Let’s talk about Android for a moment. Yes, I know it’s only Linux by way of a modified kernel, but what isn’t these days? And seeing as how the developers of Android have released what many (including yours truly) believe to be the most significant evolution of the platform to date, there’s plenty to talk about. Of course, before we get into that, it does need to be mentioned (and most of you will already know this) that the whole of Android isn’t open source. Although much of it is, when you get into the bits that connect to Google services, things start to close up. One major service is the Google Play Store, a functionality that is very much proprietary. But this isn’t about how much of Android is open or closed, this is about Pie.
Delicious, nutritious … efficient and battery-saving Pie.

I’ve been working with Android Pie on my Essential PH-1 daily driver (a phone that I really love, but understand how shaky the ground is under the company). After using Android Pie for a while now, I can safely say you want it. It’s that good. But what about the ninth release of Android makes it so special? Let’s dig in and find out. Our focus will be on the aspects that affect users, not developers, so I won’t dive deep into the underlying works.

Gesture-Based Navigation

Much has been made about Android’s new gesture-based navigation—much of it not good. To be honest, this was a feature that aroused all of my curiosity. When it was first announced, no one really had much of an idea what it would be like. Would users be working with multi touch gestures to navigate around the Android interface? Or would this be something completely different.

The reality is, gesture-based navigation is much more subtle and simple than what most assumed. And it all boils down to the Home button. With gesture-based navigation enabled, the Home button and the Recents button have been combined into a single feature. This means, in order to gain access to your recent apps, you can’t simply tap that square Recents button. Instead, the Recent apps overview (Figure 1) is opened with a short swipe up from the home button.

Another change is how the App Drawer is accessed. In similar fashion to opening the Recents overview, the App Drawer is opened via a long swipe up from the Home button.

As for the back button? It’s not been removed. Instead, what you’ll find is it appears (in the left side of the home screen dock) when an app calls for it. Sometimes that back button will appear, even if an app includes its own back button.

Thing is, however, if you don’t like gesture-based navigation, you can disable it. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings

2. Scroll down and tap System > Gestures

3. Tap Swipe up on Home button

4. Tap the On/Off slider (Figure 2) until it’s in the Off position

Battery Life

AI has become a crucial factor in Android. In fact, it is AI that has helped to greatly improve battery life in Android. This new feature is called Adaptive Battery and works by prioritizing battery power for the apps and services you use most. By using AI, Android learns how you use your Apps and, after a short period, can then shut down unused apps, so they aren’t draining your battery while waiting in memory.

The only caveat to Adaptive Battery is, should the AI pick up “bad habits” and your battery start to prematurely drain, the only way to reset the function is by way of a factory reset. Even with that small oversight, the improvement in battery life from Android Oreo to Pie is significant.

Changes to Split Screen

Split Screen has been available to Android for some time. However, with Android Pie, how it’s used has slightly changed. This change only affects those who have gesture-based navigation enabled (otherwise, it remains the same). In order to work with Split Screen on Android 9.0, follow these steps:

1. Swipe upward from the Home button to open the Recent apps overview.

2. Locate the app you want to place in the top portion of the screen.

3. Long press the app’s circle icon (located at the top of the app card) to reveal a new popup menu (Figure 3)

4. Tap Split Screen and the app will open in the top half of the screen.

5. Locate the second app you want to open and, tap it to add it to the bottom half of the screen.

Using Split Screen and closing apps with the feature remains the same as it was.

App Actions

This is another feature that was introduced some time ago, but was given some serious attention for the release of Android Pie. App Actions make it such that you can do certain things with an app, directly from the apps launcher.

For instance, if you long-press the GMail launcher, you can select to reply to a recent email, or compose a new email. Back in Android Oreo, that feature came in the form of a popup list of actions. With Android Pie, the feature now better fits with the Material Design scheme of things (Figure 4).

Sound Controls

Ah, the ever-changing world of sound controls on Android. Android Oreo had an outstanding method of controlling your sound, by way of minor tweaks to the Do Not Disturb feature. With Android Pie, that feature finds itself in a continued state of evolution.

What Android Pie nailed is the quick access buttons to controlling sound on a device. Now, if you press either the volume up or down button, you’ll see a new popup menu that allows you to control if your device is silenced and/or vibrations are muted. By tapping the top icon in that popup menu (Figure 5), you can cycle through silence, mute, or full sound.

Screenshots

Because I write about Android, I tend to take a lot of screenshots. With Android Pie came one of my favorite improvements: sharing screenshots. Instead of having to open Google Photos, locate the screenshot to be shared, open the image, and share the image, Pie gives you a pop-up menu (after you take a screenshot) that allows you to share, edit, or delete the image in question. 

