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OnePlus 9 Alleged Photos Reveal Wireless Charging, Reverse Wireless Charging, Hole-Punch Display

OnePlus 9 Alleged Photos Reveal Wireless Charging, Reverse Wireless Charging, Hole-Punch Display
Image courtesy: TT Technology | YouTube

OnePlus 9 has been in leaks for quite some time now, and a report from November suggested that the series will likely have three models. Earlier this month, some leaks showed the handsets’ new design and revealed the OnePlus 9 Pro would come with two large rear cameras. Now, new live images of the OnePlus 9 have allegedly surfaced the web, tipping the phone would feature a flat hole-punch display. However, what’s new in this leak is the support for wireless charging for the base model.

The live images of the OnePlus 9, shared by the folks at 91Mobiles, reveal that the smartphone will support wireless charging. Like the OnePlus 8 Pro, previously, only the OnePlus 9 Pro model was expected to come with wireless charging. In addition to this, the photos also show that the handset will support reverse wireless charging.

OnePlus 9 Leaked Features, Specs

OnePlus 9 Alleged Photos Reveal Wireless Charging, Reverse Wireless Charging, Hole-Punch Display
Image courtesy: 91Mobiles

According to the report from 91Mobiles, their trusted source has shared the live images of the OnePlus 9, which show the handset will support 30W fast charging. The interesting thing is that it will be the first OnePlus smartphone to reverse wireless charging support. Notably, both of these features will come to the OnePlus 9 Pro as well. Apart from this, the smartphone will reportedly pack a 4,500mAh battery. This is a little bigger than that of the OnePlus 8, which comes with the 4,300mAh unit.

OnePlus 9 Alleged Photos Reveal Wireless Charging, Reverse Wireless Charging, Hole-Punch Display
Image courtesy: 91Mobiles

It will be interesting to see how the OnePlus 9 Pro will differ from the regular variant, as the regular OnePlus 9 is getting a lot of premium features. Well, whatever the company ships with different models of the OnePlus 9 family, we’ll get to know when the series expectedly launches in mid-March next year. As per the past reports, both the base model and the Pro model will come with Leica-branded cameras. A recent leak revealed that both the devices would feature a Snapdragon 888 chipset. Recently leaked camera specs of the OnePlus 9 tip a 50MP primary camera.

Speaking of the phone’s design, the last week’s leaked images showed a hole-punch camera at the top-left corner of the phone screen. The new live images also confirm this and reveal a flat corner hole-punch display — camera mounted at the left.

10 Best Android File Manager Apps [UPDATED]

Best Android File Manager Apps

It is no doubt that file manager apps serve a great purpose, allowing us to access our files and folders. And if you work on too many projects surely, you must be well concerned with maintaining your data in an organized way. Nowadays, almost all Android phones come with their native file managing apps. But most of them don’t seem to be quite reliable, as they might be missing some of the essential features or so. Hence, we need to look for a better replacement for them.

And that is exactly why we have listed some of the best Android file manager apps. These applications employ all the basic necessities and some more advanced features to serve you in the best possible way. So, without wasting another moment, let’s dive into the list of our best file manager collection.

10 Best Android File Manager Apps

1. Astro File Manager

Astro File Manager
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 50,000,000+ downloads

Being one of the oldest file managing apps, Astro has most probably turned into a considerable and reliable file manager app for Android. It supports a storage organizer and super easy cleaner to clean your Android phone’s memory to boost its performance. Besides, it also comes with support for SD Card and cloud storage as well. So, now you can effortlessly backup your important files to the cloud. The file compression tool is the ultimate perk of this file explorer. Astro comes with a simple and intuitive interface with well-organized files and folders. The most interesting part is, Astro File Explorer is a free Android application with no in-app ad support.

