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Plex today has pushed an update to its Android app that bumps it to version 4.0. The update continues to improve the user interface of the application. Plex for Android gained a few Material Design inspired qualities with its last update, but with today’s 4.0 update, the design has been significantly enhanced.

Google releases new ‘Cloud Console’ app for mobile Google Cloud Platform management

Stephen Hall Mar 25 2015 - 9:16 am PT

Google has today released a new app called “Cloud Console” in beta, and it brings a convenient mobile management console to those who have solutions running on Google’s Cloud Platform.

Among the app’s highlighted features, you’ll find the ability to check the status of Google App Engine and Compute Engine resources, create custom dashboards to get a “glanceable overview” of your solutions, take action from your mobile handset like stopping virtual machines, and view and manage incidents in Google Cloud monitoring.

Here’s the official description:

The Cloud Console enables you to manage your solution running on the Google Cloud Platform directly from your Android phone or tablet:

* Check the state of your Google App Engine or Compute Engine resources
* Create your own custom dashboard to get a glanceable overview of your solution
* Take quick actions directly from your device such as stopping a virtual machine
* View and manage Incidents tracked in Google Cloud monitoring

We plan on shipping new features regularly. Please give us your feedback in the app by swiping from the left and tapping “Send feedback”.

You can get the app for free on the Play Store.

Update: The app has now been officially announced:

Imagine being away from your desk and receiving automatic alerts when an issue occurs in your Google App Engine app. Or waiting at the airport and stopping your test VMs before leaving for vacation. With the beta launch of Cloud Console for Android, managing Google Cloud Platform from your phone or tablet is possible (and yes, an iOS version is in the works).

Instagram’s new photo collage ‘Layout’ app coming soon to Android

Jordan Kahn Mar 23 2015 - 10:28 am PT

Instagram today released a new app called Layout that lets users easily stitch together multiple photos by automatically generating layouts to make a collage of sorts. The company said the app is coming soon to Android.
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New Android Wear app allows users to control a Tesla from their wrist

Chance Miller Mar 19 2015 - 3:29 pm PT

Software engineering firm ELEKS has today revealed a new app that will allow Android Wear users to control their Tesla car straight from their wrist. The app, the idea for which was spawned after they released an app for the Apple Watch, allows users to easily see the charge status of their car. This is such an important feature, ELEKS claims, that the developers made the Android Wear watch face for the app a charging screen.

Android Auto app arrives alongside Pioneer hardware in US, UK & AU

Zac Hall Mar 19 2015 - 11:35 am PT

Android Auto is here at last. Google’s mobile platform for integrating content like maps, music, and more from your smartphone to the head unit in your car is now live as the Android Auto app has officially hit the Play Store for download. The new app comes as Google announced via Twitter that Pioneer’s support for Android Auto is now live in three countries…
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App Roundup: Google updates Maps, YouTube, Inbox, Play Music, more

Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 7:55 am PT

Google tends to push several updates to its apps in the middle of the week, and this week has been a particularly eventful one. Updates have landed over the last 24 hours for several apps in Google’s Android inventory, including Inbox, Google Docs (Sheets and Slides, too), YouTube, Quickoffice, Google Maps, and Google Play Music.

HTC Dot View case gets games, scrolling messages, more in latest app update

Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 8:06 am PT

HTC updated the hardware of its Dot View case for the recently announced HTC One M9, but the app that powers the case has also now been updated—meaning that users of the HTC One (M8) Dot View case will also be able take advantage of some sweet new features.

The update packs the ability to play games on Dot View, notably one called “Dot Breaker” that looks a lot like the brick breaker games of old. You can also use Dot Message, which will display a message made of dots scrolling across the screen. Finally, the update packs new animated themes, a “special surprise” on your birthday, and a few practical enhancements to make the overall Dot View experience better: You can now control the flashlight and voice recorder, snooze alarms, and more.

Here’s the full changelog:

More interesting:

– Play games on Dot View

– Display a scrolling message on Dot View

More appealing:

– Try the new animated themes

– Receive a special surprise from Dot View on your birthday

More practical:

– Turn on your speaker during a phone call

– Control the flashlight and voice recorder

– Snooze alarms

– Enjoy more notification icons

You can get the HTC Dot View app on the Play Store for free.

