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Google Play Movies & TV hits 1 billion installs on the Play Store

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Just a couple weeks ago, Google Play Newsstand hit the 1 billion install mark on the Play Store, and now another one of Google’s apps has achieved the same milestone: Google Play Movies & TV. As you might expect, other more-popular Google-made apps like Google Maps and Gmail, alongside Hangouts, Play Music, and others, managed to pass the 1 billion mark a while ago.

Outside of Google, however, not many apps have reached this number. There are a few third-party apps from Facebook — like Messenger, the Facebook app itself, and Whatsapp — that have accomplished this feat, but that’s about it.

Passing 1 billion installs isn’t surprising for Play Moves & TV considering the app comes pre-installed on most Android phones, but it’s worth noting that not all of Google’s stock apps have come anywhere close to this milestone. Google Docs, for example, which comes shipped on all Nexus devices and others, is only in the 50-100 million range.

How to update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow manually using OTA downloads

Quick tour of new features in Android 'M' developer preview 2 - YouTube 2015-09-25 12-52-20

Google today announced that Android Marshmallow is coming OTA to several Nexus devices in the coming days and weeks. If you like to get the latest from Google, you know that “coming weeks” could be a pretty long wait. Thankfully, you can head to the front of the line and install the over-the-air (OTA) update by following our quick guide…


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Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTA downloads start showing up for Nexus devices, here’s how to install them [Roundup]

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Google began the rollout of Android 6.0 Marshmallow earlier today, and while we already have full access to downloading the 6.0 factory images, OTA update download links are going to trickle in slowly as the update rolls out over the next several days. Factory images are typically for doing a fresh install of the OS, but these OTA updates are intended to let you keep your data intact and are typically smaller in total size…
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Pocket 6.0 rolls out for Android with new Recommendation feature

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Pocket is one of the most popular read-it-later apps available on Android, and the service is about to get better (or perhaps worse depending on your viewpoint), with the public launch of recommendations. The feature has been tested in beta for some time, and is now officially out in the wild and will be available to users on Android, iOS and on the web. Pocket describes it as “high-quality content without the noise”.

Recommendations takes the absolute best content being saved across Pocket and tailors it to your own saving and reading habits. The result is a feed that’s completely unique and personalized to you, and is filled with the most interesting articles and videos you might have missed otherwise.

Instead of being a collation of the most viewed web pages from the web, recommendations are based on how popular stories are with people with your interests. Since they’re already curated by humans, the company hopes that helps tune out the noise. For instance, if you happen to save a lot of technology articles to read later in Pocket, you’ll be served up tech-based recommendations. What’s more, if you find a recommendation you don’t like, just press the ‘X’ and remove it from your feed.

Recommendations are currently available in English only currently, but the company states that it is working on a wider roll out in more languages. You can download Pocket 6.0 for Android from the Google Play Store for free.

Google Now Launcher from Android Marshmallow APK available to download

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Google finally announced the name to its upcoming mobile operating system a couple of days back. Android 6.0 will officially be dubbed ‘Marshmallow‘, and the developer preview is available to download for developers with Nexus phones. If you don’t have a Nexus phone, you’ll be glad to know you can still get a small taster of what it’s like to use Marshmallow by downloading the Google Now Launcher used in the latest beta software.


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Facebook Messenger becomes the 10th app to pass 1 billion installs on the Play Store

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Following Google Play Books passing 1 billion installs earlier today (the 9th app on that list), Facebook Messenger has now officially passed the same landmark, making it the 10th app on the Play Store to do so. I think it’s fair to attribute this to Messenger’s growing adoption since Facebook required that it be installed on iOS devices. It’s still not required for messaging on Android, however.

While several other apps have also passed this mark, only two other apps not created by Google have done so. Facebook’s own official Facebook client is one, while the other is the Facebook-owned WhatsApp client (which notably passed the 1 billion install mark long before Messenger). It’s clear that Zuckerberg and co. have a foothold on the Play Store that no other company does.