Download: Astro File Manager

2. Root Explorer

Root Explorer - Best Android File Manager Apps
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ Pro at $3.99

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,00,000+ downloads

This one is especially for the ones with rooted phones. The Root Explorer comes with quite an old-fashioned interface yet contains some of the most powerful features. The interface looks pretty simple and can be easily navigated. It features multiple tabs, Dropbox, Google Drive, multi-select execute scripts, and so much more. Since you have to use a rooted device, you can go beyond the boundaries and explore more fun. It allows you to experiment with the APK binary XML viewer, create symbolic links, change file owner or group, and a lot more.

Download: Root Explorer

3. FX File Manager

FX File Manager
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ Pro at $2.99

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,000,000+ downloads

FX File Manager is a completely secured file explorer for Android. Talking of its interface, it comes with a pretty decent one with well-categorized folders and some essential information on the display. It comes with support for network storage, multi-window, and encrypted archived files. FX doesn’t contain any sort of advertisements, nor does it track your data and its usage. Hence, with an FX manager, you can be sure of a safe and efficient file managing system. The app further shows your storage details in a neatly categorized manner so you can instantly identify and remove unnecessary files. Besides, FX is comparatively a new name among the others, yet it contains almost all the basic as well as other advanced features.

Download: FX File Explorer

4. E S File Explorer

E S File Explorer
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,00,000+ downloads

E S File Explorer is a simple, safe, and highly efficient Android File explorer. It is a full-featured file manager built for both local as well as networked use. It comes with all the essential basics, such as copy/paste files from one location to another, move files, multi-select, rename, and so. Besides, E S File Explorer also puts a great collection of desktop-grade features right in your pocket. Transfer any Android application, videos, images, music, or documents with others without the use of your mobile data or any external cable. It also employs built-in players and viewers, which supports various file types. E S explorer also features an in-built ZIP and RAR support, remote file access, root explorer, SD card Analyzer, and some other features that make it worth a try.

Download: E S File Explorer

5. Cx File Explorer

Cx File Explorer - Best Android File Manager Apps
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,000,000+ downloads

Cx File Explorer features a great combination of powerful functionality and minimalistic material designed UI. The interface looks pretty neat, with only the important information on the front page. It displays the internal storage, SD Card, Downloads, Apps, and Recycle Bin icons. At the top, you can see the storage analyzer for your internal storage. It further categorizes which files are consuming how much space from the main memory. The layout is friendly and helps in easily accessing your files. Moreover, the explorer also comes with some advanced functionality like accessing files over remote or shared storage suck as FTP, LAN, FTPS, SMB, etc. you can manually organize your files and folders and manage all installed applications with ease.

Download: Cx File Explorer

6. Amaze File Manager

Amaze File Manager
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ in-app purchase

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,000,000+ downloads

Amaze File Manager is an open-source lightweight file manager for Android. It’s comparatively a newer name yet does a pretty decent job. The file manager is based on material designed guidelines and runs very smooth on the device. Amaze comes with all the basic features like cut, copy, paste, rename, sort by, etc. Interestingly, it also supports multi-tab functioning and features some of the coolest themes and icons to make it look more catchy to the eyes. Some of the highlighted features include SMB file sharing, root explorer, AES encryption, and decryption, could support, and a built-in app manager for uninstalling unwanted applications. Amaze File manager provides a considerable service from an overall perspective and manages pretty much of everything without letting you feel bloated.

Download: Amaze File Manager

7. MiXplorer Silver- File Manager

MiXplorer Silver- File Manager - Best Android File Manager Apps
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: $4.49

OS: Android

Popularity: 10,000+ downloads

MiXplorer Silver is an interesting pick, especially known for its rich list of features. The user interface looks simple and comes in very handy. The app is easily themeable and supports some basic customizations to give it any type of appearance you desire. Like other normal file browsers, it does come with support for archives, cloud storage, advanced file browsing function, HTML viewer, and more. Some of its niche features include PDF reader, EPub, and MobiPlacket. MiXplorer performs all the necessities with its normal application, and however, for certain advanced operations, it needs root access. Besides, it also supports additional plugins for more functionality.

