Welcome to the 393th edition of Android Apps Weekly. Here are the headlines from last week:
- The battle between Epic Games (Fortnite) and Google was intense this week. New court documents show that Google told Epic Games not to do the whole sideloading thing. Google went on to say that sideloading is a bad experience, literally using the words “bad” and “unfathomable”. Google also proposed the idea of buying part of Epic Games. Of course, this does not make Google look great in court. Click the link to see more details.
- Google also wants you to leave Hangouts. Hangouts now encourages people to leave Hangouts and migrate to Google’s new chat application. In addition, starting on August 16, Hangouts will lose some features and will be closed at the end of 2021. The new app is okay, but it needs to be improved to reach the best position for Hangouts to attract so many people over the years.
- In May 2021, app removals from the Google Play Store surged. The new policy changes are likely to help this. Between January and April, more than 58,000 apps were removed from the Play Store. However, there was a decrease of 65,000 in May alone. On the bright side, Google Play’s revenue and downloads are higher than this time last year. Click on the link to learn more.
- The Senate is intervening in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store debate, which has so far dominated in 2021. The “Open Application Market Act” will allow developers to use their own payment functions, force mobile devices to allow sideloading, and prevent Google and Apple from abusing their positions to support their own applications. The bill has not yet been passed and was only introduced this week.
- Bluestacks finally updated itself to allow the use of updated applications and games. Previously, it supported Android 7.0 Nougat. Now it is suitable for apps and games above Android 9.0. It opens Bluestacks for many new games, including some very popular games such as Genshin Impact. Click the link for more details.
Old friend dog game
Price: Play for free
Old Friends Dog Game is a good overall game. This is a simulator in which you can create a dog sanctuary. From there, you can raise and care for those elderly dogs who cannot find a home. Players can bake snacks, play with dogs and more. There are even some stories that are a bit touching, and even the name comes from a famous old dog sanctuary. The game has errors, but it is so cute and cute pigeon that no one cares. This is also a great game for children.
Simple launcher
Price: Free / $2.49

Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Uncomplicated Launcher is a simple, minimized launcher. It is aimed at the elderly and has functions such as pill reminder and SOS button. The function is actually quite good. With just a few buttons, you can perform basic phone operations such as alarms, reminders, messages, calls, etc. very easily and quickly. However, frankly speaking, the user interface of this app is terrible. The functional part is good, but the large, gray, 3D button looks like something torn from Windows 98. Just because people are getting old doesn’t mean they don’t like looking at beautiful UIs. Otherwise, this is a neat launcher with some good ideas.
Mecha Arena: Robot Showdown
Price: Play for free
Mech Arena: Robot Showdown is a PvP-oriented mech shooting game, launched globally this week. The game has levels designed for fast and decisive PvP battles, supports various machines for various types of games, and fairly simple controls. Mech Arena revolves around its 5v5 PvP killer style game mode. Players can also unlock skins to customize their mecha. There is also controller support, although it is not perfect, we hope that they will allow you to remap controls as soon as possible. The only other complaint is that you can buy top mechas with real money, so there is a certain amount of reward for using this to win.
Magnolia
Price: Free/monthly $4.99-$6.99

Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Magnolia is a new TV app from Discovery. It has and contains everything you can find on the Magnolia channel. The application includes performances, seminars, and you can even purchase physical products from the application. This is definitely slightly different from your typical TV streaming service. In other words, the application is not without problems. Chromecast is not supported when it is released, and it is a bit unsupported these days. In addition, the UI can use some optimizations. Some things require more clicks than you expect, such as search functions. However, developers may now be busy fixing these errors, so this is a temporary problem.
The story of the mirror
Price: 2.99 USD
The story of the mirror is a visual novel. Therefore, the focus is on experiencing the story more than the game mechanics. Players solve the mystery to advance the game. Occurs in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. You will also get something, such as a mirror, which will show you when people lie to you. Each puzzle has a specified number of days to complete, so this is a mechanism to increase the tension of the game. There are in-app purchases in this game, but they are temporarily disabled. As far as we know, in-app purchases are just decorative things.
If we missed any major Android app or game updates, news or releases, please let us know in the comments!
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