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How To Use Android Apps To Find Cheap Gas

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July 2, 2023

How To Use Android Apps To Find Cheap Gas

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Gas prices are on the rise, seeing a meteoric rise in 2022 so far, and we all want to find cheap gas. Starting off around $2-3 in the beginning of 2022, depending on where you live in the US, up to well over $5 in many areas. Making it cost you over $100 just to fill your tank. As of this writing, the national average for a gallon of gas is $4.92, and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

With summer travel ahead, gas prices are just going to keep going up. So we’re here to help you save some cash on your gas tank. Thanks to a handful of Apps on Android (and iOS), you’ll be able to save some serious cash on gas this summer and moving forward. And who wouldn’t appreciate that?

Google Maps has a bunch of neat features

Google Maps has a few tricks that can help you save money on gas. First off, you can tap on the “Gas” icon at the top of the page and show gas stations around you, as well as their prices. Unfortunately, you can’t sort this list by the cheapest, or by location. But you can see the prices which is good. These prices are updated through the Google My Business feature-set and automatically updates, as long as the gas station uses Google My Business.

Secondly, Google Maps also has the “most fuel-efficient route” feature. Which will show you a few different routes you can take to get to your destination, along with a most fuel-efficient route. This might take a few minutes longer, but it will generally involve fewer turns, and avoid the highway. Since the highway isn’t very fuel-efficient, staying on the backroads means you’ll get more miles per gallon.

There are a couple other features that Google Maps has, that aren’t necessarily tied to saving money on gas, but saving money period. Finding routes that don’t include tolls. A lot of States do have toll roads, and they can become quite pricey, especially on a road trip. But Google Maps can help you avoid them. Google Maps can also help you find public transport to get you from point A to point B. While it might take longer, it will save you money.

Find cheap gas with the Gasbuddy app

Gasbuddy is one of the very popular apps to find cheap gas. It’s been around for well over a decade, and will show you the cheapest gas in your location. Which you can sort by price and by distance from you. It also includes gas prices from Costco and Sam’s Club, which Google Maps generally doesn’t.

On top of that, Gasbuddy does also offer cashback deals when you spend money on everyday purchases with the Gasbuddy Card. There are paid subscriptions that promise up to $.40 off per gallon of gas with Gasbuddy. Which, if you do a lot of traveling, that might be the way to go.

Sam’s Club & Costco

Another way to save money on gas is with a Costco or Sam’s Club membership. Costco memberships start at $60 and Sam’s Club at $45. Though Sam’s Club usually has some sort of deal going on to where the membership is nearly free. Both memberships offer two cards, so you can split the cost with someone else, making it even cheaper.

Gas at Costco and Sam’s Club can sometimes be up to $0.50 cheaper per gallon than nearby gas stations. With the average car having a gas tank size between 13 and 16 gallons, that’s about $6-$8 in savings each time you fill up. Making the membership pay for itself pretty quickly. Don’t forget that you can also use it in the store and save on all sorts of other things. Including Costco Pizza which is an amazing value – an 18-inch pizza for under $10, even with rapid inflation right now.

You can sign up for Costco here and Sam’s Club here.

The best day to buy gas

Just like with anything else, there is a best day to get gas for cheap. That is normally Monday, with the second cheapest being on Sunday. But whatever you do, do not buy gas on Wednesday or Thursday, those are usually the most expensive days. This data comes from a survey from Gasbuddy.

Monday has been the best day to buy gas according to Gasbuddy’s survey in 2017, 2018, 2019 and now 2022. So that’s unlikely to change.

This is similar to how Wednesdays are the best days to fly, versus Friday-Monday.

Consider buying an EV

This is not an option for everyone, not only because electric vehicles are not that cheap, but also because the used car market is insane right now. But if the situation is right for you, and you’re looking for a new car, you may want to jump into that EV life.

Besides being able to laugh at gas prices as you drive by, you’ll also save money on maintenance. EVs need very little maintenance in their life. Basically just a tire rotation and replacement, and that’s it. So with an EV, you’re basically paying all of that maintenance costs upfront with the more expensive car.

Even if you can’t charge at home, an EV is a good option. I own a Chevy Bolt EV, having traded in my Chevy Trax last year. And my Bolt EV costs a whole lot less per mile to drive, in terms of fuel. I did the numbers last month, and I drove 947.1 miles, spending $66.48 to charge. That came out to about $0.07 per mile. Whereas a Chevy Trax at a generous 28 miles per gallon with the national average gas price of $4.97, would cost $0.17 per mile. That’s more than double.