Google’s Ingress augmented reality game is on its way to Android Wear

Stephen Hall Feb 27 2015 - 11:16 am PT

Ingress was launched on Android in 2012, but after its introduction made its way to a few other platforms. The app has been available on iOS for a while and had a port made for Google Glass, but now the Mountain View company’s augmented reality game is officially coming to Android Wear (via Engadget) at some point next month. You’ll still need an Android phone—as is the case with most Android Wear apps—but it won’t be long before you’ll be able to play Ingress without taking that phone out of your pocket.

It makes sense considering the nature of the game, as the basic premise is that you’re exploring the real world while creating virtual missions, and defending and attacking portals. While using the smartphone works fine, it makes a lot more sense that users would be able to simply glance down on their wrists to play the game—hence why a Google Glass version of the game was put together as well (although that version is no longer available). Head over to the Google Play store to get the latest version of Ingress.

Google enabling new video-trimming feature in YouTube app for Android

Stephen Hall Feb 27 2015 - 10:08 am PT

When uploading a video to YouTube, especially from a mobile device, it’s pretty common not to want to upload a clip in its entirety. Now, Google says that it is updating the YouTube app for Android to fix this problem—you can now use a new video-trimming feature to cut off the beginning or end of your clip prior to upload.

We’re proud to introduce a new video-trimming feature and inline video previews for our app. Now you can select the exact frame where the video starts and ends, giving you precise control of your trims in a simple, intuitive way. Additionally, there is now an inline video preview before the video is uploaded. And with faster upload capability, it’s never been easier to upload your YouTube videos on-the-go!

Simply drag the frame on both ends of the video to trim it where you’d like, as you can see above, and you can touch and hold the frame to get a closer view of where the video is being trimmed. Then you can tap “got it” when you’re done, and then the app will let you preview what your video will look like prior to publish.

The latest version of the app can be downloaded from the Play Store, but it’s not actually an app update that’s bringing this feature. Users who have already downloaded the YouTube app should see the feature turned on server-side. Notably, it doesn’t look like the iOS app has this feature quite yet.

VLC pushes new Android & Android TV apps as part of massive cross-platform release

Stephen Hall Feb 27 2015 - 8:09 am PT

VideoLAN has today launched several updates to VLC across its apps on iOS, Android, OS X, and every other platform where the app is available, marking the first time that the company has pushed such a massive coordinated release. The new versions (with the main app numbered 2.2.0), include several features across the various platforms, and VLC says it took more than a year of volunteer work to put them together…

Google+ mobile web interface gets a facelift in latest update

Stephen Hall Feb 26 2015 - 7:58 am PT

Google announced last night that the web interface for Google+ has received a facelift, bringing many visual cues from the company’s Material Design language. The new design sports a hamburger menu that slides in from the left side, a bright red toolbar at the top of pages, and a floating material-y circle in the bottom right that should look familiar to those using Google’s latest mobile operating system…

As per Danielle Buckley‘s Google+ page:

Today we’re excited to announce the new and improved Google+ experience for mobile web. We focused on making everything faster, more beautiful, and more intuitive. To check out all the new updates, visit plus.google.com on your phone or tablet’s browser. As always, we’d love to hear what you think!

This update brings the app up to 2015 standards, but there’s a still a lot of disparity between Google+ on different platforms. We have a newly redesigned web interface that is now closer in functionality to the Android app (but not quite the same), an iOS app that is unique in its own ways, and a desktop experience that is completely different than the mobile apps. Hopefully we’ll see a more unified experience over time.

New search box user interface rolling out to Play Store Android app

Stephen Hall Feb 20 2015 - 1:59 pm PT

A server-side update is rolling out the Play Store Android app that packs a pretty subtle-yet-big update to the way search works. Currently, there’s a large toolbar at the top of the app labeled “Play Store,” and searching for something means tapping the magnifying glass icon in the top-right corner. This update, which was first posted about on the Google+ page of Kirill Grouchnikov, replaces that toolbar with a much more prominent search box.

Additionally, users will notice that tapping the magnifying glass from elsewhere within the app will slide out the search box from the right. This update will bring the Play Store app more in line with the design of some of Google’s other apps, the one you’re most familiar with likely being the Google Now launcher:

According to another post on Grouchnikov’s Google+ page, the update is coming “soon”. And, as mentioned, this is a server-side update that Google will push over-the-air. Don’t bother checking the Play Store because the app is going to be updated behind the scenes. Like magic.

Google Inbox makes its way to iPad, now works with Firefox and Safari on the web

Stephen Hall Feb 19 2015 - 7:38 am PT

Google has this morning announced that its Inbox email app experience made for Gmail is officially expanding to tablets, and both the iOS (you can read more about the iOS update over at 9to5Mac) and Android versions of the app (which actually received the update in December) are now ready to go.