If you want to share the screenshot, take it, wait for the menu to pop up, tap Share (Figure 6), and then share it from the standard Android sharing menu.

A More Satisfying Android Experience

The ninth iteration of Android has brought about a far more satisfying user experience. What I’ve illustrated only scratches the surface of what Android Pie brings to the table. For more information, check out Google’s official Android Pie website. And if your device has yet to receive the upgrade, have a bit of patience. Pie is well worth the wait.

Riot has pulled back the curtain on how its developers handle botters, scripters, and boosters who cheat in League of Legends in a detailed blog post outlining anti-cheat methods.

Developers take exploits seriously, often banning or taking hackers to court if cheating software gets in the way of a good, clean match.

It’s always interesting to see how devs tackle the situation, and in Riot’s case with League of Legends, there’s an entire anti-cheat team to combat malicious players.

As detailed in the blog post, cheating in League of Legends is described as the result of one of three things: scripting, boosting, or botting. 

Scripting seems to be the most influential type of cheating in MOBAs, and it refers to using an external programs like aimbots, cooldown trackers, and combos to give a player an unfair advantage during gameplay. 

Regarding scripting in League, The green line in the image above represents scripters as a daily percentage of ranked games played. It trends downward with time, and is statistically referred to as “A Good Line.” Banwaves are displayed on the same time scale.

But are the cheats really helping? The blog explains how the average win rate of a random sample should be 50 percent, so while scripting may still produces some kind of advantage, it’s clear that there’s a decline.

For example, in an effort to avoid detection, League developers voluntarily added additional delay to their own automated actions, essentially forcing them to perform more like a human. 

Scripts are also the most useful on mechanically intensive champions, so League developers are actively changing champion abilities to make them more forgiving, giving players a chance to better compete with cheaters.

Developers interested in seeing how Riot is continuing to combat cheating should read the entire blog post here.

Microsoft published its earnings report today for the quarter ended September 30, showing an increase in gaming revenue driven mainly by third-party titles.

The company said total games revenue for the quarter increased 44 percent, reporting Xbox software and services revenue growth of 36 percent, thanks chiefly to the performance of third-party games.

Microsoft’s games business is under its “more personal computing” segment, which reported $10.7 billion in revenue — a year-over-year increase of 15 percent.

Xbox hardware revenue grew 94 percent against a low prior year comparable, which Microsoft says is due to the timing of the Xbox One X launch.

This is fairly interesting, since the console directly contributed to an increase in games-related revenue last year. 

It’s worth noting that hardware like the Xbox Adaptive Controller and the subscription-based service Xbox All Access (A two-year payment plan offering an Xbox One, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass) were released during this past quarter, with the latter seeing “strong consumer response and exceeded sales expectations.” 

Company-wide, Microsoft reported quarterly revenues of $29.1 billion, a 19 percent year-on-year increase compared to this time last fiscal year.

Following in the footsteps of Pikachu, Eevee and Jigglypuff, the downright adorable Piplup is the next Pokémon to get the Build-A-Bear treatment – as we suspected would be the case not so long ago.

Available in a UK online bundle for £46.50, Piplup can be purchased pre-stuffed (oo-er) with a Pokémon Dive Ball Hoodie, Poké Ball Parka, 6-in-1 Piplup Sound and a Build-A-Bear Workshop Exclusive Pokémon Piplup TCG Card.

Will you be adding this cute little chap to your ever-expanding collection of Pokémon plushes which you refuse to acknowledge exist when talking to people outside of your very select circle of friends?

Sure. We believe you.

Party Hard 2 is Now Available on Steam and is 10% off!*

It’s 3am and you just want to get some sleep. Welcome back to Party Hard! Stop parties using hundreds of new ways, incidentally destroy a drug syndicate, and save the Earth from an alien invasion. May the chickens be with you!

*Offer ends November 1 at 10AM Pacific Time

This week at Bungie, Festival of the Lost continues to serve up frights.

While we remember some of our favorite Destiny characters who have fallen, and their beautiful horns, Festival of the Lost is a chance to celebrate our continued fight in their honor. This year, we’re hosting the Festival of the Lost Costume Contest.

Group shots are welcome. Humor encouraged. Put on a mask, and go show the bad guys they can’t keep us down.

Live Your Best QOL

A few weeks ago, we gave you a short preview of what to expect in Destiny 2 Update 2.0.5. This patch carries a range of updates and fixes, most with the goal of providing small quality-of-life improvements to Destiny 2: Forsaken. Below is a preview of some changes, from Trace Rifles to Exotics, and more.

