mobile apps

Bus passengers who do not use smartphones say they are being charged more than those who pay via mobile apps, raising concerns about exclusion of older and less tech-savvy travellers. The issue, highlighted in a Guardian money column, has prompted debate about whether digital-only discounts and app-based ticketing unfairly penalise people who prefer or need to pay with cash or traditional tickets.

A developer says they have a couple of mobile apps in progress and wants to target Android, but is unfamiliar with the platform and needs a device for testing. They are asking for recommendations on the cheapest phone good enough for development work, saying second-hand options are fine.

AppLovin Corporation (APP) shares are being tracked closely by investors following its market performance. The adtech company, known for its mobile advertising and gaming software platform, has been one of the more volatile technology stocks in recent trading sessions. Market watchers are monitoring the share price and company news as part of broader interest in high-growth advertising technology names.

A developer writing under the Muffle project name has published lessons on implementing geofencing on Android without excessive battery drain. The write-up, tagged for Android, Kotlin and mobile development, frames its lessons in an inclusive, community-oriented setting and targets software engineers building location-aware mobile apps.

DeSoto County News has released a new iPhone app, giving readers another way to access its local news coverage on mobile devices. The announcement was posted on the outlet's website, though no further details about the app's features were provided. Local readers in DeSoto County now have a dedicated mobile option for following area news.

Developers are highlighting the cost of maintaining separate web and mobile codebases, pointing to Underpeaks Core, a free, self-hosted, open-source headless CMS built for Flutter apps. The tool is pitched as a way to share one backend across web and mobile, easing the so-called dual-codebase tax that teams pay when building the same product twice.

Geoawesome has published a roundup of the best offline map apps for 2026, looking at which navigation tools still function fully without an internet connection. The piece compares options for downloading maps, navigating routes, and finding locations when connectivity is unavailable, a topic of recurring interest to travelers, hikers, and drivers heading into areas with poor coverage.

SerpApi has introduced AppTrail, a tool that tracks app rankings across two app stores and three AI sources. The product is aimed at developers and marketers who want visibility into how their apps rank not only in traditional store searches but also in AI-generated answers, reflecting the growing importance of AI-driven discovery for mobile apps.

Microsoft has released a new version of the Outlook app for both Android and iOS. The update, noted on October 5, is being flagged for mobile users who keep the email client on their devices. Details on specific changes in this release are limited so far, but users typically track these updates for new features, bug fixes and security patches across both platforms.

Engadget has published a piece explaining why smartphone users should keep their apps updated, highlighting the security and performance reasons behind routine updates. The article is being shared across tech communities, with readers discussing how delayed updates can leave devices exposed to known vulnerabilities and bugs that developers patch in new releases.

BS Asahi's AMBER GAMES project and creative group moze have announced Left or Right Tower, the first title in a joint project with Roblox. The announcement, picked up by Japanese mobile gaming outlets, marks an entry by a Japanese broadcaster into the Roblox platform, with the game aimed at mobile players on Android and iOS.

Mac.apk has launched a way to run Android applications on Macs equipped with Apple Silicon chips. The tool bridges the gap between the two ecosystems, letting Mac users install and use Android apps natively on machines powered by Apple's M-series processors. The news is circulating among French-speaking Apple and Android communities, with commentators weighing the convenience of running mobile apps on desktop hardware against security questions around installing APK files outside official app stores.

Google has introduced Android Security State Libraries, a set of tools that allow developers to perform security verification at the component level of Android applications. The libraries aim to make it easier to assess the security posture of individual app components rather than whole applications. The announcement was reported by InfoQ, though details on adoption and developer response are not yet available.