Ben Schoon is a Senior Editor at 9to5Google, a sister site of 9to5Mac. Ben has been working for the publication as one of its primary news writers for the past 5 years. In 2013, Ben helped start an independent tech publication where he learned the skills used at 9to5Google including writing, product photography, and videography. He is located in the city of Winston-Salem in North Carolina where he lived with his wife Melissa, married in 2019.
He primarily covers Android products, including Google Pixel devices, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, as well as devices from OnePlus, Oppo, LG, Motorola, and more. Beyond just covering news about these products, Ben also spends time using these products himself, speaking from experience with the articles he writes. Some of Ben’s most recent hands-on reviews include; Galaxy S21 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro, Fitbit Versa 3, Nest Thermostat, Galaxy Z Fold 2, and Fitbit Sense.
Ben is also a leading source for information about Google’s Android TV, diving deeply into important parts of the platform including its powerful Operator Tier, explaining future changes to the platform, and reviewing its products such as Chromecast with Google TV, Nvidia Shield TV, and more.
In 2019, Ben leaked one of the first in-person photos of the Pixel 4 before later revealing the Recorder and Pixel Themes apps months ahead of launch. In 2020, Ben also reported on multiple upcoming Pixel devices including Pixel 5a and the first report of Google working on a foldable Pixel smartphone. That same month, he was also the first to correctly report the $49 price point of what became the Chromecast with Google TV.
Ben Schoon is active on Twitter, @nexusben, but can also be found on Instagram and LinkedIn. For questions or tips, you can email him directly, and his portfolio is also available online.
Email: schoon@9to5mac.com | Encrypted Email: benschoon@protonmail.com
Smartphones and physical keyboards aren’t a combination we think of often, but Clicks for iPhone is trying to bring that back with a new keyboard case that’s extremely good. That is, for what it actually is.
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The iPhone is the device that pushed the mobile industry away from physical keyboards, but nothing can truly replace that tactile experience. Launching next month, “Clicks” aims to add a physical keyboard to your iPhone with support for keyboard shortcuts and backlighting too.
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X, the platform better known as Twitter, removed headlines from posts with links a few months ago, but is now bringing them back in a new format.
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Beeper Mini launched on Tuesday with the promise of bringing secure iMessage to Android, and indeed it worked wonderfully. However, less than a week later, the app seems to be broken.
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iMessage for Android. Even in this new reality where Apple intends to adopt RCS, it’s still something that people want because, after all, iMessage is very popular. And while Apple will probably never do it, the folks at Beeper are launching a new app, “Beeper Mini,” which brings iMessage support to Android that closely mimics the experience on iPhone, and does so in a way that’s “native.”
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It’s not hard to find out what search queries are trending on Google, but it’s rare we get a peek into what searches drive the most ad dollars. Coming out from the ongoing antitrust trial, new documents have unveiled some of the highest-revenue search queries on Google, and a lot of them are about the iPhone.
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Meta’s Twitter competitor, Threads, is now rolling out one of its most-requested features – an edit button.
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Apple ditched leather accessories with its latest lineup and instead moved to a new “FineWoven” fabric material for iPhone 15. But, after some time using it, FineWoven just reminds me how good Google’s old fabric cases for Pixel were.
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Android smartphones have enjoyed the ability for years now to use a USB-C cable to charge other devices using the battery on their own phone, something that’s handy in a pinch. And, thanks to the iPhone 15 series finally adopting USB-C, Android phones and iPhones will finally be able to share their power with one another.
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Emoji Kitchen debuted a couple of years ago as a part of Gboard for Android, introducing the truly delightful ability to mash together different emoji into a single sticker. Now, Emoji Kitchen is officially coming to the web (and, in turn, iPhone) by way of direct integration into Google Search.
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Wireless adapters for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have become incredibly common, but options that can handle both platforms are pretty rare. Now, AAWireless is adding support for wireless Apple CarPlay alongside wireless Android Auto through a new beta.
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Google Maps is said to be working on support for iOS’s Live Activities feature, just in time for the iPhone 15’s expansion of the Dynamic Island.
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RCS is available to every Android user at this point, but that hasn’t ended the messaging headaches that come from iMessage and the lack of RCS on iPhone. But now, the third-party app Beeper can support both Google Messages RCS and Apple iMessage on both Android and iPhone, all within the same app.
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If you’re experiencing issues with YouTube TV or live content on YouTube through an Apple device, you’re not alone, as Google has confirmed an ongoing issue with YouTube TV on iOS devices (both iPhone and iPad).
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Android Auto and CarPlay continue to be a huge selling point for new cars, but for years now, many Mazda cars have lacked the touchscreen needed to really enjoy those infotainment experiences. With the 2024 Mazda CX-5, a touchscreen is on the way.
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The classic retro game Space Invaders is celebrating its 45th Anniversary this year, and with that is also coming the release of a new AR title from Google and Taito which is available now on Android and iOS.
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Spotify has confirmed it is testing a new “Offline Mix” that gathers together all of your downloaded tracks into one playlist.
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The “green bubble” stigma is a very real thing and, partially, for good reason. When someone with an Android phone joins a group chat with iMessage users, it strips away a lot of useful features, but Apple is somewhat improving that in iOS 17.
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The video-sharing platform Vimeo, once considered a promising YouTube competitor, has announced this week that it will kill all of its TV apps in favor of having users cast content from their other devices.
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With an influx of Discovery content, the HBO Max we’ve come to know and maybe sort of love is set to become “Max” tomorrow, with a new app in some cases.
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Matter has the promise of finally uniting the smart home under one standard, and slowly, that promise is coming to reality. Currently, Google is rolling out an update to its Nest Thermostat that adds support for Matter and allows the thermostat to be linked with Apple HomeKit. Here’s how it works.
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After rolling out on Android last year, Google has announced that it will bring Matter support to the Google Home app on iOS soon.
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Ads make huge portions of the internet free to use while still letting creators be supported by those ads. However, there are ad blockers out there, and YouTube is now testing blocking users who have an ad blocker enabled.
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Google’s YouTube TV is rolling out several updates, including improvements to picture quality and a “major” update for Apple TV users.
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