5 Android apps you shouldn't miss this week! - Android Apps Weekly

• We saw two apps lose support this week. The first is Swiftmoji, a keyboard from the makers of SwiftKey. The app remains on Google Play but will get no more updates. SwiftKey has most of the same features as Swiftmoji anyway. Thus, there is no need to maintain both apps. The other is OperaVPN. It was a totally free VPN app with some questionable logging policies. Opera didn’t provide a reason for OperaVPN’s shutdown. However, they do recommend SurfEasy VPN instead.
• Russia really hates Telegram and every platform where it’s available. They demanded that APK Mirror remove the app. Additionally, they want it removed from Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Neither company has officially responded yet. We expect this one to get worse before it gets better. This all stemmed from Telegram refusing Russian authorities when they wanted access to Telegram’s encryption keys. Sometimes privacy pays a price, at least if you live in Russia. This is an ongoing story so stay tuned for more updates!
• PUBG Mobile had a pretty big week. It received an update with a less intense arcade mode as well as a Training Grounds mode. Arcade Mode lowers the game size from 100 players to 24 players. Training Grounds lets you demo weapons and vehicles. The update should be headed to players right now. It also lost its coveted number one spot in Google Play to a silly little viral bottle flipping game proving once and for all that you can’t predict this stuff no matter how hard you try.
• PlatinumGames, makers of NieR: Automata (a true masterpiece), Bayonetta, and other excellent games, are working on a new mobile game. World of Demons is a Samurai hack-and-slash title without a ton of information available yet. The website has no game play videos or anything like that yet. However, the game is out for pre-registration right now. PlatinumGames does fairly outstanding action games. We imagine they’ll do good with mobile as well.
• Google made headlines this week with their new Chat app. So here’s what’s happening. In the background, Google has carriers all over the place implementing RCS messaging. Their text app, Android Messages, uses RCS for better texting. This could make Chat the actual iMessage of Android if implemented properly. It’s not as close as we would want yet, obviously. However, Google believes in this vision enough to put Google Allo on hold for the time being. Hit the link to learn more!

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If we missed any great Android apps or games this week, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out previous editions of Android Apps Weekly!