Theta Android News

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Pokémon Go: Common problems and fixes!

Pokémon Go is shockingly popular. But it's not the most stable app at the moment.

With tens of millions of players hitting the game, there are bound to be a few issues — particularly when the game relies on your phone's internet and GPS connections, as well as Niantic's servers.

Rather than have you track down things all over trying to fix issues, we've rounded up common Pokémon Go problems, and some solutions to fix them! Read on.

Pokémon Go not available in your country yet

Yes, this is perhaps the biggest issue with Pokémon Go ... it isn't available everywhere just yet! Niantic has been quickly adding more countries to the Play Store as it grows capacity, but for many the wait is quite frustrating.

Dedicated individuals have started to side-load the app in order to use it in other areas, though we really don't recommend that. There are malicious fake Pokémon Go apps out there, and installing one is bad news for your phone.

If you eventually decided to go the route of side-loading the app, it's very important to re-enable the "unknown sources" security check in your phone's settings so you aren't leaving your phone open to issues in the future.

More: Pokémon Go not available in your country? Here's what's going on

Pokémon Go not available on your phone or tablet

The demands to run Pokémon Go aren't all that high, but there are a few things you'll need to have in order to properly play. You'll need a phone running at least Android 4.4. KitKat, and you'll also need a mobile data connection as well as GPS services — this isn't an offline game in any way.

You can use Pokémon Go on a tablet, but if it's a Wi-Fi only device and you're trying to use it with a separate hotspot ... it isn't really worth your time. An LTE-enabled tablet will work just fine though! Devices with Intel processors also aren't supported, which is a bummer — but at least you know that going in.

More: Does Pokémon Go work on your phone or tablet?

GPS problems in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go relies on mobile data and GPS to pinpoint you on a map so you can hit up PokéStops, catch Pokémon and battle at Gyms, so things kind of fall apart when your phone can't get an accurate GPS signal. If you keep receiving the "GPS signal not found" error, there are a few things you can do, including making sure that you haven't accidentally turned location services off, and if you have them on make sure they're set to "high accuracy" mode.

For all of the GPS troubleshooting steps, be sure to check out our dedicated guide below. And whatever you do, do not fake your location — bad things will happen if you do.

More: Fixing 'GPS signal not found' error in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go draining your battery

No, it's not just you — Pokémon Go is a battery killer. Keeping your screen and processor ramped up playing the game, plus constant GPS and mobile network use, with a little camera thrown in, and your phone's battery is going to drain quickly. Thankfully Pokémon Go has a few things you can do to limit battery drain, including turning on the "battery saver" mode in the settings, and turning down your screen brightness.

Check out all of our battery-saving tips below, and if push comes to shove, consider getting yourself an external battery to keep your phone powered up for long Pokémon Go sessions.

More: How to save your battery while playing Pokémon Go

More: Best external battery packs for Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go data usage

Since Pokémon Go requires you to walk around outside to collect Pokémon and hit up PokéStops, you're going to be out of Wi-Fi range and using your mobile data. Everything is downloaded on the fly, to make sure you can keep current with the other players, and that means you'll definitely be using mobile data. Thing is, it doesn't actually turn out to use that much data when you're playing — maybe 20-30MB per hour you're walking around.

You can do a few things to keep data usage down, like latching onto open Wi-Fi networks in cities, but for the most part you should be cautious about how much mobile data you use in other apps while you're out playing Pokémon Go. Remember to pre-download music or podcasts you may be listening to, and turn off auto-downloading of app updates and disable auto-loading of media in apps like Instagram and Facebook. Every megabyte saved means another megabyte to use on Pokémon go!

More: How much data does Pokémon go use?

Understanding Pokémon Go privacy concerns

There were some initial scares about how Pokémon Go was handling your private information — particularly in the iOS version of the app — but there are more real things to be aware of beyond that.

Pokémon Go collects data on where you move and what you do in the game, and can share that data anonymously and in aggregate with third parties. (Of course this is pretty standard stuff for any game of this kind, but knowing is half the battle.) You can always delete your account at any time, if you wish, but Niantic may hold on the data for a reasonable amount of time after you do so. When in doubt, read the privacy policy and terms of service for the game.

