Apps and Updates

1,647 'Apps and Updates' stories June 2013 - July 2014

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Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain for Android updated with improved sending, merchant map and more

9to5 Staff Jul 21 2014 - 9:35 am PT

The popular Bitcoin wallet app Blockchain received a major update over the weekend with several new features, including improved sending of bitcoins and a map view of merchants that accept the cryptocurrency. The update is centered upon making Bitcoin more accessible, in addition to educating new users about the importance of setting two-step authentication and other security measures.
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DVDs gathering dust on your shelves? Now it’s easy to watch them on your Android device

Ben Lovejoy Jul 21 2014 - 5:53 am PT

Watching DVDs on an Android device just got easier, thanks to VLC for Android. No ripping, no transcoding, no issues with DRM-protected content – just view ISO images of DVDs directly.

Planet VideoLAN announced that version 0.9.7.1 of VLC for Android now has the same support for viewing DVD ISO images as the desktop version. Because it’s playing the image directly, it should work exactly as it does in a DVD player, including menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks and bonus material.

Planet VideoLAN also says that the app runs well on low-spec devices, so a bunch of DVDs and a cheap Chinese tablet could be the easiest way to entertain the kids on a car journey. The app is a volunteer-run non-profit project, free to download but with a suggested $5 donation.

Upcoming Twitter for Android update will allow you to browse your entire DM history

Mike Beasley Jul 18 2014 - 5:09 pm PT

Twitter has announced that an upcoming update to its mobile clients will allow users to go back and review their entire direct message history. Currently the app only provides a limited look back, but that restriction will be removed in a new version that will also make deleting messages more reliable across its web and mobile platforms.

[tweet https://twitter.com/Support/status/490260546818543618 align=’center’]

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Google’s iOS app is hiding an entertaining Easter egg

Alex Allegro Jul 18 2014 - 10:29 am PT

A new easter egg discovered and shared this morning by Search Engine Land allows users of the Google app on iOS (not the website) to play with the letters of the Google logo and flick them around as you like. Once you move the letters from the normal position, you can also tilt your device to see them slightly sway across the screen. Some users won’t be able to play with the logo today as the Google Doodle is honoring Nelson Mandela today, but that will most likely will be refreshed around midnight. In the mean time, check out the full video of the Easter egg below.
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Sony Xperia Z2 KitKat update rolling out now w/ call quality and performance improvements

Alex Allegro Jul 18 2014 - 8:05 am PT

This morning Sony began the update process for the Xperia Z2 to Android 4.4 KitKat. According to the documentation, the update should bring along some noticeable improvements including “enhanced call quality” and “improved charging when battery is low”. It’s not clear when the rollout will be complete, but it shouldn’t be too far off so keep checking that ‘System Update’ tab in your settings for KitKat goodness.

Google Maps update adds biking elevation info, new voice commands, more

Chance Miller Jul 17 2014 - 4:24 pm PT

Google this afternoon updated its Maps app on Android to version 8.2 with a plethora of new features, enhancements, and changes. The biggest changes come to the biking routes that Maps offers. With this update, biking routes now show elevation, including the ability to compare the elevations for various routes. This, of course, means that you can now easily tell which bike routes will be the easiest on your legs. This feature is listed as beta for now, though.

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Evernote Web Clipper for Chrome updated with a cleaner ‘thoughtful layout’

Mark Hearn Jul 17 2014 - 4:13 pm PT

Today, Evernote announced an update for its Web Clipper Chrome extension that was designed to keep onscreen distractions to a minimum. New features of version 6.2 include a flat floating toolbar that hangs in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window with a “more prominent” save button (mapped to your enter/return key) displayed at the top of all of your menu items.

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Security firm Zscaler finds 28% of Android apps request permission to read SMS logs

Alex Allegro Jul 17 2014 - 12:08 pm PT

In a study conducted by security research firm Zscaler, 28% of Android apps request permission to read old SMS logs, while a whopping 68% request permission to send SMS messages from your phone. They also found that 36% of apps request GPS permissions, while over 46% request access to the “phone’s state”, allowing the app to gather information related to the SIM card, IMEI number, serial number and more. For the study, Zscaler analyzed over 75,000 apps from the Google Play store and logged the requested permissions from each app. Being a security firm, Zscaler considers SMS and GPS related permissions to be the two most “high risk” permissions to grant access to, with “device information related permissions” landing sixth on the list.