Sure, range anxiety is going to set in, so you’ll want to download apps like A Better Route Planner (also known as ABRP) or Plugshare which will help you find charging stations to charge at. And it’s a good idea to get something like a Volkswagen ID.4, or a Hyundai Ioniq 5, which will charge fairly fast, and you won’t be at the charging station very long. The Ioniq 5 can go from 10-80% in less than 20 minutes.

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Gaming tablet coming alongside first 24GB RAM smartphone

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July 2, 2023

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Gaming tablet coming alongside first 24GB RAM smartphone

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The RedMagic 8S Pro will become the very first 24GB RAM smartphone, and alongside it, the company will also announce a gaming tablet. That’s not something we expected, but it has been confirmed by RedMagic via Weibo.

RedMagic gaming tablet is also coming on July 5

As a reminder, both devices will drop on July 5, in China. The RedMagic 8S Pro will almost certainly become available in global markets too. It will be interesting to see if the same will happen for the tablet.

RedMagic did not reveal any specifications of this tablet, however. What we do know is that it will have thin bezels at least based on the shared teaser, which you can see below this paragraph.

A single front camera will be included, and it seems like this will be a larger tablet. We’re not sure how big, but we expect a 12-inch display or something close to it. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 or Dimensity 9200+ SoC is also expected, as this is a gaming tablet after all. Besides, the RedMagic 8S Pro will utilize the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, an overclocked version of it.

Now, this thing could be a rebranded version of the ZTE Axon Pad which launched back in April. That device has a 12.1-inch QHD+ display, Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, four speakers, and so on. That’s just a wild guess, but considering RedMagic is ZTE’s company, it’s a possibility. Different specs could be included, though.

The company will also announce a pair of truly wireless earbuds

Alongside those two products, RedMagic will also announce a pair of truly wireless earphones called ‘Dao’. The company promises “extreme aesthetics and performance” here.

The RedMagic 8S Pro will look almost the same as the RedMagic 8 Pro, which is not a bad thing. It will include an under-display camera, thin bezels, and flat sides. On top of that, its black model will also have a see-through back. Advanced gaming features will also be included, both hardware and software ones.

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Musk limits how many tweets Twitter users can read in one day

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July 1, 2023

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Musk limits how many tweets Twitter users can read in one day

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This morning, Elon Musk announced that Twitter is now limiting the number of tweets that you can read each day. The multi-billionaire said Twitter is creating these “temporary limits to address extreme levels of data scraping and system manipulation.” New unverified members of Twitter are now limited to viewing 400 tweets per day while existing unverified members can read 800 Tweets a day. Those who are verified and pay $8 per month to Twitter for verification can read 8,000 tweets every day.

This is actually an increase from earlier in the day when the limits were 300 posts for new unverified members, 600 tweets for existing unverified members, and 6,000 tweets for verified members. Once the criticism started coming in, Musk did what he has been prone to doing since taking over Twitter last October; he backs off his first proposal and makes adjustments.

Truthfully though, how many out there are going to be impacted by this cap? How many of you look at 400 tweets a day in the first place? And if Musk believes that he will get a deluge of subscribers willing to pay $8 per month for the privilege of reading 8,000 tweets a day, he is getting bad advice. The problem though is that the only voice that has Musk’s ears is his own.

Just a few days ago, Twitter announced that its $8 per month Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to write tweets containing as many as 25,000 characters. That is up from the previous limit of 10,000 characters and far more than the 280 characters that regular non-paying Twitter members are allowed to use in one tweet.

Musk tweets the original daily view caps which have since been increased

Ah Twitter, you could’ve been a contender. Now the platform is nothing more than a sad parody of itself. The only thing that we can think of is that Musk wants to run Twitter into the ground and take the huge tax write off. Or perhaps he is worried about the backlash against billionaires in the U.S. and wants to downsize back to a millionaire.

Look, there have been unorthodox executives before; former T-Mobile CEO and President John Legere comes to mind. But Legere wasn’t just crazy, He was crazy like a fox and he took T-Mobile from its position under Sprint as the fourth-largest wireless provider in the U.S. to become the most innovative and fastest-growing wireless carrier that is now second to Verizon. Ironically, Legere tweeted Musk last November saying that “maybe I should run Twitter.”

Maybe Legere should be running Twitter. At this stage, Twitter needs someone who knows what he/she is doing.

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ASUS ZenFone 10 specifications

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July 1, 2023

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ASUS launched its brand new flagship, the ZenFone 10. That device is once again a compact powerhouse, just like its predecessor was. We’ve already covered the initial announcement, in case you’d like to check it out. We’re here to talk about the ASUS ZenFone 10 specifications, to take a closer look.

