Sunrise Weather app Delivers the Forecast with a Beautiful UI

Temperatures are going to be rising as spring is right around the corner in the northern hemisphere. To track the change in weather, and keep up to date with your local forecast, you should consider getting a new Weather app. Sunrise: Local Weather Forecasts & Radar Maps is an app that comes from an XDA community member, as a simple and elegant weather app.

Sunrise is a great app for getting detailed information on local weather, or in specific locations. Track the humidity, air quality, visibility, UV index, wind speeds, and more. All of your weather information is shown on one page, which you can scroll through to see all of the available information.

Sunrise: Local Weather Forecasts & Radar Maps (Free⁺, Google Play) →

Features:
● Multiple weather providers: National Weather Service (weather.gov), Foreca.com, Weatherbit.io, Open Weather Map, Australia’s official weather data (Bom.gov.au), Canada’s official weather data (Weather.gc.ca), Yr.no, Smhi.se…
● Current weather condition and hourly, 10-day weather forecast.
● Alerts for Strong Wind, Heavy Rain, and Heavy Snow, and Thunderstorms through.
● Rain, snow alarm.
● Quick-view weather forecast using the widget.
● Radar: A weather radar is used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type (rain, snow, hail, etc.), and forecast its future position and intensity.
● Sunrise, sunset, full moon night with the provided information.
● Air quality, UV index, humidity, visibility, dew point, air pressure, wind speed, and direction.

 

Sunrise focuses on having a simple and effective UI. The background animations are made to match your current weather situation. Snow, rain, wind, etc, will be shown behind your weather data. You can track multiple cities by adding them to your list of tracked locations.

To get the most accurate weather data, Sunrise uses weather.gov for weather in the U.S. and weather.gc.ca for Canada. The app is free to download from the Google play store, with premium features available to unlock. Premium users will have access to live radar, an ad-free experience, and more premium features to come.

Check out the official XDA thread here.

We thank Sunrise for sponsoring this post. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

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Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max get three new clock face options

Google is reportedly rolling out three new watch faces for the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max. The new additions were first spotted on the Lenovo Smart Clock in 2019, and are said to be tweaked so that they are compatible with larger 7-inch or 10-inch screen sizes. With the newly launched clock faces, the devices now offer a total of 11 options.

First spotted by 9to5 Google, there are technically just two of them, with the first one called “Timeless” being offered in a dark or a light theme. It includes an analog clock with circular markers at the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions. Notably, the dark version has a deep red background while the light variant has a pink finish. The new “Weather” clock face is a bit more dynamic compared to the first one. This one tells you the weather, apart from time, and the background changes depending on the current state of temperature. For instance, if it is a clear day then it will show a blue gradient and at night it will showcase stars.

You can access the new watch faces using the Google Home app. To do so, open the app on your smartphone and select your device. Tap and enter settings from the top-right corner and then head to Photo Frame > Fullscreen clock. The new clocks should be available to you at the very bottom. You can also get them using your voice with the command, “Hey Google, set photo frame” with the new additions available on the right of the carousel. Make sure you are running the latest Cast firmware 1.52 on your Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max if you want to see these new watch faces. If you are still unable to get them, wait for a few days as it is expected to arrive via a server-side update.

Google Home (Free, Google Play) →

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A Closer Look at What Makes Huawei Mate X2 Unique

Bleeding edge consumer products in a new product category usually take a year or two to find its footing, and that’s looking to be the case with foldable smartphones. Huawei’s third attempt, the Mate X2, is the most polished and impressive foldable smartphone hardware yet, improving on not just Huawei’s previous foldables, but one-up the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 as well. In this article let’s examine what makes the Huawei Mate X2 stand out from the pack.

Official product renders of the Huawei Mate X2. Photo: Huawei

Large, uninterrupted folding display without a crease

Huawei’s Mate X2 can be used either as normal smartphone with a 6.45-inch display or as an 8-inch tablet — the latter screen is revolutionary for being free of the noticeable crease that’s plagued other foldables, such as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.

This is thanks in part to a multi-dimensional hinge design’s five years in the making.

A screenshot showing the difference in crease between the Huawei Mate X2 (left) and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 from a video by China-based reviewer Vincent Zhong.

Here’s how it works: the multi-dimensional locking mechanism creates a waterdrop-like cavity when the device is folded, this means the screen is not bent at a harsh angle like the hinge of the Galaxy Z Fold 2.

