Plex today announced an update for its Android app that brings with it several improvements and new features. The update, which bumps the app to version 4.4.0.069 is available on the Play Store now. One much welcomed change for mobile users is that there is now a “jump to letter” feature to make scrolling much faster within the library.
The upcoming Hangouts 4.0 update was shown off by Android Police yesterday, but now the publication is sharing images of its Android Wear counterpart—something that, for some, might be even more exciting than the full app. It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like Google is finally preparing to officially bring its popular messaging platform to the wrist…
Expand
Expanding
Close
In a teardown of the official Camera app’s most recent update, evidence has surfaced that Google is likely working on introducing a new “Smart Burst” mode. Taking “burst” photos isn’t a new concept, usually leaving the user with dozens of slightly-different images to sift through (and manually pick the ones that are worth keeping). As its name suggests, “Smart Burst” is probably a smarter version of burst photography, picking the best photos for you based on a variety of metrics.
Of the metrics that Google will reportedly be using to grade photos are the number of faces in the photo, streaking, facial expressions, whether eyes are open, and more.
While bringing a burst mode to the Camera app isn’t exactly groundbreaking (especially as this feature has been done by countless Android OEMs, Apple, and others), it’s nice to see Google bringing more features to its feature-light Camera app. And rather than just copying what others have done, it looks like Google is really trying to improve on an already-existing feature.
But maybe the app’s straightforward and low-bloat interface—with limited features—is one of the reasons the Camera app is so popular. Either way, this feature is almost certainly on the way, and it would make sense that Google would maybe tie it in with better camera hardware in a future Nexus (now wouldn’t that be great?).
For now, you can get version 2.5 of the Camera app, which is where all of this information was pulled from, via the Play Store.
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.
Update: Facebook’s Messenger has also now passed 1 billion.
Google Play Books, an app that comes pre-installed with stock Android, has now become the ninth app to pass the 1 billion install mark. It’s not exactly an amazing achievement considering it ships with most Android phones, but it’s a huge number nonetheless.
Notably, only two non-Google apps, Facebook and WhatsApp, have ever passed this milestone. As you might expect, some of the more popular Google-made apps like Google Maps and Gmail passed 1 billion at various times over the last couple of years.
We first heard about Google’s “Designed for Families” Play Store program in mid-May, and Google officially announced that it would be adding new family-focused features to the Play Store at Google I/O 2015. Now, a new section labeled as “New Family Fun” is popping up on the Play Store, featuring the friendly star mascot, iconic character categories, and more…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Yesterday, at WWDC 2015, Apple introduced transit directions to its native Maps application for the first time. It’s a feature that has long been in the works, and it’s still not actually coming to consumer devices until later this year. But those who have access to the iOS 9 beta can try out the feature in select cities, including New York City, San Francisco, and others.
Transit directions aren’t new, though, and you probably know that Google has offered them in its own official Maps app for many years. But since Apple split off from using the Google-powered Maps app with iOS 6, the company has been struggling to match Google’s offerings. Here, we take a look at Google’s transit directions in comparison to Apple’s new offering…
Expand
Expanding
Close
We told you earlier this week about a new voice assistant called Hound, and if you take SoundHound’s internal demo at face value, the app seems like it’s almost too impressive to be true. That video actually went somewhat viral (despite being recorded with a potato), and we wanted to put Hound through the paces to see if it lives up to the hype. We decided it wouldn’t hurt to put Google Now in the mix too and see how SoundHound’s new app compares to Google’s trusty voice assistant…
Expand
Expanding
Close
The Internet can be a double-edged sword – a window to the world’s knowledge at one end, and at the other a window to the world’s favorite cat pictures. And since on the web all sites are treated equally (save for the “deep” web, I guess) if we don’t have a strong, lasting motivation to get work done it can prove all too easy to get distracted browsing places that aren’t a valuable use of our time. While that lasting motivation must come from within, there are certain tricks and tools you can try that may just give you the boost you need to power through that next email or essay. The one I’d like to share with you today is an extension for Chrome called Momentum.
Momentum quite simply replaces the default New Tab page of Chrome with a “personal dashboard,” as the developer calls it, like the one you see above. For reference, here’s the New Tab page:
Expand
Expanding
Close
A couple Facebook announcements today for Android users: Those in the developing world get a new “Lite” version of Facebook that brings a scaled-back but much faster experience when using the app on slower networks. In addition, all Facebook Messenger users on Android are getting new and improved features for sharing their location.
Facebook notes that the new Lite app is “is less than 1MB so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook’s core experiences like News Feed, status updates, photos, notifications and more.”
And here’s the company’s description of the new location sharing features rolling out to Messenger users today:
Today, we’re excited to start rolling it out in place of our previous location sharing feature. Now you can choose to explicitly send a map of your location or another particular place as a separate message… With this update, you have full control over when and how you share your location information. You only send a location when you tap on the location pin and then choose to send it as a separate message. You can also share a location—like a meeting spot—even if you’re not there.
Here’s a look at the new location sharing features on Android:
The new Facebook Lite app is already available on Google Play for users in Asia while users in parts of Latin America, Africa, and Europe will get access over the coming weeks.
Google today released a new version of the official Google Keyboard to the Play Store, most notably bringing along with it dictionary syncing to Google accounts (Apps for Business accounts excluded, it seems) and the ability to access emoji from physical Bluetooth keyboards.