The ASUS ZenFone 10 has a truly powerful set of specs, despite its size

This smartphone is fueled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC. That is Qualcomm’s most powerful chip at the moment. ASUS paired that with 8GB/16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and 128GB/256GB/512GB of UFS 4.0 flash storage.

A 5.9-inch fullHD+ (2400 x 1080) AMOLED display is included here, and provided by Samsung. This display supports a 144Hz refresh rate, while its brightness goes up to 1,100 nits. This panel is flat, and protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus. Do note that you can take advantage of the 144Hz refresh rate only when playing games.

Wireless charging is supported this time around

A 4,300mAh battery is included here, while 30W wired charging is supported, along with 15W wireless charging. A charger is included in the box, by the way, as is a USB-C to USB-C charging cable.

A 50-megapixel main camera (Sony’s IMX766 sensor, 1.0um pixel size, Quad Bayer tech, f/1.9 aperture, 6-axis Hybrid Gimbal Stabilizer 2.0) is backed by a 13-megapixel unit (ultrawide, 120-degree FoV, 12.5mm equivalent focal length). A single 32-megapixel camera can be found on the front.

Stereo speakers with Dirac HD sound are included, as is an audio jack

ASUS also included two speakers here, with Dirac HD Sound. There are multi-magnet stereo speakers with Qualcomm WSA8835 smart amplifiers. You can get Hi-Res Audio (192k Hz/24-bit standard) for 3.5mm output here. Yes, an audio jack is included. The phone also offers two microphones with OZO Audio Noise Reduction Technology.

Bluetooth 5.3 is supported here, as is WiFi 6e/WiFI 7. There are two nano SIM cards included here, both of which can connect to 5G at the same time. Android 13 comes pre-installed with ASUS’ ZenUI.

The ZenFone 10 is not only compact, but quite light too

The ASUS ZenFone 10 measures 146.5 x 68.1 x 9.4mm, while it weighs 172 grams. The phone comes in Aurora Green, Comet White, Eclipse Red, Midnight Black, and Starry Blue color variants.

In case you’d like to know more about the device, check out our full review.

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These third-party Reddit apps will live on

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July 1, 2023

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Today, many popular third-party Reddit apps are shutting down due to the company’s new API pricing policy. These include some big names like Apollo, ReddPlanet, Sync, Reddit is Fun (RIF), and BaconReader. But not all third-party options are going away. A few will live on. Developers of Narwhal, MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay have confirmed that their apps will be around even after Reddit’s API changes go into effect on July 1st. They plan to cover the hefty API fee with subscriptions.

“Narwhal is not going anywhere on July 1st. Subscriptions will be coming over the next few months,” the iOS-only Reddit app’s developer Rick Harrison wrote in a post. He plans to charge anything between $4 to $7 per month, though the subscription may still come with a limit on the number of API requests that users can make every month. Harrison suggested that most users would never cross this limit. The few power users can pay extra or top-up their accounts for additional API requests. The changes will come as part of “Narwhal 2” over the next few months.

It will be a subscriber-only model with a “complete rewrite” of the app, with no ads, updated design, and new features. The final subscription price will be decided in the coming weeks, depending on API calls per user. Users may get up to sixty minutes of a free trial when they first download the app, Harrison revealed in an email to The Verge. He “declined to answer if he had worked out some kind of deal with Reddit.” This is notable because Reddit has accused developers of Apollo and RIF of not wanting to work with the company, a claim that both developers have refuted.

MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay will also cover Reddit’s API costs with subscriptions

MultiTab, Infinity, and Relay are the few other third-party Reddit apps that will live beyond June 30. All of them will depend on subscriptions to cover the API costs. MultiTab developer has already announced that they are increasing that app’s subscription prices. A monthly subscription will now cost $2.99, while you can get a year of access for $6.99.

Android-only Reddit app Infinity is also turning to a subscription-only model. Its developer plans to charge $3 per month. But if Play Store’s fee proves to be too much, they may remove the app from there and offer it through GitHub. Relay for Reddit is considering a similar pricing structure and will remove free access. Apps like RedReader, Dystopia, and Luna, meanwhile, have received accessibility exemptions from Reddit and will remain available without any major changes.

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Facebook to become an iOS, Android app distributor in the EU

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July 1, 2023

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Facebook to become an iOS, Android app distributor in the EU

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Overseas scrutiny of the App Store and Google Play Store has focused on the monopoly that Apple and Google have over apps downloaded on iOS and Android, respectively. Apple cites security as the reason why it doesn’t allow the sideloading of apps on the App Store. While Google does allow Android users to sideload apps, the huge majority of installs come from the Play Store. Sideloading is the practice of downloading an app from a third-party app storefront.

