Google today has announced an update to its Home app on Android and iOS that makes it easy to stream music from a variety of different music streaming services. Google made the announcement in a blog post, saying that the new feature offers a “dedicated space for all your favorite music.”
Update 4/14: A month later, Google is now widely rolling out this change to all Assistant users.
With Google Assistant fully rolled out to devices running Marshmallow and Nougat in the US, Google now appears to be running some A/B tests on the interface. A minor tweak requires ‘Screen search’ to be manually activated, while also making it easier to access the screenshot button.
Gmail on the web has long had the ability to make transactions via email, and now that feature is finally making its way to mobile with the Android app gaining the ability to send and request cash.
Released last week to Mac, Windows, and Linux, one significant improvement in Chrome 57 reduces the power consumption of tabs in the background. This stricter throttling policy should result in 25% fewer busy background tabs, according to Google.
Waze and Spotify have announced a partnership to provide integration between the two apps. If you have Spotify in the foreground, Waze alerts and directions will be displayed while driving. Conversely, if you have Waze in the foreground, you’ll be able to pause Spotify music as well as hit previous and next track buttons …
Following last month’s release of a machine learning tool that identifies toxic comments, Jigsaw is launching a new utility that provides easy-to-understand examples for security-related terminology. Built with The Washington Post, Sideways Dictionary offers analogies for complex tech concepts.
Google gives its employees (Googlers) the opportunity to spend 20 percent of their time working on side projects – some of which like Gmail and Google Maps have become some of the company’s core applications. The latest 20 percent project to go live is an app called Uptime which lets you use the app’s odd user interface to watch YouTube videos with friends. Strangely, though, it is only available for iPhone and not Android…
Earlier this morning, an update to Carrier Services began rolling out to a large swath of Android devices around the world. Citing new functionality and bug fixes, this Google app includes “support for enhanced features in the Android Messages app.”
This week Pandora is launching its on-demand music service with features like what other subscription services including Google Play Music and Spotify offer. Before now Pandora has primarily served streaming radio stations based on artists and tracks. Pandora Premium opens the service’s catalog of music up to on-demand access for a monthly fee.
Android Nougat has a lot of features hidden under the hood, but one of the least used by apps, yet most convenient is app shortcuts. Not unlike 3D-Touch on iOS, these app-specific shortcuts make it easier to access certain portions of an app directly from the homescreen. It’s not something you’ll use every day, but it’s undeniably handy.
At this point, it’s been several months since Android Nougat debuted, and while adoption hasn’t been impressive, plenty of users on popular smartphones have access. Sadly, app shortcuts are only available on Android 7.1, unless you’re using a 3rd-party launcher which has support, like Action Launcher 3 or Nova. However, you’ll still need to be using one of a select few apps that actually support the feature, so let’s take a closer look at 9 non-Google apps taking advantage of app shortcuts.
Pinterest introduced a new point-and-shoot discovery tool in February called Lens that lets you use your Android camera to find design inspiration and more. Now Pinterest is officially launching its new Lens feature to all users in the United States on Android and iOS.
For many around the world, cheap Android smartphones are the only affordable way to access the internet. This is the case for a small population of natives living in the Swat Valley located in northern Pakistan who speak the Torwali language.
To help keep the language alive, Google worked with the organization Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi to bring the language to Gboard…
Chrome 57 is rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and Linux with a number of features and security fixes. For desktops, this release adds a new grid layout system that allows developers to better design for a variety of screen sizes. However, the majority of changes in this version are for Android and Chrome OS.
Today as part of its Google Cloud Next ‘17 announcements, Google unveiled its latest Google Drive enhancements for enterprise customers, as well as announcing an acquisition of AppBridge.
With the launch of Allo and Duo, Google telegraphed last year that Hangouts would be moving to a more enterprise focus. Today, the service is finally seeing that major revamp, with the app being split into Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet. The former is a Slack-like group chat tool, while the latter improves the video conferencing experience.
Google Assistant launched as an exclusive to the Pixel, but as of this week, it’s rolling out to each and every Android user who meets the very broad requirements. However, some users aren’t loving the change. Luckily, there’s a pretty easy way to go back to Now on Tap, regardless of the phone you’re using.
Facebook has officially announced its new Messenger Day feature for Android and iOS after previously testing the Snapchat Stories clone with a limited number of users. Messenger Day is rolling out globally to Facebook’s Messenger app beginning today.
When walking around or driving, one feature on almost any smartphone that comes in handy is voice-to-text. It’s a critical tool for many, so when things go wrong, it can be a pretty big roadblock. Lately, it seems like something is causing a very strange issue for some Android users.
As it continues to play catch up to Snapchat, Instagram today updated its Stories feature with support for geostickers, a capability that Snapchat has supported for a while now and is arguably one of its most unique features.
At this point, Instagram’s geofilters aren’t nearly as widespread as Snapchat’s, but presumably that will change as time progresses…
Snapseed is adding several new features in version 2.16 for Android and iOS. Notably, the photo editor now allows you to save multiple edits as their own filter for easier application and even sharing. Android-specific features include new tutorials and updated Perspective and Selective tools.
In the midst of Assistant rolling out to Android devices running Marshmallow and Nougat, Google has finally added one long-requested feature. Rolling out now, Google Assistant on phones can finally read and interact with SMS text messages.
Still on Android 7.1.1, the March security patch is beginning to rollout for current Pixel and Nexus devices. Likely addressing minor bugs, but otherwise lacking significant new features, there are fixes for 60 vulnerabilities.
The latest beta update of the Google app began rolling out last night, with only minor visible changes. However, underneath, it appears that Google is finally working on proper image search in version 6.14 and is adding other photo-related features.
Google Photos has long been one of my favorite services from the company, mostly because it just works so well. Then, to make things even better, Google goes and adds new features that I didn’t even know I needed. Now, the company has revealed in a blog post that the service will be picking up a new editing feature ─ auto white balance.