Technology - Google News

Google won’t let Google Maps, Waze, and other apps use Pixel 4’s Smooth Display - The Verge
New foldable phone that bends two ways is the most daring design we've seen yet - CNET
How to add and change watchfaces on your Apple Watch - The Verge

Google won’t let Google Maps, Waze, and other apps use Pixel 4’s Smooth Display - The Verge

Posted: 25 Oct 2019 03:38 PM PDT

Google apparently won't let Google Maps, Pokemon Go, Waze, and WeChat use the Pixel 4's "Smooth Display" feature to run at 90Hz, according to an explicit blacklist that XDA Developers' Mishaal Rahman and 9to5Google found in apparent source code for the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL.

We haven't yet been able to test ourselves if these apps are unable to run at 90Hz, but Android Police confirmed that Google Maps and Waze only ran at 60Hz on its Pixel 4.

For Google Maps, Pokémon Go, and Waze, it's not too surprising that Google may have locked them to a more standard 60Hz. All of those apps are already big battery drainers, since they simultaneously use your phone's GPS, cellular radio, GPU, and keep the screen on for long periods of time. Running at 90Hz would, in theory, suck up battery even faster. (And Niantic apparently capped Pokémon Go at 30 fps earlier this year, anyway.)

It doesn't make as much sense why WeChat might not be allowed to run at 90Hz, but Google's source code for the Pixel 4 apparently says that the app has "poor performance" at the higher refresh rate.

Smooth Display hasn't gone over as smoothly as Google may have hoped. Earlier this week, some Redditors figured out that the Pixel 4's refresh rate falls to 60Hz if its screen is at 75 percent brightness or lower. Google told us that upcoming software updates will enable 90Hz "in more brightness conditions," so in the future, you might be able to use Smooth Display when the screen isn't as bright.

We may now know why Google disabled 90Hz at lower brightness, by the way: commits found in Android 10's source code by XDA Developers say it's because you would have seen the screen flicker as the refresh rate changes. Here's a more technical explanation from one of the commits:

The display uses different gamma curves for different refresh rates. It's hard for panel vendor to tune the curves to have exact same brightness for different refresh rate. So flicker could be observed at switch time. The issue is worse at the gamma lower end. In addition, human eyes are more sensitive to the flicker at darker environment. To prevent flicker, we only support higher refresh rates if the display brightness is above a threshold. And the darker environment could have higher threshold.

Let's hope that Google follows through with its software updates and finds a way to let you use Smooth Display at lower brightness levels — and, maybe someday, let the apps that are apparently locked at 60Hz take full advantage of the 90Hz screen in a battery-friendly way.

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New foldable phone that bends two ways is the most daring design we've seen yet - CNET

Posted: 25 Oct 2019 05:36 PM PDT

tcl-tri-hinge-foldable-ifa-2019-22 — TCL gives us a brand new foldable design we've never seen before.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET

I've opened and closed foldable phones hundreds of times by now. But even after reviewing the Galaxy Fold (twice), playing with Huawei's Mate X and bending slim concept designs, nothing has prepared me for TCL's prototype dual-hinged phone, which folds in three parts and opens into a huge, 10-inch tablet.

The most remarkable thing about TCL's phone is that the hinges themselves move in different directions. The DragonHinge fold in, like a book, or like the Galaxy Fold, while the Butterfly Hinge folds the opposite way.

The two hinges create a zigzag shape as you open and close the device, a silhouette in Z. It looks like an accordion. Or a taco holder. And I have to get my greedy hands on it to give it a fold, one panel at a time: Open. Folded over once. Completely folded up into a triple-stacked sandwich so that the exposed panel becomes the TCL phone's "outer" screen. With this design, a single uninterrupted screen does it all.

Now playing: Watch this: This Galaxy Fold competitor folds in thirds

2:05

As with other foldable phones, the act of folding feels physical and visceral in a way that makes me appreciate the engineering feat of any company attempting to make devices whose screens bend in half.

Foldable phones are the next frontier in phone design, delivering at least double the screen space in a package that's practical enough to tote around. Unfolded, the large screens promise an expansive display for reading, watching videos, gaming and multitasking. Folded up, you can use them on the go. Despite very real fears over screen damage that could send lofty foldable ambitions crashing to the ground, device-makers are scrambling to push out their own new designs -- to bag reputation points as much as to capture buyers' attention.

It's into this mix that TCL is dropping its wild new prototype. Best known for making really good, affordable TVs, TCL is now aligning its phone business under the same brand. The company has already trotted out concept designs and announced its DragonHinge months before this particular dual-hinge effort.

TCL's daring trifold prototype is just the start

TCL's prototype design doesn't have a name, a price or a target window for production. It doesn't even have a working screen. All that will come. For now, I'm mesmerized as I work the hinges with my hands, and imagine what it'd be like to use a triply folding device.

