Play Store

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on Play Store:

Apple Music finally adds support for Android tablets

By

Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Streaming services like Apple Music dominate the US music market
Photo: Apple

Apple Music is finally compatible with Android tablets, more than three years after it launched on Android phones. Apple started beta testing the larger interface last month, and now it’s rolling out to everyone in the latest Play Store update.

App Store made almost twice as much as Google Play in 2018

By

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

The App Store raked in almost twice as much revenue as Google Play in 2018, despite significantly fewer downloads.

Google’s marketplace did enjoy a 27.3 percent rise in gross app revenue year-over-year — a larger rise than Apple’s — but iOS remains the most lucrative platform for developers by far.

Google could miss out on $50 million following Fortnite snub

By

Fortnite on Android
Fortnite isn't top of the list, but there's a catch.
Photo: Epic Games

Google could miss out on a $50 million payday this year alone as a result of Epic Games’ decision not to distribute Fortnite for Android through the Play Store.

Android users must download the game directly from Epic‘s own website instead. This allows the company to sidestep Google’s 30 percent cut of all revenue.

Microsoft may be building a ‘Movies & TV’ app for Android and iOS

By

Watching a movie on iPad
Microsoft hopes it will boost Microsoft Store downloads.
Photo: Apple

Microsoft is developing a “Movies & TV” app for Android and iOS in an effort to boost downloads from the Microsoft Store, according to a new report.

Customers can enjoy content purchased from Microsoft only on Windows platforms for now. The company hopes that by supporting new platforms, it will encourage more people to use its store over competitors like iTunes.

Apple Music update fixes streaming issues on Android

By

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.

Simple Android app lets AirPods activate Google Assistant

By

AirPods in ear
AirPods now work even better on Android.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

AirPods can be paired with any smartphone, just like other Bluetooth headphones. But you don’t get full functionality on third-party platforms. On Android, however, they just became a lot more useful.

You can now use AirPods to activate the Google Assistant — thanks to one simple app.

App Store vs. Google Play: Is it time Apple stopped being a control freak?

By

fnf_10241
fnf_10241

You can’t choose between Android and iOS without taking Google Play and the App Store into account. They’re the largest mobile marketplaces on the planet, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses — especially when it comes to control.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Apple has strict App Store guidelines, and every title is tested by a human before being approved. In comparison, Google is happy to let most things fly — so long as it’s not offensive or harmful — which gives us access to things like emulators and file downloaders that aren’t available on other platforms.

But is “open” really better, and could Apple benefit from loosening its grip on the App Store?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over that very question.

App Store vs. Google Play: What’s hot and what’s not?

By

It's that time of the week again! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
It's that time of the week again! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

When you’re choosing between Android and iOS, you also have to choose between the App Store and Google Play; apps are so important to us these days that they must come into consideration when we’re buying new mobile devices.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2Android has caught up with and even overtaken the App Store in sheer number of apps, but Apple’s marketplace continues to rake in lots more revenue. But which offers better titles, a greater user experience, and more features?

In this week’s Friday Night Fight with Cult of Android versus Cult of Mac, we pit the App Store against Google Play to find out which is the best mobile marketplace.

88sms brings the CyanogenMod messaging app to your Android device

By

post-245306-image-767dbf3fa7645772ba7aff97218c798c-jpg

Apart from looking pretty, the stock Android messaging app is pretty simple and basic in nature. It lacks a lot of features including pop-up notifications, and support for quick reply right from the notification bar.

88sms, a direct port of the CyanogenMod 10.2 messaging app, fixes a lot of issues the stock messaging app, while adding some really useful features.