Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at 9to5Google, working for the publication as one of its primary news writers since 2016.
In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at 9to5Google including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lives with his wife Melissa. Ben is an avid disc golf player.
He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Watch 2, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Motorola Razr+, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, and more.
Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.
In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.
Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.
Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com
Android Auto currently only supports using your phone’s default dialer app for making phone calls, but that may soon change as the new Android Auto 13.0 update prepares support for third-party calling apps.
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Samsung is setting a new record for Android updates per dollar, as the new Galaxy A16 has launched with a low price and 6 years of Android updates.
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The Google TV Streamer is a long-awaited upgrade for Google’s living room experience, but getting your hands on the new hardware just keeps getting harder. For the Google TV Streamer itself, shipping dates continue to slip, but even if you just want to use the new remote, that’s now completely out of stock as well.
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MagSafe, and now Qi2, adds a whole new layer to the wireless charging experience that adds new flexibility and improved functionality, but the universal version of the idea, Qi2, still hasn’t made its way to most Android phones. The OnePlus 13 might finally change that, though, with some form of MagSafe-like charging.
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Password managers are time-saving, security-enhancing tool that everyone should be using, but every time Android refuses to play nicely with a password manager, I’m reminded why so many people don’t bother.
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Google is rolling out the next version of Android Auto, version 13.0, which doesn’t bring any user-facing changes, but does continue some work behind the scenes.
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Following Google opening a waitlist for access last month, Google Photos is now rolling out “Ask Photos” to some users.
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A project at Google that allowed Android devices to run ChromeOS with essentially the click of a button is coming to an end, as Google isn’t further developing “Ferrochrome.”
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Google Maps and Waze both have features that allow users to report police activity along their route, and in a bid to use that for safety, the Illinois State Police has partnered with Google to show the locations of traffic stop or other activity as reported by the police themselves.
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At its developer conference this week, Samsung showed off a Galaxy S24 Ultra running the company’s One UI 7 well ahead of its release, confirming a few key leaks and offering some enticing first impressions.
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Samsung has announced that its “One UI” software branding from Galaxy devices will be expanding to the rest of the company’s major tech products starting next year.
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As pre-orders have come to an end, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 FE is now available with a minimum $200 trade-in credit for any other Samsung smartphone, making for a pretty enticing upgrade if you’re on an older device.
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Samsung has gotten a lot better about quickly releasing new Android updates, but it sounds like Android 15 will break that streak as the company has confirmed that the update won’t arrive until 2025.
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At its annual Samsung Developer Conference, it’s been confirmed that the long-awaited One UI 7 beta update, based on Android 15, is coming “before the end of this year” with no firm release date yet available.
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In an effort to cut down on scams and fraud, Google is expanding a Play Protect feature which would block sideloading for some Android apps in India.
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Following an early Pixel 9 series launch in August, it’s now being reported that the mid-range Pixel 9a could launch as soon as March 2025, the earliest release date in the lineup’s history.
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An update rolling out from Samsung to older Galaxy devices including Galaxy S10 and Note 10 is reportedly bricking devices, requiring a factory reset to fix the problem.
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Google is rolling out an update to Quick Share for Windows which fixes a handful of issues, improves performance, and strangely removes the desktop shortcut.
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Pebblebee just introduced the first item trackers that support both Android and iPhone finder networks, but how do they work? Here’s how to set them up and, more importantly, how to switch between the two platforms.
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Google has finally brought its useful incident reporting feature from Maps to Android Auto, but if you’re not seeing it yet, it might be due to a frustrating design constraint.
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Google’s new Pixel Buds Pro 2 have an upgrade that you won’t find in Google’s advertising, with support for the new Auracast standard hiding just beneath the surface.
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The hit game Palworld may be making its way, in some form, to Android and iOS in the future, assuming a certain lawsuit doesn’t end the game first.
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One of the more useful aspects of Gemini is the ability to use an image alongside your text prompt, but adding an image takes a handful of taps. Gemini’s Android app has just made this a bit easier with the ability to share an image directly from another app.
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Phone-projected car platforms have become essentially a requirement for many drivers nowadays, and being able to use that without a wire is handy. However, wireless Android Auto and CarPlay aren’t available in all cars, and adapters that add the feature usually only work with one or the other. With an upcoming release, AAWireless will be able to use both Android Auto and CarPlay.
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