Andrew Romero is a North Carolina-based journalist specializing in Android and Google news, reviews, and in-depth analysis. With a keen eye for detail honed from his previous career as a CNC machinist, Andrew possesses a unique appreciation for hardware and the intricate engineering behind the technology we use daily.
He brings this passion to his coverage, offering insightful perspectives on the latest devices, software updates, and the evolving Google ecosystem. When he’s not diving into the world of tech, Andrew can be found tackling the trails on his mountain bike, enjoying the natural beauty of his home state of North Carolina alongside his wife.
Andrew is active on Twitter – @chaosromero – but can also be found on Threads – @organizedchaos50.
Emails are open at andrew@9to5mac.com
While Xbox is great at bringing new and relevant games to Xbox Game Pass, we don’t see a lot of day one releases. This week that changes. Xbox is releasing several brand new indie-developed releases for plays. On top of that, we get a sneak peek into the new Xbox Friends & Family branding.
Expand Expanding Close
The Galaxy Fold 4 and Flip 4 – while surprisingly easy to handle – are not always the epitome of one-handed devices; both have tall screens that force some careful movement when trying to pull the Galaxy Fold or Flip’s notification shade down. This guide will take you through a feature that allows you to use a quick trick to pull down those notifications.
Expand Expanding Close
In a recent email sent to customers, Samsung is detailing information about a pretty serious security breach that happened recently. This new hack into Samsung’s database has potentially exposed some valuable customer information, though Samsung is working on the issue.
Expand Expanding Close
There is absolutely no denying foldable phones are growing in popularity closing in on becoming the mainstream. Though I’ve still yet to see one in the wild, it’s clear there’s a market here – 10 million foldables were sold in 2021-2022, with forecasts of major growth. So should you buy a foldable phone? Before you decide, there are a few important factors to take into consideration.
Expand Expanding Close
It’s no secret that Jabra has produced some excellent pairs of earbuds in the past, gaining some high praise. Today, Jabra plans to continue that effort with the new Jabra Elite 5. Focused on Hybrid ANC, these new buds have the potential to be the leaders in ANC.
Expand Expanding Close
We’ve detailed the main differences between the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Watch 5 Pro before, though there is one feature we haven’t given much attention to. That feature is the Route tile, which allows you to set and follow specific routes for hiking, walking, and cycling. Honestly, Routes might even be the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s secret workout weapon. This guide will take you through creating a custom route and how to follow it on your trip.
Expand Expanding Close
On paper, the Galaxy Watch 5 is a definite improvement on some features found in the Galaxy Watch line. But, does that mean it’s worth completely upgrading for a couple of new changes? We’ll break down each improvement and give you a better idea as to whether or not you should upgrade to the Galaxy Watch 5 or 5 Pro from a Galaxy Watch 4 or earlier.
Expand Expanding Close
The Steam Deck can do an incredible amount, including allowing you to easily access Stadia games wherever you have an internet connection. This guide will take you through a relatively straightforward process that adds a Stadia shortcut to your Steam library, letting you jump in at a moment’s notice. You can even do it with Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce Now on the Steam Deck.
Expand Expanding Close
Since the Pixel 6 was launched, it touted huge battery advantages over its bigger brother. Now, it seems like users – myself included – are noticing a huge drop in battery life efficiency, with the Pixel 6’s battery draining at tremendous speeds and not even making it a full day.
Expand Expanding Close
Whenever you buy a new phone, no matter what it is, odds are the first thing you’ll do is find all of the customization settings and get them set up just right. Well, for many people, a ringtone is an important aspect of a phone. This guide will take you through setting up custom ringtones on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
Expand Expanding Close
One of the biggest strengths of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is the cover screen. Notifications, time, and other widgets allow you to catch important info without opening up the entire device. This guide will take you through using that Galaxy Z Flip 4 cover screen with always-on display so that you don’t miss a thing.
Expand Expanding Close
Gearing up for a new month, game streaming services are busy this week. GeForce Now is releasing a couple of new games on its platform, as well as adding new touch controls to Genshin Impact on mobile devices. On top of that, Amazon Luna is bringing some new games to its paid channels and free Prime Channel.
Expand Expanding Close
There’s a lot you can do with Samsung’s line of Galaxy Watches, and sometimes you want to share that with others in a screenshot. There are plenty of reasons to capture what’s on your Galaxy Watch, so it’s a good idea to know how to execute a screenshot just in case. This guide will take you through how to take a screenshot on the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 5.
Expand Expanding Close
While Steam is still an extremely popular platform for game shopping and gaming itself, its mobile app hasn’t seen an updated look in years. That ends today as Steam is releasing a limited mobile app beta for users to jump in and put to work.
Expand Expanding Close
Tidal has gained some traction in the last couple of years for housing quality Hi-Fi audio for streaming. Though it has a decent fanbase, Tidal is far from perfect. Rolling out now, Tidal is inviting users to its Early Access Program, which will allow beta testing for new features and updates.
Expand Expanding Close
Wordle is the word game we’ve all come to know and has been making waves since its release in 2021. Since the game was acquired by New York Times, the puzzle game has been gaining improvements, one of which is the addition of Wordle to the New York Times Crossword app.
Expand Expanding Close
Bedtime mode has been a staple of the Pixel series for generations, and Android 13 has only made it better. With the Pixel being the first device series to get Android 13, Bedtime mode has a couple of new features worth exploring. This guide will take you through them and help you enable them for your device.
Expand Expanding Close
The Galaxy Watch 5 is a great smartwatch for your Android device, and since it runs Wear OS, it works well with some of Google’s most important apps. One of those is Google Wallet – formerly known as Google Pay. This guide will take you through installing and setting up easy access to Google Wallet on your Galaxy Watch 5.
Expand Expanding Close
Samsung knows every single user is on the other end of a constant threat, whether from phishing schemes or tracking ploys to get more data from you. With the release of Samsung Internet 19.0 Beta, Samsung is doling out new features to help keep users even safer when browsing.
Expand Expanding Close
Situations in which you lose all of your precious memories and photos are very rare, although it can happen. In those cases, it’s extremely beneficial to have backups of all of your Google Photo images stored somewhere safe. This guide will take you through creating automatic backups for Google Photos using Google Takeout, so you never have to worry about losing your pictures.
Expand Expanding Close
Google’s latest Pixel Buds Pro have a lot of tech inside them, but sometimes features like ANC, auto-pause, and even fast pair just stop working. The easiest way to fix these issues is with a simple factory reset. This guide will take you through how to reset your Google Pixel Buds Pro.
Expand Expanding Close
Budget devices have come a very long way in the past couple of years. In years prior, buying a $200 phone meant sacrificing almost every single aspect of performance. Does the REVVL 6 Pro 5G from T-Mobile fit that same model? We had a chance to spend some time with the carrier’s newest $219 budget device.
Expand Expanding Close
Don’t worry, you probably don’t owe the delivery driver anything, though the FedEx app on Android might have you thinking otherwise. The FedEx app is displaying a message above tracking pages requesting that some users pay cash on delivery.
Expand Expanding Close
Cloud gaming is getting more and more competitive, and that’s nowhere near a bad thing. Competition pushes services like GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass to step it up a notch and offer something better than they ever have. This week, GeForce Now announced improvements to in-browser gameplay with 1440p resolution and higher framerates. On top of that, Xbox Game Pass has unveiled the newest cloud titles coming your way.
Expand Expanding Close