Download: MiXplorer Silver

8. Solid Explorer

Solid Explorer
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ Pro at $2.99

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,000,000+ downloads

The Solid Explorer File Manager is inspired by the old school file commanders, which has come into great popularity in recent times. It comes with a dual-pane layout that helps you easily manage your files. With strong AES encryption, protect your files in a secured folder. It comes with support for cloud storage or NAS, so you can effortlessly store and manage all your files and folders over the server and backup your data to any specified destination. Solid Explorer features a very elegant user interface that runs evenly on the devices. In addition, it also has support for root access, FTP/ SFTP servers, archives, storage analyzer, and more. Solid Explorer lets you store, manage, and organize remote files and folders effortlessly via your Android smartphone.

Download: Solid Explorer

9. MK Explorer

MK Explorer - Best Android File Manager Apps
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ Pro at $4.99

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,00,000+ downloads

MK Explorer is comparatively a much simpler one with not much-glorified features and so. Hence, if you are looking for a simple and easy-to-use file manager, this must definitely suit your purposes. The interface is based on a materialistic design that comes in handy. MK file manager equips most of the basic functionalities, including copy, paste, delete, move, and a few more options. It supports several keyboard shortcuts and easy file browsing. You can extract the ZIP and RAR archive without much issue and further compress your regular files to ZIP. Although simple, MK explorer still comes with root access support, a built-in music player, text-editor, gallery, and SD Card support.

Download: MK Explorer

10. Total Commander

Total Commander - Best Android File Manager Apps
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 10,000,000+ downloads

Total Commander is a file manager that comes with almost all the essential features a user could desire. The most impressive thing about it is that it does not contain any advertisements. However, the home folder of the app displays a link “Add Folder,” which is normally treated as some sort of advertisement by the Play Store. The app certainly comes with a dark interface that looks pleasing to the eyes. It supports various file types and equips all the regular functionalities. The file explorer further comes with FTP/ SFTP clients, root support, LAN access in the form of plugins. Besides, you can send files through Bluetooth (OBEX) and contain a configurable button bar for sending shell commands, changing directories, and launching apps. Another notable feature of this app is it comes with certain optimizations for the visually impaired ones.

Download: Total Commander

From Editor’s Desk

Finally, these were the 10 best Android file manager apps that are certain to provide you the best ever experience. In my experience, the free versions of the applications provide most of the offered functionalities. However, if you want a much refined and uninterrupted experience, only then you must upgrade to their pro versions. So, let us know your thoughts on these Android file manager apps and comment below if we missed out on something great.

Also Read:
8 Best Music Player Apps for Android – UPDATED
15 Best Offline Games on Android – UPDATED
6 Best Voicemail Apps for Android

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode on Android

Developer options

Developer Options and USB Debugging is one of the most discussed terms in an Android Smartphone. These options give the developers access to flash custom ROMs, troubleshoot their devices, remove bloatware, change various other settings and functions, etc. Today, I’ll be showing you how to enable both the settings on any Android smartphone with some simple steps, which, of course, does not void your device’s warranty and all.

Note that these settings are meant for development purposes only, so don’t go doing all these things unless you are a developer or know what you are doing with your device, for it might lead to some improper functioning of your phone if any step goes wrong.

Well, let’s get started.

The Steps To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode

Enabling Developer Options

  • Open the Settings application.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • Once open, search for Build number in the Setting’s search panel.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode OnHow To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone Any Android Smartphone

  • Keep tapping the Build number until you see the pop-up message, “You are now X steps away from being a developer.”

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • A prompt will show up for security confirmation asking you to enter your lock screen password. Enter it and wait.
  • Once done, a “You are now a developer!” message will pop-up.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • Go back to the home page of the Settings where on scrolling down, you can find the Developer Options now visible. Another way is that simply search Developer Options on the search panel of the Settings search panel as you did for the Build number.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

Enabling USB Debugging Mode

  • Open the Settings application.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • Go to the Developer Options or search for it in the Setting’s search panel.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • Enable the Developer Options toggle.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • Now, scroll down to the Debugging section and enable the USB Debugging toggle.
  • A prompt will show up, confirming the action. Press OK and wait.