More: Understand the data collected when you play Pokémon Go

Have some other issues you're trying to work out while playing Pokémon Go? Our forums are filled with tons of questions and answers that could hold the information you need!

Pokémon Go

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SwiftKey suspends cloud syncing after data leak

Talk about autocorrect fails: most of them are meant to be funny and awkward, but perhaps that's not the case with the recent SwiftKey glitch. Earlier this week, some SwiftKey users started reporting that their keyboard was suggesting random foreign words and even unfamiliar email addresses. Awkward indeed. In response to the leak SwiftKey has suspended cloud syncing temporarily.

Last weekend, a Reddit user posted a series of screenshots showing his SwiftKey keyboard doing something odd: despite being set to English, the keyboard was suggesting random German word predictions as well as a completely unfamiliar email address. Judging by the comments on this thread, this Reddit user wasn't the only one plagued by the glitch.

With personal words and phrases, email addresses, and phone numbers being synced to a stranger's phone half-way across the world, this seemingly harmless bug potentially meant a huge security issue.

Latest Huawei P9 update finally stops messing with your app icons

No more terrible rounded rectangles and outdated Google app logos.

After years of being broken, ugly or both, Huawei's EMUI software is finally starting to get better. We saw some big improvements in EMUI 4.1 on the Huawei P9 this year, with major UI bugbears and longstanding glitches finally addressed. And now a fresh P9 update eliminates one huge pet hate of ours: Huawei's meddling in your app icons.

As we've explained before, back when custom themes were needed to sidestep this nonsense:

Most themes unify the look of your home screen by placing [icons] on rounded rectangles or squared-off circles ("squircles"). In some cases that looks fine. In others, you get the white Google Play Store icon on a white rectangle, or a green Hangouts icon on a green squricle. It just doesn't look great.

More annoyingly, because these icons are built into the theme, they're almost never up-to-date. [At the time of writing] the Huawei P9 still has the old Google Chrome icon.

Except not anymore. With the latest update to build 166, the Huawei P9 has singularly stopped messing with your icons. Graphics for preloaded Google apps appear just like on any other phone. And with just a handful of exceptions, the same applies to the overwhelming majority of third-party apps too. The change applies to all built-in themes, and the end result looks so much better. Not just more visually consistent with the rest of Android — objectively better.

EMUI is starting to grow up, and that's one of a few reasons to start paying serious attention to Huawei.

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5 important things to know about Google Play Family Libraries

I have a nice Google Play Movies library. And now, so does the rest of my family.

Google Play rolled out Family Libraries earlier this week in 8 countries. It allows families to share content from almost every section of the Google Play store with the whole group. Now, rather than buying all your content with one account and adding that account to every tablet/phone in the family, everyone can buy what they want and share it. It sounds great, and it's a leap forward for family content management on Android and Google's properties but there are a few things you should know.

1. You should set everyone up at once

In order to use a Family Library, you need to add your family's Google accounts to a Family Group. Family Groups can have up to six members including the family manager, so if you're in a large family, think carefully about which members can get in on the group. If you have to make two groups to accommodate your whole family, you'll have to have another account moderate the second group, as you can only be in one Family Group at a time.

You can also only switch family groups once every twelve months, so don't go thinking you can just switch in and out of groups between your friends and your family.

Once you've figured out who's gonna be in your group, get invites out and accepted quickly. Invitations can expire, and that's exactly what happened when I sent out my invites while setting up the Family Group for Google Play Music's Family Plan. You don't want to hassle with sending and resending everyone's invites and making sure everyone accepts and gets set up. Sit down and do it after a family dinner, or during movie night while everyone's watching Frozen for the billionth time.

2. Turn off automatic adding

You probably don't want your kids watching that copy of Deadpool in your Play Movies library, and you'd rather they not read your copy of 50 Shades Darker, you're not going to want Google Play adding everything from your library to the Family Library. If you did this during your setup already, no worries, let's just turn it off right now.

In the Google Play app (or the website), select Account from the left-hand menu, then under Family open Family Library settings. Here, we have settings for whether to automatically add each of the three type of Play content shareable in your Family Library: Movies & TV, Books, and Apps & Games.