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Google releases official Analytics app for iPhone with Real Time reports

Mark Gurman Jul 17 2014 - 6:10 am PT

Google has added yet another official application to its iOS App Store portfolio: Google Analytics. Analytics is Google’s popular service that allows website owners to manage and view data such as page views, demographics, and the technologies users utilize to access the website. The iPhone app also has the neat Real Time reports feature that allows website owners to view how many people are on the website at the current time. Google launched an optimized version of the Analytics app last year on Android and debuted a related AdWords app on iOS just last week. Like all Google apps, the Analytics program is on the the App Store for free.

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PayPal for Android updated with loyalty cards and faster logins

Mark Hearn Jul 16 2014 - 3:13 pm PT

PayPal updated its Android app today and while version 5.5 introduces a couple of new features, it also manages to take something away. Bringing the software up to speed with its iOS-powered counterpart, you can now link loyalty cards to your account, which should hopefully make your wallet a few grams lighter. There’s also some “behind the scenes” work that speeds up login times, something that’s always welcomed with any application.

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NFL Sunday Ticket streaming to be supported on Android without a satellite subscription for 2014 season

Chance Miller Jul 16 2014 - 12:30 pm PT

For the first time ever, users who do not subscribe to DirecTV service will have access to the NFL’s Sunday Ticket service on their mobile devices and computers for the 2014 season. During previous seasons, Sunday Ticket users had to have an active DirecTV satellite subscription to stream the games. While no official announcement has been made, DirecTV has published a promotional page for the service, advertising the fact that users can now “access live, out-of-market NFL games without a DIRECTV satellite TV account.

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Google+ Hangouts experiencing outage for some users, Google investigating

Jordan Kahn Jul 16 2014 - 11:31 am PT

In case you were wondering why Hangouts isn’t working this afternoon: Google reports it has been experiencing outages for Google+ Hangouts since earlier today. The company has been providing updates on its app status page but is yet to resolve the issue.

Google says the “the problem affecting a significant subset of users” and that some “will not be able to start new video hangouts.” The company’s most recent update notes that the issue is ongoing mostly for users in Europe.

We’ll update here once the problem has been resolved.

Google Play Music All Access arrives in 6 additional countries

Jordan Kahn Jul 15 2014 - 5:18 pm PT

Google has been rolling out Play Store services like music, books, and movies to a ton of new countries recently, and today its Google Play Music and All Access streaming services arrive in a total of 6 new countries. The new countries include Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Ukraine and bring the total number of countries with access to Google Play Music to 34.

Google notes that all new users of All Access, the $10/month streaming service of Google Play Music, get the first 30 days free.

New All Access members (in any country) will get 30 days of music on us, and gain instant access to 20 million songs online or offline from any Android device. In related news, dance parties around the world are predicted to reach dangerously high levels of awesome any day now. http://goo.gl/SRSHXt

ESPN Fantasy Football for Android updated with new notifications and social media support

Mark Hearn Jul 15 2014 - 2:15 pm PT

Football season is only a few weeks away and while you’re busy making preparations for your office’s annual draft, ESPN has updated its Fantasy Football app. In addition to a refined UI, the revitalized software lets users create a team or league directly from within the app, tracking trades, injuries, scores and more.

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Scribd for Android updated with redesigned book view, improved library management, and more

Mike Beasley Jul 15 2014 - 9:00 am PT

The Scribd Android app has been updated with several design tweaks and functionality improvements today that make browsing and reading even easier. The new version includes a redesigned book view with descriptions and the ability to read user reviews. Browsing between books is now seamless, and an updated library manager allows you to download books to your phone or add them to collections.

You can grab the Scribd update for free on the Google Play Store. The change log is below:

A redesigned book page that includes in-depth descriptions, reader reviews, and related books

Seamless book-to-book browsing

Streamlined management of your Library – tap the new “+” sign on books to instantly save them to your device, add them to your library, or add them to a collection

120 Sports now available for Android

Mark Hearn Jul 14 2014 - 10:14 am PT

After a brief exclusive run on iOS, 120 Sports is now available for Android users. Backed by Time Inc (the owner of Sports Illustrated), the online network features live and on-demand content from a variety of different sports leagues by crunching the action into two minute video clips. The company claims its new app offers over 10 hours of live programming every day, which should make the service appealing to cord cutters who miss regular news breaks from places like ESPN.

