Apps

AdorableHome: What’s got everyone hooked?

Send help

Published

February 26, 2020

Leez

I have to preface this article with the fact that I struggled a bit to write it because I was mainly obsessing over the tiny details of my home in AdorableHome. I can’t stop and I need help. Being assigned this article was a bit of a mistake considering I have a tendency of fixating over details with games like these. I want everything nice to fill the void that is the impossibility of all this being ever real in my lifetime.

What is AdorableHome?

It’s everything I need to escape my miserable life. Jokes aside, AdorableHome is a cute simulation mobile game developed by HyperBeard. The game seems to be a tip of the hat to Neko Atsume by Hit-Point Co., Ltd. with cats being the surrounding theme.

The game starts off with you picking out your character and your partner. It’s lovely to see that the developers didn’t pre-select your partner to be exclusively the opposite sex. You begin with just having moved into a new flat with your partner with your charming cat.

What is love?

“Baby, don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me, no more.” Back to the game. It’s interesting. It doesn’t really stop at having cats dominate your home. AdorableHome lives up to its name quite literally. The currency of the game is “Love” which you can obtain by tending to your cat: feeding, petting, and grooming. And, it doesn’t stop there.

The game has you prep a bento box for your partner and you earn “Love” from that too. Similarly, cute elements give collectable love: the weather, lucky TV shows, and visitors.

Cats aren’t the only catch

I think the thing that got me hook, line, and sinker into this game is the fact that you get to furnish and design the home you moved into. There’s just so much decorating and styling on top of taking care of the cats and it just incentivizes making sure the cats are taken care of.

I mean, I spent almost half an hour making sure the garden looked great. But, there’s more reason to switch out and jazz up every room you have access to: visitors.

Silly memories and cute visitors

Once you expand to the garden, you quickly encounter other adorable animals. Which brings me to another thing that makes you check the game every now and again: the silly animals that show up and the memories.

When you sometimes launch the game, it asks you to take a photo which then is transferred to a photo album that shows every sweet or silly interaction. On top of that, there’s just a quirky bunch of animals that visit your home. They appear and disappear at random but, it’s fun to spot unlikely creatures hanging around your home.

There is a polar bear on my desk chair. A POLAR BEAR. Okay, game, okay.

Not as easy?

AdorableHome is a twinge deceptive with its simplicity. The game doesn’t just highlight the collection of cats in your household. It strangely brings to light the responsibilities that having a pet entail. The game goes into lengths to have you feed, pet, cut their nails, and bathe them.

Granted the game does lend an unrealistic number of times to which you tend to their needs, it does try. A detail that I love and hate about bathing the cats in the game is maintaining the temperature at warm, not scorching nor cool.

Cheats and ways to get the good good

Syke! Don’t cheat boys, girls, unicorns, and dragons. Unless you want to take away all the fun of the game then, go ahead. Anyways, playing this game sort of came at a serendipitous time. I’ve been thinking of adopting a pet for a while. I love animals, reptiles included.

I did, at some point, even saved up to get a bearded dragon but, you get the point. It’s been a point of contention to get a pet. I haven’t been sure if I had stable finances to care for a kitten or a pup. But recently, I’ve managed to save up after getting off my antidepressants.

Long story short, I’m looking to adopt a cat soon. Where I live, security has been chucking cats and kittens into sacks for disposal so, I figured it was high time I took a cat safely home.

From this process, I’d come to realize the value in adopting over shopping. I grew up surrounded by a good bunch of both adopted and bought pets. Taking care of both was equally fulfilling but I think that shifts when you realized the attention and affection you give to an adopted pet.

Adopt don’t shop, responsibly

Most pets set for adoption have gone through some form of mistreatment. And, that’s not to say, all of them have. I know some pets up for adoption are well cared for and that’s what the caretaker or owner ultimately wants: a loving home. So, establishing boundaries and hurdling through some trauma, I think it’s safe to say adopting can be a bit more challenging yet, even more fulfilling.

If you’d like to give this game a go, AdorableHome is available only on GooglePlay for Android (for now).

Related Topics:AdorableHome Hit-Point HyperBeard Neko Atsume

Apps

Google Photos can now censor your kid’s face better

The new Redact feature can censor sensitive information.

Published

September 25, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Censoring photos is heavy work. Either you stick on random emojis or draw an indiscriminate splotch of doodles to cover sensitive information. It’s an imperfect art but an essential one to protect privacy. Today, Google Photos is getting a Redact feature which can censor sensitive bits with pixelated blocks.