While Apple says that it must look at every app offered to iPhone users to make sure that it doesn’t contain malware, EU lawmakers feel that Apple wants this total control in order to take a cut of up to 30% of in-app purchases which has become known as the “Apple Tax.” Google also takes up to 30% of in-app purchases made on the Play Store.

Per The Verge, to release Apple and Google’s grip on smartphone app distribution, Facebook’s parent company Meta is going to run a pilot program in the EU that will allow Facebook subscribers to download apps directly from ads on the platform. No longer will iPhone users have to install an app from the App Store and Android users will have another option when downloading apps. At first, Facebook will not take a cut of the value of an in-app purchase like Apple and Google do. App developers will be able to use whatever billing system they want.

Facebook users will be able to install apps on iPhone and Android devices thanks to a pilot program in the EU

Currently, Facebook users who press on an app being advertised on the social media site are sent to the App Store or Play Store to install the app. Once the program gets underway with some Android apps later this year, and iOS next year, tapping on such an ad will allow an Android or iOS user to install the app directly from Facebook. Apple will be forced to allow sideloading on the iPhone in the EU next spring when the Digital Markets ACT (DMA) is expected to go into effect.

Meta told The Verge that it has “always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and new options would add more competition in this space.” And this is how Facebook gets its feet in the water when it comes to app distribution. Let’s hope that this doesn’t end up like the fable about the fox guarding the hen house. Remember though, this pilot program is taking place only in the EU.

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In addition to 24GB of RAM, RedMagic 8S Pro will also offer 165W charging

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July 1, 2023

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In addition to 24GB of RAM, RedMagic 8S Pro will also offer 165W charging

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The RedMagic 8S Pro is shaping up to become a truly beastly smartphone, as far as specs are concerned. In addition to 24GB of RAM, the RedMagic 8S Pro will also support 165W fast charging.

165W charging will be supported on the upcoming RedMagic 8S Pro

This is something that RedMagic confirmed via an official teaser, the same way it confirmed the RAM information recently. The phone will support 165W wired charging, and ship with an included charger.

We’re not sure if wireless charging will be a part of the picture, however. The company also confirmed its battery capacity, the device will pack in a 6,000mAh battery on the inside.

The RedMagic 8 Pro, on the other hand, supported 80W charging in China, and 65W internationally. Many would say that was plenty fast, but the RedMagic 8S Pro will take things to a whole new level.

Its charging speed could be reduced in the global model, just a little bit, though

Considering that this phone is expected to launch globally, we wonder how fast will its charging be outside of China. Either way, the device will top up in no time, allowing you to continue gaming.

Yes, this will be a gaming smartphone, and RedMagic already confirmed its design too. It will include an under-display camera, and thus provide you with a clear canvas to use. Its sides will be flat, and on the black version of the phone, the backplate will be see-through.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 will fuel this smartphone, and overclocked version of it. RedMagic will include up to 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM here. Yes, we’re talking about physical RAM, not virtual one. UFS 4.0 flash storage will also be a part of the package.

The phone will have a bunch of gaming features, both hardware and software ones. Shoulder buttons will be included on it, as will a fan for cooling, in addition to added cooling tech on the inside.

This launch event will take place on July 5, and this phone will launch alongside a gaming tablet, and a pair of truly wireless earbuds.

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Would you pay to see Musk fight Zuckerberg in a cage match? It could be on!

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July 1, 2023

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Would you pay to see Musk fight Zuckerberg in a cage match? It could be on!

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How much would you pay to see two of the richest men in the world, both big names in the tech industry, take each other on in a “cage match?” This bout would bring the co-founder and CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, inside a cage with the richest man in the world (depending on the day of the week), CEO of Tesla, and Twitter owner Elon Musk. According to The Verge, after Musk tweeted Zuckerberg saying that he was “up for a cage fight,” the Meta chief executive replied, “send me location.”

This might sound like a publicity stunt, or just two multi-billionaires blowing off steam. But Meta spokesperson Iska Saric told The Verge that the story “speaks for itself” which is a statement indicating that the two executives are serious about getting into the cage together. And Musk responded to Zuckerberg’s “send me location” tweet by tweeting, “Vegas Octagon.” Musk also wrote that he has a signature move. “I have this great move that I call “The Walrus,” he wrote, “where I just lie on top of my opponent & do nothing.”

