Since the early days of the OS, widgets for Android have allowed users to engage with their favourite apps, from the comfort of their homescreen. So how do you create an Android widget? For the developer, widgets give your application a valuable presence on the user’s homescreen. Instead of being tucked out of sight in the app drawer, users will be reminded about your app every single time they glance at their homescreen – while also getting a preview of your app’s most interesting and useful content.

For those that can’t resist the lure of profile hopping on Facebook, there’s a stand-alone Facebook Messenger app that still allows you to engage in conversation with your Facebook friends, without the usual distractions. In a bid to become the messaging platform of choice, Facebook has updated its Messenger app for both Android and iOS, bringing them closer to competing platforms, in terms of looks and functionality. The updated mobile Messenger application now comes with a “read receipts” feature, which lets you see whether the messages you send to your friends have been read or not.

Robert Triggs / Android Authority TL;DR Google announced at I/O 2022 that the Pixel 6 series has already outsold its previous two flagships. The company didn’t divulge specific sales numbers. The Pixel 6 phones have been a success story for the company, and it isn’t shy about telling you just how well the series has performed. At I/O 2022, Google announced that the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro have already outsold the Pixel 4 and the Pixel 5 series.

Google is celebrating its 21st birthday today, and it’s hard to believe that the search giant is old enough to drink alcohol in all 50 states. The company isn’t letting the occasion go unnoticed either, as it’s offering significant discounts on the Google Store. The search company is offering 21% discounts when you apply the promo code B-GOOGLE21 at checkout. This promotion doesn’t include Google Stadia pre-orders or Nest Aware subscriptions though.

If you’re a person who is simply addicted to flashing ROMs on your Android devices, you’ll know the value of backing up your data. In most cases, wiping your data is part of the necessary steps to get a ROM properly functioning on your device. But, for other users who keep putting off making a backup for their Android phone data or for those who simply aren’t thinking about it, you’ll never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

The age of virtual reality is already here with the Oculus Rift and Gear VR, and very soon HTC and Valve’s Vive headset is scheduled to start landing in consumer hands too. To coincide with the consumer launch, HTC has released a Vive companion app for Android phones that will keep you up to date with your latest notifications when you’re worlds away. Essentially, the companion application pushes notifications from your phone directly to the PC that’s connected up to your Vive headset, so you don’t have to take off the headset to see that a message has come through.

Palash Volvoikar / Android Authority TL;DR Google finally announced Steam for Chrome OS is on the way. You will be able to play games on powerful, high-end Chrome OS-powered laptops. Little else is known about the service so far, as Google’s announcement was off-the-cuff. Chromebooks and Chrome OS-powered machines are terrific for certain things. Browsing the web, watching YouTube videos, word processing, and even some light Android gaming are all great.

Kindle Fire users have a little reason to be happy, as Amazon announced in a press release (which you can check out below) that it is giving away 500 Amazon Coins to every user. That’s a $5 value, which can be used to get apps or make in-app purchases, but you have to be a U.S. resident in order to qualify for the promo, according to the Terms on the Amazon website.

It’s a small change, but for fans of the neon blue that characterized Android from Ice Cream Sandwich through Jelly Bean, it’s a welcome one. Google added in the latest update to its Keyboard app the ability to choose between White and Blue for the color scheme. Contrary to what you may think from the name, this actually just changes the color of the accent color – the color of keys in pressed mode, the suggested words, and the swipe track.

Despite the fact that first-generation Chromebooks have proven to be, let’s be honest, an utter and complete failure, Google seems to be still trusting the project and has unveiled and launched a second-generation device, alongside Samsung, a month back. The new Series 5 550 Chromebook was joined by a Series 3 Chromebox and, although some complained about the gadgets’ pricing, they looked pretty good on paper, coming with some serious power under their hoods.