Analyst Alex Barredo today tweeted a photo today depicting the size of the app stores on all major mobile platforms. According to the chart, Android’s Play Store has the most apps, with iOS’ App Store not too far behind it. Both are growing rapidly, and both are approaching the 1.4 billion mark.
For the first time, overall usage of iOS as an operating system has fallen behind its main competitor from over in Mountain View. While it’s well known that the majority market share in terms of install base has long been held by Android, this is one figure in which iOS has been top dog for quite some time. But at least according to research from Net Applications, that’s no longer the case. More people now use Android, too.
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It may look like iOS, but this functional “Wico6” iPhone 6 clone is actually running a heavily skinned version of Android. Published by YouTuber Danny Winget, this functional clone mimics Apple’s iPhone in almost every way possible, all the way down to the packaging and accessories. So what’s the big deal? Apple clones pop up all of the time. Well, the Wico6 is designed to look like all of the iPhone 6 dummies we’ve seen up to the point.
This “fully functional” device does work as a smartphone (SIM card slot and all), but it’s not running iOS. There’s nothing fancy here as far as specifications go, but its user interface is shockingly detailed and does a very good job mimicking iOS. This device is powered by a 2.4GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and has a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 960 x 540 (234 ppi). Nothing impressive, but apparently it gets the job done.
Happy birthday, Chromecast! That’s what Google is saying today as it announced the HDMI media streaming stick has been used to cast content 400 million times in the 12 months since it launched. The Chromecast, of course, allows you to stream content from services like Netflix, Hulu, and Pandora to your HDTV from your Android or iOS as well as your computer via the Chrome browser.
We’ve added hundreds of your favorite apps, including WatchESPN, Pandora, Hulu Plus, HBO GO and PBS Kids; announced new features like mirroring your Android device to the TV and expanded to 30,000 stores across 20 countries.
That’s certainly a lot of casting from the $35 accessory, and Google is giving all Chromecast users 90 days of its Google Play Music All Access service for free to celebrate. The offer to redeem 3 months of free access to the $9.99/month music subscription service will run from today, July 24th, through September 30th, for all existing Chromecast customers not already subscribed to All Access.
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Flesky, a popular third-party keyboard option for Android, is rolling out version 3.0 that brings a refreshed user-interface design, new premium features, and more languages. Fleksy makes typing on smartphones quicker using a combination of advanced text prediction and an iOS QuickType-like function for predicting the next complete word in a sentence.
Today’s refreshed design brings clearer letters and new color tones. Besides the included color variations, users of the paid version of Fleshy from Google Play will be able to purchase additional themes through the keyboard’s settings. There will be six paid themes, and paid Fleksy users will receive one premium download at no cost. Fleksy is also bringing 17 new languages out of beta and enhancing the 40 previously available languages.
Amazon’s worst kept secret, an all-you-can-read Kindle eBook service, is now live. Dubbed Kindle Unlimited, this $10 per month subscription service grants its members unlimited access to over 600,000 ebooks and thousands of audiobooks. Highlights of the library include:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt, Water for Elephants, Oh Myyy! – There Goes The Internet, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People… plus thousands of classics such as Animal Farm, To the Lighthouse and 2001: A Space Odyssey…
Kindle Unlimited members will also get free access to Audible’s library of over 150,000 audiobooks for 3-months. After which, you’ll presumably need to pay the standard rate of $14.95 per month.
Anyone in the U.S. can try Kindle Unlimited for free for 30 days by signing up for a free trial. All of this content is available on Android, iOS, Windows phone, and of course all Kindle hardware.
Full press release follows:
Google has released an updated version of the Google Chrome application for iOS today, bringing at least one interesting new feature to the app: mobile websites that have Cast support will now work with all of your Cast-capable devices. It’s unclear how the feature works at the moment, but according to the release notes, developers are going to need to add support to their webpages before they can take advantage of the feature.
Also, as will likely be praised by iOS users everywhere, the version 36.0.1985.49 update goes the way of Google Hangouts and finally gets rid of the infamous “lip” located at the bottom of the app icon:
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.
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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Following the release of YouTube Creator Studio for Android, Google has now made the app available for iOS devices. What’s the Creator Studio, you ask? Well, Google has finally created an all-in-one app hub for YouTube creators to access channel/video-specific information. Basically, it’s only helpful if you actually make (or plan to make) YouTube videos.
Google has released an update for the Google Cast SDK, bringing full closed caption support to Chromecast on Android, Chrome and iOS devices. A new version of the Media Player Library (0.8.0) is also available. Moreover, the receiver SDK, the default receiver and the styled media receiver now also have closed caption support.
A detailed list of changes are outlined in the official release notes.
Back in April, The Weather Channel released an entirely redesigned app for the iPhone, and today, the company has finally started rolling out a similar update to Android devices. The update totally revamps the app’s interface. Previously, navigation within the app was based around tabs, but now all your information is contained within a single interface that allows you to scroll up and down to view more information.
