Its gameplay was similar to that of its Call of Duty console contemporaries and although not as advanced, it was smooth and entertaining for its time. The original game is no longer on Google Play, but the many Modern Combat sequels are worthy successors.

GET MODERN COMBAT VERSUS

PUBG Mobile/Fortnite (2018)

PUBG Mobile and Fortnite might have a different approach to the battle royale gameplay, but what they have in common is their explosive popularity. They were the battle royale pioneers that defined the genre. Both games were created with PC and console in mind, but they transitioned to mobile with ease and success. Today both are among the pioneering mobile esports. They provide all of the excitement of their PC counterparts without the need for a high spec PC, along with smooth and thrilling gameplay that's easy to pick up but difficult to master. They might have appeared at the end of the decade, but their influence can already be felt everywhere. We are sure they will continue to inspire and influence the competitive mobile shooters of the next decade too.

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Call of Duty Mobile (2019)

Riding on the popularity waves created by PUBG Mobile and Fortnite comes Call of Duty Mobile. The game is was instant hit when it launched this year. With over 100 million downloads in a just a month, it is not only our pick for game of the year, but currently the most popular shooter on Google Play. As expected, the game doesn't have a campaign, but it offers a variety of multiplayer modes, including a battle royale. Thankfully, although they exist, microtransactions don't affect gameplay. Call of Duty Mobile also plays up the nostalgia with a number of classic maps and characters from the franchise making an appearance. The gameplay is as fun and as competitive as ever, and with numbers like these, Call of Duty Mobile will likely stay on top of the charts for quite some time.

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The competitive non-shooters

Hearthstone (2014)

In 2014, esports-style games of any genre were a rare sight on Google Play. But when Hearthstone came out, it was clear that it was a perfect fit. Blizzard's competitive card game utilized its existing IP and lore to create a compelling and strategic experience. With multiple character classes and interesting mechanics, it quickly became a sensation. It was perfect for playing on your smartphone too, thanks to the relatively short duration of matches. Hearthstone also implemented a number of interesting elements like the Arena, which tests your skills without your favorite deck, as well as single player adventures you could purchase for a small fee. Although the game's popularity has kind of fizzled out in recent years, Hearthstone is still one of the decade-defining mobile games.

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Vainglory (2015)

MOBA or multiplayer online battle arena is a notoriously competitive and difficult genre. In the early days of mobile gaming, it seemed impossible to have such a game on the Play Store, especially one that is balanced and one that utilizes touch controls well. However, we have just that in the form of pioneer Vainglory. Called the mobile DOTA by many, this game is a worthy mobile successor to the MOBAs of old. It features the familiar three-lane map with turrets, and the Vain crystal as the last obstacle you need to destroy. Vainglory is fast paced but it's not a watered-down version of PC MOBAs by any means. Better yet, it doesn't really have pay-to-win mechanics. You can choose from 50 well-balanced heroes, which are unlocked with in-game currency. However, it can be earned by simply playing and completing missions. Premium currency bought with real money is reserved for skins only. This makes Vainglory not only a great MOBA, but the best of its genre from this decade.

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The ports that shine on mobile

Stardew Valley (2019)

Stardew Valley is a farming sim, but it has much more to offer beneath the surface. It's a wholesome RPG that any Harvest Moon fan will appreciate. It offers a fun experience that has near universal appeal, as well as a great, captivating story. What makes its mobile port so great is that it hasn't made any compromises. All your favorite locations are still there — from the Pelican Town Community Center to the Calico desert. Fishing is actually slightly easier, and the touch controls don't hinder the gameplay. It's the same charming game with the added benefit of being able to play on-the-go.

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Minecraft (2011)

Minecraft is another game that is a global phenomenon. When it first came out it was hard to escape — from the front page of YouTube to every gaming-related website, it had conquered them all. But its first mobile iteration, Minecraft Pocket Edition, was a scaled down version of the original since smartphone tech at the time couldn't handle the full game. Today, you can enjoy in its full glory on Android. Building, exploring, crafting — it's all there. There isn't much else we need to say. Minecraft is a classic and a game that's made even more enjoyable when played on-the-go.

