Skip to main content

Apps and Updates

See All Stories

Imgur releases its first ever native Android app with card-based interface, more

Site default logo image

In addition to updating its iOS app, Imgur this morning has also unveiled an entirely new version of its Android app. Imgur says that this is its first ever fully native app for Android users and was built completely from scratch. The app features a redesigned card-based gallery that offers large and easily viewable images. Users can navigate throughout the interface by swiping left or right to view more content.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Microsoft reportedly buying cross-platform to-do list app Wunderlist

You can now add the German mobile app firm 6Wunderkinder GmbH to the growing list of companies with Android apps that Microsoft has bought in recent months. 6Wunderkinder makes the popular cross-platform Wunderlist task manager for Android. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft has spent somewhere in the ballpark of $100-$200 million for the firm.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google highlights best-in-class app designs with Material Design Showcase & Awards

Site default logo image

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtu7ZOQScrI]

As part of Google I/O week, the company is highlighting a number of Play Store apps that use Material Design in different ways. To do this, Google is launching the Material Design Showcase on the Play Store and issuing Material Design Awards to select apps for the first time.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

This is what text selection actions look like in Android M

There was a lot to digest in today’s Google I/O keynote but one small, interesting new behavior change of note going into Android M is a new text selection floating toolbar, as you can see in the GIF above.

Whereas in the past primary actions of Cut, Copy, Paste, as well as other app-specific actions related to selecting text would probably be saved for a contextual action bar (an example of which is below), developers who want to keep their apps up-to-date with platform changes will now utilize this new toolbar which appears just above the text selection area. As you can see above, pressing the More icon will reveal a secondary menu where developers can add their own extra actions; the company in its design documents provides the example of Share, Search, and Translate actions appearing within the secondary menu in Gmail.

Another interesting system behavior change in Android M is a battery management tool called “Doze,” which we detailed in our Android M roundup, that disables most background activities when the OS detects that the device has gone unused for an extended period of time. The company says this has resulted in upwards of 2x longer standby time for Android devices running M versus those running Lollipop.

Site default logo image

Spotify unveils its app for Android Wear

 

Spotify users, rejoice. Starting with a gradual rollout next month, the popular music streaming app will be available on Android Wear watches.

According to the company’s blog post, you’ll be able to navigate through and select something to play from all the music you’ve saved to Your Music as well as find new stuff in Browse. We don’t have much information on the Wear app yet as it hasn’t been released and the image above is the only one Spotify provided, but we’ll post more as soon as we get it.

As a big Spotify fan and power user I’m curious to see what the Browse section will look like on such a small screen, as Browse on smartphones contains sections for mood-based playlists, new releases, top charts, and more. Are you excited to get Spotify on your Wear watch?

Google Play Store gaining new features for discovering family-friendly apps, videos, & books

Site default logo image

 

Google gave some stage time today at the I/O conference to a few family-focused changes coming to the Google Play Store. Families can now find age appropriate digital content from apps to game to books to movies and TV shows by tapping a new “Family” button.

This will take you to a section for each media type that allows you to browse for content by age and interest. When you browse the Play Store after tapping the Family button, you’re presented with more than just a curated section of content as other elements of the digital store change as well.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google Cardboard VR viewer updated for bigger phones, now supports iOS

Google revealed today at the I/O conference that its Cardboard viewer for creating virtual reality experiences easily from Android apps will now support the iPhone for the first time.

The added support for the iPhone comes as Google has added support for iOS to its Cardboard SDK for developers. This means that iPhone apps can now include virtual reality experiences when paired with the Cardboard viewer.

In addition to adding support for iOS, Google is releasing an updated version of its Cardboard view that supports larger phones with up to 6-inch displays. The new version also features an improved input button and can be assembled in just three steps rather than twelve.

Google Cardboard for iPhone is available on the App Store. Cardboard Viewer is available to buy from $19.99 through Google, although the company also offers instructions for building your own viewer.

Google’s ‘Inbox’ email app now open to all, updated w/ new features

Site default logo image

[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

Microsoft launches its Office Lens document scanner app on Android

Site default logo image

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

Site default logo image

Google’s mobile search now answering questions right in the autocomplete options

 

It appears that Google is rolling out a neat new update to its instant search suggestions on mobile, first spotted by The Next WebWhile in the past, Google search would simply load results for what it thought you were searching for to the whole page, now answers to some short questions may find themselves placed directly inside autocomplete suggestions.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google now indexing info from iOS apps in search

Site default logo image

 Google’s App Indexing technology isn’t exactly the most exciting thing to discuss, but so long as the majority of the company’s revenue still comes from search (it does), it is imperative that they figure out how to make their main business work on mobile where the eyeballs are going. So the company announced that today App Indexing is coming to iOS apps, starting with Chrome and Google Search.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Google Calendar experiencing service disruption this morning, Google investigating

Having problems with Google Calendar this morning? You’re not alone, as Google just confirmed that the app is currently experiencing a service disruption for many users.