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Google Maps passes 1 billion downloads on the Play Store

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Following the official Gmail app passing the billion download mark last month, Google Maps has now passed that very same milestone (via Android Police). The app, very obviously one of Google’s most-used services, is widely cherished by both iOS and Android users to get them where they need to go (especially when iOS maps doesn’t quite do the trick).

Notably, this billion downloads for the app means that yes, 1 billion separate Play Store accounts have downloaded the app — it’s not counting repeat downloads on one account. What’s even more crazy? The app passed 50 million downloads in 2011 (and was the first to do so). In just 3 short years, Maps took off exponentially to see another 950 million downloads on separate accounts. That number doesn’t even count iOS downloads.

Google Play Music adds drag-and-drop uploads, mini-player, & downloads to web app

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Google’s Play Music service previously required installing the Music Manager app to upload music to the cloud service on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Today that changes as Google adds the ability to drag-and-drop your music collection to upload it directly through the browser within the Google Play Music web interface. It’s still in “lab” beta mode, but you can easily enable it:


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BlackBerry announces 5 million downloads of BBM for Android and iOS only 8 hours after release

BlackBerry revealed via the official BBM Twitter account that in the first eight hours since launching BBM for Android and iPhone, the app has been downloaded over by over 5 million customers across both platforms.

That number could actually be much higher, as the 5 million applies only to the number of users whose accounts have been activated for use. BlackBerry did not specify how many more users were still waiting to be activated, if any.

[tweet https://twitter.com/BBM/statuses/392474565059686400 align=’center’]

Google Play passes App Store in downloads for the first time, but not revenue

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According to data from App Annie’s latest download and revenue report, Google Play for the first time surpassed the App Store in app downloads during the second quarter of 2013. While Google was able to move past Apple with about 10 percent more downloads during the three month period, the report notes the App Store brought in nearly 2.3x the amount of revenue.

App Annie says that Google Play’s growth was driven by emerging markets including Brazil, India, and Russia, and while the App Store still leads by revenue, Google Play closed the gap slightly compared to last quarter and years past.

Google Play saw Brazil climb two spots to join India and Russia as another emerging market in the top 5 countries by downloads for Q2 2013…The United States, Japan and United Kingdom remained the leaders in the iOS App Store when looking at revenue generation, and Australia climbed to #4 after a strong Q2. iOS App Store revenue was driven primarily by the United States and Japan, which combined to account for about half of the total iOS App Store revenue in Q2.

App Annie’s report also includes its Games Index tracking mobile games on iOS and Android, which now account for around 40 percent of all downloads on both platforms. During Q2, Gameloft’s Despicable Me: Minion Rush grabbed the top spot for most downloaded iOS game, while publisher Tiny Piece took the honor on Google Play.

As for non-gaming apps, Vine increased by three positions to become the most downloaded app during the quarter on iOS, followed closely by YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram.
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Instagram for Android hits a million downloads in 24 hours, getting 2K signups a minute

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While iPhone users might not be happy that their beloved photo-sharing app has finally made its way to Android, over a million users of Google’s platform have downloaded the app in its first 24 hours of availability. Google Play now lists 1 million to 5 million installs and the company’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Systrom told The New York Times that the app is experiencing over 2,000 signups per minute.

There was clearly huge anticipation for the app, which has been available on iOS since October 2010, with over 430,000 people preregistered to download the app before its official launch yesterday. Instagram is currently home to over 30 million registered users on iOS, and it took the app approximately six months to hit the 5 million-user mark, according to CBS. Of course, the Android version would pass that milestone this week if it continues at its current rate.


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Today’s 10 cent apps: Tetris, Homerun Battle 3D, Talking Tom Cat 2 and more

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Today is day three of Google’s ten apps for ten cents promotion in celebration of hitting 10 billion downloads in the Android Market. Yesterday’s apps included Fruit Ninja, AirSync, Read it Later Pro, and more. The ten day special continues today with ten more apps all marked down to $0.10. Most of the ten apps being offered through the “10 Billion Promo” page on the Market typically range from 99 cents to a few dollars or more, and at ten cents, the majority of them are must have apps. Here’s what’s on offer today:

Tetris

Reckless Getaway

Talking Tom Cat 2 

Homerun Battle 3D

Read on…
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