Apps and Updates

1,647 'Apps and Updates' stories June 2013 - May 2016

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Google releases ‘Gboard’, its iPhone keyboard with built-in search, GIFs, & gesture typing

Zac Hall May 12 2016 - 6:42 am PT

Third-party keyboards have been possible (but flaky) on iPhones since iOS 8 in 2014, and today Google has joined the likes of Microsoft and others that are trying to offer a better software keyboard to iPhone owners. Meet Gboard, Google’s brand new iPhone keyboard that’s launching today and packed with features including search, GIF lookup, and gesture typing.

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YouTube launches new native messaging and sharing feature on Android and iOS

Abner Li May 11 2016 - 12:50 pm PT

Starting today, YouTube is rolling out (via Wired) a new native sharing and messaging feature in its Android and iOS apps. While the video network is already a popular destination, YouTube wants to keep people in the app by having conversations about popular videos start and remain there.

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Shared Albums in Google Photos gain commenting and smart suggestions

Abner Li May 11 2016 - 12:15 pm PT

Launched at the end of last year, Shared Albums in Google Photos will now let people comment on pictures. As part of the Android and iOS update, a new smart suggestions feature will also recommend the right photos to add to a Shared Album.

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Google Translate adds Tap to Translate chathead on Android, iOS gains offline mode

Abner Li May 11 2016 - 8:41 am PT

tap-to-translate-android

Google Translate is getting a bevy of new features today that will make translating on mobile easier. Android gets a new feature that will get rid of the need to manually copy and paste into the Translate app, while iOS finally gets an offline mode. Additionally, the Word Lens instant visual translation feature now works on both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

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Instagram rolling out redesigned app with all-new icon

Zac Hall May 11 2016 - 8:30 am PT

After years of resisting the trend, Instagram has finally replaced their classic app icon with a trendier, flatter version that preserves some original color from the realistic icon in the form of a background gradient. In addition to overhauling its app icon, the Facebook-owned photo sharing social network has also shipped a new black and white user interface.

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YouTube gives Creators access to more historical data, adds video progress bar in Home feed

Abner Li May 10 2016 - 10:29 am PT

Announced in October, the YouTube Reporting API lets Creators see detailed metrics about their videos. Today, the API has been updated with historical data going back 180 days. In other features, the Android app is testing a feature that allows users to quickly see their progress through a video.

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Google Calendar now sends web notifications to remind you of events

Abner Li May 10 2016 - 9:42 am PT

After adding a new Goals feature on Android and iOS, Google Calendar will now send users event notifications on the web. Google is likely moving away from using email notifications as Drive recently added a similar capability.

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Google News will now highlight coverage of major stories by local publications

Abner Li May 9 2016 - 8:52 am PT

Following the introduction of AMP articles to Android, iOS, and the mobile web, Google News will now highlight local coverage of national stories by using a new “Local Source” tag. The feature is live on all platforms, including the full web, starting today.

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This week’s top stories: YouTube’s Material reDesign, new Android phones, CyanogenMod + Honor 5X, more

Jordan Kahn May 7 2016 - 9:08 am PT

In this week’s top stories: The best Android phones you can buy (May 2016 edition), we go hands-on with CyanogenMod on the Honor 5X, the latest Android phone leaks, and we show you how to enable YouTube’s new Material reDesign on the web.

Head below for all of the handy links to this week’s most shared stories and videos.

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Google Opinion Rewards expands to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden

Stephen Hall May 6 2016 - 1:15 pm PT

If you’re fond of purchasing new apps, movies and music on your Android smartphone, you might be interested in a less-than-well-known app from Google called Opinion Rewards. You’re obviously not going to get rich quick, but it’s a great way to earn small amounts of Google Play Credit a quarter at a time by answering quick 2-5 question surveys. Today, Google has expanded the app to three new countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden…

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Netflix for Android adds ‘Cellular Data Usage’ to control video quality

Abner Li May 5 2016 - 8:42 am PT

After announcing the ability to pay for a subscription using Google Play billing, Netflix is now rolling out cellular data usage controls so users don’t go over their monthly carrier caps. The feature requires an updated app with a global rollout starting today.

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Google Slides receives big update w/ audience Q&A feature, new iOS presentation options, more

Abner Li May 4 2016 - 11:48 am PT

Google’s web-based alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint is getting a big update today that adds the ability for members of the audience to easily ask questions during a presentation. Additionally, Google Slides is adding more presentation options on iOS and a cool laser pointer tool.

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Google I/O app gets refreshed for I/O 2016, remains mostly the same [Gallery]

Stephen Hall May 4 2016 - 10:36 am PT

Google has just updated its Google I/O app in preparation for Google I/O 2016 (which is set to kick off in Mountain View in just a couple weeks!), and while it’s not a complete overhaul like the update we saw for 2015, it’s a nice to see the app updated for this year’s conference…

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YouTube for Android adds video Autoplay and back/forward buttons

Abner Li May 3 2016 - 4:52 pm PT

From testing Material Design on the web to using neural networks to recommend videos, YouTube has seen quite a few updates lately. The Google company is now adding (via Android Police) the video Autoplay feature found on the web to Android.