Elon Musk says he’s willing to take on Mark Zuckerberg in a cage match

Both Musk and Zuckerberg pummeling each other could produce quite the spectacle. Musk, 51, has talked about being in “real hard-core street fights” while he was growing up in South Africa. Zuckerberg has won Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. As for the tale of the tape, Musk stands 5’11” and weighs 180 pounds. Zuckerberg stands 5’7″ which gives Musk a height advantage and probably a reach advantage as well. And at 154 pounds, Mark is giving up 26 pounds to Elon.

Musk not only has the advantage physically, he has the advantage financially with a net worth estimated at $234.4 billion which is more than double Zuckerberg’s estimated net worth of $100 billion. But unless they plan on hitting each other with their wallets, this difference shouldn’t matter.

This might be a great charitable event as there are probably plenty of people willing to pay to watch two billionaires beat the crap out of each other.

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3 Strikes and You’re Out

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July 1, 2023

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Google’s main source of revenue is still ads, and it likely will continue to be, for many years to come. Advertising revenue accounts for something like 95% of Google’s total revenue. So it makes sense that they want to crack down on ad-blockers, especially on YouTube. Why? Because video ads pay more than static, text ads.

YouTube has already been cracking down on adblock users in the past, but now it’s testing out a new policy, that will give you three strikes before blocking the video player.

Some users are seeing the screen below. Which says that the “Video Player will be blocked after 3 videos”. It also gives you buttons for allowing ads on YouTube and for trying out YouTube Premium – Google’s own ad-free subscription for YouTube.

It’s an aggressive approach, but one that needs to happen

Let’s face it, hosting the many, many videos that YouTube hosts, as well as all the other features it has, is not free. And while we can opt to pay for YouTube Premium, it is still available as a free service. And that’s because of ads. So it’s a necessary evil to keep YouTube “free”.

Though it is a bit strange that YouTube is now going after adblockers, since this is not a new thing. Adblockers have been around for many, many years. And many used it to get around the many YouTube ads you’ll see on each video, without paying for YouTube Premium. So why now? Well, it’s likely because we’re in a recession and ad-spending is down. As mentioned already, ad revenue is a huge majority of Google’s overall revenue. So you mess with that, and Google isn’t happy.

YouTube Premium isn’t expensive, and is actually really worth the price. It’s $12 per month or $120 for the entire year, in the US. And that gets you YouTube Premium (with ad-free playback, unlimited downloads, background playback, and more), as well as YouTube Music Premium.

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Gift for the loyal: YouTube Premium gives badges that just give joy

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July 1, 2023

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Gift for the loyal: YouTube Premium gives badges that just give joy

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YouTube Premium starts to honor its loyal users with badges, given for various usage landmarks. They come in the form of beautiful animated cards. You can’t use them to get any special privileges on the video platform, but nevertheless a refreshing idea.

Now, one can easily imagine how the memelords will react upon hearing that YouTube is blessing the very people that are paying for the app with web cards of no practical value. But, hey, what’s the world without humor?

The first one to report the brand new feature (via 9to5Google) explains that upon opening the app, a colorful addition on the Home feed hailed: “Congrats on your new badge!” Tapping the message gets the user to the badge visualization – a fullscreen card with details about the reward. ‘All the badges are animated and generally amusing’, notes the user.

If you, too, got a badge these past days, but somehow ‘lost’ it, or you just want to admire it once again, here’s how to get to your badge collection: on mobile, tap your profile avatar (top-right corner), then navigate to ‘Your Premium benefits’. Obviously, this applies only for active Premium members. Sidenote: the one to report this update is an Android user, if you’re on the iOS team and you’ve also got a badge, don’t keep it to yourself and show off in the comments section.

It’s also important to address that these badges are on mobile for now, they do not appear to be live on the web version of YouTube just yet.

‘Gotta collect ‘em all!’

So exactly how many badges are there? While features of that kind do change their characteristics in time (if they stick around long enough and don’t suffer TikTok Now’s fate), as of now there are 19 badges. The first one is ‘Team Premium’, which is self-explanatory: your paid membership puts that one in your collection automatically. Next, there’s ‘Trailblazer’, which rewards you because ‘…you joined Premium within its first 2 years of launching’. The ‘10 million club’ is reserved for those that were among the first 10 million Premium members.

We’re not going to list every single one of the rest, but they are named like ‘Worry-free watcher’, ‘Gold/Platinum listener’, etc. One of the funnier ones is titled ‘Efficiency expert’, which is reserved for those with ‘30 hours of picture-in-picture’.

The giant’s next step

YouTube is on the constant go when it comes to additions, new features, and bonuses. Just the other week, the Google-owned video platform announced that it’s offering smoother 1080p video streaming for its Premium users.

Recently, YouTube also hinted at the possibility of hosting mobile and desktop video games – a clear sign that the giant wants to go bigger and step into new territories.

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