I am an author and features writer at Android Police. I primarily writes guides, how-tos, and roundups on the latest smartphone apps and features for Android Police since joining the team in early 2022.
While my work often diversifies depending on the topic, you'll often find me writing about the newest entertainment or hidden utility Android apps or discussing my paranoia about digital privacy and poor smartphone practices.
I will occasionally dabble in Samsung's latest features in One UI. On the games side, my area of expertise is in action RPGs and gacha games, but I will play and study the occasional competitive shooter. But most of all, my appetite for new stories still goes unquenched -- as shown with my personal love for the Trails series.
Before joining Android Police, I studied chemistry and graduated with an honors specialization in Chemistry in 2016, leading me to spend many hours toiling around the lab as an undergraduate. Eventually, all those hours spent at the lab led me to develop my analytical mindset. So now, if you give me a problem, I will relentlessly tackle it to find a solution.
My favorite pastime as a student was always writing reports, presentations, tutorials, and literature reviews, which guided me into completing a graduate certificate in technical writing in 2019. Thanks to my current role with Android Police, I learned to appreciate user security and privacy, leading me into studying Cyber Security.
My first Android phone was the Samsung Galaxy Note II in 2012, which gave me a taste of how a small piece of powerful hardware can open up endless opportunities for my favorite hobbies. Though if you ask about my purchasing regrets, I will always say missing out on the Google Nexus still stings to this very day.
I've also been a gamer for over 20 years, starting with Super Mario Bros. on the NES. Thanks to those early influences, I now own over 15 devices for gaming, ranging from handhelds to consoles.
Nowadays, you'll find me studying spreadsheets and assembling data to theorycraft new teams and builds for Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero. You'll also see me digging deeper to uncover the truth behind AI as a field: which part is actually useful, or it just a bunch of bloat being sold with your phone?
If you were to audit my phone, you'd notice all the bloat I brought over from my own devices, which, ironically, includes a lot of my old chemistry notes from various apps I downloaded.
While I am not actively studying chemistry anymore, I still like to have these types of study apps open so I don't lose the knowledge I spent years studying.
However, these apps are fairly old and basic, and they aren't as engaging as they once were.
Fortunately, I found another cool way to study.
I recently found an AI-powered tool from Google called "Learn Your Way" that can turn any PDF document into a more dynamic learning experience -- or preview the sample pieces already available in the beta version.
While you can technically use the platform on your Android device, I recommend using a Chromebook, laptop, or tablet in desktop mode to fully engage with it on a larger screen.
Related I tried Google's new Lab tool, and it's everything I wanted NotebookLM to be
NotebookLM never quite felt like this
Posts 6 By Rahul Naskar I checked out Learn Your Way by Google It is another Google Labs experiment
Learn Your Way is a Google Labs experiment. So you can either try it now if you are currently part of Google's public testing program for early products, or wait it out until Google finalizes the full release.
While I find Learn Your Way a fun study platform, it's still bare-bones compared to enriching experiences like Google Notebook LLM and another Google Labs experiment, Google Illuminate.
But that's fine, because this is clearly an early product with significant potential.
One of my favorite features of Learn Your Way is that it aligns with my learning style. Ironically, I score equally across auditory, visual, and kinetic (tactile) learning -- though auditory learning tends to win out by a very small margin.
So, for me to effectively have a concept stick, I need all three together, which isn't easy because the delivery of information can vary, and I have mostly found visual formats in the study apps I use.
The Learn Your Way platform does that. When you select a subject, you are given two choices for the type of delivery/learning level you are. So, I chose chemistry and picked the undergraduate style for those who like painting.
I was met with four study methods. The first included "Immersive Text," "Slides & Narration," "Audio Lesson," and "Mindmap."
Clicking the PDF Source button on the very left lets you view the original source of the notes that the platform used to create your lesson.
The Immersive Text section appealed to my active learning side, the more kinetic style of absorbing information.
I like to interact with concepts; while this isn't the same as running experiments or handling molecular models, it's still great for generating questions in the text to check your understanding.
Slides & Narration section was actually my favorite. It reminded me of my professors and learning concepts in class since everything I did was slideshow-based. Each slide has a small voice clip added underneath it.
The best part about using this platform, unlike being in an actual classroom, is that you can take your time with the material.
I found that sometimes I took a little longer than others to absorb the lesson, and given that everything is laid out on Learn Your Way, I could take 15 minutes or an hour on a slide if I really wanted, instead of going at it from an actual instructor's pace.
Audio Lesson was my second favorite style I selected. The entire lesson is delivered in a player, but instead of just being voiced, it includes a few visuals, such as mini flowcharts at specific timestamps.
Last but not least was the Mindmap section. It focused on flow charts, and unfortunately, I think that is what bottlenecked it as mobile-friendly (at least on a smaller screen when I tried it on my Pixel 8).
The mindmaps grew into a series of sections that you can expand or collapse with a button. You can zoom in and out with the button on the left, or expand all nodes at once.
I liked using this tool more as a study aid; it didn't help me absorb lessons or concepts, as I still need explanations. For me, keyword examples just don't stick, and at that point, I'd only be memorizing them.
Learn Your Way can be tailored for your content An AI-powered tool that can supplement your learning
While this wasn't available for me to try in the app (I was only given a preview of what Google has offered in the Labs section), the coolest feature is that it is context-specific.
For example, if I wanted to upload my old chemistry notes that I created or kept from class, I could do so directly.
Google's LearnLM and Gemini models adapt the text to the format I outlined above. You can essentially use this tool to feed it a full PDF textbook, if you want.
Then the AI breaks it down into lessons, and you can choose the style you like -- so, for example, if you want to turn it into a slideshow with audio, you can.
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Plus, if you struggle with the delivery, say, you are someone who is taking a course that is outside your major, you can actually specify to the AI to break it down into terms you are more comfortable with that fit your background and level, with the Start learning and Personalize button.
I personally wish I had this when I took biochemistry or physics courses. I found these to be the hardest course components in my degree.
Plus, none of my professors were approachable enough to ask for help (some even had off-campus offices, since we had guest professors teaching the same course).
So yes, while this might not replace classroom learning, I've found it most effective as a tool for reinforcing knowledge or even refreshing old concepts.
Learning doesn't need to be done solo
With LLM-based AI and notebook AI tools at your disposal, learning new concepts and studying shouldn't be as problematic as it used to be, even if your brain jumps around a lot.
For me, I always had anxiety about waiting for office hours to fit my schedule, or even about contacting my instructors by email to get extra help.
That's where I wish I had AI to help me, so I wouldn't have to scramble between my classes to get a few questions answered in someone's faraway office.
And if you're someone who gets stuck on a problem or needs to see your notes differently, consider using AI tools like Google Notebook LLM or even Mindgrasp to give you a little push in the right direction.