How To Enable Developer Options & USB Debugging Mode On Any Android Smartphone

  • That enables USB Debugging on your smartphone and, it’s ready for various operations.

Conclusion

Now you can perform various types of actions on your Android smartphone which, previously required the Developer Options and USB Debugging to be enabled. After finishing the work, always remember to switch off or disable these options for security reasons.

Lastly, dropdown your views, comments, or any feedback for further assistance, and we shall see you in the next one.

OnePlus Plans to Launch OnePlus Watch Early Next Year, Reveals CEO Pete Lau

OnePlus Plans to Launch OnePlus Watch Early Next Year, Reveals CEO Pete Lau
Image courtesy: TechAdvisor

OnePlus Watch is in the talks for quite some time, however, there was no word on the wearable’s launch date. Now, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has revealed on Twitter that the most-awaited OnePlus wearable will launch in early 2021. He said that the company is working on the OnePlus Watch, and it’ll arrive early next year.

Earlier, the smartwatch was expected to release alongside the OnePlus 8T back in October, but it didn’t happen that time. In late October, some reports claimed that the company postponed the launch of its smartwatch indefinitely. But now, Lau has revealed the timeline of its imminent launch. Although there’s still no mention of any particular launch date, the OnePlus Watch may likely make its way alongside the OnePlus 9 series.

OnePlus Watch Design, Features

OnePlus Plans to Launch OnePlus Watch Early Next Year, Reveals CEO Pete Lau
Image courtesy: Android Headlines

We’re hearing about the OnePlus Watch for some time, and there are ample reports that talk about its design. Earlier sketches of the smartwatch have suggested that it will have a circular dial. In October, OnePlus also teased a circular design of the OnePlus smartwatch. In a recent interview, Tau said that the company is working closely with Google to improve WearOS. However, it isn’t clear whether the OnePlus smartwatch will run WearOS or not.

Back in September, a OnePlus smartwatch reportedly received BIS certification, which hints the OnePlus Watch could launch in India as well. While Lau didn’t reveal the exact launch date, we believe it may come alongside the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro models.

If you want to buy a new smartwatch for you, check out this list of best android smartwatches.

Telegram Launches Group Voice Chats, Brings New Animations for Android Users

Telegram Launches Group Voice Chats, Brings New Animations for Android Users

This year, Telegram received 10+ updates bringing new features to the messaging service, including the new search filters, anonymous admins for groups, and more. Now, it has launched a new group voice chats feature — somewhat similar to Discord rooms — through its 12th update. With this, users can participate in ongoing, always-on, group voice chats on Telegram and can join/leave anytime they want. The good thing is that when you’ve joined a group voice chat, you can simultaneously do other things such as send texts or multimedia on the app.

According to the official Telegram blog post, the Voice Chats in Telegram groups are not group calls, but they can achieve similar goals. The new Telegram update will now allow any group to become a voice chat room. Note that this feature earlier appeared in a recent beta update too, but, Telegram has now officially rolled it out for the stable version.

Telegram Group Voice Chats Features

Telegram Launches Group Voice Chats, Brings New Animations for Android Users

The new voice chats for Telegram groups will allow thousands of group members to participate in an always-on voice chat. This feature is now a part of existing text chats and will run parallel to the ongoing text/multimedia-based communication. It is just that users will be able to speak live with their friends and family through a persistent group voice call. Also, it provides a user the flexibility to join or leave the group voice chat anytime he/she wishes to. This is like you join a group of your friends for a quick chat at the back of your classroom and come back when you want.

A group with an active voice chat will show a special bar at the top with a Join button, which you can tap to participate in the voice chat with just a tap. Besides the Join button, this bar shows profile pictures of current participants in the voice chat and displays who is speaking at the moment. Android users with the Telegram app will have a system-wide floating widget that shows who’s currently talking and display microphone controls — even when the app is running in the background. It also provides a menu that allows group voice chat members to invite more people.

