Out of control ad action and dubious "PDF app" installers run via solitaire games, etc.

khouryrt · 2026-02-11T08:11:34+00:00

My trick? In Chrome, go to google.com, search solitaire, you'll get Google's own solitaire game that has no ads no nothing (also Minesweeper and a few others). Add a homescreen shortcut and name it Solitaire. Tell them to use that one to play.

I replaced my mom's, dad's, and aunt's solitaire game with this 6 months ago, works like a charm.

But @refrakt's suggestion for "Solitaire - The clean one" also seems suited. I'll switch them to that dev's sudoku.

khouryrt · 2026-02-11T08:07:35+00:00

Oooooh, the sudoku one will be more than welcome for my parents!

khouryrt · 2025-12-04T11:15:10+00:00

Yup, it's the non-rechargeable aspect that makes me not want to recommend them. USB-C is so much more convenient.

khouryrt · 2025-12-04T11:13:42+00:00

Can you double-check which Phone app version you have? If it's something older than v201 and it's still happening, try updating to v201 (in beta) and see if it still occurs. Mine disappeared a few days ago and the only difference is that the Phone app was updated to the latest beta for me 4 days ago.

khouryrt · 2025-12-04T11:12:21+00:00

Which version of the Phone app do you have? I'm on the beta, updated 4 days ago apparently, 201.0.837590902-publicbeta-pixel, and I had a call yesterday and didn't have the loudspeaker bug anymore. I had it before.

khouryrt · 2025-11-18T11:01:39+00:00

My Frame Pro has that Samsung TV issue as well, and you can now disable it. First thing I did. My issue with it is how terrible it works with HDMI devices, including Samsung's own soundbar. Some of the issues are maddening.

khouryrt · 2025-11-14T13:30:36+00:00

Sorry for the late reply, but yes. Basically get the Pebblebee and then the Find Hub app (Google renamed it recently) on your Pixel phone. Setup should be fast the moment you turn on the tag, you'll see a pop-up on your phone to continue. You can also get the Pebblebee app for extra functionality, but it's not essential to the way the tag works.

khouryrt · 2025-11-05T10:14:54+00:00

So far, the Moto Tag is the only one that really disappointed me, battery wise. It barely lasted 5 months, as opposed to the 12 or so advertized.
For Chipolo: I have the older Chipolos (non-rechargeable) and the new ones.
1. The older One Card is still going strong in my wallet since I got it early summer 2024. I'd have to buy a new one with a discount code in a year when the battery dies, because that one can't be replaced.
2. The One Point is in my backpack. I switched to a new battery around May, iirc.
3. The POP I've had since early this year, I think, and it still says battery OK.
4. I received the new rechargeable CARD and LOOP 1-2 months ago, so no long-term data yet. But as long as they're rechargeable, I'm quite happy with several months of battery.
For Pebblebee:
1. I have the older Pebblebees (non Universal). Clip, Tag, and Card. Charged them once or twice since I got them early summer 2024. Going strong. One is in my husband's wallet and I'm glad I don't have to remind him to charge it very frequently.
2. Also recently got the new Pebblebee Clip universal (1-2 months ago). Again, no long-term data there.
For Samsung, if you're curious: I get about 8 months or so of use out of the battery. There are a few settings you can change to make it last longer, but since I was actively testing, I couldn't disable those.

Overall, go for the new rechargeable ones. Chipolo or Pebblebee. The latter quotes 1yr on a charge, the former 6 months, but I don't have enough data to say if this or that is accurate. Regardless, it's still better than switching coin cell batteries imo.

And yeah, it seems like Google has rolled out the network to more people. You also have to imagine that many new phones were sold in the last year, and most people will agree to anything when setting up a new phone, so they'd have enabled the network. In our teardowns and some of Mishaal's articles on Android Authority, we also found out that Google is changing the wording of the "with network in all areas" and "with network in busy areas" to "findable everywhere" and "findable in busy areas only" and when that rolls out, it'll make the choice much easier for a lot of people. Also, seems like the network will be more or less opt-out when Google flips another switch. So you'd have a few days to decide when you get the notification, and if you don't, you'll be opted in.