A render of the Mate X2’s hinge. Photo: Huawei

What’s more, when the Mate X2 is folded, it closes entirely flat, unlike Samsung’s foldable. This is thanks to a state-of-the-art architectural and structural design.

The Mate X2 features a tapered design that subtly shifts the center-of-gravity to the thickest side, which is also where you grip the phone.

A foldable phone no longer has to compromise in photography experience

Up until the Huawei Mate X2, foldable smartphones have had to compromise with camera performance. Whether it was the original Huawei Mate X, the follow-up Mate XS, or any of Samsung’s foldables including the Z Fold 2, they lacked the top tier camera systems used by their slab counterparts at the time.

This is no more: the Huawei Mate X2 is packed with a 50MP main camera, 16MP ultra-wide angle camera (which Huawei calls Cine Camera), a 12MP 3x optical zoom lens, and an 8MP Periscope zoom camera that offers 10x optical zoom. This is virtually the same camera system used in the Huawei Mate 40 Pro+, the company’s current apex slab smartphone offering.

But the most impressive thing about the Mate X2’s camera system has to be the fact that Huawei managed to cram a Periscope zoom lens (which uses a more intricate, larger and thicker sensor) into a foldable device was thought to be impossible — until now.

A render of the Periscope camera design that Huawei manage to fit inside a foldable device. Photo: Huawei

And Huawei managed to do this without compromising device thickness. The Huawei Mate X2 measures 4.4mm at is thinnest point in unfolded form. When folded, its thickness varies from 13.6mm at the thinnest point to 14.7mm — still thinner than the Z Fold 2’s 16.8mm.

Upgrade to HarmonyOS later

The Huawei Mate X2 ships out of the box running an open source version of Android. However, starting April users will have the option to upgrade their phone to HarmonyOS, Huawei’s proprietary software that the company promises will bring the foldable phone experience to a new level. The Huawei Mate X2 will be among one of the earliest batches of Huawei devices to get this game-changing upgrade. HarmonyOS will bring seamless connectivity between the Mate X2 and Huawei’s diverse line of consumer products, including the Huawei FreeBuds 4i.

The longest-lasting TWS earbuds yet

Announced alongside the Huawei Mate X2 is the FreeBuds 4i, Huawei’s newest in-ear true wireless stereo earbuds. Huawei products have always offered superior battery life than others, and the FreeBuds 4i is no different — with the ability to play 10 hours of music continuously on a single charge. A ten minute charge in the carrying case adds four hours of battery life.

The petite earbuds also come with active noise cancellation, intuitive touch controls, and seamless pairing with smart devices.

Optimized UI for larger screen use

With a tablet-sized screen you’re going to want to do more with your device, and Huawei’s optimized its UI to take full advantage of the increased screen real estate. Users can jump into split-screen multi-tasking with just a couple of taps using “Multi-Window,” an intuitive shortcut gesture built into the Mate X2’s software. Drag and dropping media file work across native Huawei apps and select third-party apps.

Users can also open almost any app in a floating window that can be resized or placed anywhere on the screen. “App Multiplier,” as the name suggests, opens multiple instances of the same app.

Photo: Huawei

Little touches like the ability to resize and split they native keyboard should make the tablet experience more enjoyable.

The most advanced foldable phone

The Mate X2 continues Huawei’s trend of making hardware breakthroughs with the mobile space. As the foldable market mature and foldable phones become mainstream, Huawei will continue to lead the way with more breakthroughs in this space. Learn more about the Mate X2!

 

This post is sponsored and written in part by HUAWEI. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more. While you might see sponsored content (which will always be labeled as such) alongside Portal content, the Portal team is in no way responsible for these posts. Sponsored content, advertising and XDA Depot are managed by a separate team entirely. XDA will never compromise its journalistic integrity by accepting money to write favorably about a company, or alter our opinions or views in any way. Our opinion cannot be bought.

 

 

 

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Tip: You can tap two phones together to quickly start file transfers in Nearby Share

The patience of Android users was finally rewarded last year when Google, at last, decided to add a functionality that its rival OS had had for years: a simple, fast, and universally accessible file sharing service. Google’s Nearby Share feature is available on any device (with Google Play services) running Android 6.0 and above and lets users share images, videos, and other files with nearby Android devices. The process is very straightforward; all you have to do is select the content you want to share, choose the Nearby Share icon from the Android Sharesheet menu, and tap on the device you want to share content with on the next screen.

