Welcome to the 190th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are your headlines from the last week:
- May 4th came and went. That means there were a bunch of Star Wars things going on. In terms of apps and games, Google added some Star Wars fun to the Android Pay app for a short time. Additionally, there were deals and sales on Google Play for games, movies, and even comics. We don’t know if they’re still active. However, if you can find the six film collection for $80, that’s a seriously good deal.
- There was a large scale phishing attempt on Gmail this week. Essentially, an email went around that looked like a legitimate Google Docs share link. People clicked it, gave it authorization, and then it had full access to their Google account. Google has since shut it down, although we’re not sure how many emails the attempt got to. In response, Google has updated Gmail with better protection from phishing.
- A report showed this week that Fire Emblem Heroes is more profitable than Super Mario Run. What’s really odd about that is that Super Mario Run has about ten times the downloads. Almost everyone knows that freemium games tend to generate more revenue than pay-once titles. However, this is still somewhat of a surprise. Especially considering Mario’s huge fanbase in comparison to Fire Emblem.
- Amazon announced the end of its Underground Actually Free program. The original premise was to give away Android apps for free. Ostensibly to bolster its app store. However, it seems like it never really took off. Now it’s going away. Developers in the program will be able to update apps through 2019. However, it’ll all be over after that. Amazon is going to go in a different direction with their app store. It’s a work in progress so we don’t know too much yet.
- The creators of Titanfall have announced a new mobile game. It’ll be their second attempt at bringing Titanfall to mobile. The first one didn’t go so well. This one is a top-down strategy game. You’ll control your titan as you battle other human pilots. It’ll feature online PvP, various upgrades, and even Burn Cards like in the console game. We don’t know much else about it. You can pre-register for the game on Google Play right now. Thus, a release date can’t be far off.
For even more Android apps and games news, updates, and releases, check out this week’s newsletter by clicking here! There you can find additional stuff that we didn’t have space for here. You can also subscribe using the form below to get it every Sunday or check out the Android Authority app for even faster updates!
Lightseekers is an adventure game. It’s meant to tie in with smart trading cards and action figures from the series. However, you don’t need either of those things to play and enjoy the game. The game itself features a decent sized world to explore, hundreds of quests, and gear to collect. You can get more stuff with the aforementioned trading cards and action figures. You can get everything for the low, low price of free with no in-app purchases.
Stash for Reddit is an offline Reddit client. The premise is that it syncs posts in the background while on WiFi. That way you can read them when in places where Internet isn’t an option. Currently, you can sync up to 100 images from random subreddits. However, future releases will include logging into your account, choosing the subreddits to sync, and more. It’s currently in unreleased status. That means it’s an early beta and very prone to bugs. It’s free to download for the brave.
Crosswords With Friends is the latest online multiplayer game from Zynga. Like the other With Friends games, this one allows you to do Crossword puzzles with other people or by yourself. You simply download a puzzle and start going. Each day of the week has a different themed puzzle to play. There are also hints and other perks that are unlockable with coins. You earn coins as you play or you can buy them via in-app purchases. It’s not amazing, but it’s not half bad either.
Amazon FreeTime is a new app for kids. It’s a subscription service that offers unlimited access to kid-friendly books, movies, and TV shows. Parents have to have Amazon Prime in order to get. It also costs $2.99 per kid or $6.99 per family (a better deal depending on the size of your family). There is also a web browser along with kid-friendly websites for your children to visit. It’s not a bad experience, although having to have Amazon Prime will be a deal breaker for many. The app is free to download at least.
Battle Bay is a new MOBA from Rovio. Like most MOBAs, your goal is to team up with other players and take down the other team. It features various ships to play with, real-time multiplayer combat, various upgrades, and five-on-five player matches. The graphics looks like cartoons, but that’s not necessarily a negative. The mechanics and graphics both get the job done. It’s an interesting choice in genre from Rovio. Then again, there are only a couple of really good MOBAs on Android so maybe this one’s a good idea.
Thanks for reading! Here are some related lists to check out!
If we missed any big Android apps or games news, tell us about it in the comments! Thank you for reading and we’ll see you next week!