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Google Contacts preview now supports contact import from third-party services

Abner Li May 3 2016 - 2:33 pm PT

Despite being announced over a year ago, the revamped Google Contacts still remains a preview. An update to the web app today adds the ability to import contacts from a variety of popular third-party services.

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Twitter’s new mobile site looks a lot like the upcoming Material redesign to its Android app

Abner Li May 3 2016 - 9:55 am PT

Twitter has been A/B testing a re-designed Android app for nearly a month with a launch likely coming soon as more people are seeing it. In the mean time, Twitter has completely overhauled its mobile site with a new design that matches the Android revamp.

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Amazon is giving away $5 credits when you download select free Android apps

Trevor Daugherty May 3 2016 - 5:20 am PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

Amazon is once again offering a promotion for first time users of its Underground App Store that yields a $5 credit when select free apps are downloaded. The promotional credit can only be used to “purchase physical goods” at Amazon and expires 10 days after it is distributed. Full Terms and Conditions below. This is a great chance to load up your new $40 Fire Tablet with some top-rated games.

To redeem your $5 promotional credit, simply follow these directions:

Visit the Amazon Underground promotional page and enter your email address to receive the download link.
Access your phone’s Settings page and press Security or Applications
Check the Unknown Services box and press OK when prompted
On your Downloads or My Files page, find “Amazon_App.apk” and install
Download any of these games to receive your $5 credit, which should arrive via email a few minutes later.

Amazon first launched the Underground app store last August with over $10,000 worth of free titles for Android users. Learn more in our coverage here.

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Nintendo claims non-Mario games chosen for mobile launch to broaden appeal of brand

Ben Lovejoy May 3 2016 - 4:56 am PT

Many Nintendo fans were disappointed when the company chose to launch a new game Miitomo for its first move into mobile, rather than the popular Super Mario series. The company later revealed that it will be bringing existing Nintendo game franchises to iOS later this year, but again, no sign of Mario. Instead, we can expect Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem.

Engadget notes that Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima has offered some explanation for the decision.

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Hands-on with Google Keyboard 5.0 [Video]

Stephen Hall May 2 2016 - 3:21 pm PT

Google just released the biggest update to its stock Google Keyboard in quite some time, and it’s rolling out on the Play Store now. If you haven’t had a chance to try it out for yourself quite yet, we put together this quick video rounding up the biggest new features. Among them are a one-handed mode, new emoji suggestions, and the ability to show key borders…

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Google Keyboard 5.0 rolling out w/ one-handed mode, adjustable key height, more [Gallery]

Abner Li May 2 2016 - 11:12 am PT

A major update to Google Keyboard is now rolling out, marking the first since June of last year. Version 5.0 features various design tweaks, a ton of customization, and many new features like a one-handed mode and the ability to adjust keyboard height.

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eBay refreshing mobile apps with updated design + speed improvements

Greg Barbosa May 2 2016 - 10:00 am PT

eBay has begun rolling out major UI and overall app improvements to its mobile applications today. Most notable will be both iOS and Android apps seeing a redesign of the main navigation menu. Previous versions of both mobile apps utilized a custom navigation menu: a mix between a top navigation bar and hamburger menu. The app update rolling out from today utilizes standard UI navigation elements for both iOS and Android. Android will be seeing the update released today, and the iOS update will be available in the coming days.

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YouTube is testing Material Design on the web and here’s how to enable it [Gallery]

Abner Li May 1 2016 - 6:50 am PT

Most, if not all, of Google’s Android apps have received a Material redesign. With the Chrome OS update rolling out, YouTube on the web is the next and one of the last major products to get Material Design. Google appears to be A/B testing (via Android Police) the update with a small set of users, but it is quite easy for anyone to enable. Here’s how to do it…

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This week’s top stories: Galaxy Note 6 leaks, Huawei P9, HP Chromebook 13 & hands-on w/new Android phones

Jordan Kahn Apr 30 2016 - 9:37 am PT

In this week’s top Google stories: new Android device news surrounding the Galaxy Note 6, the death of the Nexus 9, Huawei’s upcoming P9 flagship, and more. And we went hands-on with LeEco’s new Snapdragon 820-powered Le Max2 w/ 6GB of RAM, the BlackBerry PRIV running Android Marshmallow, and the Oppo F1 Plus in this week’s top videos.

In addition, HP and Google launched the impressive new Chromebook 13, and a handful of notable Google and Android app updates arrived as well as news of a completely overhauled design for Instagram in testing.

Head below for all of the quick links to this weeks top stories, videos and more.

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Chrome 51 Beta improves login experience on other sites, renders pages more efficiently

Abner Li Apr 29 2016 - 11:22 am PT

With Chrome 50 fully rolled out to browsers and Android, version 51 is now in the beta channel. One of the key features in this version is a new API that improves the website login experience and a more power efficient way to render a page.

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