New Animations and SD Card Support

Telegram Launches Group Voice Chats, Brings New Animations for Android Users

Apart from the group voice chats feature, Telegram has also updated the animated stickers for its Android app. Additionally, iOS users can now enable Siri to read new messages aloud in the headphones. Further, the update brings a new and more powerful image editor. As per Telegram, the stickers now come with unlimited resolution but with a size less than 50kB. This makes the animated stickers now load faster than ever. Also, users on the Android app can now move their app data to an external SD card if they want to free up their space.

According to the company, Voice Chats are available for all Telegram platforms — Android, iOS, and the Web — and can accommodate a few thousand participants. To start a voice chat, group admins can tap the menu icon and select Start Voice Chat.

ProtonCalendar is Now Available as an Android App on Google Play Store

ProtonCalendar is Now Available as An Android App on Google Play Store

Many of you probably don’t know, but ProtonMail is a well known and one of the most secure email services built to provide privacy and security. In simple words, it is an end-to-end encrypted email service that encrypts the entire email content from the sender to the recipient via ProtonMail servers. This offers a huge advantage to users who care about their privacy online. Just around this time last year, the ProtonMail team released an encrypted calendar app called Proton Calendar but made it accessible only via the web. But this service is now available as an app for Android and is already released in Beta on Google Playstore.

Proton Calendar is Now Available as An Android App on Google Play Store

The highlight of this calendar service is that it offers the same end-to-end encryption as ProtonMail and ProtonDrive. On top of that, the Proton Calendar also allows users to migrate all their existing calendar events and critical information from other calendar services. Further, it allows users to manage up to 10 calendars. On the other hand, the Android app syncs data with the regular web app.

Proton Calendar App for Android and Features

Proton Calendar is Now Available as An Android App on Google Play Store

Proton Calendar, as expected, offers all the usual features that other calendar services provide. This calendar app allows you to create, edit, and delete events, and as said before, allows you to manage up-to 10 calendars. However, the most important feature is the end-to-end encryption — which encrypts all details such as the event title, description, location, and participants. What this means is that no one else except you can see your calendar events. Moreover, the app syncs all changes made within the app with the web version of Proton Calendar and vice versa.

Apart from this, the service offers support for dark mode and allows users to add emojis. These make it easier for them to see what’s on the schedule at a glance. The company says that it is working on bringing more features to the app. These include the ability to add participants to an event, respond to invitations, and import events. Note that the app is currently available to only the ProtonMail or ProtonVPN subscribers with a premium plan.

The Proton Calendar app, currently available in beta, you can download and install it from Google Play Store. The iOS app, on the other hand, will come later as Proton says it is working on it already announce its availability in 2021.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Receives OxygenOS 10.5.8 Update With December Security Patch

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Receives OxygenOS 10.5.8 Update With December Security Patch

OnePlus has just announced its first-ever update for the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. The company has started pushing the incremental rollout of OxygenOS 10.5.8 for OnePlus Nord N10 with several improvements plus the latest December 2020 security patch. Though this update doesn’t deliver any new feature, but, it does come with several improvements to system stability, connection stability, power consumption, and the camera.

Confirmed over the official OnePlus Forum, the latest OTA update will be available for everyone with the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. Apart from the December 2020 security patch, and as said before, the update comes with some power consumption and network tweaks, plus improvements to the device’s camera. Let’s see what all the OxygenOS 10.5.8 for Nord N10 5G brings.

OxygenOS 10.5.8 Update for OnePlus Nord N10 5G

OnePlus Nord N10 5G Receives OxygenOS 10.5.8 Update With December Security Patch

The latest OxygenOS 10.5.8 update for the N10 5G brings several improvements to the system. These include an optimized power consumption of the system, improved system stability, updated GMS package to September 2020, and the updated Android security patch to December 2020.

Through this update, the smartphone brand has also made improvements to the camera to enhance the shooting experience. Further, some unknown issues with the mobile network have also been fixed. The changelog specifically mentions that the update brings improved connection stability with the mobile networks.

The OxygenOS 10.5.8 update should come to all users through the OxygenOS Updater starting December 21. While it’s great to see an update for the Nord N10 5G, but there’s no sign whether the OnePlus Nord N100 will receive any.