If you’ve ever been using any form of Google voice recognition and gotten frustrated that the friendly female on the other side just can’t understand you, you may be happy to know that a quick command can now fix misheard words. Previously, you would have to start the query over completely, but the Google Search app can now fix its blunders on the fly using a natural corrective voice command.
Google this afternoon started rolling out an update to its Play Music app on iOS with a handful of new features. The update bumps the app to version 1.3.0.2190. Firstly, the update finally adds support for gapless playback, which means that there is no pause between the end of one song and the beginning of another. The update also adds the ability to download subscribed playlists in one tap, allowing you to listen to them without a data connection.
Photo: in.com
Microsoft is planning its own entry into the wearable market, but won’t make it exclusive to Windows devices, according to a report from Paul Thurrott. The device won’t be a watch, but a simple fitness band that can sync with multiple smartphone platforms, including Windows, Android, iOS.
The company is said to be aiming for a Q4 release with pricing similar to that of Samsung’s Galaxy Gear. No word yet on whether the hardware will work with the health and fitness software built into many Android phones or will require an app created by Microsoft.
If you have an Android tablet and would like to try out a pre-release version of Microsoft’s Office for Android tablet app, The Verge reports that the company is looking for beta-testers.
Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell The Verge that the company is currently preparing a private beta test for the Office Android tablet version, and is accepting participants through a special pre-release program …
A Nielsen study (via TechCrunch) reveals that while we all spend much longer using mobile apps than we did two years ago, and we may have many more apps installed on our phones, the average number of apps we actually interact with in any given month hasn’t changed nearly as much.
While time spent using mobile apps climbed from 18h 18m in 2011 to 30h 15m by the end of last year, the total number of apps actually used only increased from 23.3 to 26.8. So we’re spending more time using pretty much the same number of apps …
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Vine today announced that it is rolling out an update to its iOS and Android apps that add adds several new features. Biggest of all, the update introduces Loop Counts. This is a feature that will show how many times a Vine has been played. The number will update in real time, both on the web and within the mobile apps.
Way back in 2012, Google announced that it was acquiring the mobile document editing company Quickoffice. At the time, Google said that it had no intentions on shutting the service down, but would also work to integrate the unique features of QuickOffice into its own suite of editing apps. Following the announcements of new features for Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets at I/O, the company has announced that Quickoffice will soon be shutting down (via The Google Operating System Blog).
“With the integration of Quickoffice into the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, the Quickoffice app will be unpublished from Google Play and the App Store in the coming weeks. Existing users with the app can continue to use it, but no features will be added and new users will not be able to install the app.”
Quickoffice for Android was last updated on February 14th of this year, while the iOS client hasn’t seen an update since January 6th. We knew that eventually, Google would be forced to shut down Quickoffice to focus exclusively on the Google Drive suite of apps. Google never promised to keep Quickoffice running forever.
As was rumored earlier this month, Google today announced its new Google Fit platform. The service, similar to Apple’s HealthKit, will track all of your health metrics, including sleep, steps, biking, and much more. Google Fit will be built directly into the upcoming “L” version of Android. The “L” version of Android is expected to come out at the same time as iOS 8 and Apple’s HealthKit Platform.
Hot on the heels of a similar update to its iOS app, Netflix this evening started rolling out a minor update to its Android app. The app bumps the app to version 3.6, but is relatively small. The first thing you’ll notice is that the app has an entirely new logo. Instead of being white on red, the logo is now red text on a white background.
There’s also a minor interface tweak within the app. The action bar along the top of the interface is now black, whereas it was originally red. This makes the app look quite a bit different, more so than you’d expect a different color change to.
The update is available on the Play Store now.
Google-owned, social navigation app Waze for Android and iOS has been updated today. Version 3.8 introduces a cluster of new features, including friends via contacts, which lets you sync your phone’s contact list with your Waze friends, keeping you connected when heading to the same destination. Also new is the ability to send your current location to friends, as well as addresses from your favorites and history. When you share an address with a friend, they’ll receive a link from Waze with directions to the location that can be used whenever they’re ready.
After launching on the iPad nearly a year ago, Parallels is today launching Parallels Access on Android tablets and smartphones running version 4.0 or newer. Parallels Access is a remote desktop client that allows you to access your Mac or PC via the touchscreen of your Android device. The software is also launching today on the iPhone and bringing new enhancements to the iPad.
In our review of the iPad version last year, we noted how blown away we were with the speed and performance of Parallels Access. The software makes accessing and using a computer via the iPad’s touchscreen a breeze, and it provides a huge convenience factor for those times when you need to access something on your home computer but do not have the machine with you.
The application is far and above other remote desktop client applications because of its integration with Android, iOS, OS X, Windows, its speed, and its overall reliability. Parallels Access utilizes gestures, Android’s native keyboard with editing, “SmartMagnification” and “SmartTap” to make the computer feel responsive and alive on your Android device. The application allows you to use your Mac swiftly and connects over the internet…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LCzri4tXuF0
Google, in a post on its “Google and Your Business” blog, has just unveiled a new service for small business. Dubbed Google My Business, the service is essentially a central location for small business owners to control how their businesses appear in Google search results, Maps, and more.