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407 'app' stories June 2011 - October 2015

Niantic Inc. has raised $20 million from Google & Nintendo, could raise $10 million more

Stephen Hall Oct 15 2015 - 3:07 pm PT

Niantic Labs isn’t part of Google anymore (it’s actually Niantic, Inc. as of this past summer), but it does look like Google still has a marked amount of interest in the famed Ingress maker. According to a report from TechCrunch, Niantic, Inc. is about to secure $20 million in investments from Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company. This comes just a month after the group came out to announce an upcoming mobile game called Pokémon Go that ties in a real-world social aspect much like Ingress…
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YouTube Gaming update brings Mobile Capture on Android, paid sponsorships, more

Stephen Hall Oct 15 2015 - 10:06 am PT

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YouTube has today announced that its Gaming platform is getting a couple of really big updates, just as the service reaches more than 144 billion minutes of gaming videos watched per month. As of today, uers of the newly-updated Android app will be able to stream the games they’re playing on their phones, and certain creators can monetize their viewership with sponsorships…
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‘Music gifts’ feature starts appearing in the Play Music app for some Australian users

Stephen Hall Oct 14 2015 - 9:44 am PT

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A support page showed up yesterday hinting at a new “music gifts” feature coming to Google Play, and now it looks like the feature is launching in some locales. Specifically, Play Music users in Australia seem to be seeing a new option (via Ausdroid) in “Music settings” labeled “Send gift”. Tapping this icon seems to take users to a new page for gifting a Google Play Music subscription…
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VLC for Android updated to version 1.6 w/ more Material, improved performance, more

Stephen Hall Oct 13 2015 - 11:02 am PT

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VLC is your go-to all-around media player no matter which platform you’re using, and today the app’s Android counterpart got a pretty decently-sized update. Along with the usual performance improvements that ship with pretty much every app update since apps have existed, version 1.6 also comes with improvements to internal decoding speed, more Material design, and more…
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Google releases Hangouts 5.0 w/ splash screen, performance improvements, more

Stephen Hall Oct 12 2015 - 10:13 am PT

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The well-connected Derek Ross took to Google+ last week to tease the latest update to Hangouts, version number 5.0. And while 4.0 — the update that brought a long-awaited visual overhaul — hasn’t even been around that long, this version makes a lot of improvements to the app’s performance, brings full-working GIFs, a splash screen, and more…
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Google Play Movies & TV hits 1 billion installs on the Play Store

Stephen Hall Oct 8 2015 - 7:40 am PT

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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.

Google launches experimental Delhi Public Trasnport Offline app

Stephen Hall Oct 7 2015 - 12:19 pm PT

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Google has today released a new app called Delhi Public Transport Offline and, well, most people probably don’t need it. But if you do happen to live in Delhi and would like a very simple app to help you get around town via public transportation, today’s your lucky day — it’s free, and it’s packed with lots of features that might make a quick download worth your time…
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Google’s standalone Street View app adds Google Cardboard support in latest update

Stephen Hall Oct 7 2015 - 9:02 am PT

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If you aren’t yet aware, Google released a standalone Street View app for Android last month — and with it comes a showcase of all the best Street View imagery right at your fingertips. While previous versions of the app have allowed you to use your phone’s gyroscope to look at the Street View photography in 3D, the latest version of the app brings a great feature for VR fans: Google Cardboard support…

To access the feature, all you have to do is make sure you have the latest version of the app (which is rolling out now on Google Play, and alternatively available now over at APKMirror). Once you open the app, all you have to do is navigate your way to a view that you’d like to look at, rotate your phone 90 degrees, and tap the new Google Cardboard icon at the top-right of the screen.

Google Creative Lab launches Meter, a live wallpaper that shows battery, WiFi, and notification info

Stephen Hall Oct 6 2015 - 3:17 pm PT

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Google Creative Lab, the same group responsible for a few quirky photo and location-based apps that we told you about earlier this year, has released a new live wallpaper for your Android phone that shows you some useful info about your device. There are three different status indicators shown with this wallpaper: Battery, WiFi, and Notifications…

Based on my initial testing, it seems that the wallpaper randomly switches between these three indicators. Locking and unlocking your phone, as well as opening and closing apps, will rotate between them so that you’re always up to date. Also, they all respond to the tilting of your device for some added phone — the battery one reminds me a lot of calibrating the iPhone’s compass app.

You can grab the app for free on the Google Play Store right now.

Latest Google Play Movies & TV app update makes binge watching shows even easier

Chance Miller Oct 5 2015 - 8:10 pm PT

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Screen Shot 2015-10-05 at 11.07.55 PM
Google today has updated its Play Movies & TV app to version 3.9 with a couple of new features and bug fixes. The standout new feature of the app with this update is a new feature called binge watch. Binge watch is a capability that will automatically plays the next episode in the season of a show a user is watching.

