Gadgetory

this week's episode of the Android apps weekly show is brought to you by envy SMS and messenger hello again ladies and gentlemen I'm Joe Hindy the android authority app guy and welcome back to android apps weekly it's also Christmas so happy holidays everybody now let's get right into the app news a round of Twitter hacks made their rounds this week the white hat hacker group our mind has claimed responsibility their targets included the official u.s. accounts for Netflix and Marvel Comics along with the verified accounts of Tony Stark and Captain America the group has also successfully hacked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and sundar pichai earlier this year everything is back to normal now but it was a fun week there is a new YouTube show out called devs the premise of the show is to shine light on how video games are made on top of that there are some pretty good insights on things like how the industry has changed over the last few years it also talks about things like why Finland is a good spot for mobile game development it's a fun little show and definitely worth a watch if you like this kind of stuff amazon announced this week that it's going to start taking india more seriously during an interview this week an executive stated that amazon was ready to make the necessary investments to do just that this comes just a week after amazon launched its prime service in India the company will receive some competition from flipkart which is to be expected the investments made by Amazon in India so far are the largest in company history as it turns out vine isn't doomed after all the company plans on stripping down the application and then re-releasing it as vine camera sometime in early 2017 it'll still take six second videos like the app did except for this time you can upload them directly to Twitter or keep them on your camera roll videos should also be compatible with other social networks will tell you more about it when we get our hands on it early next year Super Mario run has made an estimated 14 million dollars in just a few days the game has already rocketed to the top of the charts on iOS despite mixed reviews from pundits the game had five million dollars along with five million downloads in its first day that's a whole lot more than Pokemon go friends we imagine both numbers will rise significantly once there is an Android release and according to Nintendo it should be out on Android and early 2017 Retro City Rampage d is an action-adventure game it's also reminiscent of the very early Grand Theft Auto titles you'll engage with an overhead view of a retro world as you complete missions do challenges play minigames and explore the open-world it boasts well over a hundred activities in total 50 vehicles to steal 25 weapons 200 character customizations and a lot more the game plays well enough although there are some early release bugs that you may have to deal with in any case it's four dollars and ninety-nine cents with no in-app purchases Google revamp their google keyboard last week and turned it into G board at its core it still works pretty much as it did before however there is now google search integrated directly into the keyboard this allows you to search for practically anything and then immediately share it this includes the popular gifs search a feature that was highly touted in the iOS version of the app it's completely free to use in case you're interested about the only downside is that you may run into a few bugs here and there Twilight Struggle is a board game that has been ported to android the game puts you in the center of the Cold War and the political drama between the USSR and the United States you'll draw event cards play them out and then strategize accordingly you can play with people online or against AI opponents if you wish the mobile controls work rather well and you'll even have an online profile showing all of your stats it's a relatively inexpensive game at four dollars and ninety-nine cents and you can buy additional content as in-app purchases team win recovery project has been a go-to after market recovery on Android for years now they finally have an official app and it's not overly complicated you can open it find your device download the recovery and then you can flash it it can also help keep you up to date on which version that you have so that you can install updates later if you need to as you probably guessed you will need root access on your phone to use this app to its fullest extent if you're rooted and using team win recovery projects you definitely want this app thankfully it's totally free Rovio is added again with another casual game called angry birds blast it's a match 3 game where your goal is to break certain blocks each around to free a certain type of bird it works pretty much like every other match 3 game where you wait for two or three of the same color to line up and then you tap them you'll also have boosts and powers to make things go a little easier the game has 250 levels colorful graphics and a family friendly demeanor it's a casual game through and through but it's not all that bad if you need a time waster envy SMS and messenger is an SMS and MMS app that also doubles as a standalone messaging app you'll be greeted with a variety of features including a built-in meme generator emoji stickers group chats voice to text and a lot more since it supports SMS you won't need to invite your friends to use the service it also includes a new feature called the awesome bar which gives you all kinds of fun stuff at the touch of a button it rocks a pretty decent design that features material design and the application itself works very well it's a simple clean app that is easy to use and has tons of functionality you can pick it up for free with no in-app purchases right now give it a shot and show your support for the Android apps weekly show for even more Android apps and games news releases and more don't forget to check out this week's newsletter which is linked in the video description below there you can find all of the stuff that we didn't have the time for here you can also head to the written companion which is also linked in the video description below and use the form there to sign up for the Android apps weekly newsletter which we send out every single Sunday also don't forget to check out the android authority app for even faster updates and that about does it for this one folks if you want to keep watching we have some best android app and game videos linked up there on the screen and in the video description below don't forget to check out that newsletter and keep it tuned to android authority because we are your source for all things android thanks again for watching everybody and have a happy holidays you