Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.
Google has brought back its Pixel Referral Program on the US Google Store with a fresh coat of paint, giving anyone who's been nudging friends toward a Pixel phone a way to actually get rewarded for it. The relaunch follows last month's Pixel 11 launch, and the setup is simple: share a referral code with
Google has released Android 17 QPR3 Beta 1 to every still-supported Pixel device, from the Pixel 6a through the new Pixel 11 series, and the rollout arrived earlier than expected this afternoon. The update looks sizable, carrying fixes for at least 20 bugs that had carried over from QPR2. The beta ships as build DP11.260918.005
Android Headlines has published exclusive renders showing the Google Pixel 11a for the first time, following its earlier report on the phone under the codename “Formosan” back in January 2025. Google appears to be sticking with a design similar to the past two years, but the internals are getting a major upgrade this time: the
Cybersecurity researchers at Huntress have uncovered a campaign where hackers built a custom ChatGPT model to trick people into launching malware on their own PCs, turning one of OpenAI's own features against its users. The campaign starts on Google search. Anyone searching for “chatgpt” might click a sponsored ad at the top of the results
AI video generation has moved well beyond experimental clips. In 2026, creators, marketing teams, agencies, and video professionals can use these tools for social content, product videos, storyboards, advertisements, B-roll, explainers, and early-stage creative concepts. The challenge is choosing the right platform. Some focus on cinematic generation, while others are better for rapid marketing production
The previous Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6 update mostly focused on fixing bugs that had been plaguing devices for a while, including a substantial issue that caused phones to reboot simply from scrolling through content, along with fixes for letterboxed content leaking through the status bar during app transitions and a Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Google Messages is now widely rolling out its new Keep Notes integration, following last week's September 2026 Android Drop announcement. Opening the “plus” menu inside a conversation reveals a new Keep Notes shortcut, and those pills can be reordered like usual. Alternatively, Google might surface a contextual “Create list” shortcut directly in the suggestions row.
Honor MagicOS 11 debuts on September 15 with a set of new features for eligible devices, ranging from a smoother, more fluid UI to a more capable AI assistant. Honor unveiled MagicOS 11 at its 2026 Global Developer Conference, and the company said the official version will open for unlimited testing right after the event,
OnePlus has opened reservations for the OnePlus 16 in China, revealing the phone's design, color options, and memory configurations ahead of its official launch. The device succeeds last year's OnePlus 15, which OnePlus introduced in October 2025 as its flagship. Visually, the OnePlus 16 looks similar to its predecessor, with a square rear camera module
Honor MagicOS 11 is set to debut tomorrow at the company's developer conference, and ahead of the official launch, one of Honor's own officials has already revealed a new Power Saving feature coming with the software. XiaoFangge, Honor's Product Maintenance and Upgrade Manager, said MagicOS 11 will include what he described as a cute Easter
Samsung's September 2026 security update bulletin leaves out two of its older smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, effectively marking the end of software support for both devices going forward. Samsung had promised the Galaxy Watch 4 series four generations of Wear OS upgrades, and delivered on that promise: Wear OS
GrapheneOS has merged Secure Paste, a privacy feature first announced earlier this month that's designed to stop apps from reading clipboard contents copied by other apps. Why GrapheneOS built it The platform's developers note that the clipboard can hold sensitive information such as passwords, authentication codes, and private messages. Android already limits which apps can
Samsung says the Galaxy Z Fold8 is now the world's lightest foldable smartphone, weighing just 201 grams - a milestone the company traces back through eight generations of foldable engineering, starting with the original Galaxy Fold's 276 grams in 2019. According to Samsung, the weight reduction has been a steady, generation-by-generation effort: the Galaxy Z
Behind a two-tap recharge sits a surprising amount of plumbing. Every prepaid network has its own rules about what can be topped up, in which denominations, and how quickly credit posts to a SIM. MobileTopUP hides that complexity behind a single form: pick a country, enter a number, choose an amount. What the coverage map actually covers
Huawei has released its new high-performance Kirin 9050 Pro chipset, and details about the silicon's architecture are now available across CPU, GPU, NPU, modem, security, and cooling. CPU, GPU, and NPU upgrades The chip's LinxiCore CPU supports simultaneous multi-threading and delivers a 24% gain in peak single-core performance alongside a 52% gain in multi-core concurrent
Google has published its monthly Google System Release Notes, detailing what's new across Play services, Play Store, and Play system update for Android phones and tablets, Wear OS, Google and Android TV, Auto, and PC. Some changes are aimed at end users, while others target developers, and Google notes that a changelog entry doesn't guarantee
Gemini Spark, the paid Gemini feature that runs complex, multi-step tasks in the background, is getting a significant addition this week: Google Photos support. The integration, reported by Droid Life, is a major connection for Spark, since it opens the door to Google Photos-related requests that could otherwise take hours to complete manually. As part
The Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 Sapphire Edition, an outdoor-ready wearable that can reportedly last a month on a single charge, is currently 36% off at Amazon. That discount takes the watch, which normally costs almost as much as a brand-new Galaxy S26+, down from $1,100 to under $700 for the first time in over
The Pixel Watch 5 Special Edition Stephen Curry model is now available, giving anyone who held off on buying a Pixel Watch 5 the chance to get the colorway that matches Curry's version of the Fitbit Air. The watch only comes in a 45mm case with LTE connectivity, paired with its own special band, and
Google's Scam Detection feature could be coming to Xiaomi phones next, according to a new APK teardown by Android Authority. The AI-powered scam-call warning tool debuted first on Pixel devices, has since expanded to Samsung's Galaxy S26 series, and has shown signs of heading to vivo phones as well, and Android Authority now says it's