General

Exotic Duplicate Weighting

Enhancement Cores

Exotic Tuning

Trace Rifles

We have more in store. Stay tuned to @BungieHelp for updates. We plan to have patch notes for Update 2.0.5 available around 9 AM PDT on Tuesday, October 30.

Double Down

Next week, players will have their first chance to earn Infamy at accelerated rates! Whether you’re striving for the Dredgen title or just looking to complete your first Infamy reset since launch, there’s no better time to jump in and bank some Motes. Infamy gained from bounties, wins, and losses will all be increased.

Double Infamy

Begins: 10 AM PDT October 30

Ends: 10 AM PDT November 2

Triple Infamy

Begins: 10 AM PDT November 2

Ends: 10 AM PDT November 6

Keep an eye out. Once Update 2.0.5 is live, Ascendant Primeval Servitor spawn rates will increase. Even though it’s not a full-curse week, you may find yourself eye to eye with that evil meatball during this event. Good luck in your hunt for Malfeasance.

Refer-a-Friend

Update 2.0.5 brings more than just quality-of-life updates to the game. Starting October 30, the Destiny 2: Forsaken Refer-a-Friend program becomes available! Veteran players may begin to refer new players to Forsaken, via a link on Bungie.net, and embark on the Refer-a-Friend quest.

Veterans, it’s on you to show your referral the ropes. The quest gives you ample time to get your friend up to speed on everything Destiny 2, from perk sets to raid loadouts. New players, this is your time to learn what it is to be a Guardian. As you complete steps throughout the quest, both of you—veteran and referral—will earn some sleek rewards to commemorate your camaraderie.

If you happen to have multiple friends to refer, there’s more loot to earn. Veteran players who refer multiple new players to Destiny 2: Forsaken will receive additional rewards.

If you’re currently wondering if you qualify as a veteran or new player, here are the specifics:

Veteran Player Requirements

A veteran player is any player who owns Destiny 2: Forsaken. Veteran players may invite new players for the Refer-a-Friend promotion.

New Player Requirements

A new player is any player who does not own Destiny 2: Forsaken, or has owned it for less than 7 days. Once a player has owned Destiny 2: Forsaken for longer than 7 days, they are no longer eligible to be referred for the Refer-a-Friend promotion. Once referred, the quest may completed at any time.

NOTE: As we have recently updated Destiny 2: Forsaken to also include Curse of Osiris and Warmind, we are extending new player qualifications. Players who purchased Forsaken between October 16th-30th will qualify as a new player and be eligible for referral up to November 7, 2018.

Helpful Information

Week in and week out, the members of Destiny Player Support are on the hunt for new issues. With the aid of our test and development teams, they have the information you need to prepare for the next update. This is their report.

Destiny 2 Update 2.0.5 Maintenance and Downtime

In preparation for Destiny 2 Update 2.0.5, we conducted backend maintenance to the live game earlier today.

Below is our deployment schedule for Destiny 2 Update 2.0.5, going live on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. 

Destiny 2: Forsaken Known Issues on the Field

Weekly Broadcast

This week, we’ve gotten a few Guardians who’ve decided to break from the norm. Their loadout of choice isn’t common among the player base, but the goals they’ve set—and achieved—are something to behold.

Movie of the Week: Kill. Disappear. Repeat.

Honorable Mention: Luna’s Howl vs. Calus

This weekend, Cozmo and I will be heading to San Jose, California, for TwitchCon. If you’re attending as a content creator, cosplayer, or Guardian, we’re excited to spend some time with you and share war stories. Who knows, maybe this could lead to a Bungie Bounty being placed on your head.

Destiny 2 TwitchCon Meetup: 2 PM on October 27

Location: TBD

Cheers,

Dmg04

I don’t know if Erno Rubik would be proud or distraught if he ever laid his eyes on Euclidean Skies. It could not have existed without him, his dedication to mechanical logic puzzles, and the proliferation of his Cube into the ’80s smart guy scene. But it doesn’t at all resemble the tactility of the Cube itself. To him, the Cube represented a more spiritual and elemental connection to nature’s perfection. The leyline between mathematics and the human condition lies in the Cube.

This extended past his puzzle box and eventual toy empire. Rubik believed that the geometric cube was a divine shape, and that his Cube was just an expression of something bigger. “The number three seems to have a particular significance,” he once said of it, “relevant in some strange ways to the relation between man and nature.”

