Google has released an updated version of its News & Weather app on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with a news widget for Today view in Notification Center. Google News & Weather for iOS was released last month, providing users with a combination of local news, weather and a personalized view of headline stories.
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NVIDIA’s Shield tablet has quickly become one of the favorites among Android tablet users, and according to a video the company has posted today, it’s about to get even better. NVIDIA today posted a video on its YouTube channel giving us a sneak peek at Android 5.0 Lollipop running on the Shield tablet. Throughout the video, NVIDIA promises that an over-the-air update with Android 5.0 will rollout to Shield users this month.
Continuing the onslaught of Material Design updates over the past few weeks, Google this evening has started rolling out an update to the Google Play Games Android app. As you can guess, the update is packed full of user interface tweaks, making it fit in with Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The update introduces a new icon, as well as themes we’ve seen throughout other Google Material Design updates. There are new colors, new animations, and new fonts. Google describes the update as being “bigger and bolder” than before.
The update is rolling out now via the Play Store, but it is a staged rollout, so it may take a little while to hit your device.
Google has updated Drive for Android with a Material Design facelift and three new features in improved search, better sharing and an enhanced PDF viewer that make it easier for users to find, view and share through the app. The update will be rolling out on the Play Store for Android devices over the next several days.
The new search bar in Drive is easier and more predictive at finding content by updating results as each letter is typed into the field. Meanwhile, the app has improved sharing functionality that allows for users to write a custom comment on shared files so that all collaborators know why they sent it.
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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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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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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.
It was up in the air whether or not the LG G2 would be getting the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop, but LG has now taken to Facebook to confirm that the device will be at some point getting the update. The company also made note of the G3, which will supposedly be getting the update faster than most. Asus, yet another manufacturer of Android phones, has also announced some of the devices that it is currently planning to grace with Lollipop, with the ZenFone and PadFoneS making the list.
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.
Minuum has long been the Android keyboard of choice for some, and today the company announced that the app is getting a bunch of useful new features, including what the company says are “major” improvements to the Minuum engine. First, Minuum now supports 5 new languages, including Swedish, Polis, Czech, Portuguese, and Turkish. These are of course in beta, however, and you should try them out at your own risk. Additionally, the update brings improved autocorrect and the company says that it has “completely revamped” how to app makes suggestions hoping to bring them closer to the words you type on the full keyboard. Finally, the update now lets all users have access to quick language switching, and a bunch of bug fixes are in tow as well.
A new version of the Android Wear firmware is rolling out to the LG G Watch today, and with it comes what appears to be the first parts of some intriguing new features. These new features, including support for on-board GPS and offline music playback via Bluetooth, have long been promised to Android Wear users. And today, it appears that the LG G Watch is the first device to start showing signs that these features are coming in full.
Google announced as part of its acquisition of Songza in July that it would bring some of the music streaming service’s features that users love to Google Play Music. Three months later, the company has followed through with those plans by integrating Songza’s “Concierge” feature with Play Music, enabling users to create contextual expert-curated playlists for an improved listening experience across all platforms.
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Android Lollipop was finally unveiled in its full form yesterday, and that shifts attention to Google’s next big Android release: Android Wear 2.0. We don’t really have any factual idea when this software might or might not be landing, but a new post from Artem Russakovskii on Google+ says that one of his sources thinks the day will be November 3rd—which would push it to arrive right around the same time as Lollipop. No one really knows at this point what the update is going to be bringing, but being released alongside another Android release, we can assume that there will be at least a couple notable features.
According to tweets recently posted by HTC, the company’s One (M8) and One (M7) will be getting the recently announced Lollipop update sometime within 90 days of receiving it from Google. These devices are added to the long list of Android hardware that will be receiving the update, along with many of Motorola’s lineup, and notably, most relatively recent Nexus devices (including even the 2012 Nexus 7).
@nickmgray We're aiming to update the HTC One (M8) to Android 5.0 within 90 days of receiving the final software from Google. Stay tuned!
— HTC (@htc) October 15, 2014
@imdiane This applies to the HTC One (M7) as well.
— HTC (@htc) October 15, 2014
Google just announced some enhancements and new features rolling out to its Google Classroom service today including much improved controls for teachers. Google Classroom, a platform for teachers to plan lessons, assignments, and work alongside students in real-time, was announced earlier this year and first opened to all Apps for Education users in August.
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iHeartRadio today announced that it plans to release an Android Wear app on October 15th. The company, which recently rebranded from Clear Channel to iHeartMedia, says that the app will support all current Android Wear devices.
Google has updated the Gmail app for iOS with support for the larger displays on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. There don’t seem to be any other unmentioned changes (still no unified inbox), but you won’t have to use the awkward zoomed view when using the app anymore.
You can grab Gmail version 3.1415926 (yes, that’s Pi) for free from the iOS App Store.