When you tap on a content type, it'll explain how automatic sharing works and ask you if you want to use it. If you don't, select Don't add automatically, I'll do it myself. You'll also see a little warning below telling you that if you want to remove individual content from the Family Library, you'll have to go to that item's listing in the app.

If you want to carte blanche revoke every app or video of yours from the Family Library, you can remove all purchases with the Remove purchases button at the bottom of the page. Depending on how many things you need to remove, it might be quicker to wipe everything out and add them all back.

3. Curating your Family Library can get tedious

You can revoke everything in a hurry, but adding things back takes time. To individually add a movie, TV show, or app, you have to go find that movie/show/book/app on either the Google Play Store, Play Movies & TV, or Play Books. When you find the item you want to share, they'll be a toggle on that item's page (except in Play Books, where it's in the dropdown under the cover in your Library).

If you didn't add everything initially, you're going to be spending a lot of time scrolling through your library finding what you do and don't want to add. There is no batch adding — except for things you purchased as a bundle, and television shows, which are all or nothing when it comes to adding them to Family Library. So if you wanted to share JLA Trapped in Time with the kiddies but not Batman Under the Red Hood from the DC Animated collection, you're out of luck.

4. Switch the family payment method to Google Play credit

When you set up a Family Library, you have to set up a payment method for purchases that the whole family can use. While Google accounts registered at 13-17 years old will need the family managers approval before using the family payment method for any purchase, adult Google accounts in the family group don't need permission to use it for anything but in-app purchases by default -- and the only other option is to not need approval for those either.

While most of us probably picked our credit card during setup, you can change the family payment method to your Google Play balance. This way, that rather than chipping away at your credit/debit card balance, they can only use the pennies you've racked up in Google Opinion Rewards to fund their Google Play binge.

5. Not everything is shareable — especially when it comes to apps

While most if not all movies and TV shows are shareable, the same can't be said for books and apps. See, movies you got for free during promotions on Google Play can be shared, but books you got for free in Google Play cannot. Free apps cannot be shared, nor can in-app purchases — nor most paid apps at the moment. Of all the paid apps on my phone at the moment, only two are available to be shared in the Family Library.

However, that may have more to do with when I purchased the apps rather than their actual ability to be shared. Developers cannot completely opt out of Family Library, but they can opt out any purchases made before July 2nd of this year. Any app purchases you made before that, you are at the mercy of the developer as to whether or not you can add them to Family Library — thank you, Radarscope for enabling that on your app so quickly.

Because app purchases are shareable but in-app purchases are not, we may soon see a larger push to in-app purchases from apps that previously had paid and unpaid versions. It's also a shame that developers cannot opt out of sharing apps, as that could deprive them of thousands and thousands of purchases from one family member seeing another's app and deciding to purchase it themselves. However, this also gives family members a chance to try paid apps recommended by their brother or sister before they buy it themselves — and you should pay for apps that you enjoy using. Support developers!

What other tips do you have after setting up your own Family Library? Share them in the comments below and tell us which older-purchased apps you've been able to share.

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Must read: top 10 Android stories

BlackBerry DTEK50 hands on 13

This week we reviewed the ZTE Axon 7, talked about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, rounded up the best new Android apps and games, and much more. Here's the news of the week.

Who wants to win a Nexus 6P?

The Nexus 6P is still one of the best Android phones on the market. Here's how you can win one.

10 Android stories we handpicked for you

ZTE Axon 7 review A year after the mysterious Axon Pro, ZTE have launched the Axon 7 with a lot of upgrades and a $400 price tag. Is it the best affordable flagship around?

BlackBerry DTEK50 hands-on: the Priv minus the keyboard, essentially It's been nearly a year since BlackBerry launched the PRIV running Android and now, they're back again with the DTEK50. Is the phone as lame as its name?

Moto Mods review: blast, power and project in a snap Modularity is the name of the game and Josh takes a closer look at the Moto Mods – great ways to add more capabilities to the Moto Z range… at a price.

The most iconic phone from each manufacturer It's easy to get caught up in the current smartphone landscape, but every once in awhile we need to look back and remember our history. Join us as we take a look at the most iconic phones from each OEM.

