Welcome to the 236th edition of Android Apps Weekly! Here are the big headlines and five biggest releases from the last week:
- Walmart may launch a competitor to Amazon Prime. It’s Walmart Plus and it’ll function about the same way. Users pay $98 per year and get a variety of perks. Some of them include grocery delivery, superior parking, and limited two-hour delivery. It may launch as early as July 2020 (this month). It could be a good move considering how many people are using grocery delivery due to the pandemic. We’ll see more if it launches in July as originally specified.
- Google is adding traffic lights to Google Maps. The feature is in testing in select markets right now, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Even then, not everybody in those areas has access yet. Google should expand to more cities over time. Hit the link to learn more.
- TikTok is in trouble. The service was banned in India last week and it may face similar expulsion from the US. The US launched a probe into the app to find out if it really did fail to protect the privacy of kids in the US. It’s bad news for TikTok since it’s already losing a ton of money over the India ban. We’ll let you know if more things happen.
- Amazon had a pretty decent week. It started the week by integrating live TV services from Hulu, Sling, and YouTube. Sling TV was already integrated but YouTube TV is basically here already and Hulu is coming soon. Additionally, Amazon Prime Video now has profiles for US subscribers for those who share with the family.
- The pandemic is keeping people apart unless they use Tinder, apparently. The company is estimated with the third highest gross of any mobile app in June 2020. TikTok topped the chart and YouTube came in second with Disney+ and Netflix coming in sixth and seventh place, respectively. It’s a weird to see an app for physical closeness be so popular during a social distancing movement, but here we are.
Outsider: After Life
Price: Free
Outsider: After Life is a mystery-adventure game with plenty of puzzles. The story involves a nearly extinct human race and an Android that can save the universe. The game doesn’t have the most impressive graphics, but the puzzles are fun and contextual to the story. There are some darker themes so this may not be safe for younger kids, but the mechanics and game play are outstanding nonetheless. It runs for $3.99 with no in-app purchases or ads. Alternatively, you can get it with Google Play Pass for free.
JioChat and JioMeet
Price: Free
Jio is making headlines these days and not for the best reasons. JioMeet is a new video conferencing app that is basically a completely rip off from Zoom’s mobile app. The features are pretty good, though. You can have up to 100 people with meetings that run for 24 uninterrupted hours for free. However, it looking exactly like Zoom already gave the app some detractors. Technically, JioChat isn’t a new app, but a recent face lift made it look, act, and behave almost exactly like WhatsApp. It is what it is, though. JioChat is available here and JioMeet is available at the button.
Soda Dungeon 2
Price: Free to play
Soda Dungeon 2 sounds like something like Candy Crush, except it’s not. This is a dungeon crawler and one of the deeper ones on mobile. A dark lord locked away a bunch of treasure. You set out to find it. The game has a ton of loot, a gear crafting system, and even some light idle RPG mechanics. Perhaps the coolest part is a script generator that lets you dictate the behaviors of your NPCs. The combat is turn based so it’s not quite as exciting as some, but some people seem to really like it.
Mi Control Center
Price: Free / Up to $6.49
Mi Control Center is an Android customization app. It makes your phone look and behave a little more like MIUI without needing actual MIUI. The app takes the place of your notification shade and you can check notifications, enable quick settings, and customize in other ways. Some additional features include full color customization, music controls, and some other neat stuff. It’s not too different from other Mi control center style apps, but this one seems to be quite clean. There are some bugs, though, so watch out for those.
One-Punch Man: Road to Hero 2.0
Price: Free to play
One-Punch Man: Road to Hero 2.0 finally launched worldwide this last week. The game is a gacha style RPG with a story, online PvP, an extreme trial mode, and some other stuff. It honestly plays like most gachas. You summon characters, combine similar ones to make more powerful heroes, and engage in the turn-based combat to progress through the story. However, the game seems reasonably F2P friendly and its early release in other countries helped iron out a bunch of bugs so we don’t have to deal with it.
Thank you for reading! Check these out:
- 10 best mystery games for Android
- 10 best video chat apps for Android
- 15 best gacha games for Android
- 10 best Android customization apps
- 10 best roguelike dungeon crawlers for Android
If we missed any big Android apps or games news or releases, tell us about it in the comments or hit me up on Twitter!