Euclidean Lands, 2017’s clever prequel, represented these concepts more directly. Its echocrome/Monument Valley camera trickery and Rubik’s Cube puzzle principles were sound on their own. When met with the strategic combat of Chess or developer Square-Enix’s Go Series, the experience was next level. If the Cube is fundamentally anthropological, then is there a human complement to the furious combat raging on its surfaces?

Euclidean Lands maintained the sort of simple elegance of the primary subject matter, even as it expanded into its later, more extravagant stages. From almost the first stage, Euclidean Skies rejects that elegance. It resembles less of Rubik’s holy Cube, and more like every other puzzle on the shelf next to it. You know the ones – the Hanayama U-bolts wrapped around one another that you must disassemble, or Nier Bohr’s Tangaloids, or that weird thing that looks like a wire hanger wrapped around a piece of wood.

The concept is the same. By both shifting the land you stand on, and moving space by space on its surface, you must slay all the enemies and exit the stage. But almost every bit of that foundation is iterated on in Euclidean Skies.

Firstly, in the core conceit. Unlike in Lands, all of the bad guys are mobile. When you move, they move, creating that sort of turn-based call-and-response relationship that 1980’s Rogue introduced to the world. At once, you are both moving to avoid the enemies predetermined paths, and moving to intercept and destroy them. That tension between tapping spaces and spinning whole rows in order to dodge and corner foes is an engaging experience far beyond just trying to place yourself around static targets.

This added kinetic energy often clashes with the added scope and dimensions of each puzzle. No longer is every stage beholden to the cube shape. Now, they can meander into outstretched pathways, often not even connected by blocks. The axis that each row and column spin on aren’t always even, either. So what may appear to be a cube will actually unravel into an exploded mess after just a couple of turns.

This is a blessing and a curse. Not being attached to some predictable central core means that even puzzles that may start out in a similar arrangement can end dramatically differently. These can also create obstacles to block enemy movement, or set a hard point to swing an enemy into, destroying them like baseball bat might a glass vase.

These transformable platforms can be their own obstacles though. With this new range of transformation comes a camera that is free to move where ever you need it to go. But if that camera isn’t facing a particular way, moving the world the way you want can be impossible. It’s a war of position. A totally winnable war, but one that will be fought in little annoying battles more often than you’ll want.

If Euclidean Lands achieved a sort of tranquil state thanks to the sound, models, and color palettes relationship to that slower paced gameplay, Skies is a practice of staving off chaos. The pale warmth of the sunsets and blocks are replaced with scorchingly bold reds and greens and blues. Your character, a nameless woman with a large sword, is dripping with personality. Same with the enemy models, which are packed with details that you often fail to see because you’re never close enough to see them, or incentivized to stop and smell the trimmed cloaks and armor.

There is a sort of charm lost in the switch from the ultra-minimalist style to this new, more aggressive one. It’s not as dramatic as, say, Nidhogg to Nidhogg 2, but it still takes a period of adjustment. Ultimately, this new art direction allows for environmental details that really expand the sense of surrealism from stage to stage. Stone awnings curl around the play area in wide arcs. Skeletons of giant beasts drape themselves over branches, periodically serving as obstructions to prevent moving a row a certain way. Lush trees and waterfalls add a sense of adventure when traveling between doors or maneuvering around paths. While it feels less orderly, it’s absolutely more expressive.

All this new kinetic energy can make this almost feel like a race against time. Some moments of twisting and twirling may cause the images to look less polished, or force the animations to creak while the framerate catches up. While playing, more often than I like to admit, I would find myself completely out of sorts several minutes into a puzzle. Blocks had been rotated so much that I’d no idea how to get them back. Soldiers wedged in between each other, swapping positions ad nauseam. A quick tap of the reset button straightens you out, but when I’m stuck in Skies, I’m waaaaay more helpless than when I was in Lands.

The hints are vague, but the special objectives can serve to keep you focused, even if you can’t solve the puzzle with only one move, or other such feats of heroism. In maybe the most indulgent – and least effective – attempt at moving the formula forward, there’s a feature that lets you play a given puzzle in a digital version of your physical space. The augmented reality function is finicky, and the experience isn’t worth the effort at all.

Would old Erno appreciate this expansion away from the primal and sane simplicity of his Cube? Not sure. Elegance is traded for unabashed ambition, and for those not concerned with how it sits in the cosmic order of things, Euclidean Skies is a no-brainer to add to the collection. It finds a way to break every rule Euclidean Lands wrote, and with its own sort of rugged flair. It can’t be the holy Cube again, that’s trite and uninspired. This new thing may not be some perfect union of heaven and earth, but the rest of the shelf is great too.