Galaxy Fit update adds music control widget, new watch faces

The Galaxy Fit may not have any built-in storage like Samsung’s smartwatches, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t allow you to control music running on a connected phone. It’s basic functionality that was missing from the fitness band upon launch, and the company is fixing that now with a new software update for the device.

The update — firmware version R370XXU0ASK1 — also adds new watch faces to the Galaxy Fit. The new watch faces are reportedly focused on providing useful information on-screen, such as heart rate, steps taken, and the weather. The update can be downloaded from the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected phone after you have updated the Galaxy Fit Plugin app from the Google Play Store on the latter. It remains to be seen if a similar update will be released for the Galaxy Fit e.

The Galaxy Fit is an excellent fitness band for tracking basic activities, as we had concluded in our review. With minor updates like this, Samsung is only making the experience better, although you’d want to get one of the company’s smartwatches if you want more advanced fitness tracking and software features. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is fantastic and Samsung’s best smartwatch yet, but you can also opt for last year’s Galaxy Watch if you prefer the design of traditional timepieces.

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Galaxy A01 with dual cameras, 3,000 mAh battery gets FCC approval

A new budget Galaxy A series phone, the Galaxy A01, has been approved by the FCC. Rumors of the Galaxy A01 first came out around two months ago, when a few of the device’s specs were revealed through the Geekbench benchmark database and by a report from an Indian publication, which suggested the device would be sold as the Galaxy A5. At the time, the A01 had popped up on Geekbench as a Qualcomm reference phone, making us think that it may not be a device for the consumer market. However, that’s clearly not the case.

The Galaxy A01 is another of Samsung’s ODM (original device equipment) phones, which are devices that use the Samsung brand but are manufactured by a different company. The Galaxy A10s, for example, is manufactured by Jiaxing Yongrui Electron Technology in China, while the A01 is made by Huaqin Telecom, a company based in Shanghai that also makes devices for Huawei. The purpose of ODM phones is for Samsung to reduce production costs and offer devices at a lower price, although it’s unclear just how much the Galaxy A01 will cost when it goes official.

It should be quite affordable, however, going by its specs. The FCC certification reveals that it has a 3,000 mAh battery and dual rear cameras, and its benchmark entry had revealed just 2GB of RAM. The 2GB of RAM will be accompanied by 16GB of storage, and there’s a 5.7-inch screen up front according to a previous report. It appeared on Geekbench with Android 10 on-board, which suggests the official launch is a few months away. Our sources tell us the device will be available in blue, black, and red, although the color options could change or expand at a later time.

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Samsung TV True Fit uses AR to let you see which TV model fits your wall

If you’re in the market for a new Samsung TV and you reside in Canada then you’re in for an augmented reality treat. A new AR-based mobile app called Samsung TV True Fit allows you to see which one of Samsung’s TVs would be the perfect fit for your room.

Interestingly enough, Samsung TV True Fit is neither a first-party app (which explains the use of an iPhone in the video below) nor is it a third-party app. It’s technically a second-party app developed by Gravity Jack at Samsung’s request, even though it could have probably been a part of Bixby Vision along with existing AR features like Home décor. In any case, Samsung TV True Fit is published on the Play Store (and Apple Store) by Gravity Jack but the app is approved by Samsung.

Samsung TV True Fit lets you search for nearby retailers

The AR aspect of Samsung TV True Fit is quite self-explanatory. Users can select the desired Samsung TV model and point the phone’s camera at the wall or stand to see how the device would fit. Augmented reality TV models can be placed automatically by the app, or manually by the user who can then move the AR object around the room.

‘Through the app, consumers will have an opportunity to truly discover our lineup of big-screen TVs and expand their viewing experience‘ said the VP of Sales and Marketing of Home Entertainment at Samsung Canada, Pat Bugos. And indeed, the app not only has an AR element but can also guide users to the nearest Samsung TV retailer in their area.

Samsung TV True Fit is currently available only in Canada via the Google Play Store and readers can grab it by hitting the link. At the moment, it’s unclear if the app will launch in other markets or through the Galaxy Store, but we’ll keep you posted if we find out more.

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Pokemon GO prevents dual-account login, Samsung Secure Folder saves the day

One of the recent Pokemon GO updates launched by Niantic for the Galaxy Store version of the game has reportedly broken a feature on which many Galaxy smartphone owners were keen. Before update 0.157, the Galaxy Store and Google Play Store versions of Pokemon GO were technically viewed as separate apps by your phone. This allowed Galaxy smartphone users to log in with two Pokemon GO accounts simultaneously on the same device and play different instances of the game.

