Honor 10X Lite is a new mid-range smartphone coming to Saudi Arabia, Europe, and Russia

Honor, the millennial sub-brand of Huawei has announced the Honor 10X Lite, launching in Saudi Arabia with a wider European rollout expected. The lower mid-range handset comes at a knockdown price, but of course, won’t come with Google Mobile Services (GMS) out-of-the-box. It’s a more affordable version of the Honor 10X and 10X Max phablet, launched during the summer, but unlike them, doesn’t offer 5G connectivity.

The Honor 10X Lite offers a reasonable, if slightly pedestrian, set of specs that are reasonably on par at this price point. The fly in the ointment is, as ever, the lack of Google apps, because of the current sanctions against parent company Huawei. But if that doesn’t put you off (they can be sideloaded), there’s a Kirin 710 octa-core SoC backed up by 4GB or RAM and 128GB of storage, expandable with microSD by up to 256GB.

The camera is a 48MP quad-lens, flanked by a 5MP ultrawide sensor, with a 2MP for depth and 2MP for macro. Round the front, there’s an 8MP punch-hole selfie camera. The display is a 6.67-inch FHD+ IPS LCD, but at this price, we wouldn’t expect AMOLED. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the side of the device, an increasingly common location for security, and Android 10, wrapped in Honor’s Magic UI 3.1 skin.

Connectivity is pretty standard fayre at this level – LTE (no 5G), Wifi ac (no Wifi6), Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, and A-GPS. There is a headphone jack and USB-C 2.0. The generous 5000mAh battery allows for Honor Supercharge, which the manufacturer claims is capable of charging to 46% in 30 minutes.  All in all – a competent but uninspiring choice and with so many other phones competing in this space, the lack of Google apps will make this a difficult sell for many.

The Honor 10X Lite is available in three color variants – Icelandic Frost, Midnight Black, Emerald Green. It’s on sale now in Saudi Arabia priced at SAR799 ($213) and due to arrive in Russia on November 6th with a European release shortly afterward.

Specification	Honor 10X Lite
Build	Icelandic Frost, Midnight Black, Emerald Green
Dimensions & Weight	76.88 x 165.65 x 9.2mm 206g
Display	6.67″ hole-punch IPS LCD FHD+ 2400 x 1080
SoC	Kirin 710
RAM & Storage	4GB RAM 128GB internal storage Storage expandable via microSD up to 256GB
Battery & Charging	5000mAh with 22.5W fast charging
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint sensor
Rear Camera(s)	48MP 5MP ultrawide 2MP depth 2MP macro
Front Camera(s)	8MP
Port(s)	USB-C
Audio	3.5mm audio jack
Connectivity	LTE/Wi-Fi 5/Bluetooth
Software	Honor Magic UI 3.1 on Android 10 with HMS (no GMS)
Other Features	Game Acceleration e-reader mode

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Telegram’s latest update allows multiple pinned messages, distance alerts on live locations, and more

Messaging app Telegram has announced a new raft of features for Android users, including some that you’re unlikely to find in other messenger apps. It’s the second tranch of updates to Telegram in the past few months, as the battle between competing platforms continues.

The Pinned Messages feature now lets you pin a number of threads — great for multitasking between different people where you want to keep conversations separate, or perhaps you’re talking with the same person about several different things at the same time. To use it, you can either tap the top bar to cycle through the threads or use the newly added button to move them all to their own page. This is the first time that pinning has applied to one-to-one conversations, as well as group chats.

 

Also new, where users are sharing their live location with you, you can set an alert to tell you when they’re nearby. Additionally, the map will now show what direction you’re going in, so you can guide them in to meet you more easily. If that wasn’t enough, when you send multiple songs over Telegram, the receiver now gets sent a playlist. When you start playing one, the entire playlist will be added to a queue in Telegram’s built-in media player. You can choose to separate each song from the playlist if you prefer, but there’s no doubt this is a much tidier way of doing it.

Finally, there are new analytics tools for your shared posts. You can view data for the whole channel, or for individual posts. You can even see where your post has been forwarded into public channels. There are some fancy new animations and emojis to choose from, plus you can now annotate a photograph from someone you’re chatting to in-line, without downloading it and reuploading it.

All these features are available now by updating your Telegram app in the Play Store. As Telegram notes, “If you’re on iOS, you’ll get the update as soon as either a) Apple finishes reviewing it OR b) you decide it’s time to switch to Android.”

Well, we didn’t like to say, but….

Telegram (Free, Google Play) →

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The recently launched TCL Android TVs are up to half off at Best Buy

Very recently, TCL launched its Android TVs in the US, exclusively via Best Buy. These quality sets launched and went on sale quickly, with the 50-inch and 55-inch models receiving some discounts to entice consumers to pick up these new models. Well, if you waited because the upcoming holiday shopping might lead to deeper discounts, your patience has paid off. The TCL Android TVs are even cheaper now, with some models being close to impulse-buy levels!

These are 4K TVs with Android TV built-in, which is a change from TCL’s usual Roku TV models. If you’re not a fan of the Roku platform (I know I’m not, you have to do weird workarounds just to watch Twitch on it), Android TV is going to be really enticing, especially since it or Google TV is standard for Android devices.