But turns out there’s a more convenient and faster way to share files with Nearby Share. As spotted by Reddit user /u/40percentreddit, when you initiate a file share with Nearby and tap two phones together using NFC, both devices will be automatically connected and a prompt will show up on the recipient device to accept the file. As pointed out by other Redditors in the thread, you don’t even have to enable Nearby Share on the second device; tapping the device together will automatically turn on the feature and establish a connection with the sender device. Here’s a quick demo showing the Nearby Share tap to share functionality in action:

This is much better than having to stare at the “Looking for nearby devices” screen and patiently wait for the recipient device to show up. As already mentioned, tap-to-share will only work if both devices have NFC.

This is by no means a thing of novelty. Long-time users would probably recall Android Beam offered similar functionality, allowing two Android users to share files by tapping their phones together. Android Beam relied on NFC to initiate a handshake with the recipient device and then used either Wi-Fi Direct or Bluetooth to send your file. It was however slower and clunkier and was finally deprecated in 2019 to make room for Nearby Share.

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Jio’s MyJio app sends fullscreen ads to homescreen, violating Google Play policy

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in India, you’ve probably heard of Reliance Jio — the carrier that practically transformed the country’s 4G landscape overnight and now has its eyes set on 5G. Jio has found a concrete space for itself as India’s leading telecom service provider, amassing over 400 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Based on the smartphone landscape in the country, it would be safe to assume that a good many of these users access Jio’s services on an Android smartphone. If you’re one such user, you may have had to contend with fullscreen banner ads on your homescreen in the recent past. As it turns out, they’re delivered straight by the companion MyJio app, in direct violation of Google Play’s policies.

On Android smartphones, you can just insert a Jio sim card and begin using the telecom’s services right away. But if you use other services from Jio such as the JioFiber connection, or perhaps you want to check how much of the daily data allowance you have consumed so far, or you want to top-up your data pack, then you do need to install the MyJio companion app on your phone. The MyJio app serves as a “one-stop destination for recharges, UPI and payments, managing Jio devices, Movies, Music, News, Games, Quizzes” and more. Needless to say, if you have dipped your toe into the Jio ecosystem (and I’d be surprised if you haven’t so far while residing in India), you have this app installed on your device.

Unfortunately, the MyJio app has a rather annoying habit of sending fullscreen ad banners straight to the user’s homescreen.

This ad banner was initiated by the MyJio app on my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, and that was the only Jio app on the phone at the time. The app had not been in the foreground for a few days at that point, but this banner notification hijacked the homescreen irrespective. Looking around, I found that this has been happening for a fair few months now, with many users complaining about the homescreen hijacking. Clicking on the banner leads you to this pre-generated WhatsApp message to text the number mentioned.

It’s difficult to trigger the popup banner consciously on our end. We’ve examined the app, and there are hints that the banner is triggered upon toggling flight mode and when unplugging the device from charge. But those common actions do not trigger the banner every time, and it appears rather infrequently. We presume that there are more triggers set up on the Firebase notification receiver as well, whose conditions may not have been met during our testing.

Prima facie, this hijacking behavior is caused by a fullscreen activity that the app is launching from the background. This directly contravenes Google Play’s policies on Ads:

Interfering with Apps, Third-party Ads, or Device Functionality

Ads associated with your app must not interfere with other apps, ads, or the operation of the device, including system or device buttons and ports. This includes overlays, companion functionality, and widgetized ad units. Ads must only be displayed within the app serving them.

The example that Google talks about is pretty much the same behavior that the MyJio app demonstrates. We can conclude that the MyJio app directly contravenes Google Play policies by pushing out ads that are displayed outside of its app by hijacking the homescreen.

Curiously, the app is able to push this hijacking ad without having been granted permission to “Display Over Apps”/”Appear on Top”. The MyJio app does not even request this permission, so I was very curious about how the app could push an ad over the homescreen.

With Zachary’s help, I dug in deeper. We found out that the app integrates the MADME SDK, and there are activities titled “OverlayAdActivity”, which leaves little room for doubt on its intention.

Visiting Madme’s website corroborates our finding, as they proudly display solutions to telecoms that bring out these popup ad banners with hijacking intent.

The MyJio app integrates a whole host of Activities, Services, and Receivers from Madme, and there’s way too many of them.

How do I stop these hijacking popups on my homescreen from Jio’s MyJio app?

There are a few ways you can get rid of these hijacking popups. The first and most obvious solution is to simply uninstall the MyJio app. A lot of users use the app very infrequently, and you can reinstall it back when you do need it. In the intervening cycles, you can at least not be annoyed out of your homescreen.

