Welcome to the 429th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the big headlines from last week:
- T-Mobile is currently dealing with a non-blockable phishing attack. It was first reported by the NJCCIC. Basically, the scam involves texts for users thanking them for paying their bills and offering a free gift. It is difficult to block because they use group messages and it is a little more difficult to block than usual. In any case, check the link if you are a T-Mobile subscriber to make sure you are not hit.
- CNN Plus closes on April 30, 2022. The reasoning is pretty clear. It was not popular and no one wanted it anyway. The service reportedly had less than 10,000 total subscribers, and that’s about as bad as it gets. Some of the content may find its way to HBO Max, but otherwise let’s just pretend this never happened, because that’s what Warner Bros. has to offer. Discovery will do.
- A third-party tool that installed the Google Play Store on Windows 11 machines apparently also installs malware. The app is Windows Toolbox, and on top of the Play Store, it also installs some sketchy scripts along with a malicious Chrome extension. The extension redirects users to affiliate and referral links, while also stealing personal data. Click on the link to learn more.
- Netflix announced a few things this week. The first was that they lost 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter of 2022. This is not good news. The company followed it up by announcing an ad-supported plan that is cheaper than the stock plans. Finally, they also announced that account sharing is mandatory across all accounts. We asked our readers and they are summarily dissatisfied with most things.
- Google kills call recorder apps. The company limited the functionality on earlier versions of Android. It does not kill it forever this time. The company bans all call recorder apps from the Play Store from May 11th. It does this by restricting the use of the Accessibility API. But the loophole is that stock call apps do not need the API to make calls. Recording calls is thus a discrepancy between OEMs and not app developers. We’ll see how it develops over time.
Berserker online
Price: Free to play
Berserker Online is an inactive game with RPG elements. It plays as you expect. You sit while your heroes beat enemies and rise in level. The game also boasts dungeons, bosses and a PvP arena. It uses the classic combination mechanics to make weapons stronger. The developers overlook some of their mechanics, but it’s just as good a time waster as you get in the genre. Unfortunately, the game had some release date bugs that caused some issues with people loading the game. We think they’ve solved it, but if not, give it a few more days.
Zola dials
Price: $ 0.99 each
Zola Watchfaces is a developer on Google Play, and they recently launched several new Wear OS dials. The themes are subtly different between them, but most of them have similar features. They include battery status, always on screen, 24 or 48 hour modes and more. They are not the most changing dials you will ever see. However, they are a cheap way to add a bit of flair to your smartwatch if you want.
Time defenders
Price: Free to play
Time Defenders is a mobile gacha RPG. It boasts a list of over 70 heroes, and there are almost certainly more on the way. What makes this game pretty decent is the execution. The characters are fully voiced with decent animations. The story is not bad and the whole package plays pretty well. It has many of the usual gacha traps like tedious grinding to upgrade devices. However, you can grind for upgrade materials instead of needing more features. It gets more hilarious and boring with time, as all gachas do, but it’s honestly not terrible.
Proton calendar
Price: Available
Proton Calendar is the latest app in the Proton software package. The beta launched for use even though you must be an existing Proton user to use the calendar. The calendar itself is pretty good. It includes widgets, recurring events, a daily scheduling feature and a dark mode along with the light mode. This one differs from the package by having end-to-end encryption on servers based in Switzerland. It’s about as secure of a calendar as you can get in 2022. Again, you have to be an existing Proton user to get into the beta, but hopefully it will disappear when the app officially launches.
Dungeon of Gods
Price: Free to play
Dungeon of Gods is an action RPG with very simple mechanics. It’s reminiscent of Nonstop Knight to say the least, so if you’ve played it, you kind of have an idea of what you’re after. You fall in, walk around and kill a bunch of villains. From there, you earn prey, stay on the cutting edge of difficulty, and move on. It’s the basic game loop, though there are a few other things you can do. It’s a decent little time waster, and the microtransactions could definitely be worse. The only problems are some early faults that can cause occasional crashes or connectivity issues.
If we missed any great Android app or game releases or news, let us know in the comments.
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