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Final Fantasy 1-7 (and 9)

Square Enix was one of the first top tier game studios to take mobile seriously and it all began with their outstanding, albeit expensive mobile ports. Over the span of just a few years, Square Enix dropped Final Fantasy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 along with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 4: The After Years. The company also released a handful of Dragon Quest ports, Romancing SaGa 3, Secret of Mana, The World Ends With You, and Final Fantasy 15: Pocket Edition. These games were never the absolute best in their respective genres and not every port was picture perfect. However, the sheer number of them perfectly demonstrates how much a developer can benefit from using a modern mobile platform to re-release old classics. Square Enix had a fun new port every two or three months for a few years and they were titles big enough to almost always talk about. That's more than good enough for a mention on this list.

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The quest for mobile RPGs

The Bard's Tale (2012)

The Bard's Tale spent a good portion of the early decade as being the definitive action RPG for mobile. It's true that it's actually a port of the PC version, but the mobile version was so good and so far ahead of its time that it would be a while before anything could gainfully compete with it. The game included reasonably decent on-screen controls and hardware controller support, a rarity at the time. Mix in quirky, fun dialog and a surprisingly good narrative, and you ended up with a popular game with a super high Google Play rating. It was a pay-once premium game and it eventually fell to the overwhelming popularity of free to play mobile RPGs. However, anybody who wanted a good RPG experience in the early decade got this game as a recommendation.

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Summoners War/Puzzles & Dragons

The mobile gacha RPG genre is one of the most popular mobile genres which begun its life during the last decade. It started innocently enough with releases of games such as Summoners War and Puzzles & Dragons. However, those games exploded in popularity in a very short period of time. This led the way for industry leaders like Final Fantasy Brave Exvius along with smaller, but still successful titles like Another Eden, Azur Lane and Fate/Grand Order. All Mobile gacha RPGs have similar mechanics. There is a narrative story that drives the player forward along with a bunch of timed special events that rotate on the side to keep things fresh. Players summon new characters in hopes of pulling a top tier character and upgrade them to try and outlast the game's eventual power creep. We know a lot of people dislike free to play games, but for some reason people love gacha games and they have some of the most ardent fan bases of any genre on mobile.

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GET PUZZLES & DRAGONS

The money makers

Supercell games (2012)

One developer stands above the rest when it comes to longevity and revenue generated from mobile games — Supercell. Creators of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, Supercell has dominated Google Play since 2012. Although their games often exemplify some of the worst aspects of mobile gaming such as pay-to-not-wait, we can't deny the influence the developer has had on the mobile gaming industry as a whole. In fact, Supercell ushered in many trends we now see everywhere. We have seen a shift to cartoonish aesthetics in mobile titles, including the now infamous "guy with an open mouth" thumbnail which many copycats employ. But we also shouldn't deny that games like Clash of Clans can be a lot of fun for the right audience and have a certain strategic and competitive appeal to them.

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GET CLASH ROYALE

These are our picks for the best and most influential games of the last decade. There are plenty of other titles we wish we could have included, so let us know what your favorites are in the comments below. Let's hope the next decade brings us even more amazing mobile games.



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LG patent reveals tablet-sized detachable, flexible dual-screen phone cover

LG G8X ThinQ Review couch wide view

If you thought the LG G8X was an interesting device, you will find these recently leaked LG patents truly exciting. Spotted by LetsGoDigital, the patents reveal LG could be working on another smartphone dual-screen phone cover that is genuinely one of a kind.

Related: LG G8X ThinQ review: A more practical — and affordable — 'folding' phone

According to the patent, the case itself folds out into a tablet-sized display, unlike the company's previous dual-screen implementation which is the same size as the smartphone display. This means the user would effectively have a large separate flexible display attached to their phone at all times.