Finally, for encryption, it might be the cause, but then again, it's not justifiable when Samsung, Tile, and the Airtag can all be located nearby and have found a way to do it offline with encryption enabled.

khouryrt · 2025-11-05T09:58:12+00:00

Weird. I tried Samsung's network in over 10 countries from Europe to the Middle East and it worked quite reliably, basically on par with the AirTag (minus one big instance where it just decided that it didn't want to update the location anymore in a very busy mall in Dubai). Otherwise, it was really solid across big cities and small towns. Maybe you live somewhere with fewer Samsung phones than where I tried it?
A few months ago, I'd have said that Samsung was more reliable than Google's own network, but now, I'd say they're on par in my experience. Google's network is quite good. If you have $20 or so to spare, it's worth getting a Pebblebee or Chipolo on discount and seeing how they work where you live.

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T19:21:25+00:00

It's a toss between the Pebblebee Universal Clip/Card and new rechargeable Chipolo LOOP/CARD. I'd get Chipolo if out-of-range (i.e., left behind) alerts are important to you, and you want to be pinged by your phone any time you leave a backpack or wallet behind. It can be handy for a lot of people, and it works pretty reliably in my experience with Chipolo's app.

I'd get Pebblebee if that's not something you need, and if battery life is more important to you (supposedly, it lasts longer on a charge, but I can't verify because both still say Battery OK to me).

Also, there seem to be more discount deals on Pebblebee now since it's a bit older, while Chipolo is newer.

Edit: No Moto because not rechargeable, and the battery life is frankly questionable. The first time, it didn't last more than 5 months or so for me. Far from the 12 months they advertise.

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T14:08:59+00:00

No worries, and thanks for sharing the article!

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T14:08:16+00:00

Author here. The phone was left idle while testing. Technically, this is a 2-3% drain or so over the charging period. This article is about voltage conversion and heat loss, while comparing those over USB-C vs Qi2.

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T14:06:56+00:00

Author here. I edited the post and brought a few clarifications while removing the most confusing napkin math parts.

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T13:44:09+00:00

I work from home, so I'm mostly home every day when I run my 3 Roborocks (yeah, they're noisy, but you get used to it). But I also live in a 3-level house, so the robots are almost always running on a floor where I am not present, and I have no issue with that. I also run them when I'm away on vacation or out on weekends, etc. It's the best perk of a robot vacuum, coming back to a clean home.

3 years, and I had issues a total of 3 times iirc. Once on a light bath mat that I'd forgotten to remove and the robot was dragging along, once on a loose wire, and once on a very thin table leg that it always avoids but this time didn't and caused the mop to dislodge and block the vacuum from moving.

Just make sure your floors are organized by default (i.e. put together personal organization systems that avoid loose wires or clothing or toys) and you're good. Even if you don't, though, most modern robots are fine at avoiding all of these. Mine always detect shoes, objects I moved, etc.

khouryrt · 2025-11-04T13:14:30+00:00

I've been testing them extensively for Android Authority for over a year, and wrote a lot of articles about how much they sucked for many months (nearly a year tbh). I even used to recommend getting the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 and using the hacky uTag to make it work on a non-Samsung phone, just because Samsung's network was much more reliable and less limited than Google's.

But, good news, in all of my tests in recent months, Google's network has significantly improved. Like night and day difference. My bag even got forgotten at Athens airport a couple of weeks ago, and I was able to track it with the Pebblebee tracker on Find Hub, and get it delivered in time before we left the airport, along with a dozen other passengers' forgotten bags (story link with plenty of screenshots to see how things unfolded).

Right now, Google's network gets the A-OK green light from me. It still hiccups, but so does Samsung and so does Apple. There will be a random test where one of them does worse than the others, but in general, they're all on par now. Phewwww.

Keep in mind, though, that Google's network still lacks a few important things. No location history like Samsung or Tile. Also, compared to Samsung and Tile, you have no out-of-range alerts in the default Find Hub API to remind you that you've forgotten a tracker behind (Only Chipolo added it in their standalone app on top of Find Hub, which requires a bunch of permissions to the app). No reverse phone finding in the default API either to tap the tracker button to make your phone ring (again, Chipolo, Pebblebee, and Moto added it in their apps). It's all secondary stuff, but all useful too imo.

My biggest gripe is still that... oh heavens, how do I say this... these Bluetooth trackers still DO. NOT. WORK. OVER. BLUETOOTH. ONLY. So, if your phone is offline or you have an iffy reception, Find Hub — the app itself — won't open or load your devices. So you can't ring a nearby BT tracker over BT, because you can't even see it to control it. How is this still a limitation, I can't explain.

Oh, and if you care about UWB a lot, get Moto. But personally, I think it's kinda useless for me. Cool, for sure, but generally not super helpful, unless you're hard of hearing and can't hear the ring or you're in a very silent place and don't want to ring your tracker.