Google updated its Apps Status website to reflect the outage that was first reported earlier this morning at 6:49 AM EST. The company last checked in at 9:30 AM noting it’s “continuing to investigate this issue.” It’s unclear at this point how many users are affected:

“We are working on getting the exact list of affected users. This is the first step towards fixing the issue. Next update within 3 hours.”

We’ll update you here when Google resolves the issue.

Site default logo image

Android 5.1 rolling out to U.S. Cellular Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE

We recently heard from Motorola Senior Director of Software Development David Schuster that the company was working on testing and rolling out Android 5.1 Lollipop to the Moto X (2nd gen) and Moto E LTE, and sure enough it appears that U.S. Cellular customers should see the update hit their devices pretty soon.

According to an Android software page on U.S. Cellular’s website, the build number for Lollipop on the 2nd generation Moto X is LPE23.32-21 while for the Moto E LTE it is LPI23.29-15. Since this is an over-the-air update you’ll need to be connected to WiFi to download the software update. To check if the update is available for your device yet, open the Settings app, select About Phone, and then System Updates. If it’s rolled out to you then you’ll see information about the update and be able to begin the installation process from this screen.

Site default logo image

Minecraft Pocket Edition for Android updated w/ skins, fishing, and much more

Mojang today announced a huge update to its popular Minecraft Pocket Edition app for Android devices. The big focus of the update is access to new free and paid skins for characters (as pictured above):

Skins are the way you change the appearance of your Minecraft character. Instead of looking like Alex or Steve, you can roll with a different vibe, like a butcher, dog, or plumber. Skins are purely cosmetic – they don’t affect the way the game plays or give you any special abilities.

Paid skins are available to purchase in bundles, but users can also upload or create their own as well as find free skins within the game. You’ll get around 20 skins for $0.99/€0.79/£0.79 if you opt for the paid bundles. 

The update also includes other improvements and new features including the ability to fish and a long list of new animals. The full list of what’s new is below:

  • Multiple language support
  • Boats with space for two! Take your pet for a pleasant ride.
  • The ability to throw stuff from boats, including snowballs and eggs
  • Fishing! Now you can fish for fishies!
  • Squids!
  • Spider jockeys!
  • Cave Spiders!
  • Bats!
  • Adorable baby zombies!
  • Weird chicken jockeys!
  • Edible clownfish. Yum!
  • A fancy new World Edit screen so you can rename worlds, change game modes and do other things
  • Creative players can no longer be set on fire. Controversial
  • We’ve stopped cheeky chickens from walking on water
  • Animals can no longer breed without touching each other ooh err
  • Drinking milk now removes mob effects
  • Ridiculous amounts of bug fixes
  • More cool things that you should discover for yourself

You can grab the updated Minecraft Pocket Edition on Google Play soon. 

Google I/O 2015 Preview: We’re doubling down on Android M, Chrome, Wear and more

Site default logo image

Stephen and I are off to Google I/O 2015 this week (the first time we’ve sent 2 people – for double the coverage!) but we wanted to preview what we we’re excited about this week. I’d run through the list of expectations but Chance already made 90% of the list when the sessions were launched. Go check it out. Here’s what I’ve been hearing…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Twitter’s live broadcasting app Periscope officially lands on Android

Site default logo image

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.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Microsoft’s Google Now competitor Cortana coming to Android in June, plus tight integration with Windows (Video)

Site default logo image

Reuters reported back in March that Microsoft planned to bring its Google Now competitor Cortana to Android, and Microsoft has now officially confirmed this in a blog post.

Today, we’re announcing a Cortana application for Android phones and for iPhones which works as a companion to Cortana on your Windows 10 PC. The ‘Phone Companion’ app on the PC will help you install the Cortana app from the Google Play or Apple App Store onto your phone so you’ll be able to take the intelligence of Cortana with you, wherever you go […]

The Cortana companion will be available for Android phones at the end of June and for iPhones later this year.

While Microsoft is pitching the intelligent assistant as a companion to a Windows PC, it appears that most of the functionality will work in the Android app without the need for a Windows device, Microsoft saying that you can “make the same queries, ask the same questions” in the standalone app … 
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

Chromecast iOS app updated w/ interface tweaks, backdrop enhancements, more

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.


Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Hangouts Chrome app updated w/ redesigned interface, OS X support

Site default logo image

Google today updated its Hangouts Chrome app with an entirely new interface. Perhaps more notably than that, the app has support for Mac OS X users in addition to the trio of Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS. The UI has been refreshed to be more similar to the Android version of the app, a trend that has been increasingly common for Google services over the past few months.


Expand
Expanding
Close