An update to Gmail for Android 5.0 Lollipop has been in the works for a long time, with the update promising to pack a plethora of new features and visual enhancements. This evening, after a long wait, the Gmail 5.0 app is now available to download with all the expected features in tow.
Skim Mode control (Click for animation)
Google has pushed an update to the Play Books application for Android that includes an all-new ‘skim’ mode that makes it easier to quickly flip through a book. Google says the feature is designed with reference books in mind, allowing readers to quickly flip through the book to find specific sections, notes, or highlights.
The update also includes support for quick bookmarking that makes it easier to quickly jump between different sections of a book. Of course, the focus on reference materials fits nicely with the app’s existing notes and highlighting features, which can be browsed more easily in the new version.
You can grab the updated Google Play Books app for free from the Play Store.
Microsoft hasn’t officially announced its wearable device, but it seems the company has accidentally published its desktop syncing client to the Mac App Store early. Whoops. The device is called the Microsoft Band (possibly Lumia Band, according to some currently non-functional support URLs).
The Microsoft privacy policy for the app lists some of the Band’s features: “Microsoft Band sensors help you keep track of things like your heart rate, steps, calories burned, and sleep.” Links in the document claiming to lead to a page with additional data, such as a list of sensors, currently lead to a 404 page.
Other key feature include the ability to get phone notifications on the Band, create reminders using Cortana, and more:
Google today announced it’s adding new ways to add money to its Google Wallet service in addition to some new features that will make keeping an eye on your balance easier. The app also appears to be getting a bit of a Material Design update on Android (as pictured above).
First up, you will now be able to setup automatic bank transfers that will ensure there is always money to spend in your Google Wallet account. The recurring transfers allow you to schedule weekly, bi-weekly or monthly deposits and can be cancelled at any time:
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Google is now deploying an update for its Google My Business Android app that makes it easier for business owners to reply to customer reviews. With this revamped software, entrepreneurs can track customer critiques in real-time on the web, allowing them to address praise or complaints in a timely manner directly from their mobile device.
Google today announced that it’s rolling out an updated Google Play Movies & TV app for Android that introduces a second-screen experience when streaming TV shows and movies to a Chromecast or Nexus Player-connected TV. That means that your Android smartphone or tablet will now display actor or soundtrack information related to the content streaming to the big screen.
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Microsoft recently rolled out an update for its OneDrive mobile app and the software maker managed to show its Android variant some love in the process. The latest version of the company’s cloud storage software ships with support for the recycle bin, so users can now restore deleted files from the comfort of their compatible smartphone or tablet.
Fleksy keyboard for Android has received an update with a couple of new features and gone on sale for 99 cents through Friday after announcing it has secured $2 million in venture funding from Digital Garage, Eniac Ventures, Middleland Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Militello Capital and other investment partners.
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From 9to5Toys:
Google Play has a selection of classic rock singles available for free today from some of the biggest artists in history. While it’s hard to pull out just a few examples from such a legendary list, you’ll find hits from The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Eagles, The Who and Queen to name a few.
Typically sold for around $1.29 each, all of the tracks in today’s deal are available completely free. Head over to today’s weekly Media post for more discounted music, movies and television shows.
After rumors and speculation, Google officially announced Google Fit during its annual I/O developer conference back in June. Today, the search giant has released a new Android app for its health-conscious platform that can be used to track your fitness activities like walking, running and cycling.
Time Warner Cable today announced a new smartphone app that will let its customers use their home phone service on mobile devices for no additional fees. That means that users with a Time Warner Cable home phone service, which starts at $10/month, can now text and call through the new Phone 2 Go app available for both Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. The service requires a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection and will also work for international calling and texting:
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Pushbullet, the service that easily lets you send files and links around to all of your devices, just today got a huge update for Android that brings—yes, you guessed it—Material design. And with such a redesign, the way the app works has been overhauled from the ground up, bringing faster and easier navigation and sorting of pushes.
The popular fine dining restaurant chain Taco Bell has blacked out its Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as its website today to draw full attention to its new Android app. Why? Because you can finally order your Nacho Cheese Doritos® Chips Taco Supreme® right from your Android phone and pay in the app.
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Algoriddim, the team behind the popular music mixing app djay, first shipped the commercial version of its flagship app in 2007 on the Mac followed by the iPad version in 2010 and the iPhone version in 2011. Adding to the history of djay, today Algoriddim is launching djay for Android through the Google Play Store and Amazon App Store making the app its first on Google’s platform.