An addition to the Markup tool, Redact acts like a nifty pen that can hide information that you don’t want seen. Unlike a ghastly emoji or a splotch, the censored bar mixes better with the surrounding elements. In the example that Google used, a censored license plate blends well with the car it’s attached to, making the photo look more cohesive. Besides license plates, it’s the perfect tool for covering other information like phone numbers, addresses, and the faces of your loved ones.

Google Photos is also rolling out Moods, a set of filters that give photos a nostalgic look, including a 2000s night digicam vibe that’s popular today. There are also 15 new Remix templates to add more creation options.

Both the Redact and the Moods features will roll out to Android users starting today. The new Remix templates, however, will be limited to some countries on both Android and iOS.

Apps

Smart launches LiveSmart App for exclusive deals

Exclusive deals, cashback, and bill payments in one app.

Published

September 18, 2026

GadgetMatch

Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and TNT have launched the LiveSmart App, a new platform that combines loading, bill payments, exclusive offers, and other everyday transactions in one app.

The app is available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. It is open to Smart, TNT, and subscribers of other mobile networks.

The LiveSmart App gives users access to exclusive deals and savings. These include cashback offers, discounted Smart and TNT data packages, and limited-time access to AI.Smart.

“Filipinos are becoming more deliberate about where they spend and how they can get more value from every peso,” said Lloyd R. Manaloto, FVP and OIC for Smart. “The LiveSmart App is designed to help make those everyday decisions a little smarter, by giving users convenient ways to load, pay bills, and access exclusive savings and offers in one place.”

Exclusive deals and perks

Smart and TNT are rolling out several offers on the LiveSmart App starting September 18.

Smart and TNT subscribers can get 5% cashback when they purchase load or pay their Smart Postpaid bill through the app.

The app also offers data packages at exclusive prices. Smart Prepaid subscribers can get Power All 109 for PHP 105, while TNT subscribers can get Saya All 109 for PHP 105.

Users who download the LiveSmart App may also receive limited-time free access to AI.Smart.

AI.Smart combines multiple AI models, including AWS Nova, ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and Thinking Machines, in one workspace. Users can use it to generate images, create presentations, draft documents and spreadsheets, and get help with schoolwork, content creation, and other projects.

To claim the free AI.Smart credits, users need to tap the AI.Smart banner in the LiveSmart App. They then need to create an AI.Smart account using their Smart or TNT number.

Smart says users can also expect more exclusive deals and perks from lifestyle partners as it expands the LiveSmart App.

Powered by Smart 5G

The LiveSmart App runs on Smart’s network. Smart 5G supports activities such as video streaming, gaming, and real-time social media sharing.

The company said Ookla recently recognized its network for the Best Mobile Video Experience in the Philippines for the first half of 2026. Smart recorded a Video Score of 72.82, which it said was the highest among mobile operators in the country.

The LiveSmart App is now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Users can learn more about the app through Smart’s website.

Apps

Apple’s best feature to cure motion sickness is finally on Android

Google copies a good page from Apple’s playbook.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

As an Android user, I’ve been jealous of iPhone users for a while now, but it’s not for the reason you might think. See, I’m ridiculously prone to motion sickness when I’m not driving. So, when I discovered that Apple has a software-based cure called Vehicle Motion Cues, I wanted it immediately. Now, Android does have third-party apps that do the same thing, but they’re not as good as a fully native version. Well, those dark, nauseating days are about to come to an end. Android 17 is finally getting a similar tool called Motion assist.

Before that, let’s rewind for a bit. What do these features do? How can they cure motion sickness?

Whenever you open Vehicle Motion Cues or Motion assist, the interface spawns a series of dots on the screen. These dots respond to movement. For example, if the vehicle turns to the left, the dots also go to the left, mimicking the movement. Without cues like this, the stationary nature of the screen clashes with our brain’s perception of movement. The disparity creates that feeling of nausea. Basically, our eyes are desperately trying to focus on the static screen, but our brains are telling us that we should be seeing motion. Having moving dots reorients our brain and places the phone inside our perception of movement.

Now, you can enable the same feature on your Android 17 device through Settings > All services > Motion assist under Personal & device safety. You can also set it so that the feature turns on automatically when the phone detects that you’re in a moving vehicle. Finally, you can also tweak the shape, color, and opacity of these dots.

Android 17’s Motion assist is rolling out now to compatible devices.