10 Best Messaging Apps for Android [UPDATED]

Best Messaging Apps for Android

It seems like the period of sending SMS’s or MMS with the stock messaging apps on our cellphones is witnessing a complete revolution. The traditional way of sending SMS’s to phone inboxes have considerably altered with third-party apps such as Chomp SMS and more. In fact, most of our conversations these days take place on such messaging apps for our Android devices, unlike before. And surely this evolution has grown much larger over the years, thus offering us more additional facilities.

Nowadays, as we rely mostly on these applications for our conversations, it is obvious to look for the best messaging apps for our devices. This article lists some of the most reliable messaging apps for Android that are sure to provide you the best of your experiences.

10 Best Messaging Apps for Android

1. Google Messages

Google Messages
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,000,000,000+ downloads

Google message is an official messaging app from Google. The app looks simple and has a user-friendly interface. It comes with the readability of texting, along with the richness of chat. You can text your families and friends from anywhere and even set up group chats to keep in touch with your loved ones. Google messages bring some of the most outstanding features, hence allowing you to send SMS and MMS. You can further send and receive texts over Wi-Fi and mobile network using RCS. Besides, Messages also supports easy sharing of images, videos and even enables you to send voice notes. You can send rich emojis to fill excitement to your texts and make payments via Google Pay as well.

Download: Google Messages

2. Band

Band - Best Messaging Apps for Android
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ in-app purchases

OS: Android

Popularity: 50,000,000+ downloads

If you are looking for an application, especially for group chats, BAND is the most recommended one on this list. The developers have crafted the app, focusing on providing the best group chatting service. Fortunately, it offers an intuitive platform for group discussion. Whether it is a sports group, workgroup, school group, or just a hangout group, the members can freely go with their conversation without any interruption. It helps you stay socially active and connected to others. BAND even allows organizing your groups into different channels or message anyone individually.

Downloads: BAND

3. Whatsapp Messenger

Whatsapp Messenger
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 5,000,000,000+ downloads

Surely, the name WhatsApp doesn’t need any sort of additional introduction. It is the most widely used messaging app throughout the world. WhatsApp offers all its brilliant services completely free of cost. The first positive point for this application is it’s the excessively easy and sleek interface. It allows you to effortlessly chat with anyone on your contact list, having a WhatsApp account with the same number. You can exchange texts, emojis, GIF’s, videos, images, audio clips, and voice messages. Apart from a simple text application, it further comes with the ability to make audio and video calls over the internet. WhatsApp also includes two-factor authentication, which ensures your utter protection. So, all your private conversations remain private with WhatsApp.

Download: WhatsApp

4. Discord

Discord
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ $9.99 per month or $99.99 per annum

OS: Android

Popularity: 100,000,000+ downloads

Probably the one and only best platform for gamers to meet new people from all over the world and get to know each other well. Discord is a messaging app with cross-platform support across various smartphones and desktops. It allows you to create your own server and invite your group to keep in touch and have fun over text, voice, and video calls. The voice chat feature of Discord is extremely good and comes with support for GIF and a few other fun stuff. Although Discord services are free in every way, yet certain features need to be unlocked via its Nitro subscription. The platform was specially built to form gaming communities. However, people use it for various purposes, mainly for its outstanding capabilities.

Download: Discord

5. Chomp SMS

Chomp SMS - Best Messaging Apps for Android
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ in-app purchase

OS: Android

Popularity: 10,000,000+ downloads

Chomp is a simple and lightweight Android messaging app. The best part about it is Chomp only takes less than 10MB of memory of your device and yet provides its delicious service with no issues. The app comes with tons of astonishing features, thereby fulfilling all your requirements from a messaging app. It supports passcode lock, scheduled SMS sender, stop while sending messages, robust privacy settings, blocklisting, signatures, SMS blocker, text snippets, and more. Chomp messenger not only stops there, but it is also an ultra-customizable application. It offers unlimited customizing options enabling you to effortlessly change the notification LED colors, change the ringtone, vibrate patterns, text size and color, background layout, and so on.