Once the credits of the show start to play at the end, a small thumbnail will appear in the lower right corer of the display with the number and title of the next episode, as well as a timer. Once the timer hits zero, the next episode will automatically begin to play. Users can also tap on the thumbnail to immediately jump to the next episode, or swipe right to stop autoplay (via Android Police).

Next up, the update improves the process of setting up a Roku device through the app. Users can now setup a Roke through a new “Connect a device” option in the Settings menu. Google also notes that the update adds support for Android 6.0 Marshmallow and includes a variety of bug fixes and under-the-hood improvements.

Android Marshmallow support

Bug fixes and stability improvements

Easier setup for Roku devices

Binge watch for TV episodes

The latest version of the Play Movies & TV app is available now on the Play Store.

Hands-on: Google releases new Chromecast app w/ What’s On, social backdrop feeds, more

Stephen Hall Sep 29 2015 - 12:57 pm PT

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Alongside the new Chromecast and Chromecast Audio, Google also today introduced a new version of its Chromecast app. It’s not a drastic departure from the previous version, but it does bring some notable new features including a new “What’s On” section that suggests content from the apps you have installed, support for image feeds from Facebook, Flickr, and other sources, voice search for content, and more…
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Google’s Chromecast Audio WiFi-enables your speakers, packs multi-room support

Stephen Hall Sep 29 2015 - 9:55 am PT

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Along with the 2nd generation Chromecast that Google unveiled today, the company also showed off an audio-focused version of the device. Not to be confused with Google Cast for Audio, which is Google’s platform for making speakers and other audio hardware directly compatible with the Chromecast, “Chromecast Audio” is a Chromecast itself that will plug into your speakers by way of 3.5 mm headphone jack…
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Google launches Google Play Music All Access Family Plan w/ 6 users for $15 per month

Stephen Hall Sep 29 2015 - 9:38 am PT

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Google has today launched a new Google Play Music All Access family plan at today’s September 29th event. This is a move to take on competitors like Spotify and Apple, and will allow users to use the service across 6 accounts for just about $15 per month…
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Some users already noticing Chromecast support in the Spotify Android app

Stephen Hall Sep 29 2015 - 8:40 am PT

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As we exclusively reported earlier this month, Spotify is teaming up with Google to — finally — introduce support for the Chromecast. Now, as the event is nearing kickoff, some users are already noticing their Chromecast devices appearing in the Spotify Connect list, although the feature doesn’t seem to be working quit yet.

As you can see above, it looks like Spotify is going to include Google Cast devices in the same list as other Spotify Connect devices (via Reddit). However, as of right now at least, try to cast your stream to a Chromecast simple results in the following error message: “Spotify is not support on this device right now.”

Google is sure to make mention of Spotify’s new support for its platform at its event scheduled to kick off at 9 AM PT. If you want to keep in the loop on this as well as new Chromecast hardware, new Nexus devices, and more, be sure to head over and watch the livestream when it becomes available.

Google to introduce new Google Photos features tomorrow: album sharing, people labeling, Chromecast support

Stephen Hall Sep 28 2015 - 12:18 pm PT

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Last week we told you that a teardown of the latest version of Google Photos revealed some interesting new features: album collaboration, people labeling, Chromecast support, and more. Now we’ve learned thanks to a new report that Google is planning to make these exact three features official at its Nexus and Chromecast event tomorrow…
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Google’s Keep note taking app comes to iPhone and iPad [Video]

Jordan Kahn Sep 24 2015 - 11:02 am PT

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Google today announced that it’s bringing its Google Keep note taking app to iPhone and iPad for the first time after originally releasing only for web and Android users a couple years back.
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Google Play Newsstand reaches 1 billion installs on the Play Store

Stephen Hall Sep 24 2015 - 10:16 am PT

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At this point it’s just about once a month that an app on the Play Store manages pass 1 billion installs. This month, the app to reach this milestone was Google Play Newsstand.

Not many apps have reached this number, and third-party apps from Facebook are the only outside of Google to do it. As you might expect, other 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.

Passing 1 billion installs isn’t very exciting for Play Newsstand 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.