LG flexible smartphone display cover leaked patentLetsGoDigital

The cover appears to attach to the smartphone with a magnetic connector that looks quite similar to the Apple iPad Smart Cover with three data connector pins. Unlike similar covers, this one would wrap nearly all the way around the device to accommodate the flexible tablet-sized display.

It's important to note that patents don't always make it to market. Just because a company files one doesn't mean anything will come of it. Though this happens all the time, we would be really excited to see LG push the envelope with this one.

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The best and most iconic Android apps of the decade (2010-2019)

Microsoft Office best office apps for android
The 2010s was a big decade for mobile technology. Android and iOS were only a year or two old at that point, and both of them had a lot of growth ahead. Smartphones went from a single-core processor to eight cores, less than 1GB of RAM up to 12GB, and less than 4GB of storage up to 1TB. The software also evolved over the span of the decade. New design standards became the norm, phones could handle heavier workloads, and people just demanded more from the little computers in their pockets. Software took massive leaps in the 2010s just like hardware did. Let's identify some of the big players that had a major impact during the last decade.

For the purposes of this list, we're going to omit some obvious choices. Some of those choices include Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and Twitter. Those apps are attached to already popular services before the decade began and they were going to be popular anyway. Additionally, we're going to sidestep viral apps like Timely and Prisma because they were fun at the time but generally didn't really leave a lasting impact. The list is in alphabetical order.

More posts about the best Android apps!

Adobe apps

Price: Free

In 2010, Android lacked a lot of things. Among them were a decent photo editor, video editor, and other tools for artists and photographers. A lot of people opined the lack of a Photoshop for Android until Adobe released a Photoshop for Android. The software giant also released two other Photoshop apps, Illustrator Draw, a Lightroom Mobile app, and capped off the decade with Adobe Premiere Rush. Adobe also has one of the most recognizable PDF readers with Adobe Acrobat along with an outstanding document scanner with Adobe Scan. It'll be some time before the mobile versions of these apps match the power and functionality of the desktop counterparts, but the groundwork is set.

Adobe had help from other developers in this space as well. Other prominent apps in the category include Snapseed, PowerDirector, ActionDirector, KineMaster, Pixlr, AirBrush, SketchBook by Autodesk, PicsArt, and many others. It's actually rather encouraging to see that we started the decade with practically nothing and ended up with a fairly robust set of options. Rest assured, creator-specific tools won't be a problem for mobile phone owners going into the next decade. We're all just waiting for refinement at this point.

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Adobe Lightroom screenshot 2019

Bluestacks

Price: Free / $4 per month / $40 per year

Bluestacks isn't technically an app, but it's easily the most popular Android emulator for PC. Bluestacks may not have been the first, but it's definitely the most influential of the crop. The app started a whole industry for people who want to play mobile games or use mobile apps on their desktop PC. Bluestacks wasn't just popular — it also partnered with MSI to create the MSI App Player app for that company's laptops. Toward the end of the decade, the popularity of the platform even encouraged official emulators for newer mobile games like PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile. It was never the big thing to talk about, but it has enjoyed ten years of relative success since its launch in 2009.

Of course, there are other outstanding emulators as well, including Nox, KoPlayer, and GameLoop. The industry was also boosted by former great emulators like LeapDroid and Andy, at least until Andy's shady practices made it impossible to recommend to people and Google bought LeapDroid. The emulator market isn't sexy, but it's popular and Bluestacks has stood at the top of it for basically the whole decade.

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Duolingo

Price: Free / $9.99 per month

Duolingo is arguably the most popular language learning app on the Google Play Store. It hit every single check mark. It's completely free to use for all of its languages. Additionally, it's fun to use, utilizes games and such to keep people engaged, and it's good for people of all ages. It hit the Play Store like a freight train and easily garnered our pick for the top Android app of 2013. The app has 100 million downloads at least, over 8 million reviews in the Play Store, and despite introducing a premium option, people still love it. The premium version adds some extras that aren't necessary as the core app still functions the same way.