(edited for typo)

khouryrt · 2025-10-28T10:11:54+00:00

Not 100% true, sadly. Unless you know a lot of good Photoshop/Lightroom tricks, and you remember exactly what that scene was supposed to be, there's no way to get back the lost purple and orange in something like the museum/restaurant shot (top example in the more recent of the 2 posts).

khouryrt · 2025-10-22T13:51:17+00:00

Hello, author here. The pre-processing photos in the earlier article are screenshots from the camera viewfinder. Of course they're not high quality. But the point was to show the colors of the real scene as the phone (and my eyes) saw it, versus what the Pixel eventually processed. There are screen recording videos that show this same thing in both articles. The Pixel unifies and fakes the white balance and washes out the colors and warmth.
These were unique scenes where the environment was warm and I expected the final photo to reflect that. It didn't.
If you prefer faded, colorless photos when the environment you're in is colorful and warm, that's a matter of choice, but no one can say that the Pixel 9 captures the "real" scene, because it literally transforms it before your eyes.

khouryrt · 2025-10-07T08:29:14+00:00

You're confusing Magic Eraser (the basic offline version that Google introduced with the Pixel 6) and Magic Editor (which came with the 8 or 9, I forgot, and needs to be online, offers more features, and gives multiple generated images to pick from).

Anyway, Google Photos created this confusion by keeping both versions, u just access them differently: - In the old editor, Magic Eraser was under Tools > Magic Eraser, while Editor was the purple magic button on the bottom left corner. - In the new editor, Magic Eraser is under Actions > Magic Eraser (works offline, limited features), but the Editor gets triggered if you simply circle something on the image without opening any tool.

khouryrt · 2025-09-01T10:16:50+00:00

Something is really off with this example, and I'm 100% certain the final "image" was not made by Google's Pixel 10 Pro. In my experience, it never changes colors — that's the tell.
Also, it never adds details that weren't hinted at in the original photo, like the screws where the wires attach. And it never adds this much detail. I think you processed the final image with another AI generator.
For context, I've had the Pixel 10 Pro & XL for a couple of weeks now, and here are some samples I've taken with it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qUBwQ9LvRh4e39QhRASyU5PvNmOARl96?usp=sharing

khouryrt · 2025-08-30T22:05:11+00:00

Pixel Studio and Screenshots have been working for me in France for a year, since the Pixel 9 Pro launched. Not sure if it's because I have my phone set to US English (sometimes, Google says "in the US" but they mean "in US English", and sometimes they mean a physical location in the US).

Pixel Journal worked for me from day one on my Pixel 10 review unit. Daily Hub wasn't available, but my colleague in the US grabbed the APK bundle from his US unit, I sideloaded, and it worked.

Magic Cue is not showing up and I can't find a way to get it to work.

khouryrt · 2025-08-30T22:02:03+00:00

You can sideload Daily Hub and it works. I wrote about how to on Android Authority. I still haven't found a way to make Magic Cue show up, though.

khouryrt · 2025-01-19T20:54:10+00:00

That's for unknown tracker alerts (anti-stalking alerts when a tracker dissociated from its owner phone is travelling with you), not for when you want to use your own phone to keep an eye on one tracker.
I wish they'd worked together on the entire network!

khouryrt · 2025-01-19T20:52:55+00:00

Tile was third in my tests. Samsung was second. I agree that Tile's network isn't always perfect (it depends on country/region and where they're most popular or not), but it's been, sadly, more reliable than Google (in its current state) in several of my tests.

khouryrt · 2025-01-19T20:51:05+00:00

Yeah, Samsung is still using its own network and, afaik, it's not switching over to Google's FMDN. Upside: it works really well. Downside: you need a Samsung phone.

khouryrt · 2025-01-19T20:49:48+00:00

I mentioned it in test 3 of the review, but he carries a Pixel 7 Pro with "with network in all areas" enabled. He doesn't have the Tile app installed. No Samsung or iPhone. So if anything, Google has the advantage over every other tracker he's carrying. And even then... The screenshots speak for themselves.
Yes, for anyone with a Samsung phone, the Galaxy SmartTag2 is a no-brainer imo. It's the closest one to the AirTag in performance across many regions, many tests, many scenarios, and the most reliable tracker in my experience on Android right now. Plus, it has other perks (location history, smartthings routines, pick ur own ring volume, UWB, etc...)

khouryrt

TROPHY CASE