This wasn’t quite an intended feature, as it turns out. Niantic has put a stop to this practice with a recent update, and some Galaxy smartphone owners are not happy. The dual-account functionality – as unintended as it may have been – provided real benefits. It allowed Galaxy phone users to share their phones with a family member and play the game on separate Pokemon GO accounts instead of sharing the same credentials. But while this is no longer possible using the old method, the good news is that Galaxy phone owners can still achieve similar results using Samsung’s Secure Folder.

Secure Folder comes to the rescue, but Pokemon GO APK sideloading is required

In case you’re unfamiliar with how Secure Folder works, you can check this guide on how to use it on the Galaxy Note 10 or virtually any other Galaxy phone that comes with the feature.

However, bypassing Niantic’s new measures isn’t as easy as installing an official second copy of your app inside Secure Folder via the Play Store or Galaxy Store. We’ve tried launching two separate versions of the game via the Game Launcher and Secure Folder and it didn’t quite work as we’ve imagined. Two separate instances of the game were indeed running simultaneously but they still shared the same account and unlocks.

Thankfully, players have discovered a workaround and shared the solution via Reddit. As it turns out, you can regain the dual-account functionality for Pokemon GO on your Galaxy device by installing the app normally via the Play Store, and then sideloading a second Pokemon GO APK into your Secure Folder to install it manually.

Time will tell if Niantic will try to prevent this method as well, but for the time being it seems to be working. Do you play Pokemon GO on your Galaxy device and were you a dual-account user? Have you tried the Secure Folder and sideloading method? Feel free to leave a comment below.

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Samsung adds Android 10 support to a couple of Good Lock apps

Every major Android update tends to break compatibility with Samsung’s Good Lock app suite, and the same happened with Android 10 as well. Given the level of the deep customisation that Good Lock offers, such compatibility issues are not surprising. Thankfully, the Korean company seems to have adopted a more proactive approach this time around.

Samsung has released updates to the One Hand Operation+ and Edge Lighting+ modules in the last few days to make them compatible with Android 10 on Galaxy devices. Other components of the Good Lock app suite are yet to receive such updates, but you can expect them to be ready before the stable release of Android 10 rolls out to Galaxy users.

This approach is in stark contrast to what Samsung did during the Android Pie rollout. Galaxy users had to wait for a couple of months for the Good Lock app family to gain Android Pie support. Of course, Android Pie was a much bigger update for Galaxy users since Samsung introduced One UI with it. In comparison, Android 10 seems like a minor release, requiring fewer changes to Good Lock.

If you are running Android 10 beta, you need to have One Hand Operation+ v 2.6.41.0 and Edge Lighting+ v1.0.25 to use these apps. Depending on the region, you should find these updates on either Google Play Store or Galaxy Store. If you don’t see these app updates yet, you can download the latest APKs from the links below.

One Hand Operation+ v 2.6.41.0

Edge Lighting+ v1.0.25

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Alleged Snapdragon 865 leak offers a glimpse of the Galaxy S11

The Galaxy S11 series is going to employ Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 chipset in some markets and the Exynos 990 (known internally as the Exynos 9830) in others. Qualcomm has yet to officially announce its flagship solution for 2020, but the spec sheet may have just leaked via Chinese social network Weibo.

Unsurprisingly, the Snapdragon 865 is being manufactured on a 7nm EUV process, same as the Exynos 990. After all, both chipsets are being mass-produced by Samsung. As usual, however, there are more differences than similarities between the two solutions.

Snapdragon 865 alleged specifications leak

A total of eight CPU cores will reportedly beat at the heart of the Snapdragon 865 SoC. There are four ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.8GHz, along with three Cortex-A77 cores clocked at 2.42GHz, and one high-performance Cortex-A77 core operating at a frequency of 2.84GHz.

The CPU is reportedly going to be paired with an Adreno 650 GPU clocked at 587MHz. Networking will be handled by an X55 5G modem. Recent rumors indicate that the Galaxy S11e and Galaxy S11 will be available in LTE and 5G flavors, whereas the Galaxy S11+ will launch only as a 5G device. Either way, the X55 5G modem should fit the bill.

Finally, the Snapdragon 865 is said to feature a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and support LPDDR5 RAM. The chipset should be capable of 8K HDR video encoding but other details pertaining to camera sensors or storage compatibility remain unknown.

Snapdragon 865 – The bottom line

Compared to the ongoing Snapdragon 855+ which isn’t used by any of Samsung’s flagships, the Snapdragon 865 said to be employed by the Galaxy S11 seems to deliver a better 5G modem, a more powerful graphics chip, and better video encoding.

