+101 - Vote for the best Android Applications

• PPSSPP, the PSP emulator, passes 50 million installs on the Play Store
  

  

  Most of the apps that pass 50 million downloads on the Play Store are ones from major companies, but not this time. The newest app to join the 50 million club is PPSSPP, the popular open-source emulator for the Sony PlayStation Portable.

  PPSSPP has been in active development for a few years, created by Henrik Rydgård (one of the co-founders of the GameCube/Wii emulator Dolphin). Like all console emulators, it took a while to get commercial games running, but compatibility is pretty good these days.

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  PPSSPP, the PSP emulator, passes 50 million installs on the Play Store was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• You can now race Fast and Furious characters in Anki Overdrive
  

  It’s easy to forget you are holding a phone.

  Like most middle-class suburban kids, I grew up around “toy” race tracks. Everything from the simple Hot Wheels tracks you could assemble yourself to the hyper-realistic powered rail tracks we would all race at the local mall on weekends. Every time I’ve played with an Anki Overdrive kit, there’s been a combination of nostalgia and surprise at how well this race kit was aimed at every age group. But I never went and actually bought a kit for myself, and never seriously considered having a space in my house set up for friends to come over and race.

  For a couple of different reasons, the latest addition to the Anki Overdrive lineup has changed that. Not just for me, either. As soon as the buy buttons go live, several of my friends will be ready to smash the buy button.

  More than just racing

  For the uninitiated, Anki Overdrive is about the furthest thing from a model car racing experience you can have while still managing to look exactl…

• Verizon PR exec tweets incredibly insensitive post-hurricane message targeting T-Mobile, deletes it after outrage
  

  When you think of cheeky executives in the mobile communication business, your mind probably goes to T-Mobile’s John Legere. Whether you love Legere’s antics or not, it’s hard to deny that he’s turned T-Mobile around and made it into a major player. A…

• LendingClub, a peer-to-peer loans platform, just launched its Android app for investors
  

  “Alternative investing” is all the rage these days, and Lending Club is one of the most interesting examples. At its simplest, it’s a peer-to-peer loan system, where investors provide loans to individuals via the platform. Those borrowers make payment…

• Instagram is adding Face Filters to live broadcasts soon
  

  

  The war between Instagram and Snapchat rages on, and the newest weapon in Instagram’s arsenal is the introduction of Face Filters to Live. So the next time you need to jump into a live broadcast to your friends, you’ll be able to provide an appropriate sense of gravitas with a pair of rabbit ears. 

  The feature appears to work almost exactly as you’d expect. They’re Face Filters — an entertaining overlay that follow you as you move — but soon you can use them in live broadcasts.

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  Instagram is adding Face Filters to live broadcasts soon was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• Apple wins two patent rulings against Qualcomm
  

  Apple and Qualcomm’s ongoing patent wars have netted two victories for Apple.

  Qualcomm’s processors — at the very least, its modems — are key for any LTE-connected device in today’s world. Beyond the high quality of the radios, Qualcomm is also the only company that licenses the CDMA technology that Sprint and Verizon use for their 2G and 3G networks. Earlier this year, Apple and Qualcomm began a legal battle over Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) patents that stated Qualcomm was charging unreasonable sums for patents essential to cellular technology. Qualcomm followed that up with a claim to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) stating Apple infringed on six of Qualcomm’s patents.

  Apple Insider reports that Judge Curiel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California (where the legal arguments for the FRAND case are being heard) has ruled Qualcomm cannot collect intellectual property (IP) royalty payments on Apple’s ma…

• Tesla just updated its app to add support for the Model 3
  

  

  Tesla is still ramping up production for its affordable new Model 3, and the waiting list is already over a year long. But for the lucky few that manage to snag one, the Tesla Motors app for Android was just updated to add support for the new car. 

  For the uninitiated, the app allows owners to access controls and stats for their Tesla cars or Powerwalls. You can see charging status, set climate controls, remotely lock and unlock, and locate the car, among a laundry list of other features.

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  Tesla just updated its app to add support for the Model 3 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• [Update: Note Edge too] Verizon updates the 3-year old Galaxy Note 4 with the Blueborne security patch
  
  • 
    Update 1: 2017/09/21 3:53pm PDT
    Verizon published Note Edge security update details (build MMB29M.N915VVRU2CQI3) as well now.
    

  

  Credit where credit is due. Verizon and Samsung are doing a good job of keeping relatively older devices updated with security patches. After upgrading the Galaxy S5 (2014) to the August security patch, they’re now releasing an update to the Note 4 (also 2014) with the latest security patches that brings it to software version MMB29M.N910VVRS2CQE1.

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  [Update: Note Edge too] Verizon updates the 3-year old Galaxy Note 4 with the Blueborne security patch was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

• The best VR games for Android
  

  There are already many VR-Games available for Android. We took a closer look and present you the best games so far.(This is a preview – click here to read the entire entry.)

• How to use an LTE Apple Watch with an Android smartphone
  

  It’s hacky as all hell and your battery life will be terrible. But it works.

  While testing the Apple Watch Series 3 GPS + Cellular last night, I floated a crazy idea past iMore editor-at-large Rene Ritchie: What happens if you set up the Apple Watch on an iPhone, then swap that iPhone’s SIM card over into an Android phone? Would the watch recognize that its paired iPhone SIM was no longer in an iPhone and stop working? Would it still work over a carrier’s LTE connection? And more importantly: If it worked, what could it do?

  Well, because we embrace insanity here at iMore, we tried it. And, barring a bit of hacky behavior, it works.

  I’m going to preface this write-up by saying that I personally think this is a terrible way to use the Apple Watch. Your battery life will most certainly be nonexistent, because the watch solely relies on a LTE connection. You won’t be able to get any fitness data on your Android smartphone. And you likely won’t be able to access certain features like c…

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