Download: Chomp SMS

6. Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,000,000,000+ downloads

Messenger app from Facebook is another popular messaging app after WhatsApp, which has a huge user base. It is basically an all-in-one communication app that includes text messaging service, Voice call, and video calling service. You can further create a group video call with up 4 people max. Facebook Messenger comes with all the basic features such as support for emojis, GIFs, images, and videos. The Chat Head feature is one of my favorite that lets you easily access it whenever someone writes to you or send any message. Besides, it also features a dark theme that reduces the strain on your eyes, especially during the night. The newer update has also introduced a Vanish Mode, which lets you send messages that last for only a certain moment and then automatically vanish.

Download: Facebook Messenger

7. Handcent Next SMS

Handcent Next SMS - Best Messaging Apps for Android
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ in-app purchase

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,000,000+ downloads

Next, we have the Handcent Next SMS, an Android messaging app. It has undergone quite a few transitions over the past few years. And now, with the latest update, the app seems to have a stabilized environment in terms of its interface, performance, and features, of course. It comes with unlimited message customization to meet the accuracy of your preferences. Apart from individual messaging, you can also create groups and start a fruitful conversation with your friends and family. Handcent also offers free cloud backup, a strong guard, and support for Android wear the device. Besides, you can enrich your messages by using hundreds of cool emojis, stickers, and GIFs. Moreover, the messaging app also lets you exchange MMS and full-size multimedia with MMS Plus.

Download: Handcent Next SMS

8. Telegram

Telegram - Best Messaging Apps for Android
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free

OS: Android

Popularity: 500,000,000+ downloads

Concerned about your privacy? Well, Telegram must be your ultimate solution. This messenger is specifically built, keeping in mind the complete privacy protection of the users. Telegram is a simple, reliable, and powerful messaging app that comes with support for file sharing, emoji, stickers, GIF, and group chat. It supports up to 200,000 members per group. Hence proper usage of mentions and hashtags are a must while replying to the group. Unlike other messaging apps, Telegram allows you to share large videos and various types of documents, be it Docs, ZIP, MP3, or any other. Besides, it also features a powerful photo and video editor and many more stellar features that make it one of its kind.

Download: Telegram

9. Slack

Slack
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ Business account at $6.67 – $12.50 per user

OS: Android

Popularity: 10,000,000+ downloads

Slack is a productive messaging app ideal for business purposes. It almost like a more refined version of Discord that has a sleek and gentle look along with a professional feel. It allows you to effortlessly communicate with your teams or groups and organize your conversations as per any particular topic, project, or so. You can also create groups, establish video calls, share documents, and collaborate with the right person at the right time. Slack also supports a few third-party apps such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Asana, Twitter, etc. Above all; Slack offers most of its services for free just like Discord; however, in case you have a much larger team and have the need for certain advanced functionalities, you can opt for its subscription plan which is optional.

Downloads: Slack

10. Skype

Skype - Best Messaging Apps for Android
Image Courtesy: Google Play Store

Price: Free/ in-app purchase

OS: Android

Popularity: 1,000,000,000+ downloads

Skype is a very popular name when it comes to the most reliable video calling applications. However, it also includes the ability to send and receive text messages, make voice calls, and even make normal calls to anyone from your contact list. Skype features a very user-friendly interface, and the quality of video calls is exceptional. Besides, it also supports the sharing of various types of files and documents. You can also use several emojis, Giphy’s to make your conversation look interesting. It provides all its services for no cost. However, the free version supports ads, which is, after all, not that much of a big deal.

Download: Skype

From Editor’s Desk

Unlike the regular messaging apps on our cellphones, the third-party apps come with certain much higher specifications. And for Android devices, these were the top 10 messaging apps picks as per their usability, performance, features, and of course, from the pricing point of view. Do let us know if we missed out on something special.