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Google launches augmented reality game Ingress on iOS

Chance Miller Jul 13 2014 - 8:33 pm PT

After becoming available to all Android users back in December, Google this evening finally launched its popular Ingress game on iOS. The game originally launched in a closed beta all the way back in 2012, but has slowly been expanding to gradually larger audiences ever since.

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Nova Launcher updated with new design and animation options inspired by Android L

Chance Miller Jul 11 2014 - 2:03 pm PT

The talented TeslaCoil developers this afternoon updated their insanely popular Android app Nova Launcher with a variety of new features and enhancements. We just told you how to install Android “L” on your Nexus 5 or Nexus 7, but if you don’t have one of those devices or don’t want to put up with the bugs, today’s Nova Launcher update will certainly keep you satisfied.

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Microsoft Research releases Climatology, a climate monitoring app for Android

Mark Hearn Jul 11 2014 - 1:09 pm PT

Microsoft’s list of Android apps has just grown by one. The company’s research team recently released Climatology, a climate tracking application that provides weather information from all over the world. Driven by tech developed by Microsoft’s environmental scientists, the company says it’s releasing Climatology to help make research information available to a broader audience.

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Adobe updates Photoshop Express for Android with blemish removal tool, RAW importing, more

Zac Hall Jul 11 2014 - 12:29 pm PT

Adobe has actively been rolling out new and powerful tools for mobile platforms in recent months including Lightroom Mobile for iPad followed later by Lightroom Mobile for iPhone and Photoshop Mix as well as Adobe Voice for creating storytelling from iPad. Adobe says Lightroom for Android will follow eventually.

Even with all of those new products, Adobe is continuing to add features to its existing mobile apps with the release of Adobe Photoshop Express 2.3.273 today. The updated version of Photoshop Express for Android specifically brings four new features: a new blemish removal tool, the ability to increase or decrease filter strength, a new defog tool to remove haziness, and the ability to import photos in the RAW format.

As always, the Android version of Adobe Photoshop Express is available as a free download from the Play Store, and the update is out now.

HTC updates Dot View app with new wallpaper personalization options, more

Chance Miller Jul 11 2014 - 9:55 am PT

One of HTC’s biggest selling points for its One M8 flagship is the Dot View case, and today, the company rolled out an update to the companion app with a handful of new features. The biggest change is the addition of themes for wallpapers. HTC has bundled 18 themes into the app that you can now set as the case’s wallpaper. You can also choose your own custom image, although some of them may not look quite right.

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New Google Play Games SDK brings improved cross-platform gaming to Android & iOS

Jordan Kahn Jul 10 2014 - 11:39 am PT

Google announced today that some notable new updates are available now in its Google Play Games SDK allowing developers to make even better cross-platform gaming experiences across Android and iOS. Some of the features were announced during its Google I/O developer conference late last month, including an update to the Play Games C++ SDK that brings turn-based multiplayer, quests and events, and saved games support:
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Google Keyboard update 3.1.19 moves location of Voice Input button

Chance Miller Jul 10 2014 - 10:42 am PT

Google this morning started rolling out a minor update to its Keyboard app on Android. The update bumps the app to version 3.1.19 and is pretty small. The only notable change is that the Voice Input button has been moved to the top row of the keyboard, on the right side of the auto-complete suggestions. Previously, the button was located next to the spacebar. This change is definitely useful, as many users would previously accidentally tap the voice button when aiming for the space bar.

The update is available on the Play Store now, although it is rolling out slowly.

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Google Business View lets you take a tour of Adam Savage’s workshop

Mark Hearn Jul 10 2014 - 9:09 am PT

When MythBusters co-host Adam Savage isn’t trying to debunk urban legends, he’s most likely working on projects at his workshop in San Francisco, which the TV personality refers to as “the cave.” Aside from its raw industrial motif, Savage’s setup is loaded with a vast collection of costumes and gadgets that rival a big budget movie studio. Although his shop isn’t exactly open for public tours, Google’s Business View is offering the next best thing.

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