There are other great learning apps. Khan Academy (Khan Academy Kids), Udemy, Memrise, Mondly, Rosetta Stone, edX, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Brainly, and many others. However, Duolingo struck a chord that helped spark mobile education in the right way. Google Play made it app of the year in both 2013 and 2014. It's not so much in the public eye these days, but the decade wouldn't have been the same without it.

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Duolingo screenshot 2019 final

Google Assistant vs Amazon Alexa vs Siri

Price: Free

Siri launched in 2010 to mass praise. It generated memes, was quite ahead of its time, and came stock on all new iPhones from that point forward. Google's assistant began life humbly enough as Google Now in the early 2010s before becoming Google Assistant in 2016. Finally, Amazon Alexa joined the chat in 2014. The three immediately began competing with one another for market share and attention. In addition, all three apps eventually moved on to smart home gadgets like the Google Home, the Amazon Echo, and the Apple HomePod where the battle rages to this day. On the app side of things, though, the general consensus is that Google Assistant is the top dog in that fight.

All three services have their ups and downs, controversies and successes, and pros and cons. They all spawned memes, appeared in TV shows, and have their own sections at your local Best Buy. In fact, if we had to pick just one, these three apps might be the biggest and most impactful apps of the whole decade. However, 2019 ended with the three coming together to make smart homes suck less so this fight might be over sooner rather than later.

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Google App is one of the best moon calendar apps for android

Google Drive vs Microsoft Office

Price: Free / Varies

Google Drive and Microsoft Office are the two dominant office suites on Android. Google Drive is the more popular option but Microsoft Office has its fair share of pros as well. Google Drive entered into the fray swinging and with its 15GB of free storage and completely free office suite. It quickly became a favorite for college students, high school students, and other highly valuable demographics. Meanwhile, Microsoft adapted beautifully to modern times with a reasonably cheap subscription package for its mobile and desktop apps.

This fight wasn't as public as the virtual assistant one, but it's one that helped shape the mobile office landscape nevertheless. To date, there are few options with as much power as these two and most people and websites alike generally ring these off as the best first and second options. Much like with Adobe's apps, mobile didn't have a solid office experience at the start of the decade. Now it has two.

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Google Drive is one of the best data apps for android

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IFTTT and Tasker

Price: Free / $3.49 respectively

Unlike most of the multiple entrants on this list, IFTTT and Tasker aren't really competitors. They do similar things, but they never felt or acted like competitors. IFTTT is simpler and Tasker is more hardcore, but they both work to help people automate tasks. Tasker started the decade on top by allowing Android users to automate various tasks. It was long considered one of the best power user Android apps of all time. IFTTT, on the other hand, tackled more modern problems and supports more recent tech like smart home stuff and easier stuff like downloading images from Instagram.

Admittedly, IFTTT is the automation app to beat these days as Google Play's continuous privacy policy updates keep hampering Tasker's progress. You can use it to automatically do a ton of things and it has support for virtual assistant apps like Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. In fact, it boasts direct support for over 600 apps and a variety of hardware including Fitbit, Sonos speakers, and Honeywell. It may not be the power hitter in terms of name recognition like many on this list, but unless something drastic changes soon, IFTTT is going to play a big role in the next decade.

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Instagram and Snapchat

Price: Free

We omitted Facebook and Twitter because both were already popular when the decade began. However, Instagram launched in 2010 and Snapchat launched in 2011. Both apps began a seismic shift from standard, old school social media to a more mobile-centric one. Both apps skyrocketed in popularity over the course of the decade and both have similar ideas with different executions. Instagram is a photo-first social app with a stories feature for keeping up to date with what people are doing. Snapchat is a photo-first messenger service with other messaging features and its own stories feature.

