Welcome to the 464th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Have a nice vacation! Here are the big headlines from last week:
- Our very own Andrew Grush took a closer look at gaming on Chromebooks. He found that it was actually pretty decent and there is some hope for Chrome OS as a gaming platform. However, as noted in his article linked above, there are still some issues to be resolved. read it.
- YouTube announced a partnership with the NFL to bring the NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube TV. Google reportedly paid him $2 billion per season for the deal. This is a great deal for YouTube TV as it dramatically improves the platform’s sports selection. Apple was considered the favorite to win the contract. The NFL seems to have decided to side with Google on this.
- A surprising number of our readers use Chrome OS. In a survey I posted last week, more than 50% of respondents said they use Chromebooks every day. However, Chromebook owners were probably more attracted to this article than users of other platforms. Still, it’s encouraging to see Chrome OS alive and well among our readers.
- Our very own Kaitlyn Cimino wrote an article about sleep tracking data this week. This is a good read, especially since people find such data very stressful. It’s important, but you can’t sleep well if you’re constantly worrying about whether you’re getting a good night’s sleep.
- Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter this week. After asking if he should step down as Twitter head, he said he would follow the results of the polls. The poll ended with him 57.5% of respondents wanting him to resign. Click the link for details. However, he probably won’t resign if he can’t find someone to take over the job.
Miko Era
price: free play
Miko Age is an MMORPG with some potential. You start the game as the strongest shrine maiden envoy and are tasked with raising other shrine maidens. Gameplay is fine. Roam the open world, interact with NPCs, defeat bad guys, and do whatever you want. The graphics are pretty average too. It doesn’t look great, but it doesn’t look terrible either. On the plus side, there’s a manual option for those who are tired of the recent autoplay MMORPGs.
It’s free to play like most games in the genre, but honestly it’s too early to see in what direction this is going. not. We know the developers need to fix all the lag issues that many players are experiencing.
reWASD Jr.
price: Free / $7-$40
C. Scott Brown wrote about his experience with reWASD this week. For starters, reWASD is input mapping software that lets you remap buttons to do basically anything. It comes with an Android app that lets you remap your stuff using your smartphone, as long as it’s connected to the same network as your PC. The features are huge, too many to list here, so check out the article linked above to learn more.
northern kingdom
price: free
Northern Kingdoms is a tower defense game. Players build walls to keep enemies at bay and allow shooters to eliminate bad guys. Not the most complicated game, there are multiple ways to win each round. You can also upgrade your tower. This adds a little more depth. This game also has no in-app purchases, ads or offline play. This isn’t the deepest tower defense game on mobile. But it’s arguably the best free tower defense game ever with no ads or in-app purchases.
expiration reminder
price: free
Expiration Reminder is a simple app with a simple premise. Enter anything with an expiration date in your pantry, refrigerator, etc. The app will notify you when it expires. The app is free to add an unlimited number of items and the UI is pretty easy to use. It can also be used for medicines, subscriptions, food, and anything else you can think of. This is a brand new app by an independent developer, so I’m not sure how stable it is on all phones, but it worked fine on my test device.
1 bit survivor
price: Free / $2.99
1 Bit Survivor is a roguelike game with survival horror elements. It uses low-res graphics and frenetic action to keep players engaged. Your goal is to survive 28 days and save your pet cat. Game features include offline play, his three unlockable character classes, and no microtransactions. In terms of gameplay, it’s similar to many other roguelike games, but this one uses first-person animations for some of the player’s actions. Not a lot, but it adds a bit of visual flair. I think the game is cheap and pretty good.
Let us know in the comments if you missed any big Android app or game news or releases.
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