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Motorola Announces Plans to Roll Out Android 11 Update for 23 Phones

Motorola Announces Plans to Roll Out Android 11 Update for 23 Phones

Motorola is one of those OEMs who rarely provide OS upgrades for their phones and, this what their users hate the most. But now, the company has shed some light on this topic, giving hope for its customers to hold on. Through a recent blog post, Motorola has announced that it’ll soon roll out the Android 11 upgrade for several of its devices. It also shared a list of 23 smartphones that will receive the latest Android OS upgrade — the Android 11 — starting in the coming months.

Motorola generally provides only two upgrades over the life of a flagship device. For other devices, they’ll just receive one and the only upgrade over their entire life. So this progress from the company gives some hope for Moto users, especially the existing 2020 users. Well, better late than never, the smartphone brand is finally planning to send out the Android update to a long list of its devices. Here’s the complete list of these devices.

List of Motorola Devices to Receive Android 11

Motorola Announces Plans to Roll Out Android 11 Update for 23 Phones

Motorola has said that it’ll start pushing the Android 11 upgrade for the following devices in the coming month, presumably as early as this month. However, practically, the Android 11 upgrade for Motorola devices will run through the entire 2021. The smartphones include:

  • Motorola Razr 5G
  • Razr 2019
  • Motorola Edge
  • Edge+
  • Motorola One 5G 
  • One Action
  • One Fusion
  • One Fusion+
  • Motorola One Hyper
  • One Vision
  • Motorola Moto G 5G
  • Moto G 5G Plus
  • Moto G Pro  
  • Moto G Fast
  • Moto G Power
  • Moto G Stylus
  • Motorola Moto G9 
  • Moto G9 Plus
  • Moto G9 Play 
  • Moto G9 Power
  • Motorola Moto G8 
  • Moto G8 Power, and 
  • Lenovo K12 Note

Note that for a majority of these phones, this will be their only operating system update. The only exceptions are the company’s foldable Razr 5G and the Edge+, which the company has publicly committed to provide further support.

As expected, this update will bring the typical features of Android 11, including Chat Bubbles, notification improvements, data control, and more. Also, long-pressing the power button will allow users to manage their connected devices.

Google Search Can Now Show 250+ Cars in Detail With Interactive 3D Models

Google Search Can Now Show 250+ Cars in Detail With Interactive 3D Models

Are you thinking of buying a new car but don’t want to visit the dealer just yet? Or you want to check out most 2020 car models in detail without leaving your home. Whatever be the reason, you can now experience several cars in 3D with their interactive 3D models — right in the Google Search. Google has now upgraded its AR tech and is bringing 3D models of new cars for its AR viewers, similar to the tech that brought 3D animals.

Google announced this feature during its “Search On” event back in October to bring 3D animals into Search. But now, it seems like the feature is rolling out widely for more things, right now a variety of vehicles. Google’s VP of Engineering, Rajan Patel, took to Twitter to announce that the AR-search feature now supports more than 250 car models and they’re working on adding more. Be it a Volvo or Porsche, you can now see all of them in detail with a 3D model, either on a generic/stylized background or in real-life using AR via your camera.

3D Car Models in Google Search: How To Use

Google Search Can Now Show 250+ Cars in Detail With Interactive 3D Models

Widely rolled out for most Android users, the feature allows Android smartphone users to check out the 3D interactive models of several cars when searched for the supported vehicles. According to Patel, this feature currently supports more than 250 car models and will add more in the near future. When a user searches for cars like the 2020 Audi R8 or Chevrolet Corvette from the Google app on Android, he’ll see an “Explore” section with a “View in 3D” button on the Knowledge Panel. Clicking over it will trigger an AR-capable and highly detailed model of that vehicle — both exterior and interior.

While viewing the 3D cinematic view, you can set different backgrounds and even use AR to see the car in your real life. You can place the supported car in your own space using AR, just in case, you want to show off a ride without actually having one. It is worth noting that this is the company’s first cloud streamed 3D content in Search, mentioned Patel in the tweet. Note that this feature is not yet available for iOS users, although Google VP states that the tech giant is working on bringing this experience on the Google app for iOS, as well.