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Ark: Survival Evolved roars onto iOS and Android next week

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Ark: Survival Evolved
Will your survive?
Photo: Studio Wildcard

Ark: Survival Evolved, the popular survival game from Studio Wildcard, is going mobile. You’ll be able to download it on Android and iOS next week, and it will be completely free-to-play.

Will you learn to survive in a world dominated by dinosaurs?

Google again follows Apple’s lead, removes meat from salad emoji

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Salad emoji from various companies
At the urging of vegans, the egg is being removed from Google's salad emoji, pictured at right. Apple's, Samsung's, and other's versions are already meat-less.
Graphic: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Google has bowed to pressure from vegans and taken the egg out of Android’s salad emoji.

This isn’t something iPhone users need concern themselves with, as Apple’s version is already meatless.

Valve makes controversial decision to ‘allow everything’ in Steam Store

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Valve Steam
Enjoy Remote Play Together today.
Photo: Valve

Valve is making a huge change that’s going to have a massive impact on the content you see in the Steam Store. The company is doing away with human curation and allowing everything to be sold through its platform.

Valve says it should be up to players to decide what kinds of games they play, while developers should have the freedom to choose what kinds of games they make. However, it will be creating new tools that give shoppers greater control over what appears in their Steam Store.

macOS Mojave changes spell doom for indie Mac games

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Steamcrate game subscription offer
Apple is making life a lot harder for smaller game studios.
Photo: Cult of Mac

A big change Apple is making with macOS Mojave could make it more difficult for indie developers to build cross-platform games.

Apple is pushing game creators to drop OpenGL in favor of its own Metal API, which isn’t supported by third-party platforms. It may mean smaller game development teams are forced to choose between releasing on macOS or other operating systems.

Epic makes big promises for Fortnite on mobile, but one thing’s missing

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Fortnite mobile controller
You can now play at 120Hz on iPad Pro.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Epic Games is preparing a number of big features for Fortnite Battle Royale on mobile.

In its “State of Mobile” update published today, the company promises voice chat and statistics are coming this summer — along with Android support. But one key feature, which we’ve all been patiently waiting for, is missing from its list.

Microsoft wants to bring iMessage to Windows

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Microsoft Your Phone
Microsoft’s new Your Phone service can sync messages with Android, but not with iOS.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft wants to work with Apple to bring iMessage to Windows machines.

The company’s upcoming Your Phone app will seamlessly sync content between your iPhone and your Windows 10 PC, but unlike those with an Android device, you won’t be able to sync messages. Microsoft is hoping it can team up with Apple to change that.

Google borrows iPhone X navigation system for Android

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Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Graphic: Google

Anyone who’s used an iPhone X already knows how to navigate around in the next version of Google’s mobile operating system. The company showed off Android P at its developer conference today, and it includes a touch bar at the bottom of the screen, just like Apple’s flagship phone.

Android P also natively supports screen cutouts, so device makers will be able to easily produce iPhone X clones.

Fortnite is killing it on iOS, but it could be so much better

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Fortnite
Team Rumble just got a lot better.
Photo: Epic Games

I’ve been encouraging every gamer I know to play Fortnite on iOS since it made the leap to the App Store back in March. I’ve gushed about how spectacular the game is on mobile, and how it keeps up with its console counterparts.

I’m not at all surprised that the game is making an absolute killing on iPhone and iPad, raking in more than $25 million in revenue during its first month of availability. I’ve played it almost every day, and spent more than I’d like to admit on items I don’t really need.

But two months on, now that the novelty has worn off, I have some complaints to make. Fortnite could be so much better on iOS if Epic was to give it the attention it really deserves.

How to download all your old Instagram photos and videos

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Instagram
Instagram has a new tool for downloading old photos.
Photo: Instagram

Pulling your photos off of Instagram just got a lot easier.

Instagram revealed today that it is finally starting to roll out a new tool that lets any Instagram user retrieve all of the photos, videos, comments, likes and other data stored on Instagram’s servers.

Get your data by following these steps:

Google Chrome silences all those annoying autoplaying videos

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Google Chrome
No one likes autoplaying videos on the web.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Google has done us all a favor by asking Chrome to block autoplaying videos with sound. No longer will our ears be sodomized unexpectedly by obnoxious ads that we’ll never look at. There are some caveats, however.

Instagram’s new feature mimics Portrait Mode on older iPhones

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portrait mode
'Focus' is just like Portrait Mode, except it works on video too.
Photo: Apple

Getting perfect Portrait Mode photos no longer requires an iPhone with two camera lenses.

Instagram revealed a new feature today that mimics the blurry depth of field on Portrait Mode photos, only it works on older iPhones and even Android smartphones.