While djay is rooted in digital music mixing on the Mac then iOS, the new Android version is just as desktop class with high quality music playback and real time analyzing and mixing. Better yet, djay for Android packs in deep Spotify integration from day one–the iOS version first added up Spotify integration earlier this year–which means you have access to over 20 million songs for mixing together and playback.
Facebook has announced that it will be releasing an updated version of its mobile application later today that will improve the process of sharing multiple photos in a single post. The new composer will allow users to choose multiple images from their device’s photo library or camera, then show a preview of the post with each image in the order they were selected.
From here users will be able to add captions to each photo, write an introduction for the post, or rearrange the order of the photos. The post will show up in friends’ news feeds as a photo collage rather than a horizontal group of photos.
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Robin Labs, the developmental team behind mobile assistant platform Robin.AI, has today unveiled their latest project, an app that responds to emails for you. Dubbed Less.Mail, the app handles routine email responses by automatically replying to emails based on how it interprets the message’s initial text.
If you’re among the first wave of Inbox users, and you’ve got the software installed on your smartphone and tablet, you’ll probably want to swing by the Chrome Web Store and grab Google’s new web app.
Google previously allowed developers to make add-ons that bring extra functionality to its Google Docs and Sheets web apps, and now Google is bringing the same feature to its Forms app. Google gives a few examples of add-ons that might be handy for Forms. Imagine, for example,“setting a survey end date, sending custom emails based on responses, storing lists of choices that you frequently add to questions, and more.”
Over the last few months, Forms has been getting a bunch of updates to help you make good looking surveys, like new theme choices and the ability to create your own personalized themes. To give you even more flexibility and options, we’re introducing add-ons for Forms—new tools, created by developer partners, that deliver even more features to your surveys (just like add-ons for Docs and Sheets).
Google highlighted a few add-ons that are already available:
Add-ons for Forms are accessible from a new “Add-ons” menu in the app or this link. Developers interested in learning more about developing add-ons can do so here.
This is plain crazy. An invite for Google’s reinvented email application, Inbox, is now going for more than $150 on eBay. We all saw it coming, but I don’t think anyone expected the internet to be this desperate to get access to the app a few weeks—or maybe even days—early. This is somewhat in line with what we’ve seen in the past, though, with some of the best examples being other services that Google slowly rolled out—namely Google+ and the original Gmail.
Continuing the pre-Android 5.0 Lollipop update extravaganza, Google this evening announced that it has updated the public AppCompat library to version 21. For those unfamiliar, this essentially means that it will allow for a more Material Design look and feel in apps on devices running pre-Lollipop versions of Android. This concept is exactly what we’ve been seeing in recent Google app updates, giving us the look of Material Design without running Android 5.0.
AppCompat (aka ActionBarCompat) started out as a backport of the Android 4.0 ActionBar API for devices running on Gingerbread, providing a common API layer on top of the backported implementation and the framework implementation. AppCompat v21 delivers an API and feature-set that is up-to-date with Android 5.0
Google Now can remind you to pay your bills and now it appears that Mountain View’s intelligent personal assistant software can help keep you safe. A group of Reddit users have received police alert cards from their local law enforcement branches advising them of nearby criminal activity. So be sure to read these cards carefully if you happen to see one on your phone.
Yahoo updated its Yahoo Mail mobile apps today bringing new travel and event notifications to the app for Android.
For travel, the app’s “Today” view will now display information on flights including when flights are cancelled or delayed, and users will be able to “get directions to the airport, call the airline to rebook your flight or go directly to the airline website” in a single tap.
“And once you land at your destination, you’ll receive suggestions for the top restaurants and attractions in the area, with reviews and pictures from Yelp.”
The updated Yahoo Mail app also provides notifications for events in the Today view from Evite, Eventbrite, and Ticketmaster, event information, and the ability to view and share directions.
Yahoo also said the update includes “the latest headlines with News notifications” that can be switched off in Settings. All of the new features are available in the U.S. only.
The updated Yahoo Mail app for Android is available on Google Play now.
Microsoft quietly added a beta version of its Remote Desktop Android app to Google Play, that introduces some unreleased features that have yet to hit the software’s stable build. Like the company’s other pre-release applications, this new software is likely being used an easy way to collect user feedback.
Google announced today that it’s updating Google Earth for Android with several new features including new 3D rendering technology, faster updates, and the ability to “open KML files from Google Drive directly from the Earth app.”
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