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Google Pixel’s AI icons are a poor substitute for real personalization on Android

With this month’s rollout of Android 16 QPR3 and its associated Pixel Drop, anyone rocking one of Google’s growing collection of Pixels is finally getting access to something we’ve waited on for a long time: custom app icons. Unfortunately, using this feature is locked behind a basic set of generative AI tools, and compared to what you’ll find on other launchers — from both first and third-party developers — it’s just not good enough.

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YouTube finally gave you a proper alternative to ad-blockers, and now it’s time to pay

youtube

YouTube has spent the bulk of its existence fighting against unsanctioned download sites and ad-blockers, but the past few years have seen Google really ramp up its war. Ad-blocking users have been treated to missing comments and video descriptions, error messages, missing view counts, increased buffering, loading failures, and much, much more. I get it — no one likes ads, and YouTube’s ads in particular have gone from 5-second pre-rolls and mid-video breaks to something far more in line with traditional streaming services. Modern YouTube ads often feel like they’re overwhelming the video that surrounds them.

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Google has ignored Android’s Digital Wellbeing tools for years, so what’s next?

Take a peek in Android’s settings menu, and no matter what smartphone you have, you’ll probably find Google’s Digital Wellbeing suite hanging around. At first glance, Digital Wellbeing is perfectly modern, sporting an updated Material 3-friendly design and a whole slate of features like app timers, Bedtime mode, and more. It even has its own space within the settings menu on Pixel, rather than being buried within sub-menus like other useful tools.

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Why ‘iPhone Fold’ can revive the foldable that even Google Pixel couldn’t make work [Gallery]

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Foldables opened the door to a whole new world of smartphones just a few years ago, but somehow the entire Android market has settled into just two form factors – clamshell flip phones and book-style devices that just open up to double the width of a normal smartphone screen. As the inevitable “iPhone Fold” approaches, though, it seems Apple is looking to revive a form factor that Android brands, including Google Pixel, once tried, but failed to keep around, and there’s a clear reason why that happened.

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Samsung’s ‘Wide Fold’ surfaces with near-16:10 aspect ratio, wider than first Pixel Fold

Well, that didn’t take long. After word of an early build of One UI 9 for Samsung’s upcoming foldables leaked out, we’re getting our first look at what the company’s wider Galaxy Z Fold 8 variant might look like, and in a twist, it’s even wider than Google’s original Pixel Fold.

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Samsung killed Galaxy S26 upgrades to avoid a price hike – leaks say it didn’t work

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series was expected to deliver on a few key upgrades that were long overdue, but that all went out the window last year when Samsung apparently decided to go all-in on avoiding a price hike. Despite killing those upgrades, though, leaks suggest that the price is going up anyway.

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The Pixel 10a is officially coming – here’s why you should get a Pixel 9a instead

After months of leaks, renders, and just a little bit of head-scratching, the Pixel 10a is finally official. While we’ll have to wait until a more complete unveiling to learn about its specs, those same leaks have done a pretty good job in painting a picture of a very familiar A-series launch from Google. Assuming everything we’ve heard about the Pixel 10a is true, if you have any interest in grabbing a new budget phone this year, picking up a Pixel 9a right now is going to save you an easy $100 without making much of a sacrifice.

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Samsung teases Galaxy S26 camera by pretending it’ll actually be an upgrade

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 trio is shaping up to be an interesting launch — it’s just that the phones themselves aren’t actually the interesting part. We already know that a lot of what could’ve made the S26 lineup different from its predecessors has been thrown out the window thanks to failed concepts and stiff competition. Now, Samsung needs to try to tease a lineup that appears unchanged even by this brand’s own standards, and so far, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

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Buying a new phone in 2026 is going to suck, so it’s worth planning ahead

If you’re a regular 9to5Google reader, you probably already know the turbulence happening inside the consumer electronics space. We’re all collectively looking down the barrel of significantly higher prices across the board, primarily — though not exclusively — thanks to increased component demand from AI companies. Put simply, buying a smartphone in 2026 is about to suck, but with a little bit of planning, you aren’t completely out of hope.

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Hey Google, the ‘baby’ Pixel 10 looks pretty good in matte too [Gallery]

I’m a really big fan of how Google designs its smartphones, but if there’s one nitpick I have, it’s that the base Pixel phones keep getting a glossy glass finish on the back. After throwing a simple clear matte skin on the back of my Pixel 10 recently, I’m even more convinced Google needs to switch going forward.

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The Clicks Communicator might not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me

Clicks might have cut its teeth developing add-on keyboards for various smartphones — first iPhone, then Android — but its latest announcement appears to be its most promising yet. The Clicks Communicator feels like the first real minimalist device to potentially provide a substantial improvement over your daily driver, even if many of us might feel it’s better as a secondary device rather than a replacement for whatever you already own.

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Don’t wait for the Pixel 10a, buy a Pixel 9a while it’s still on sale

A few months out from its likely launch window, we’re finally starting to get some insight into what Google’s next Pixel might look like. I’m not talking about the Pixel 11, of course — it’s the Pixel 10a that history suggests is set for a spring launch, bringing another value-focused smartphone to consumers. And yet, based on the few pieces of information we’ve seen so far, I’m not sure waiting for the Pixel 10a is the smartest move for your wallet.

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Google Pixel’s notification summaries are better than the iPhone’s, but to what end?

This latest Pixel drop brought one of my biggest fears to Android: notification summaries. It’s something Apple botched in iOS 18 last year, and something I didn’t feel like Android needed given its top-tier notification management. After a week with the feature, though, I’m of two minds. Google is definitely doing this the “right” way, but does that mean I’m likely to leave this tool enabled for weeks to come? Unfortunately, not quite.

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