It’s unclear whether the Snapdragon 865 will have custom CPU cores as the 855+ does, or if it will follow ARM’s Cortex CPU core designs to the letter. Either way, given the similar clock speeds between the two chipsets, the Snapdragon 865 is likely to benefit from performance and efficiency gains thanks to the different manufacturing process. The Snapdragon 855+ was built by TSMC using the 7nm FinFET process, while Samsung is manufacturing the Snapdragon 865 using more advanced 7nm EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography).

It goes without saying that the details above are subject to change as they are not yet official, but nothing mentioned above sounds odd or suspicious. Chances are that we’re looking at an accurate leak here, but only time will tell. Qualcomm is expected to unveil the Snapdragon 865 on December 3, and Samsung is very likely to introduce the Galaxy S11 flagship series in February.

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Galaxy Watch Active 2 gets no official YouTube, Twitter or Translate apps

The Tizen OS that Samsung uses for its wearable devices doesn’t have as much developer support as Wear OS or watchOS. However, Samsung has been working with developers to bring more apps to its smartwatches. So it wasn’t surprising to see Samsung hype up three new apps when it unveiled the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

Samsung highlighted a YouTube, Twitter and Google Translate app for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 when it was unveiled. Users haven’t been able to find the official apps for these services in the Galaxy Store since the watch came out. As it turns out, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 doesn’t exactly have the official apps.

Galaxy Watch Active 2 gets third-party clients of these services

Searching for YouTube in the Watch section of the Galaxy Store only returns third-party clients. The Twitter and Translate clients are also not from Twitter and Google. As we mentioned in our Galaxy Watch Active 2 review, many readers were reaching out to us, asking about when the official apps for these services will be available. We reached out to Samsung so that there could be some clarity on the matter.

Samsung has confirmed to us that these are in fact not the official apps per se. The viewer apps for YouTube and Twitter as well as the Google Translate app have all been developed by TecAce, a third-party. These apps are readily available for download from the Galaxy Store.

The insecure signup process for Twitter might give many users a reason to not even try this third-party app in the first place. The Google Translate client works to an extent but it’s obviously going to be faster to just use the full-fledged app on a smartphone. Watching videos even on the 44mm Galaxy Watch Active 2’s 1.4-inch display doesn’t make much sense to begin with.

So if you’ve been waiting for the official YouTube, Twitter and Translate apps for the Galaxy Watch Active 2, you’re out of luck for now. You can just find solace in the fact that TecAce’s third-party clients are endorsed by Samsung.

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Daily Deal: 13% off the Samsung Galaxy S10

It’s not often that smartphone manufacturers like Samsung slash their prices on their recent devices. This time, however, we found the Galaxy S10 discounted by a whopping 13%! The Galaxy S10 is a great smartphone. In our review, we praise it for its stunning display, long battery life and the fact that it offers a headphone jack which is something you don’t find often nowadays. Wait no longer if you’re looking to upgrade your phone as this deal won’t come back soon!

Hit the Buy Now button below to get one while still available.

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Samsung releases November security update for the Galaxy A10s, A20, and J7 Prime 2

Samsung started rolling out the November 2019 security patch to some of its devices towards the end of October itself. Since then, the company has released the same update to many of its devices across price segments and form factors. Galaxy A10s, A20, and J7 Prime 2 have also joined the list now, at least in some markets.

As is often the case with these budget devices, the update may not be made available in all the regions. For now, the Galaxy A10s is receiving the update in Vietnam and the Galaxy A20 in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The J7 Prime 2, meanwhile, is receiving the update currently only in Bolivia.

According to Samsung, the November 2019 security patch contains Google’s fixes for nine critical and more than two dozen high-risk vulnerabilities in Android. It also includes Samsung’s fixes for 39 vulnerabilities of different intensities that are specific to Galaxy devices. While we cannot confirm yet, it is doubtful the update brings any new features to these devices.

If you own one of these devices but haven’t received the OTA notification yet, you can manually check for it by going to Settings and tapping the Download updates manually option under the Software Update menu. If that doesn’t work, you have to either wait or manually flash the latest firmware. If you decide to go with the latter option, you can find the latest firmware for the Galaxy A10s here, Galaxy A20 here, and the Galaxy J7 Prime 2 here.

