If variety is the spice of life, Android tips the Scoville scale. In a week that saw Samsung unpack cutting-edge phones that bend in ways that would make any other gadget blush, a startup with literally Nothing going for it captured our imagination at nearly a tenth of the price. Meanwhile, the company in the ecosystem’s driver’s seat just keeps taking left turns, so make sure you’re buckled in as we recap the week’s biggest headlines.
Last Week’s Roundup
Google says you’re wiping it wrong in this week’s biggest Android news stories
The top 5 Android headlines of the week
Google Photos reverse engineers Instagram
Back in February, we saw the first signs of an in-development Google Photos feature called My Week. Not much was known about it at the time, and even less was learned in the months that followed. But this week, AssembleDebug, known for finding and activating hidden feature flags in basically every Google app, managed to get the feature working and give us an early look.
It’s now clear that Google envisions the feature as an alternative to Instagram Stories meant for a more intimate audience in your family and closest friends — you know, sort of like Instagram’s Close Friends feature. But one Meta strength Google’s app can’t copy is its robust network of social connections, so Photos is turning to a hype-building tactic from the early days of Gmail: Make the feature invite-only to start, then allow people who get in to invite others.
The server-side system for this is already in place, and people are exploiting it to get early access to My Week. Whether Google has grander social plans for Photos remains to be seen — but as Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii pointed out, this isn’t very different from curating a shared album, which you could already do, so My Week’s social focus is the main thing it brings to the table.
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Google Photos’ social My Week feed is starting to spread, and you can activate it now
You’ll need an invite link (at least for now)
Pixel 9 models might have more names than a North Dakota phone book
In 2022, Google’s flagship phone line had a clear hierarchy: The Pixel 7 was the all-rounder, and the Pixel 7 Pro was the cream of the crop. Then the Pixel Fold became a thing in summer 2023, but the fall lineup kept the same format. Even bigger changes are coming in 2024, as Google is rumored to be launching a new, smaller, top-of-the-line flagship, and it’s moving its fall launch to mid-summer.
One motivation for the earlier launch could be that Google is making its foldable part of its main flagship lineup. Counting the smaller high-end model, that would mean four flagship Pixels in addition to the midrange Pixel 8a. If the latest report — one that echoes an earlier rumor — proves true, those names would be Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL, and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
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Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold names spotted again
Looks like those weird Pixel 9 names are real
Samsung Unpacked a massive lineup
You could make a very good argument that we’re burying the lede by putting Samsung’s summer Unpacked anywhere but the very top of this week’s news roundup. The counterargument would be that it’s not news if everybody knows about it, so mid-article seems like a fair middle ground.
In case you only caught bits and pieces of Wednesday’s Galaxy gala, the Z Flip and Fold 6 were the belles of the ball. Anyone who can count past six expected the Galaxy Watch 7, but the Galaxy Watch Ultra was a bit of a surprise. We also learned that AirPod stems with a crease are called blades, and Samsung got down on one knee to pitch its newest wearable form-factor.
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The Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Flip 6 go official with AI optimized for foldables
The thinnest and lightest Galaxy Z lineup to date
Wait, budget phones can be thoughtfully designed?
Every Nothing Phone model to date has stood out in its price range from a design standpoint, so it was hard to see where Nothing sub-brand CMF might fit in the market. Somehow, the CMF Phone 1 seems to have successfully scaled this model into a $200 handset. Screws on the back of the phone allow you to remove the rear panel to change colors or add attachments, and Nothing even published STL files of the backplates for individuals to tinker with.
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Nothing just did something amazing to celebrate the CMF Phone 1 launch
More of this please
The drops aren’t stopping there
With Motorola’s new Razrs debuting two weeks ago, Samsung’s foldables and Nothing’s CMF Phone launching this week, and Google’s XL Pixel lineup coming next month, OnePlus is set to fill in the gap with a big release of its own next week. The company is hosting a launch event on July 16 in Milan, where it’s expected to make the OnePlus Pad 2, OnePlus Nord Buds Pro 3, and OnePlus Watch 2R official in the US. It will then presumably tell Americans to plug their ears and cover their eyes while it announces the OnePlus Nord 4, which is expected to be available almost everywhere except the States.
