Chrome 49 is rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and Linux. The latest version of the browser contains the usual bug and security fixes, but this update adds more developer APIs than user facing features. However, the next version of Chrome should bring a new Material Design interface.
Google is today adding new templates to the initial selection it first rolled out to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides back in September of last year.
Quietly announced at last year’s I/O, Google is launching a pilot of its Hands Free payment system in the South Bay area of San Francisco. In the past, Square also experimented with a similar type of payment model that required limited user interaction. While Square’s attempt ultimately failed, Google’s scale and previous work with Android Pay might help.
WhatsApp has started rolling out a new document uploading feature to its Android app users. This new attachment option has been showing up for a number of WhatsApp users (including myself) and allows you to upload PDFs. It’d be surprising if this wasn’t expanded to include other document formats in the future.
Nova Launcher is one of the best launchers available for Android on the Play Store. It lets you customize virtually every part of your smartphone user interface. While the free version is great, the premium ‘Prime’ version offers far more fine-tuning capabilities and normally costs $5. For a limited time, Nova Launcher is now available for just $0.99.
Nova Launcher Prime
Unlock the following extras by purchasing Nova Launcher Prime
• Gestures – Swipe, pinch, double tap and more on the home screen to open your favorite apps
• Unread Counts – Never miss a message. Unread count badges for Hangouts, SMS, Gmail and more using the TeslaUnread plugin
• Custom Drawer Groups – Create new tabs or folders in the app drawer
• Hide Apps – Keep a clean app drawer by hiding never used apps
• Icon Swipes – Set custom actions for swiping on app shortcuts or folders
• More scroll effects – Such as Wipe, Accordion, and Throw
It’s worth noting that Nova Launcher Prime isn’t an app download in itself, rather, it acts as a license to unlock the listed features in the free Nova Launcher app. What that means in simple terms, is that you need to download and install the free version before you can head to the Play Store and pay for the Prime version.
Spinning off Photos in to its own app and service is arguably one of the best decisions Google has ever made. It’s a fantastic tool for storing your photos, it’s easily searchable and sometimes makes its own automatic moments of magic. It’s safe to say, I don’t love any of its services as much as I love Photos. But now it’s getting better.
An update rolling out to the YouTube Android app revamps the upload workflow on mobile and makes it much more convenient to add a video to the service. The most immediate visual change is the video icon that replaces the generic file upload icon on the FAB in the Home tab.
During the early days of smartphones, one of the coolest apps you could show off was an augmented reality-like stargazing app. At the time, Google made a free version called Sky Map. The app is showing signs of life again and received its first update in four years.
We told you about SoundHound’s “Hound” voice assistant when it was first released in beta in June of last year, and now the company has pushed version 1.4 — its first public release…
Facebook’s Moments app, launched last summer, makes it easier to share photos with your friends by using both location data and face-recognition to identify which friends were with you when the photos were taken. The latest version of the app now lets you include videos too – but it can’t yet recognize faces in those, so you’ll have to add them manually.
GoPro has been having a rough time as its stock price has stumbled over the last few months. Its signature action camera is a niche product and competitors are releasing cheaper clones that replicate most of the same functionality. Now, GoPro has has acquired two mobile video apps to offer a complete capture and editing solution for its users.
Update: The updated app, version 4.0, is now available on Google Play.
Waze has officially announced a new version of their Android app that completely refreshes the user interface and adds numerous new features. The Android version of the Google-owned service that allows drivers to create a real-time map has long been due for an overhaul.
Since its launch last year, Inbox by Gmail has added more features to make it smarter and more convenient to use. Today, the app is getting a highly requested feature that allows users more granularity and adds more options to the popular email snoozing feature.
Facebook has today announced that it is bringing its Periscope-like live video broadcast feature to Android. The service received its debut on iPhones last month.
Facebook Live enables you to share your experiences and perspectives in real time, with the people who matter to you – whether you’re someone who wants to broadcast to friends and family, or a public figure who wants to connect with fans around the world. Live videos on Facebook are authentic and exciting, and we’re seeing people tuning in and engaging directly with broadcasters in the moment.
The company says that people spend more than three times longer watching a video when it is live …
An updated version of the Google app rolling out this afternoon adds new animations to Now on Tap and a whimsical finger painting-like feature to make a custom colored Google logo.
An update to Google+ for Android will now preload webpages when on WiFi, adds notification filtering, Community moderation tools, and more in addition to other bug fixes.
Google Maps is expanding its ‘Explore around you’ feature to France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Japan. The tool helps users find places to grab a meal or drink based on location and lists them as pre-made categories.
Google is announcing two notable new features for Gmail for Android today, including support for rich text formatting and a new “Instant RSVPs” feature that offers one-tap access to responding to Calendar invites.
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Facebook has long faced calls for a Dislike button on posts, users arguing that they may want to express support in response to bad news, and Liking a post feels like the wrong way to do it. After a great deal of testing, the company has today announced that it is supplementing the Like button with five additional one-touch responses – but Dislike isn’t one of them …
Microsoft’s Garage Projects seem to constantly be coming and going, but the last couple of months have seen more releases than usual. Last month Microsoft released a quirky new alarm clock called “Mimicker Alarm,” and now the maker of the flopped Android competitor Windows Phone has released two more projects: Hub Keyboard, and Sprightly…
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This isn’t the first time that Google-owned Waze has brought on a celebrity for its turn-by-turn navigation, but I think most would agree that everyone needs to know about this one. For a limited time, you can choose Morgan Freeman’s iconic voice in Waze, giving you the most soothing “In half a mile, turn right.” you could ever hear…
A Google Play Music update is rolling out that allows users to search for music-related YouTube videos from within the app. The video search feature is available to all Play Music users, including those who don’t subscribe to the streaming service.
Just over one year ago Adobe brought the first version of its Photoshop Lightroom image editor to Android for the first time, and today the first major overhaul of Lightroom for Android is being released with version 2.0. Lightroom for Android 2 brings the mobile image editor up-to-speed with the iOS version of the same software, and actually goes a step further with RAW image support made possible by Android.
After being all the rage when it launched on iOS last month, social network Peach has finally made its way to Android. Peach is basically another status sharing app, but its novelty comes in its heavy use of GIFs, multiple ways to ‘poke’ a person, and the use of “Magic Words” to send information and communicate in fun ways.