The second solution, widely suggested by the Internet, is to disable all permissions for the app. Much like the first solution, this is a very wide solution that will cause certain functions of the app to not work properly.

The third solution takes a more precise approach, but it also requires root. You can use an app like Root Activity Launcher to disable all Activities, Services, and Receivers related to the Madme SDK in the Jio app.

Root Activity Launcher ($0.99, Google Play) →

And here are all the related Activities, Services, and Receivers. Note that you may not need to disable all of them, and I am just listing all the ones that I could spot. It is difficult to force-trigger the fullscreen popup on our end, so we’d still have to go with a blanket approach here.

• Activities:
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.AdActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.AdListActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.BrowserActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.MadmeCmClickActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.MadmePermissionActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.MyOffersHistoryActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.OverlayAdActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.OverlaySurveyActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.ChangeProfileActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.SavedAdActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.SurveyActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.ThankYouActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.WebViewActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.LegalInformationActivityResources
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.TermsActivity
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.activity.BenefitsActivity
• Services:
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.ad.ShowAdService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.AdAlarmHelperService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.AdReminderHelperService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.AdTriggerEventsService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.CampaignHelperService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.CdnCampaignJobService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.CdnCampaignService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.cloudmessaging.CloudMessagingRegistrationService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.DbUpdateService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.DownloadService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.location.GeofenceService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.LoginService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.LSFService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.LSJobService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.LSJobService2
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.LSService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.MFAService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.SBSTService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.SurveySubmissionJobService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.SurveySubmissionService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.TrackingService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.TrackingSubmissionJobService
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.service.TrackingSubmissionService
• Receivers:
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.AdAlarmReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.AdReminderReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.adtriggers.AirplaneModeChangedAdTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.adtriggers.PowerConnectionAdTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.adtriggers.RoamingAdTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.adtriggers.WiFiAdTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.adtriggers.WiFiAvailableTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.BootReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.DailyTaskReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.EOCTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.GeofenceReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.IdSnsReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.MadmeSmsTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.NotificationActionTrigger
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.PackageRemovalReceiver
  • com.madme.mobile.sdk.broadcast.UnlockReceiver

Disabling all of these would effectively render the Madme SDK useless, and should prevent the banner from hijacking your homescreen again.

Apps on the Google Play Store have been removed for far more innocent behavior, and it does surprise me that the Madme SDK and Jio’s homescreen ad behavior have not been spotted, highlighted, and addressed before. Madme is certainly not even hiding what it does, and they proudly highlight such behavior as a selling point, leaving us to scratch our collective heads on which loophole they have figured out to get such confidence and presumed immunity. And if their website is to be believed, other telecom providers in India also make use of their services, though we have not encountered any homescreen hijacking ad banner from them just yet.

We hope Google takes cognizance of the homescreen hijacking behavior of these popups and provides clarifications on their existence alongside Google Play policies.

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The best Nintendo Switch games to play with the whole family in March 2021

You’ve unwrapped your presents and surprise! There’s a Nintendo Switch under the tree just for you! Nintendo has managed to figure out their popular console’s stock issues just in time for the holiday shopping season, so many gamers will be happy. But you know, if you live with your family, you might want to consider some Switch family games — some titles that everyone can enjoy together. We all might love games like Breath of the Wild, but it’s always great to have some multiplayer titles everyone can enjoy. Of course, you’ll also need to make sure you have some Switch controllers to go around!

We’ve rounded up the 10 most family-friendly Switch games you can pick up. From games suited for the youngest to party titles for an overall older crowd, there’s a great game in here for every household.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Of all the games on this list, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is sure to please everyone in the family, no matter their age. A port of the Wii U game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe includes all the characters and tracks from the Wii U DLC, all in one package on a console people are more likely to own. The gameplay is also solid and very refined, making the racing title easy to learn, but more difficult to master when you’re playing on higher difficulties. For those that may not know their way around a controller, options exist to help players stay on the roads and still be able to race against the more gaming-savvy family members. Items that can change the outcome of the race with one well-timed use help too!

You can pick up Mario Kart 8 on its own, or head to Target for an exclusive pack with the racer and the next game on our list!

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most polished and feature-complete Mario Kart yet! With all sorts of tracks to race on and characters to unlock, everyone will have a great time playing this fun and beautiful racing game.

Buy at Amazon

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Super Mario Party

If you're looking for more than one party game, then head over to Target! They have an exclusive bundle of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Party for just $100. You save $10 on each title!