These apps hit the internet in a big way. Many existing social media apps borrowed Snapchat's Stories feature, including Instagram. Facebook competed by outright buying Instagram. Both apps had massive redesigns, feature additions, and sometimes even issues over the course of the decade. However, both are about as strong now as they can possibly be. Both apps made mobile photography a thing and that has helped shape the mobile landscape for the rest of the decade. Why else do you think reviewers focus so much on cameras? It's because of the 1.2 billion people who use these two apps.

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Instagram - best skateboard apps

Nova Launcher

Price: Free / $4.99

Nova Launcher is one of the most obvious choices on this list and a lot of people are going to skip right by this paragraph because of it. Let's just get right down to the basics. Nova Launcher launched nearly a decade ago and has been one of the easiest recommendations in the entire Play Store. It is one of the most popular launchers on Android, it manages to remain modern with each passing year, and it's just customizable enough to fit most people's needs.

If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone say that another person should just use Nova Launcher, I could retire on my own private island. There have been some other amazing launchers, including Action Launcher 3, Lawnchair Launcher, and some young upstarts like Hyperion Launcher and Evie Launcher. However, aside from raw download numbers (Hola Launcher and GO Launcher have more), Nova is the top dog and it spent very nearly the entire decade there. That's some outstanding longevity.

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Nova Launcher is one of the best android apps

Sling TV

Price: Free trial / $30-$45 per month + options

Sling TV is the live TV app that started the live TV app trend on mobile. It wasn't the first like it and the history dates back quite a few years. However, Sling TV is the first that saw enough success to be a thing. The industry summarily expanded with Hulu TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV (formerly DirecTV Now), and PlayStation Vue before Vue went down in 2019. However, Sling TV is still a pioneer in the segment, even if some of the competitors have better features.

Sling TV does have its fair share of good features, though. Its a-la-carte style is such a difference from standard cable TV and even other live TV streaming apps that it remains one of the most unique options in the segment. Of course, the competitors get partial credit for making this a thing that people have choices for and we wouldn't be shocked if cable TV subscriptions continued to drop unless cable TV providers modernized their options.

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Swype Keyboard

Price: Free / $2.99

Swype Keyboard was easily the most iconic app of the first half of the decade. Gboard and SwiftKey along with Fleksy and others eventually usurped the iconic Swype but most of them had to copy Swype's hallmark feature in order to do so. Swype was the first keyboard with gesture typing and back in the early 2010s, and that gesture typing was outstanding. It also captured a Guinness World Record for fastest text message in 2010 and that might be the best marketing boost it could've dreamed of. The app spent years as a pre-installed app before its Play Store release and it was a good day when it did.

However, like all products, Swype fell victim to copycats. Gboard and Swiftkey added gesture typing in short order to maintain their spots at the top of the keyboard ladder. Other keyboards like Fleksy also use gestures as well but in more unique ways. Swype was the first, but now nearly every Android keyboard has the feature. Unfortunately, all of those keyboards, plus a slowdown in development, squeezed Swype out of the market and it officially closed its doors in 2018.

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swype keyboard

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite: All the rumors in one place (Update: Leaked photos)

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite AH LeakAndroid Headlines

Update: December 31, 2019 (3:00 PM ET): In a recent tweet by SamMobile, we get a look at the possible upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite. The Tweet includes pictures of the front and back of the device, as well as pictures highlighting the S Pen, the device system information, and the device boot graphic.

These photos seem to line up with what we've seen so far. You should always take leaked information with a grain of salt, but with it being so close to the device's expected CES 2020 launch, it is likely that these photos are the real deal. I guess we will find out in a couple of weeks.

Original Article: December 4, 2019 (2:45 PM ET): The next few years are going to be pretty interesting for smartphones. More powerful chipsets are going to start rolling in and 5G networks will become more mainstream. Premium smartphone makers like Samsung and Apple are also seemingly revising their strategies.

Starting 2020, Apple is expected to stray from its yearly launch strategy and release iPhones in both Spring and Fall. Meanwhile, Samsung is reportedly preparing Lite variants of its premium flagship phones.

