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Google is officially doing away with its 30 percent cut of Play Store transactions, and rolling out changes to how third-party app stores and alternate billing systems will be handled by Android. Some of these tweaks were proposed as part of the settlement the company reached with Epic in November 2025, but rather than wait for final judicial approval, Google is committing to revamping Android and the Play Store publicly.
The biggest change is to how Google will collect fees from developers publishing apps on Android. Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent, and in some cases 15 percent for new installs of apps from developers participating in its new App Experience program or updated Google Play Games Level Up program. Google will also now charge a five percent service fee for developers in the UK, US or European Economic Area (EEA) using its billing system, and "a market-specific rate" in other regions. Of course, for anyone trying to avoid those fees, using alternatives to Google's billing system is also getting easier.
As part of these changes, Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or "guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases." The setup, as described by Google, appears to be more permissive than what Apple settled on in 2025. For iOS apps on the App Store, develo
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The small update arrives a few weeks after iOS 26.3 and focuses on security patches and stability improvements.
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Apple is looking to gain a foothold in the more budget-friendly end of the laptop market with the MacBook Neo. The system starts at $599, which is darn inexpensive for an Apple laptop — it even has the same starting price as the M4 iPad Air.
As such, the MacBook Neo should help Apple compete with cheap Windows laptops and Chromebooks. Pricing it at $499 for educational use won't exactly hurt either.
Apple is really lowering the cost of entry for those looking to pick up a new MacBook here. The base MacBook Neo costs $500 less than the cheapest M5 MacBook Air, which is now officially Apple's midrange laptop.
Of course, there are a lot of tradeoffs you'll make by opting for a MacBook Neo instead of a MacBook Air. If you're curious about all the differences between the Neo and the base 13.6-inch Air (and perhaps what you'll be foregoing if go you with the cheaper option), we've got you covered.
MacBook Neo vs. MacBook Air exteriors
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 Apple today released a new firmware update for the Studio Display and Studio Display XDR, two products that aren't set to launch until March 11.
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 Apple today released iOS 18.7.6 for older devices, addressing an issue that caused some older iPhones in Australia to be unable to connect to emergency services.
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TWEAKS AND UPDATES 9to5 Google: Google Home just announced a bunch of Gemini, smart home updates rolling out now. "Google has announced a number of updates to the Gemini for Home experience […]
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 Apple today released macOS Tahoe 26.3.1, a minor update to the ?macOS Tahoe? operating system that came out last September. ?macOS Tahoe? 26.3.1 comes three weeks after Apple launched macOS Tahoe 26.3.
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 Apple today provided public beta testers with the third release of an upcoming macOS Tahoe 26.4 update for testing purposes. The public beta comes a week after Apple seeded the second beta.
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Image Credit: Eric Zeman/ Android AuthorityThe January OTA pack for Google Pixel 6 ("oropiole") and Google Pixel 6 Pro ("raven") has started rolling out. The software update brings fixes from December and January that should help Pixel 6 series smartphones run at full speed after numerous bugs and problems seemed to affect the functionality.
Google has revealed that the January software update for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro is now available as factory images and full OTA images via the Google Play services website (12.0.0 (SQ1D.220105.007), Jan 2022 - specific device/images links can be found in "sources" below). Those who prefer to wait for the OTA package to ar
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