13 Best Mobile Game Controllers (2024): iPhone or Android

Google Is Making A Convenient Change To Play Store Purchases

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

TL;DR

Google has announced a small but handy change to the Play Store's biometric verification feature for purchases.

You'll no longer be required to enter your account password when setting up the feature for the first time.

Google has offered biometric support for the Play Store for almost 10 years now, allowing you to use your fingerprint, face, or another form of biometrics to approve purchases. Fortunately, the company is making a tweak to this functionality in the name of convenience.

Google sent an email to users (including ourselves) confirming that you won't need to enter your Google account password after first setting up biometric verification for purchases on the Play Store.

Hadlee Simons / Android Authority

The company also urged users to enable biometric verification for every purchase on the Play Store (as opposed to only requiring verification every 30 minutes).

Either way, this change isn't something you'd benefit from every day. But it'll still be handy for those times when you upgrade to a new phone, allowing you to quickly get biometric verification up and running for app store purchases.

Not seeing the change just yet? Well, the tech giant notes that this change will take place in the "coming weeks." So you might have to wait a short while to see it on your end.

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Fallout 4 Will Still Get The Free Upgrade On PlayStation, But It's Not Ready Yet

Don't be surprised if PlayStation fans aren't the priority for Bethesda anymore.

Bethesda has clarified the situation regarding getting the Fallout 4 upgrade on PlayStation.

The upgrade has allowed Xbox and PC owners to upgrade easily. For PC players, on Steam and Epic Game Store, they just have to enter their respective platform client and upgrade from there. The GOG version doesn't have the upgrade yet, but as reported by Windows Central, they should get it soon.

Xbox owners get the upgrade free, so that if they own the game on Xbox One, they can upgrade to the Xbox Series XS version for free. In the exact same way, PlayStation owners who own the game on PlayStation 4, can get the upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version for free.

Game Pass subscribers pay a monthly fee, of course, but in a way they get the best deal, since Fallout 4 was just a small part of their library, and they didn't have to pay extra for the new version. Game Pass subscribers who logged into their accounts have likely already availed of the free upgrade.

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Now things are different for PlayStation Plus subscribers. Fallout 4 is part of the PlayStation Plus library, but subscribers found that they were not able to do the upgrade. Bethesda took to Twitter to explain the finer details for them.

In their initial tweet about this, the official Bethesda Game Studios account said:

"We've seen some confusion regarding the free Fallout 4 next-gen update for PlayStation Plus Extra members. The Fallout 4 next-gen update will be available to PlayStation Plus Extra members through the PlayStation Game Catalog. Your patience is appreciated while the teams work on this."

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So just to be clear, PlayStation Plus Extra subscribers are also eligible for a free upgrade, but Bethesda is still working on it for now. Other fans who prodded about this further received this response from Bethesda Customer Support:

"Fallout 4 Next-Gen Update will be available for PS+ Extra members. We do not have any information regarding PS5 Catalogue or PS+ Essentials."

So, if you didn't understand their response, there was no PlayStation 5 version of Fallout 4 before this week. The Fallout 4 GOTY version that people were playing on PlayStation 5 for about two years now, is actually the PlayStation 4 version. Before the upgrade, players could see a rise in framerate if they played the game via backwards compatibility on their PlayStation 5 consoles. However, the upgrade is a proper port to the latest console generation.

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And, of course, a PlayStation Plus Essential subscription provides the minimum features for subscribers. That includes online play and access to the PlayStation Store, but you need to ramp up to PlayStation Plus Extra to avail of the PlayStation Game Catalog, that includes Fallout 4.

In any case, if you're a PlayStation Plus Extra subscriber now, you should hold off on buying a separate copy of Fallout 4. While they were promised the same thing Xbox gamers were promised, they shouldn't be surprised if they weren't quite the priority for this feature.

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New Android Auto Update: Version 11.8 Now Available For All Users

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Photo: Google/autoevolution edits

Google has already promised several improvements for Android Auto users, and every update is received with much excitement by the user base.

While the search giant typically ties new features to a server-controlled rollout, keeping Android Auto up-to-date is still recommended from a stability and reliability perspective. New Android Auto versions could include fixes and performance refinements despite seemingly not exhibiting breaking changes.

This appears to be the case with Android Auto 11.8.

The new version has recently been promoted to the stable production channel without a prior beta release. It's the second time Google has skipped the beta update and given the go-ahead to the stable update directly, so everybody can now download Android Auto 11.8 on their devices.

Google ships Android Auto updates through the Google Play Store so that users will receive the new version in stages. It means that some users will get the new update in the coming days, while others will have to wait up to several weeks to be offered the latest update.

Meanwhile, those who can't wait for Android Auto to be updated to version 11.8 can get the new version by manually downloading and installing the update. The process is called sideloading, allowing users to download the Android Auto 11.8 APK installer on their device to initiate the update. Once the file is downloaded on the phone, users must browse to its location and tap it to begin the update.

As for the new features in Android Auto, one of the most notable refinements lately is the support for phone icons and wallpapers.

Google has tried to create more consistency between devices, allowing the stock icon pack and the home screen wallpaper to sync with the Android Auto screen. This means that the phone's stock icon theme and background will appear on Android Auto, eventually making the switch from a mobile device to a car more seamless.

The feature was announced earlier this year for Samsung phones, but I have already spotted similar integration on other Android devices, including Xiaomi. However, the non-Samsung support feels half-baked, as users have complained of broken Android Auto icons after this feature was enabled on their devices.

Meanwhile, Google also keeps refining Android Auto with additional fixes, and earlier this week, the company managed to iron out a bug breaking down voice commands in WhatsApp. However, the search giant wasn't the one to blame for the problem in this case, as the bug resided in the latest WhatsApp version published on the Google Play Store. Google worked with WhatsApp to diagnose the glitch and ship a fix, so users who can't send messages via Google Assistant when Android Auto is running should update the messaging app to the latest build to receive the patch.

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