What’s New in Version 3.1415926
Support for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
Earlier this month, Google made a handful of changes to its Forms service, allowing users to choose custom themes and survey designs. The company, this afternoon, is continuing its beefing up of Forms, rolling out a few more ways to customize surveys you create.
The MLB.com At Bat app was updated today alongside a couple notable announcements including the league’s plan to live stream every World Series game and select Postseason games to all of its MLB.TV Premium subscribers through the app. The 2014 World Series is set to kick off on October 21.
The release notes add that the app will now also offer “Live Postseason coverage for every game through the 2014 World Series” and a Postseason.TV feature with “Live companion coverage featuring up to 10 alternate camera angles for the AL Wild Card, AL Division Series and AL Championship Series (TBS broadcasts only).”
The update MLB.com At Bat app is available Google Play for Android smartphones and tablets now. Regular $129 for the full year, an MLB.TV Premium subscription is available to purchase now for $3.99 for the remainder of the season, World Series, and postseason.
Following our report from yesterday, the first real photo of the purported Nexus 6/X Motorola “Shamu” has surfaced on the internet. The photo appeared in a thread on the XDA-Developers community and was apparently posted by one named “Michael Sudol.” Notably, the photo is almost perfectly in line with the mock up we shared less than 24 hours ago, noting the device’s aluminum edges and build almost identical to that of the second generation Moto X.
What exactly this device will turn out to be is still unknown, but all rumors have pointed toward it being part of Google’s upcoming lineup of Nexus devices (one piece of evidence is that all Nexus devices have had ocean-themed names). While a 5.2-inch variation of this device is seemingly floating around, the device we’re familiar with has a 5.92-inch screen, QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 of 498 PPI, a 3,200 mAh battery, a 13 MP camera on the back, and a 2 MP front camera.
Google has updated the Play Store Developer Distribution Agreement (DDA) with a few notable changes that developers will likely want to pay attention to (via Android Police). First on the list, developers are now required to respond to customer service requests for paid apps and in-app purchases within 3 days.
For paid Products or in-app transactions, you must respond to customer support inquiries within three (3) business days, and within 24 hours to any support or Product concerns stated to be urgent by Google. Failure to provide adequate information or support for your Products may result in low Product ratings, less prominent product exposure, low sales, billing disputes, or removal from the Store.
Secondly, a huge change to how European VAT is handled is definitely going to make developers’ lives much easier. While developers have long been expected to handle the VAT tax for EU sales, Google is going to take over this task as of January 1st, 2015. Determining, charging, and remitting this tax is going to all be up to the fine folks in Mountain View.
Where Google, the Payment Processor or the Authorized Carrier is required by applicable (local) legislation to determine, apply and pay the applicable tax rate, Google, the Payment Processor or the Authorized Carrier (and not Developer) will be responsible for applying and collecting and remitting the taxes to the appropriate taxing authority. If Google collects and remits value added taxes on customer payments (where required of Google by applicable local law) and this remittance fulfils the applicable requirements for value added taxes on those customer payments, such taxes will not be passed on to Developer by Google. Where Google is required to collect and remit taxes as described in this section, Developer and Google will recognise a supply from Developer to Google for tax purposes, and developer will comply with the relevant tax obligations arising from this additional supply.
Google announced today that it’s rolling out an updated version of its Google Drive interface on the web for mobile devices. That means if you visit Google Drive from a browser on your device (instead of using the native Google Drive apps), you’ll now arrive at a refreshed user interface specifically optimized for the web on smartphones and tablets. Google still recommends you go with its native Drive apps, but if you have to visit the mobile version, you’ll now have a much improved experience.
Starting today, you’ll find a much improved mobile web version of Drive that’s faster and easier to use. The apps are still the most optimized experience, but if you find that isn’t an option, the mobile web will do the job better than ever.
The new UI is rolling out starting today and should become available to all in the coming days at http://drive.google.com.
Google is investigating an issue for a number of Google Drive users this morning after rolling out an updated UI for the service earlier this year. Google confirmed the problem on its app status website noting that users on the old Google Drive interface are unable to share documents externally.
Google is marking the issue as a service disruption, which means you should still be able to access all of the service’s other features while it looks for a fix. While the new user interface is being rolled out to users already, users still on the old UI have the ability to manually opt-in to the updated Google Drive.
Following the renaming of its Google Currents news reader app to “Google Play Newsstand” on Android back in February, Google has now given a similar treatment to the iOS app. The app, like the Android version earlier this year, also receives a makeover in the process with a streamlined design and new features:
What’s new
• New navigation helping you easily access the articles and editions you love including:
– Read Now – Easily access articles you subscribe to and discover new articles and editions all in one place
– Topics – Subscribe and get news from topics you are most interested in
– My Library – All of your subscriptions will be found here
• A brand new design giving you a streamlined news reading experience
The Google Play Newsstand app is available for free for iPhone and iPad on the App Store now.