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Android

Android is Google’s open-source mobile operating system; think of it like a public park compared to Apple’s walled garden. It dates back to 2007, and though its dessert-inspired version names were retired in 2019 for a straightforward numbering system, there will always be a special place in our hearts for an OS called “Oreo” and “Ice Cream Sandwich.

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Dominic Preston
After six months, the UK confirms Google and Apple are both big tech companies.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed giving them “strategic market status” for iOS and Android, since over 90 percent of UK mobile devices run either OS.

It took the CMA since January to figure out what the EU did two years ago, and somehow it’s not done yet — it’ll take until October to confirm the proposal, around the same time it will “begin consulting” on its roadmaps to rein the two in.

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Richard Lawler
Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2025 event in 11 minutes.

If you missed anything from Samsung’s big event earlier this week, we’ve got the highlights for you to watch right here, along with our first impressions of the new Fold / Flip and Galaxy Watch 8 series.

Victoria Song and Allison Johnson also joined Jake on this week’s episode of The Vergecast to give more of their opinions on everything we saw this week, plus some other tech news.

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Dominic Preston
Spotify can now Jam with Android Auto.

Google first announced an overhauled Spotify app for Android Auto back at I/O 2025, and 9to5Google reports that it’s now arrived. Spotify Premium users can start Jam sessions in their cars, allowing even free users to join in and add songs to a shared queue.

The app’s had a wider redesign too, with a more prominent section for downloaded tracks and proper support for Spotify’s search functionality.

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Antonio G. Di Benedetto
Sandlot vibes.

Backyard Baseball 2001 is getting remastered for Steam, iOS, and Android as Backyard Baseball ‘01, releasing July 8th.

The quarter-century-old sports game was the first of the series to include real MLB players, and 28 of the original 31 pros return in the remaster: including Mike Piazza, Carlos Beltran, Derek Jeter, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco. So you can reunite the The Bash Brothers to take on some kids.

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Emma Roth
Google Chrome will soon require Android 10 or later.

In an update on Monday, Google says Chrome 138 is the last version of the browser that will support Android 8 and Android 9, both of which were released over five years ago. The browser will continue to work on these versions, but it won’t receive additional updates.

Chrome 139 and up will require at least Android 10 when it launches in August.

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Jay Peters
Enter the mobile Gungeon.

The hit roguelike Enter the Gungeon is coming to iOS and Android “soon,” Devolver Digital announced today. Exit the Gungeon, which was delisted from Apple Arcade last year, will also be back on iOS and is coming to Google Play. Playing the games on mobile will be a good warmup to next year’s Enter the Gungeon 2.

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Andrew J. Hawkins
After a delay, Lucid adds Android Auto support.

Unlike other EV-only automakers, Lucid seems to have come around on phone mirroring. It added Apple CarPlay support in 2023, and then last year, the luxury EV company said it would roll out support for Android Auto in the fall of 2024.

That’s been delayed until today, when Lucid announced that Android Auto is now available in all Lucid Air vehicles via an over-the-air update (Lucid OS 2.7.0). Access for Lucid Gravity owners is “coming soon.”

Image: Lucid
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Dominic Preston
The Android phone that works with Apple.

Vivo claims its X Fold 5 has achieved an Android first: interoperability with the Apple Watch. According to product manager Han Boxiao the watch can display calls and texts from the X Fold 5, and sync health data. The phone can also receive calls and texts sent to an iPhone, access iCloud, and extend the display of a Mac.

How? We have no idea, but hopefully we’ll find out when the phone launches this month.

<em>The Apple Watch can apparently display calls from the Vivo phone.</em>
<em>While the Android device can handle calls coming into the iPhone.</em>
<em>And you can set it up as an external Mac monitor.</em>
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The Apple Watch can apparently display calls from the Vivo phone.
Image: Han Boxiao / Weibo
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Dominic Preston
Today’s the day.

Yesterday the official Android Developers account interrupted the WWDC hubbub to tease that the “final release” of Android 16 should arrive today, after seven months of testing. Don’t expect it to include the Material 3 Expressive design language though, which is coming later this year in a quarterly feature drop.

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Jess Weatherbed
Adobe brings Photoshop to Android.

After launching Photoshop for iPhone in February, a beta Android app is now available to download via Google Play. Much like its iOS counterpart, Photoshop for Android includes many features from the desktop version, including layers, masks, brushes, and Firefly generative AI tools, but with a UI optimized for mobile devices.

Adobe says all features are free to use while the app is in beta, and that more are “coming soon.”

Three examples of features available in Photoshop for Android.
Photoshop features, now on more mobile devices.
Image: Adobe
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Dominic Preston
Nothing’s first flagship is a month away.

We knew the Phone 3 was launching in July, but now we know exactly when: 1PM ET on July 1st, which is about as early in the month as we could have hoped for. Not long to wait now for what the company considers its first true flagship.

Come to Play

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