Galaxy A10s

• Model: SM-A107F
• Dimensions: 156.9 x 75.8 x 7.8mm
• Display: 6.2" (157,9mm0 LCD
• CPU: Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22
• Camera: 13 MP F1.8 & 2MP F2.4

More specifications

Galaxy A20

• Model: SM-A205F
• Dimensions: 158.4 x 74.7 x 7.8mm
• Display: 6.4"(162.5mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 7885
• Camera: 13 MP, CMOS & 5MP, CMOS

More specifications

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Second Galaxy Note 10 One UI 2.0 beta will be released this week

It has been a while since Samsung launched the One UI 2.0 beta for the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy Note 10+. The beta is available in select markets currently and was only recently rolled out in India. We now have word from the company about when the second beta firmware for its flagship phablet is going to arrive.

The Galaxy Note 10 Android 10 beta program is gradually going to be expanded to other markets as well in the coming days. It should likely be available to users in Spain, Poland, France and the United Kingdom.

Second Galaxy Note 10 One UI 2.0 beta coming soon

Users in South Korea have been informed by the beta operations manager on Samsung’s official community forums that the second Galaxy Note 10 One UI 2.0 beta is going to be released later this week. No confirmed date has been offered but it’s safe to say that it should be out in a couple of days.

The second beta firmware should address some of the bugs that were present in the initial release. It won’t bring much in the way of new features as we have seen with the subsequent beta firmware released for the Galaxy S10. It remains to be seen if the countries that have yet to receive their first taste of the beta for the Galaxy Note 10 will get the second firmware to begin with. That does remain a possibility.

Those who are curious about what One UI 2.0 brings to the table should check out our detailed comparison of all the UI improvements in this latest release. Our One UI 2.0 feature focus series also sheds light on all of the new features. Samsung is expected to start rolling out the One UI 2.0 update to the public before the end of this year.

Galaxy Note 10

• Model: SM-N970F
• Dimensions: 151.0 x71.8x7.9mm
• Display: 6.3"(160.02mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9825
• Camera: 12 MP, CMOS F2.2 Telephoto & 12MP F1.5/F2.4 77° & 16MP F2.2 123° Ultra-wide

More specifications

Galaxy Note 10+

• Model: SM-N975F
• Dimensions: 162.3 x 77,2 x 7.9mm
• Display: 6.8"(172.7mm) Super AMOLED
• CPU: Exynos 9825
• Camera: 12 Ultra Wide: 16MP F2.2 (123°) & Wide-angle: 12MP 2PD AF F1.5/F2.4 OIS (77°) & Telephoto: 12MP F2.1 OIS (45°) & DepthVision Camera: VGA

More specifications

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Galaxy A51 leaked renders show Note 10-like punch-hole display

The first of Samsung’s 2020 Galaxy A series phones may be around the corner. The Galaxy A51 had popped up in an online benchmark a couple of weeks ago, and earlier this month, what was supposedly an image of the phone’s internals revealed a cutout that would hold a new L-shaped quad camera setup. Now, we can see what that camera setup — and the phone itself — could look like thanks to leaked renders of the Galaxy A51 that are said to be based on the final design.

Centered punch hole, smaller bezels

If these renders are accurate, then the Galaxy A51 could be the first Galaxy phone after the Galaxy Note 10 to have a centered punch-hole display. Until now, we’ve only seen Samsung use waterdrop notches for its mid-range and budget phones, with some exceptions like the Galaxy A60 and Galaxy A8s that have the front camera cutout placed in the top-left corner of the display, similar to the Galaxy S10.

The A51 also seems to have smaller bezels at the top and bottom, which could actually be true as the A51’s dimensions are reportedly not any bigger than the A50/A50s despite it having a display that’s 0.1 inches larger (6.5 inches). As for the quad camera setup at the back, the way the sensors are placed on the A51 should address complaints that some folks have had about Samsung’s new phones looking too much like iPhones from the back.

A51 to be second mid-range Galaxy phone with four rear cameras

Rumor has it that the A51’s 48MP primary rear shooter will be accompanied by a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, and a 5MP depth-sensing camera. The ultra-wide camera has not been seen at that resolution on mid-range Galaxies before, nor are quad camera setups common on non-flagship Galaxy phones. The Galaxy A9 (2018) is the only existing device to have one.

The rest of the Galaxy A51’s design seems to be unchanged from the Galaxy A50/A50s. The power and volume buttons are on the right side, the headphone jack, USB Type-C port, and loudspeaker are placed at the bottom, and the SIM and microSD slot is on the left side. Even most of the specs are expected to be unchanged. The A51 should feature an Exynos 9611 octa-core chipset, 4/6GB of RAM, 64/128GB of storage, a 32MP front camera, a 4,000 mAh battery with 15W fast charging.

At this time, it’s unclear exactly when Samsung plans to make the Galaxy A51 official. The announcement may not be far off now, as production of the device reportedly began in late October in India. We’ll let you know once more information about the A51’s release becomes available.

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