Thanks to a screenshot shared on Google+, we’ve learned that the previously experimental Touch to Search feature for the Chrome browser on Android seems to have been moved to the stable build and is now rolling out to users. Touch to Search “sends the selected word and the current page as context to Google Search,” according to Google. In other words, you see something in a webpage that you’d like to learn more about and can highlight and look it up in Google Search without leaving the page.
It’s notably similar to the recently announced Now on Tap, except it only works within the Chrome browser and, of course, you’re providing more context than Now on Tap requires. From the image above it seems that this feature is opt-in, which makes sense with many cautious of Google’s attempts to collect information on their every digital move.
According to Android Central they’ve been able to access the feature from Chrome on a 2014 Moto X without updating, so Google probably just enabled a flag for the feature on the public build server-side, but I just tested it on a 2nd generation Moto G and wasn’t able to bring it up. Does the new feature appear like in the image above when you highlight text in Chrome for Android? Leave a comment if so!
Google has updated its Google Drive app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with its new Material Design aesthetic. The new interface is noticeably cleaner and flatter. Google says that the update also brings faster performance and scrolling. Google updated its main app with Material Design last winter and its Play Music app earlier this year.
SoundHound’s first app is known as one of the best offerings when it comes to recognizing sounds. You could hum a song and the app could, fairly reliably, tell you which one you were humming. Now, the same company has released a new app, called Hound, which attempts to usurp the Google Now throne with some really impressive voice assistant technology…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Dexcom, the company behind one of the leading continuous glucose monitor solutions for diabetes patients, has announced today that their “Follow” mobile app—which has long been available on iOS—is now available for Android devices. There have been many unofficial solutions available in the past, but now Dexcom’s system is officially supported on Google’s mobile OS…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Yesterday, as part of the company’s Google I/O dev conference keynote presentation, Google took the wraps off Smart Lock, a new password manager that makes logging into apps in Chrome or on Android much more painless. Now, some of the first apps to support the new feature are being updated starting with Netflix.
Expand
Expanding
Close
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCo3zZ0P4vU]
After first launching its new Inbox app as an alternative email experience to its main Gmail service last year, Google today announced that Inbox is now open to all sans the original invite system while it also introduces a number of new features for the service.
As for features, Google highlighted a new “Trip Bundles” feature that keeps emails related to travel in one place, and improved controls for things like Undo Send, Signatures, and Swipe to Delete:
Expand
Expanding
Close
Topping off the Google I/O keynote, Sundar Pichai announced that HBO NOW for Android is coming to the Google Play Store.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Continuing with Microsoft’s new mission under CEO Satya Nadella to make its productivity software available everywhere that potential customers are, the company officially released its Office Lens document scanner app for Android today to the Google Play Store.
Microsoft ran a public preview of Office Lens for Android from April 2nd up until today through the Google+ communities method, which they say had over 130,000 testers, and Android was the only place where they tested it with users before launch. Here’s how the company describes the functionality of Office Lens in its announcement:
Expand
Expanding
Close
After months being completely missing from the biggest smartphone platform there is, Twitter is ready to release a version of its Periscope app and service for Android users. Twitter acquired and launched the live video streaming app earlier this year exclusively for iPhone users, saying in early April that an Android version was in development. Hopefully making up for the lost time, Twitter has included a few features in Periscope for Android that you won’t yet find on iOS.
The companion app to Google’s $35 Chromecast dongle received an update today with a handful of improvements and changes. Bumping the app to version 1.11.4116, the update brings several interface tweaks. First off, the devices view of the app has been redesigned with a card-like interface. The devices screen also now lists what backdrop is currently being displayed along with casting status.
Adobe announced today that it plans to discontinue its Photoshop Touch software for Android as it changes its approach to bringing features from its professional desktop application to mobile platforms. Rather than continuing to develop an all-in-one app that tries to recreate the Photoshop desktop experience on smartphones and tablets, Adobe is fully embracing its recent strategy of releasing multiple apps that each perform specific functions well. Adobe also revealed a preview of one of those new apps coming to replace Photoshop Touch under the name Project Rigel…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Twitch announced today that its mobile application now supports video on demand content, a feature that has been requested by fans of the service for quite some time. While the app was previously streaming-only, users can now access “highlights and past broadcasts” from all Twitch Partners and what Twitch says is a growing list of broadcasters whose videos are HTTP live streaming (HLS)-enabled.
While the official change log for this version only mentions this one major new feature, looking at reviews for the Android version reveals a few more details. The latest version of Twitch reportedly also sports a new colored status bar, and a new emote panel as well. At least one user reported that “some of the emotes are very small and hard to see” in the new emote panel.
Twitch says that they encountered a security concern that required them to re-list the app on the Play Store, rather than simply providing a new version. So for those that already have the app, you’ll need to head over to the new app listing and download version 4.0. Twitch recognizes that this might be an annoyance to some and says they’re going to do their best to “make it a one-time deal.”
“Adblockers,” browser tools which work to hide ads from the web browsing experience, are a controversial topic of discussion among those in the media industry. And for good reason, as the media industry as a whole is in the midst of a large shift from creating content for – and earning a vast majority of revenue from – the print and desktop mediums, where large boxy ads have long reigned king. But when we talk about adblockers, the one tool we’re all probably referring to, the one which has become synonymous with the term, is Adblock Plus (ABP), and the company behind it has released a dedicated browser for Android…