

Welcome to the 224th edition of Android Apps Weekly! Here are the headlines from the last week:

The Amazon versus Google saga continues this week. Many users reported losing YouTube on their Fire TV sticks. This is a few days sooner than Google’s January 1st deadline. That’s when the service officially leaves the Fire TV and Echo devices. The companies are in talks to get the ball rolling again for all of this. However, we don’t expect a conclusion to this issue for a while yet. It’s frustrating for consumers for sure.

Instagram is getting a not great update soon. The update brings recommended posts to the main feed. It works a lot like Twitter’s variant of the feature. You scroll a bit, see some recommended posts, and then your feed continues. It may be a useful way to see posts from people you don’t follow. However, it feels like it’s going to be more advertising than anything. We’ll see how it turns out as it rolls out.

Snap is working on a new feature. Stories Everywhere would extend Snapchat beyond the app. The company is working through a period of stagnation. The hope is more exposure means more actual users. This along with the new upcoming app design is their big one-two push to get more users. We’ll see how it works when it comes out.

Zooper Widget returned to the Play Store this week. Unfortunately, there is no word on why this happened. The developers remain silent on social media. Likewise, Google hasn’t said squat either. We may never know what really happened. That isn’t totally unusual. In any case, the app is on Google Play currently. Get it while you can!

HQ Trivia finally has a stable release date. It should be out right now, actually. It’s too soon for us to feature it as a game of the week. However, we are definitely going to talk about it in the next Apps Weekly more in-depth. The game is quite popular on iOS already. We expect it to do similarly on Android assuming the app has no serious problems.

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Gunstar Heroes Price: Free / $1.99 DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Gunstar Heroes is the latest SEGA Forever release. It's a classic side-scrolling shooter and platformer. The game also features a story line, seven levels, and a variety of weapons and power ups. Additionally, the game includes local multiplayer via WiFi, hardware controller support, and leaderboards. It's definitely one of the better SEGA Forever games. It's free with advertising. Removing the ads costs $1.99. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Investing.com Crypto News Price: Free DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Investing.com released a new cryptocurrency news app this week. Its name is ridiculous and horrible like their other app. However, it does work pretty well. It follows Bitcoin along with a ton of other cryptocurrencies. That includes prices, value, market dominance, and a lot more. Investing.com makes really good apps in this space. Their other finance news app is really good, too. This one is free, at least for right now. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Portal Knights Price: $4.99 DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Portal Knights is from earlier in December. However, it's an excellent new RPG. It features randomly generated 3D worlds, boss fights, RPG character progression, and even some crafting. There is also local multiplayer support with up to four devices on the same WiFi network. This is a surprisingly good game overall. It came out a little late for our best of 2017 list. However, we are going to consider it for our best of 2018 list. It's that good. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Haven Price: Free DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Haven is a new, high profile app from Edward Snowden. It's a security app for people like journalists, human rights activists, and the like. You activate the app. It uses its sensors to detect any movement, noise, etc. The camera can even record the people who touch your stuff. This isn't an app for your daily driver. However, those with a spare phone should definitely try this one out. It's in beta, but it's also free. We expect good things out of this one. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Bridge Constructor Portal Price: $4.99 DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY Bridge Constructor Portal is the hit game of the season. It combines Bridge Constructor with the cult classic game, Portal. The game combines mechanics from both franchises. It's not quite what you'd expect. However, it's surprisingly fun. There are 60 test chambers (levels), various obstacles, and GLaDOS makes a triumphant return. We honestly thought this would be a freemium game. These kinds of high profile name drop games usually are. However, this one is a pay-once game and that makes it shoot right to the top of our recommendations this week. DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

Thank you for reading! Here are some related app lists to consider! 10 best cryptocurrency apps for Android! 10 best sandbox games for Android!

If we missed any big Android apps or games news, relases, or updates, tell us about them in the comments! Check back next week for more!