Exclusive: Google updating Chromecast app w/ ‘What’s On,’ suggested apps, more

Stephen Hall Sep 18 2015 - 6:56 am PT

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As we told you yesterday, Google is preparing several big Chromecast announcements for its September event later this month. According to the internal documents that 9to5Google has obtained, the company is planning to launch not only brand new Chromecast hardware and Spotify support, but an updated companion app for the streaming device as well. The new app seems to build on the previous, packing suggested content features, a new design, and more…
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Microsoft’s ‘Send’ instant messaging app is now available on Android

Chance Miller Sep 17 2015 - 3:23 pm PT

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Microsoft today has made its Send instant messaging app available on Android. The service initially launched earlier this summer on iOS, but today has made its way to Android, as well. Send, for those unfamiliar, is Microsoft’s attempt at a WhatsApp-like messaging service. Microsoft touts that Send takes the best of Outlook and morphs it into an easy to use messaging app.

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Google Play Newsstand get sports information in latest update

Stephen Hall Sep 10 2015 - 2:57 pm PT

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Google Play Newsstand is definitely my least used Google Play app. That’s not saying much, though, because Google Play Music is really the only one that I use. Play Books, Play Games, and Play Movies might as well not exist in my eyes. That said, if you do use Newsstand, you might be interested in today’s new update. Within, you’ll find new support for sports scores for your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB teams…
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Google releases new Wallet app with refreshed interface ahead of Android Pay launch

Chance Miller Sep 9 2015 - 5:35 pm PT

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Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 8.32.10 PM

Update: Google has officially announced the new app.

Today, we’re announcing a new Google Wallet app — now focused exclusively on sending and receiving money. You can use Google Wallet with your Android or iOS device to send money to anyone in the US with an email address, even if they are not a Wallet user. And now, when you receive money through Google Wallet, you can quickly cash out to a debit card or linked bank account.

Google today unexpectedly released a new Google Wallet app on the Play Store. Instead of updating the original Wallet app, the company released an entirely new app with an entirely new interface. At this point, it appears that the original Wallet app will be converted to Android Pay when it launches, while Wallet itself will live on in the form of today’s new app.

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Mobile Application Management now supports iOS, lets Google Apps admins suggest apps for their employees

Stephen Hall Sep 9 2015 - 12:28 pm PT

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Google Apps has offered Mobile Application Management (MAM) on Android for quite some time, but today the Mountain View company is introducing the same functionality on iOS. As was the case with the Android version, MAM lets Google Apps administrators suggest the apps that it would prefer their employees install on Apps-managed iOS devices…
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Chrome beta gets bumped to version 46, includes CSS features, API updates, more

Stephen Hall Sep 4 2015 - 9:07 am PT

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Chrome beta has been updated to version 46 across Android, Windows, Mac, Linux, and Chrome OS. According to Google, this version of the browser is getting some “new CSS animation features, improved performance controls, and a large number of API tweaks.” In other words, this update doesn’t include any exciting user-facing features — it’s mostly a developer-focused update.

Here’s what Google had to say about the update in its blog post:

Animating objects along author specified paths

Previously, animating objects along an author-specified path required complex javascript code that could block important events like rendering and input. Developers can now animate any graphical object along an arbitrary path declaratively as a CSS property, allowing simpler code that doesn’t block rendering or input.

Optimized image loading and service worker instrumentation

Tools like srcset allow developers to serve an optimized image variant in a responsive way, but it can be cumbersome and inefficient to use in practice. Developers can now negotiate with the server to download the best image variant for a device using straightforward HTTP request headers. These headers communicate DPR, Viewport-Width, and the intended display width of the resource being fetched to the server.

In addition to improving image loading, developers can now instrument service workers to gather detailed fetch and script timing. Developers can also measure the startup time of service workers more accurately.

If you’re an avid user of the beta channel of Chrome on Android, you’ll notice that the update is rolling out right now. If you would rather manually update your app, you can do that too.

Google Photos for Android updated w/ ability to reorder photos in albums, trim videos, & more

Chance Miller Aug 19 2015 - 6:18 pm PT

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Google today has announced a minor update to the Google Photos app on Android. The update, which is rolling out via the Play Store now, includes a couple of minor tweaks. First off, users now have the ability to reorder photos in albums. This means that albums can be ordered by whatever metric you want and are no longer restricted to Google’s automatic ordering.

Next up, the update also allows users to adjust video length in movies. This means that you can trim a video that you shot or uploaded to Google Photos to be shorter and include only the bits that you want to include.

Finally, the update also includes the ability to login to Google Photos from a Google+ Page, as well as a new timeline user interface while editing movies.

– Google Photos can recognize collages/animations that Google Camera creates
– You are now able to login to Google Photos as a Plus Page
– You can reorder content in albums
– You can now trim videos to be included in movies
– You can see a new timeline user interface for Movie editing

The update is rolling out now via the Play Store, but may take a while to hit your device. In the meantime, the most recent APK can be downloaded now from APKMirror.