Originally, just the 50-inch and 55-inch models of the this TCL TV were on sale. They’re still on sale at Best Buy, but now they’re even cheaper! The 50-inch TV is now $230, while the 55-inch model is even cheaper at just $200.

TCL Android TV (50-inch)

Need something a little smaller to fit your entertainment center? The TCL 50-inch Android TV is just $230! Offering the popular streaming UI and 4K capabilities, this is a perfect set to upgrade with.

$230 at Best Buy

TCL Android TV (55-inch)

$200 for a 55-inch, 4K smart TV? No, it's not a Black Friday doorbuster! TCL's new Android TV is at an incredible price--make sure to grab it today!

$200 at Best Buy

Those aren’t the only two models on sale. This time around, the 75-inch Android TV is on sale, and it’s a really good sale. Normally $800, you can save $300 and get this massive 4K TV for just $500! If you have the room to use it, you really can’t go wrong with this price. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a deal for a TV that big, that’s from a company that you can verify the quality of, for that low outside of super limited Black Friday doorbusters. No need to outrace people for this one!

TCL Android TV (75-inch)

Previously not on sale, you can now save $300 on the massive 75-inch TCL smart TV. With Android TV and 4k capabilities, you can't go wrong with this purchase.

$500 at Best Buy

While there’s no known expiration date for these deals, they’re not guaranteed to last. Get one before they’re sold out!

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Samsung Galaxy Store gets a big redesign with an emphasis on games

Samsung has introduced a redesign to its Galaxy Store, and now there are only two tabs: one for apps and one for games. Unsurprisingly, the title prominently featured in the section for games is Fortnite, which was previously pulled from the Play Store and Apple’s App Store.

“Right now, Galaxy Store is the only mobile app store in the United States where you can download the hit title from Epic Games, Fortnite, and squad up with friends,” Samsung said in a blog post.

As part of the redesign, the bottom bar has been reduced to two sections for app and games, with the games section placed ahead of apps. Other sections, like the one for viewing Galaxy Watch apps, has been moved to a scrolling bar at the top; the same bar also offers quick access to exclusives and personalization.

Samsung is also pushing users to take advantage of Galaxy-exclusive rewards and benefits. If you buy a game from the Galaxy Store, for example, you’ll earn rewards points that you can put toward another purchase in the future.

In its blog post, Samsung reminds users that they can access Xbox Game Pass Ultimate through its Galaxy Store as well. While users can access Microsoft’s service through Google’s Play Store, only users of the Galaxy Store can enjoy the convenience of in-app purchase capabilities.

Samsung’s Galaxy Store has always been a decent alternative to Google’s Play Store, offering some exclusive apps for Galaxy owners. Touting its store as the only mobile app store in the U.S. where you can find Fortnite is a pretty big deal, especially considering the game will likely stay off the Play Store at least until the beginning of next year, when Epic Games and Google are expected to go to trial.

If you own a Galaxy device, you should be able to see the redesigned Galaxy Store starting today.

Samsung Galaxy S20 5G

What better way to access the Galaxy Store and play Fortnite than with a Samsung Galaxy S20 5G? This is one of Samsung's most well-rounded devices and a great way to enjoy mobile gaming.

See at Amazon

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Apple One services bundle now available, starts at $14.95 a month

Following an announcement in September, Apple has launched Apple One, which bundles together its many services for a low monthly price. There are three different plans: Individual, Family and Premier, the latter of which offers everything in Apple’s portfolio, from Apple Music to the company’s upcoming Fitness Plus service.

The Apple One individual plan is available for $14.95 a month and features Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade and 50GB of iCloud storage. The Family plan features the same services but ups the storage to 200GB, and can be shared with five other people for $19.95 a month. Finally, there’s a $29.95 Premier plan, which adds Apple News Plus, ups iCloud storage to 2TB, and includes Apple Fitness Plus.

Fitness Plus is Apple’s new personalized fitness platform that offers a variety of workouts and deep Apple Watch integration. Unfortunately, Fitness Plus isn’t available just yet despite the launch of Apple One, so Premier plan subscribers won’t get their money’s worth until the service launches later this year. If you decide not to subscribe to a Premier plan but want Fitness Plus, it will cost $9.99 on its own.

You have to consider your needs before subscribing to an Apple One plan, but if you already had plans to subscribe to all of Apple’s services individually, you’re going to save some money. The Individual plan saves $6 a month; the Family plan saves $8 a month; and the Premier plan saves $25 a month.

You can currently subscribe to Apple One through your iOS device. Launch Settings and click on your Apple ID, then tap Subscriptions and you’ll see an option to subscribe. Apple is offering a one-month free trial, after which account holders will be billed on a monthly basis. Individual and Family plans are available in over 100 countries, while Premier is available in the U.S., UK, Australia, and Canada.