Folding one panel under, for example, could turn a portion of the screen into a digital keyboard while you use another part as the display. When you fully close the phone, you'd be able to use it as a really chunky handset.

Yes, you'll see creases when it's open -- and no, we still don't have bendable glass to better protect the display. That raises questions about the wear and tear on a device with a plastic cover material that's exposed to sharp objects, damage from pressure and the elements, like rain and dust. These are the same issues that plagued the $1,980 Galaxy Fold and spurred Samsung to retrofit its foldable phone to make it sturdier than its first attempt.

tcl-tri-hinge-foldable-ifa-2019-4 — Tyler Lizenby/CNET

For now, there's no consensus on what the "best" foldable phone design is, and that's what makes this all so exciting. We're in the Wild West phase where any prototype or concept goes, from the vertically folding Motorola Razr that CNET discovered will come out by the end of 2019, to the square foldable phone that Samsung's rumored to be building.

Microsoft, too, has its bookish Surface Pro Duo slated for 2020 and Chinese brand Xiaomi wowed us with an early concept that has you folding back two side display panels behind a center panel.

When and if it becomes a real product, TCL's prototype will face distinct challenges with ensuring sturdy construction, a semiaffordable price and a sales plan to put the biggest foldable phone we've seen yet in front of real buyers. But enough reality for now. I let the teeming questions slide from my mind and give the Butterfly Hinge one more fold.

TCL trifold phone specs we know so far

Roughly 10-inch screen when fully opened
Four rear cameras
Front-facing camera
USB-C charger port
Iridescent finish
No headphone jack

Originally published earlier this week.

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How to add and change watchfaces on your Apple Watch - The Verge

Posted: 26 Oct 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Decorative and functional watchfaces are a signature feature of the Apple Watch. It's pretty easy to select one and tweak their appearance. In fact, you can do it either from the Watch itself or on your iPhone. And if you're tired of your current choices, you can always add a new one.

On your iPhone

To switch to a previously installed watchface:

Open the Watch app. You'll see a scrolling line of the watchfaces you've previously installed. Swipe left and right to find the one you want to use or customize, and tap it.
Scroll down and tap on "Set as current Watch Face." You're good to go.

Customizing a watchface — in other words, changing the color, style, or some other aspect — will work a little differently depending on the features of each particular face. However, the general idea is the same for all of them.

After you've tapped the face you want, swipe down to see which aspects you can tweak, and swipe across to see what your choices are. For example, if you see an aspect for color, swipe across to see the face's available color schemes and tap the one you want to use.

If you want to change an icon on the watchface that launches an app on your Watch — what Apple calls "Complications" — tap the appropriate menu item, scroll, and select. Work through the list of available positions, tapping the ones you want to change and picking the Complication you want to use from the scrolling list. When you've got it right, go to the bottom of the screen and tap on "Set as current Watch Face."

To install a new watchface:

Open the Watch app. You can see the faces that are already installed near the top of the screen.
Tap the Face Gallery icon at the bottom center of your display. Scroll up and down and left and right to behold Apple's creative bounty.
Tap on the one you want to add, tweak the settings a little if you want, and tap "Add." The new face will appear on your Watch in short order.

On your Watch

To switch to a previously installed watchface:

To change from among your installed faces, just swipe left or right on the Watch's screen. That's it.

Customizing your watchface is a little more complicated.

Force touch the screen. You'll feel a vibration, and the watchface will go into Customize mode.
Swipe left and right to pick the face you want to work on, and tap "Customize."

What happens next depends on which face you want to work with and how complex it is.

Generally, faces have two or three categories of design that you can change. Each category gets its own screen. The number of screens is indicated by the dots along the top of the display. You can move between the categories by swiping left and right. The area that you can change will be indicated by a green outline and will usually be labeled.

To make a change (color, style, etc.), scroll through the available options by tapping the area you want to change (if there is more than one area on the display outlined) and rotating the Digital Crown.

The last screen usually lets you manage the Complications. Things you can change are indicated by circles. Tap what you want to customize and scroll through the available Complications by turning the crown.

When you're done, press the crown once (a longer press will activate Siri, so don't linger), and you'll be brought back to the Customize screen.

Lower your wrist, and you'll be using that customized watchface. If you're not wearing the Watch, press the crown or tap the screen once to return to the "Customize" screen and again to get back to normal mode.

To install a new watchface:

Force touch the screen to enter "Customize" mode
Swipe left through until you see the "New" button. Tap it.
Either swipe up and down or turn the crown to run through the available faces. Tap the one you want to add, and you're set. (You can customize it by following the directions earlier in this article.)

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