Both, the Note 10 Lite and the S10 Lite have appeared in multiple leaks off late. In this article, we'll focus on everything we know about the Galaxy Note 10 Lite so far. Without further ado, let's see what Samsung has in store for the Note 10's younger sibling.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite name

Reports say that the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite could also be named Galaxy A81 in some markets. If true, this would make it part of Samsung's 2020 A-series lineup as well.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite design

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite leaked renders91Mobiles

Three sets of Galaxy Note 10 Lite renders have been spotted so far. The first set of Note 10 Lite renders were rather dark, but showed a Note 10 and Note 10 Plus-like display. There's a centered punch-hole on the screen, also something we've previously seen on Galaxy S11 renders.

An iPhone 11 and Pixel 4-style square camera bump rests at the back of the phone. The leak also shows the coveted headphone jack makes a return on the Note 10 Lite. A USB-C port can be spotted at the bottom of the phone.

Since the first few leaked renders were dark, we couldn't make out the thickness of the display bezels. The second set of leaks changed that. Android Headlines published a color render of the alleged Galaxy Note 10 Lite (see top image) showing ultra-thin bezels surrounding the display. This render once again confirmed a cutout at the center of the screen.

The third set of renders popped up over at WinFuture. These images don't reveal much information we didn't already know, but at least we get a look at some of the possible device colorways, including black, red, and a sort of pearlescent white.

We also get a good look at the handset's potential color-matching S Pen, punch-hole front-facing camera, and rear triple-camera setup.

Leaks suggest that the device is 8.7mm thick and weighs 198 grams.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite specs

According to leaked specs, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite is expected to feature a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED panel. The resolution of the panel is reportedly set at 2,400 x 1,080 pixels. The screen supports HDR and has an in-display fingerprint sensor. There's a punch-hole right below the top edge, in the middle, which houses the single selfie shooter.

For its processing needs, the Galaxy Note 10 Lite is said to feature the Exynos 9810 chipset which also powered the S9 and Note 9. The SoC will apparently be paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Since this is a 2018 chipset, the Note 10 Lite is shaping up to be a cheaper phone compared to the S10 Lite, which is said to house the Snapdragon 855 SoC.

The phone is expected to get triple rear shooters. According to the spec leak, the device will get a 12MP main camera with f/1.7 aperture and dual-pixel autofocus. The main camera will be joined by a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide lens with f/2.2 aperture.

A 32MP front camera is said to take up the selfie duties. The phone is believed to support up to 4K video recording at 60fps.

S-Pen support with Bluetooth 5.0 is also touted for the phone.

The entire package is said to be powered by a 4,500mAh battery, which is higher than any Note 10 model so far. The phone is expected to sport 25W fast charging.

For software, the Note 10 Lite will likely get Samsung's One UI 2.0 based on Android 10 out of the box.

Connectivity features include a 3.5mm headphone port, NFC, Wi-Fi 5 (2.4GHz and 5 GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Smart View, and a USB-C charging port.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite price

According to reliable source Roland Quandt of WinFuture, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite could cost €629.99 (~$701). This would allegedly be for a version with 128GB of internal storage.

If this is true, the price would be considerably cheaper than even the lowest-tier Samsung Galaxy Note 10. In fact, it would be even cheaper than the starting price of the "budget" Samsung Galaxy S10e. It would also be cheaper than the upcoming Galaxy S10 Lite which is rumored to cost around €679.99 (~$754).

Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite availability

Sources tell 91Mobiles that the launch of both the Note 10 Lite and S10 Lite has been postponed to mid-January 2020. The smartphone was previously said to launch in India in December.

There are also rumors that the phone will launch on January 10 and WinFuture claims it'll be available in Western Europe in the same month.

With all of the above information, what are your thoughts on the Galaxy Note 10 Lite? Would you buy a cheaper Samsung flagship with a 2018 SoC? Let us know in the comments section below.

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