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How OPPO‘s ColorOS 11 Pushes the Trend of Android Customization

OPPO has a strong selection of Android devices in 2020, and with them, OPPO has always had a big focus on software. Android 11 is the latest big release for Google’s mobile operating system. To take full advantage of Android 11, OPPO released ColorOS 11 as one of the most significant updates for ColorOS to date. On September 14th, the ColorOS 11 event took place as a virtual launch. This event gave us a look at all of the new features that would be coming to many OPPO devices. There were many different types of feature updates, but the most interesting aspect was the new customization features.

When I hear about OEM customization on Android, I think about bloated theme engines that slow down my phone without offering much of anything else. This seems to be what ColorOS 11 is trying to avoid. Instead of having a heavily themed interface, they seem to be aiming for a more stock Android look, while implementing effective personalization features.

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Trends in OEM Android Software

I ran a poll on the @xdadevelopers twitter account, asking our users what they value in OEM software. Some of the biggest trends from OS software this year have been security, privacy, and customization. All of these features are important, but XDA users ended up valuing personalization more.

XDA Twitter Poll

However, you might notice that the most popular feature was a stock Android experience. So an ideal solution is to make an OS that is closer to stock Android while having some personalization features to make it your own. So how is this done? I’ll share some examples of ColorOS 11 running on an OPPO Find X2 Pro.

The homescreen of this phone will look very familiar to you because it closely resembles what you’d find on a stock Android device. The material design rules from Google are implemented throughout this software. Everything behaves and performs the way you’d expect it to, from a stock Google phone. There are no bloated elements here. Transitions are simples, icons are stock, the settings menu has the traditional layout, and the notification shade isn’t bogged down with OEM features.

All of these features are ready to be customized to your liking. You can tweak the icons, generate your own wallpapers, make ringtones, and more. There’s no need to download icon packs or heavy themes to achieve this look. You can now use the adaptive personalization features to do this. Some of the best new customization features include:

• Always on Display
• Home screen icon style
• Fingerprint icon animation
• Accent color
• Font & display size
• Notification drawer icon shape
• Edge lighting
• Dark mode
• Wallpaper creation

Now users can have their stock Android experience while being able to enjoy some great customization features. This seems to be the best way forward as OEMs are trying to implement more of what users want to see in their next OS update.

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The Future of Personalization on Android

Here at XDA, there has always been a large community around Android themes and custom ROMs. However, this has always required a level of technical knowledge that doesn’t reach the general consumer. It’s also a lot of effort that goes into customizing your phone in this way. This is why we are seeing the trend of users valuing personalization features more, as the above poll shows.

Many phone manufacturers are headed in the same direction with these types of features. Implementing them in the right way is key, to avoid becoming clutter, rather than a feature.

Read about all of the new ColorOS 11 Features is our article here:
ColorOS 11 Review – OPPO adds lots of customization over Android 11

We thank OPPO for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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Gmail for Android prepares to add Search Chips for filtering Chat messages

Google introduced a new feature in Gmail called “Search Chips” earlier this year in February. The feature added clickable search suggestions in Gmail for G Suite users, making search filters a whole lot easier to use. A couple of months after the initial release, Google rolled out Search Chips in Gmail for consumers. While the company has yet to add the feature in the mobile version of Gmail, they are bringing a similar search filtering feature for users of Chat.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

A teardown of the Gmail app for Android (v. 2020.10.04) has unearthed new strings of code that hint at the upcoming search filters for Chat messages. Entering any keyword in the search bar will bring up related Search Chips right underneath the Search bar. Tapping on the Search Chips will instantly apply a filter and display all related messages underneath.

<string name="search_filtering_attachment_chip_title_with_count">Attachment+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_author_chip_title">From</string>
<string name="search_filtering_author_chip_title_with_name">From %s</string>
<string name="search_filtering_author_chip_title_with_name_and_count">From %1$s+%2$d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_dialog_attachment_icon_content_description">Attachment icon</string>
<string name="search_filtering_documents_chip_title">Documents</string>
<string name="search_filtering_documents_chip_title_with_count">Documents+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_images_chip_title">Images</string>
<string name="search_filtering_images_chip_title_with_count">Images+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_pdf_chip_title">PDFs</string>
<string name="search_filtering_pdf_chip_title_with_count">PDF+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_people_suggestion_header_title">Suggested</string>
<string name="search_filtering_sheets_chip_title">Sheets</string>
<string name="search_filtering_sheets_chip_title_with_count">Sheets+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_slides_chip_title">Slides</string>
<string name="search_filtering_slides_chip_title_with_count">Slides+%d</string>
<string name="search_filtering_video_chip_title">Videos</string>
<string name="search_filtering_video_chip_title_with_count">Video+%d</string>

As you can see in the below screenshot from Android developer and reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, there are a couple of filter suggestions, including an author and attachment. Clicking on these suggestions will narrow down your search, which is a significantly easier process than typing out Gmail’s old filters.

And here’s how it will look like pic.twitter.com/TvgJX5zDlz

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) October 30, 2020

As of now, we have no information from Google regarding Search Chips integration in Gmail for mobile. We’ll update this post as soon as the feature goes live in a future version of Gmail for Android.

This article was updated at 1:43 PM EST on October 30, 2020, to reflect that these search filters are intended for filtering Chat messages and not emails.

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