$100 at Target

Super Mario Party

Who doesn’t love a good game of Mario Party? The Switch entry to the long-running multiplayer series is as good as ever. With a variety of maps and modes to choose from, you’re not likely to get bored of the title anytime soon. While the main mode is a board game-like setup where luck plays a factor, you can also employ some strategy with characters and allies having different types of dice to roll. There’s also an interesting co-op mode and modes that let you focus more on the mini-games for fun competitions.

If you’re interested in both Super Mario Party and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, you can pick up an exclusive double-pack from Target and save. Otherwise, you can pick up this Switch title from Amazon!

Super Mario Party

Super Mario Party is one of the best entries to the series yet. Enjoy competitive and co-op modes that rely on luck and skill in this board-game like title!

Buy at Amazon

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Super Mario Party

If you're looking for more than one party game, then head over to Target! They have an exclusive bundle of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Party for just $100. You save $10 on each title!

$100 at Target

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

What would make the relaxing island life even better? Sharing it with family! Up to four people can move onto one island and start living their best island life on one save file. Teach the kids the value of sharing while you work to get that final fossil you need for the museum. Not only that, but you can go online easier than ever before in New Horizons, and enjoy up to eight players’ company on one island with local or online multiplayer. There’s nothing better than whacking your friends and family on the head with your bug net.

While there’s a special Animal Crossing Switch console, it mysteriously doesn’t come with the game itself. You’ll have to pick it up separately from Amazon.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Enjoy the relaxing island life with your family in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Catch bugs and fish, talk with villagers, and build the island of your dreams, together!

Buy at Amazon

Clubhouse Games

Round-ups of classic board games in a video game isn’t the most uncommon thing in the world. However, Clubhouse Games does it all really well. Bringing 51 classic games in one package, Clubhouse Games makes it easy to start up a game with family without having to try and find and set up the physical board themselves. These Switch family games can be played locally in handheld mode with the touch screen, or in docked mode with controllers. Best of all, if another person owns the collection, you can quickly and easily hook up for online multiplayer!

Do you know what else is great about Clubhouse games? It forgoes the typical $60 Switch game price point and has a $40 MSRP. With so many games on offer, that’s a great value!

Clubhouse Games

If you're looking for classic board games on the Switch, you really can't do better than Clubhouse Games. At $40 for 51 games, this is the best valoue on the list.

Buy at Amazon

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury

I hate to have such a Mario-heavy list, but you can’t deny that Mario titles are great for kids and adults alike. The recently ported Super Mario 3D World is a fantastic title in general–the previous star of the Wii U console, even. It’s also family-friend because up to 4 players can drop in and out whenever and just have a blast running through the world! The addition of Bowser’s Fury also gives the game’s veterans more content to enjoy and justification for another purchase.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

Enjoy the Wii U title on Switch! Super Mario 3D World is a great game for the whole family, and Bowser's Fury offers new content for those that played the original.

View at Amazon

Kirby Star Allies

Looking for something that even the youngest in your family can enjoy? Then you can’t go wrong with Kirby Star Allies. Every Kirby game has a little gimmick to go with it, and this Switch title’s gimmick is having up to three former enemies or allies accompany Kirby on his quest to save Popstar and the universe (again). The title is built for drop-in multiplayer, and the mix-and-match style of the power-ups is delightful. In addition, you don’t lose a life unless Kirby himself dies, meaning that younger children can take control of one of the allies and simply have fun without worrying about failing.

Kirby Star Allies

Who doesn't love Kirby? You and up to three others can enjoy running through this platformer. Mix and match powers, and even the youngest can have fun controlling allies without worrying about losing lives.

Buy at Amazon

LEGO City Undercover

LEGO games are a blast to play. They simply are! I’ve enjoyed the goofy humor and low-stress gameplay of the LEGO games for years now. Even if they sometimes feel same-y at times, it really doesn’t hurt to add at least one LEGO title to your collection. LEGO City Undercover is one of the titles that isn’t based on a popular franchise, so everyone can have fun with this title without needing to get the references. Really, though, any LEGO game you pick up with be a hit with children and adults alike.

LEGO City Undercover

You can't go rong with LEGO! No matter which title you choose, you'll be in for a low-stress, silly time.

Buy at Amazon

Minecraft

Sometimes you just can’t beat one of the most popular games around. Minecraft lets everyone explore their creativity with the ability to build anything you can dream up, if you have the resources for it. Those more into exploring can set off into the randomly generated world, looking for treasure and Creepers as they work through the minimalist story. Set up a multiplayer server and your whole family can share, build, and explore the same world together. You don’t even need to all be online at the same time to join in on the Switch family game fun!