App Store still makes almost twice as much money as Google Play

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App Store
Apple apps no longer dominate App Store search results.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

App downloads hit a new record in Q1 2018 after the App Store and Google Play served a combined total of 27.5 billion downloads. More than half of those downloads came from the Play Store, yet iOS devices continue to earn developers almost twice as much cash.

HP’s pricey new iPad Pro competitor totally misses the point

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HP Chromebook x2
The HP Chromebook x2 just doesn’t make sense.
Photo: HP

Android tablets were never going to topple the iPad, so now Apple’s rivals are trying their luck with new slates powered by Chrome OS. HP is the latest to throw its hat into the ring with the Chromebook x2, a pricey competitor to iPad Pro that ships with a detachable keyboard and stylus.

It’s somewhat attractive, but it makes no sense at $599.

App Store actually shrank in size last year — and that’s a good thing

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Downloads have grown 70 percent over the last year.
This is the first time the App Store has shrunk, rather than grown in Apple history.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple traditionally brags about the size of its App Store, but the vaunted app repository may actually have gotten smaller, not bigger, last year.

The App Store reportedly declined 5 percent in size in 2017, from 2.2 million apps at the start of the year to 2.1 million by the end. And that’s no bad thing.

Apple Music videos make the leap to Android

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Music Video
Apple Music -- now with added music videos.
Photo: Apple

Apple has rolled out its new music video-oriented Apple Music app update for Android.

Now available to download in the Google Play store, the Apple Music 2.4.2 update boasts the same “music video experience” recently added with iOS 11.3. That means that users can access a plethora of exclusive music video playlists curated by Apple.

Fortnite phenomenon smashes YouTube records

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Fortnite base
Fortnite is still killing it.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Fortnite enjoyed a boost to its already rapidly-growing fanbase when it made the leap to iOS earlier this month.

The gaming phenomenon shows no signs of losing its momentum after smashing YouTube records for the largest number of concurrent viewers on a single live game stream, and for the most monthly uploads related to a single game.

Apple rivals still pushing for fingerprint-scanning displays

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Touch ID
Apple may have ditched Touch ID under glass, but Android makers haven't.
Photo: Apple

Apple is reportedly two years ahead of its Android rivals when it comes to the technology behind Face ID, and that’s left the competition scrabbling around trying to find an alternative.

The solution they’re exploring? Fingerprint sensors embedded in smartphone displays, a.k.a. the biometric security system that Apple was reportedly investigating before it turned its attentions to face recognition.

You’re winning PUBG Mobile because you’re playing against bots

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PUBG Mobile
PUBG Mobile is easy at first.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

So, you’re racking up wins in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on iOS and you’re thinking about quitting your day job, ditching the wife and kids, and going pro. But wait!

You’re probably finding the game relatively easy if you’re a new player because you’re going up against bots. PUBG Mobile uses bots to ease new players into the game, then gradually reduces the number of them as you improve and level up.

Fortnite Battle Royale is coming to iPhone and iPad

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Epic is putting Fortnite in your pocket.
Epic is putting Fortnite in your pocket.
Photo: Epic Games

Epic Games is bringing its insanely popular Fornight Battle Royale to iPhone and iPad.

It will be exactly the same 100-player game you’ve been enjoying on consoles, with the same map and the same weapons — and it will support cross-platform play between PlayStation 4 and PC. You can sign up to join the beta on Monday, March 12.

iOS nips at Android’s heels in user loyalty

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iPhone Loyalty
Apple fanboys get a bad name, but Android users are less likely to switch.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Americans are far less likely to switch between an iPhone and an Android smartphone than they once were. A new study shows that virtually all users of both types have little interest in moving to the other team.

Loyalty to Android is just slightly stronger than it is to iOS. Nevertheless, more people are switching away from Google’s operating system than they are Apple’s.

Apple Music update fixes streaming issues on Android

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music streaming
The latest release also includes Chromecast support.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple Music subscribers who use Android devices can now enjoy stable streaming. Apple’s latest update fixes the frustrating playback issues some users were facing on certain devices. It also adds the ability to listen to music videos in the background.

iPhone X clones flood MWC and this one’s damn ugly

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iPhone X clone
The Leagoo S9 is one of the better iPhone X knockoffs.
Photo: Benedict Evans

Mobile World Congress 2018Chinese smartphone makers turn up to Mobile World Congress with awful clones every year. This year, the iPhone X is the hottest handset money can buy — and just as expected, it has copycats all over the place.

Some of them are downright ugly — like this monstrosity from Oukitel.

Apple targets Android switchers in latest series of simple ads

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Apple
iPhone has better support.
Photo: Apple

Apple is hoping to convince Android users to switch to iPhone with its latest set of short ads that highlight some the iPhone’s best features.

Five new ads were published by Apple this afternoon covering everyone from ease-of-use to customer support. Most of the ads are less than 15 seconds long and similar in style to the simple campaign Apple launched last year.

Watch all five ads right here: