Over the past several months Google has been changing up the interface of many of its Android apps to move a portion of the navigation to the bottom of the display — and it makes sense. With big phones, it can be difficult to reach the top of the display. Now Google is doing something similar with Chrome on Android (via Android Police)…
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By taking advantage of Microsoft’s Profile Guided Optimization (PGO), Chrome for Windows now loads up to 15% faster. The optimization technology has been available for 64-bit Windows computers since the previous version of the browser and is now available to all as part of Chrome 54…
A feature that we have seen on the Honor 8 and now the Google Pixel is the ability to swipe down on the fingerprint sensor to bring down the notification shade. While Google has confirmed that the gesture would not make its way to Nexus devices, a developer has made an application that will bring the feature to any phone running Android 6.0 or above with a fingerprint sensor.
Android 7.1 launched on the Pixel and as a Developer Preview a little over a week ago. Since then, several third-party apps have already been updated to support the latest system features. Twitter for Android is the most notable, with shortcuts and a circular app icon already in testing on the latest alpha build.
Originally, the redesigned Google Calendar 5.0 annoyingly lacked a typical month view in its initial release for phones. Long since restored, Google Calendar is now finally adding a very useful Month homescreen widget.
Material Design was announced in 2014 as a cohesive design language for both first and third party web and mobile apps. Google is now expanding Material to be a “system that supports the principles of good design and strengthens communication and productivity” with a new suite of tools and open source projects (via The Verge).
I usually travel hand-baggage only as it saves time on arrival and removes the stress of wondering whether your luggage will arrive, but if you can’t avoid hold baggage, Delta now lets you keep an eye on it via its Fly Delta app.
Delta started attaching RFID tags to bags back in April, but at that stage it was purely for use by the airline itself. It’s now making that same data available to customers, so you can see whether your bag made it onto the plane and then track it all the way to the carousel on arrival …
Update 11/3: The official changelog for Messenger 2.0 has been posted and it reveals several new features. There is a slightly redesigned photo picker, unread badges for the app icon on supported launchers, and Nougat support. Notably, RCS receives its first official mention for “some carriers”:
Enhanced features that let you send messages over Wi-Fi or your data network, see when friends are typing, and more.
Compared to Hangouts for Android, Google Messenger is quick to add support for the latest system features. Messenger has just been updated to version 2.0 with a new icon and redesign that matches the general look of the Phone app in Android 7.1.
There are nearly 1.5 million applications currently on Google Play and with so many to choose from, finding interesting new experiences can be a hassle. As we have the last couple of months now, today we’ll be showing you another 5 Android apps that you should definitely give a shot…
With Chrome 54 rolled out to desktops and Android, version 55 is now in the beta channel. Compared to the previous release, this update includes more developer focussed features that should result in improved input handling, text hyphenation, and more.
Chrome 54 for Android has entered the stable channel and is rolling out with the usual performance and stability fixes. This version also has several new features, including the ability to play media in the background on supported sites and article suggestions on the new tab page.
As announced and arriving just in time for the Pixel’s release, the Android 7.1 Developer Preview is now available for the Nexus 5X, 6P, and Pixel C. With Google customizing the software on the Pixel, there were some questions as to what’s exclusive to the new phones and what features are a part of stock Android.
After loading up the developer preview on a Nexus 5X, we’ve found some nice improvements to Android. Keep reading for our complete list of all the changes in Android 7.1.1…
Over the past year or so, Google has been adding a lot of stock apps to the Google Play store, and today it’s debuting two new ones ─ the Pixel Launcher and Wallpapers.
Google Chrome has multiple release channels to test new features and insure that bugs are ironed out before they reach end users. Joining Android’s current stable, beta, and dev channel is Chrome Canary. Long available on desktop, Canary “is primarily intended to be used by developers and early adopters to test recent Chromium changes.”
Back in August, Google Now was testing a Dashboard tab that showed cards and info from other services. As part of the latest beta version of the app, a new ‘Upcoming’ tab shows cards related to “what’s happening soon and nearby.”
Google has been adding a lot of new features to Google Maps for Android over the past couple months, including speed limit signs and calendar events, but one big addition flew under the radar a bit ─ Traffic Nearby.
Chrome Remote Desktop is a very useful tool, and with its Android app you can easily access your PC anywhere. However, there are some limits. The basic functionality has been there from the start, and now Google is boosting that up a bit with the addition of audio streaming through the app.
While Daydream headsets are not yet available, the first Daydream-ready phones will be available starting next week. Yesterday, Google published Daydream Keyboard on the Play Store showing the “on-screen virtual reality keyboard for text entry in Daydream applications.”
Earlier this year, Google News began highlighting local coverage of major news stories with a “Local Source” tag. Google is now adding a “Fact check” label to verified articles in the US and UK on the web and mobile apps.
From reminding people about local elections to adding state-by-state voter registration guides, the latest civically minded addition to Google Search directs people to polling places and tells them who’s on the ballot. Both are personally customized to your location and can be accessed on mobile and desktop.
There’s going to be a lot of new UI designs on Google’s upcoming Pixel devices, and as developers sift through the leaked Pixel system images from earlier this week, we’re starting to get our hands on some of what it includes. Just the other day we got the official Pixel wallpaper, and now we’ve got a brand new version of Google’s dialer app (via Android Police).
Chrome 54 is rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and Linux with the usual bug and security fixes for the browser. However, the bulk of new features this version are coming to Android with a way to download content for offline viewing and article suggestions on the ‘New Tab’ page.
With Google Now renamed to a more generic “feed” in recent updates, it appeared that Google wanted to avoid confusion with the upcoming Assistant. However, Now might not entirely be overshadowed as a new widget that shows notifications under the search bar is currently being A/B tested.