Minecraft is available on every modern console, and most of them are cross-play too. No need for everyone to own a Switch to enjoy this one.

Minecraft

Minecraft is one of the most popular games around for a reason. Build, explore, and more together, and even enjoy multiplayer with friends and family on other consoles!

Buy at Amazon

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

If you’re looking for a title so that your family can duke it out, you can’t go wrong with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The fighting game has simple inputs that anyone can get the hang of, and the ever-growing roster of characters ensures that you will find a character that matches your playstyle. You can also introduce handicaps into the match so that more experienced players won’t trounce the competition constantly, making it fun for the whole family.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Everyone is here, and everyone wants to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Choose from over 70 fighters and duke it out with up to eight players.

Buy at Amazon

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2

Puzzle games are timeless, and SEGA has managed to smush two popular titles to make a fun multiplayer title! While there is a Story Mode, you won’t miss much by jumping to the second title in this mash-up series. With a bunch of crazy modes and choosing whether you want to use Tetris blocks, Puyo blobs, or both, everyone’s sure to have a great time.

Puyo Puyo Tetris 2

Tetris and Puyo Puyo come together in this wild puzzle title! With plenty of multi-player modes and ways to play, this will be a great Switch family game.

View at Amazon

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Unsure of which Switch family game to pick up after browsing our list? At $40, Clubhouse Games provides amazing value and features classic board games that everyone will recognize. If you’re looking for something a little more action-packed, then Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is sure to make everyone happy!

What games do you like playing with your family? Let us know in the comments!

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[Update: March 9] Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch next month

Update 1 (03/03/2021 @ 06:38 ET): Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch on March 9. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on February 5, 2021, is preserved below.

Popular battle royale game Apex Legends is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch next month. Based on the Titanfall franchise, Electronics Arts currently offers Apex Legends on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The company had announced plans of releasing the game on the Nintendo Switch late last year. However, after a bunch of delays, we finally have a release date as announced by the company via a blog post.

“Today, I’m proud to come to you with some good news. Apex Legends is coming to Nintendo Switch on March 9th, 2021,” said Chad Grenier, Game Director at Apex Legends. Compared to all platforms, the Nintendo Switch has a smaller display with a 720p resolution, and as per EA, porting the game has apparently been a ‘major achievement.’ The game developer has worked with Panic Button for the Switch port and says that players can expect a full-featured Apex Legends experience on the go. The best part is that EA has not only managed to port Apex Legends to the Switch, but it will also support cross-platform play. This means that players on all platforms can play with each other.

Just a few days back, Apex Legends saw the arrival of its new Season 8 with a brand new legend and character, Fuse. The new season also brings back King’s Canyon in a new avatar, a new weapon, and a bunch of new skins and other cosmetic additions. The Nintendo Switch port was expected to arrive on the same date as the new season, however, players will now have to wait for another month. To make up for the delay, Switch players will be offered 30 free levels for their Season 8 Battle Pass, and for the first two weeks after launch, playing on Switch will also earn you double XP.

Notably, EA has not confirmed if the game will be free to play as it is on the existing platforms. Recently there was a certain leak from Amazon Japan that suggested the Champion Edition of the game would cost around ¥5,641 ($54).  Additionally, an Apex Legends themed Switch Pro controller has also been spotted, which is expected to hype up the launch of the game on the portable console.

The best Nintendo Switch Controllers: Hori, 8bitdo, PowerA, and More!

Apex Legends is also expected to arrive on Android and iOS as EA is working with a partner in China to develop the mobile version of its popular battle royale game. While there is no concrete timeline for the launch, we last heard that we can expect the game to make its way to mobile phones, not before 2022.

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Update: Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch on March 9

Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch on March 9.

Apex Legends makes its long-awaited debut on Switch March 9!

Switch players, get ready for
30 free Battle Pass levels
Double XP for the first two weeks after launch
Limited-time Legendary Pathfinder skin – P.A.T.H. –

We can’t wait to welcome you to the Outlands. pic.twitter.com/zVUgbuDvIM

— Apex Legends (@PlayApex) March 2, 2021

Switch players will get double experience for the first two weeks, and will also get a chance to access a limited-time Legendary Pathfinder skin.

The post [Update: March 9] Apex Legends is coming to the Nintendo Switch next month appeared first on xda-developers.

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