I want to develop Android apps – what languages should I learn? Developing Android apps can be rewarding, both personally and financially. Assuming you have a certain level of technical knowledge then it is possible to develop Android apps yourself. But what programming languages do you need to learn?

10 best new Android games of June 2016 Our own Joe Hindy rounds up the best Android games from June 2016!

10 best new Android apps of June 2016 Every month we update our list of favorite new apps, and this time Joe Hindy has given us a very neat portfolio of great additions to the Google Play Store. Among them are Bitly, Evie, Expeditions, Discogs and more.

Cyanogen OS vs Android: what's the difference? If you're at all interested in smartphones, you've probably heard of Cyanogen OS. What is it, and how does it differ from Google's Android? Let's find out.

Failure to launch: 6 devices we're still waiting for Crowdfunding has kickstarted a number of great products, but for every success there are some failures. Here are six devices that we are still waiting for.

Lenovo K4 Note review We take a look at one of Lenovo's new mid-range offerings in this in-depth Lenovo K4 Note review!

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And more: Here are the videos you don't want to miss this week – July 31, 2016

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5 Android apps you shouldn’t miss this week! – Android Apps Weekly

VR Controller

[Price: $3.99]
VR Controller is a fun little app that allows you to transform an old device into a controller for a VR game. Here's how it works. You download the app onto an old device that you're not using. You then pair that device to your current device using Bluetooth. From there, you can use it as a controller while playing VR games. It's compatible with Gear VR, Google Cardboard, and other Android VR headsets. If you're big into VR gaming, this is definitely an app to check out.

Get it now on Google Play!

Maiden: Legacy of the Beast

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Maiden: Legacy of the Beast is a turn-based combat strategy based on the music of Iron Maiden. The mechanics are fairly simple and you'll have five classes to choose from, dozens of talisman packs to collect, and plenty of bad guys to do combat with. Perhaps the most interesting part of the game is the soundtrack. It will feature many Iron Maiden tracks and some of them are previously unreleased songs or songs that were made specifically for the game. Fans of the band should definitely check it out.

Get it now on Google Play!

TraffickCam

[Price: Free]
TraffickCam is a unique application that could help track down sex traffickers. The idea is that whenever you stay in a hotel, you open the app and take a few pictures of the room that you're staying in. You then upload it to a database and the proper authorities can use it to match pictures taken by sex traffickers. It's a completely free download and worth taking with you when you're out traveling about. Every little bit helps, right?

Get it now on Google Play!
traffickcam android apps weekly

LEGO Star Wars TFA

[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
LEGO Star Wars TFA is the latest installment of the LEGO Star Wars franchise and this one is themed after the highly successful The Force Awakens movie. This is an episodic adventure which means you'll have to unlock various segments of the story through in-app purchases. Aside from that, the game features tons of characters and scenarios from the movie for you to play through. It's a fun little game that is also family friendly and you can pick up the beginning of it for free.

Get it now on Google Play!

Prisma

[Price: Free]
Prisma was released early last week and it's one of the more unique filter apps that we've seen. According to the developers, the app uses neural networks and artificial intelligence to transform your photos. Because of this, you're going to get some unique results when applying filters to your photos. There are a variety of filters that you can use and we assure you that none of them are the kinds of typical stuff you see in other apps. It's completely free so there's no harm in trying it out.

Get it now on Google Play!

Related best app lists:

If we missed any of the best Android apps or games news from the last week, tell us about them in the comments!To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.

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This $11 waterproof Bluetooth speaker is perfect for the shower!

If you are in the market for a new waterproof Bluetooth speaker, you won't want to miss out on Seedforce's option at Amazon for just $11 with coupon code FGYX33GA right now. The speaker will offer you great sound quality thanks to its built-in 5W drivers and other high-quality components, as well as long-lasting battery life. Thanks to it 2500mAh battery, you'll be able to enjoy around 16 hours of playback per charge.

The speaker is not only able to get a little wet but it can also be fully submerged without any issues. You won't want to miss out on this deal if you are looking for a great Bluetooth speaker to carry around that will work in just about any situation you can imagine. Remember, you'll need coupon code FGYX33GA for the full savings.

See at Amazon

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