Since the app was launched, its web interface was tied down to Google’s own Chrome browser. But Google announced change to that requirement today as well…
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Google Docs for Android updated w/ Office Compatibility Mode improvements, more

Chance Miller Feb 18 2015 - 1:48 pm PT

Google today has started rolling out an update to the Google Docs app on Android with a few new enhancements. First off, the update adds support for selecting, cutting, copying, and pasting text, images, tables, and charts in Office Compatibility Mode. The update also adds the ability to insert links into Google documents.

From the Google Apps blog:

A new version of the Google Docs Android app is now available on Google Play. New features include:

Support for selecting, cutting, copying and pasting text along with images, tables, and charts in Office Compatibility Mode

Ability to insert links in Google documents

The update is available now via the Play Store, although it is a staged rollout and may take a little while to hit your device.

Google launches official AdWords app for Android, but it’s Canada-only for now

Stephen Hall Feb 18 2015 - 1:41 pm PT

Google has today launched an official app for its AdWords platform, but sadly the company is restricting access to Canada for the time being. This news comes after Google launched its AdWords Express app last year, which was made specifically for the company’s automated AdWords service for small businesses.

NBC updates Android app w/ live streaming in select markets & partial catalog of classic shows

Mike Beasley Feb 18 2015 - 7:08 am PT

All users will be able to take advantage of the other new feature added in version 3.0, however…

NBC has this morning released an update for its Android app that introduces live streaming of the network’s content directly to an Android phone or tablet. Like most things in the cable industry, the feature is only available in a few select cable markets that this time and requires a subscription to a cable or satellite partner.

Google Play Music for iOS updated w/ Material Design, first ever iPad version

Chance Miller Feb 17 2015 - 11:40 am PT

Google this afternoon has begun rolling out a major update to the Play Music app on iOS. The update packs a handful of new features and enhancements, including a totally refreshed Material Design interface, and for the first time, an iPad optimized interface, as well.

Google removes Sparrow email client from iOS and Mac App Stores

Chance Miller Feb 17 2015 - 8:35 am PT

Google acquired the popular email client Sparrow back in 2012 and announced that the entire team would be joining Google to work on Gmail. Since that acquisition, Sparrow apps received only a handful of updates and have been seemingly neglected in favor of Google’s new Inbox initiative. Over the past few days, however, Sparrow appears to have received the final nail in its coffin as it has been removed from both the Mac App Store and iOS App Store (via TechCrunch).

Google has a plan to zero-rate mobile app data used by Android One devices

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 1:46 pm PT

Google is reportedly working on a way for users of Android One devices to get free data when using some apps, as data plans are expensive and can sometimes prevent potential customers from getting online. Zero rating is most commonly done in deals between carriers and third-party apps that will let users of those apps use them without it tolling their data usage. But Google has a bigger plan, bringing zero rating to many third-party apps in developing markets like India.

The company may go as far as to make it possible for any developer to zero-rate the mobile data used by their application…

Google Maps lane guidance expands to 15 new European countries

Chance Miller Feb 12 2015 - 1:48 pm PT

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Google today has announced that it is expanding support of lane guidance in Maps for Android to 15 additional European countries. The feature was launched in the United States and Canada last year, with Google promising expansion at a future date. Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom gained support for lane guidance in December.

Today’s update adds lane guidance to the following 15 European countries:
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Google Talk app for Windows getting the final axe on February 16th

Stephen Hall Feb 9 2015 - 9:40 am PT

If you’re still using the Google Talk app for Windows, it might be a good idea to make your way over to Hangouts. According to a message that some users are receiving when logging in, Google Talk is going to stop working in about a week (via BI India).

Google Talk app for Windows will stop working on 16 Feb. 2015. It is replaced by the new Hangouts Chrome app. Install the Hangouts app from http://goo.gl/yglfk6

Chances are that you stopped using the service, called Gtalk by its loyal users, years ago. But it looks like even those who still do—and, trust me, there’s a loyal fanbase that does exist—will be forced to move over to Hangouts effective February 16th.

This message is very similar to others that we’ve been seeing over the last year. Here’s one from November of 2014 (via Mark’s PC Solution):

We’ve reached out to Google for confirmation.

Google acquires Odysee, team behind photo backup and sharing app joins Google+

Stephen Hall Feb 9 2015 - 6:51 am PT

An app called Odysee has been acquired by Google, and the “Platform Team” behind it will be joining the Google+ team. The app, while definitely not all too well known, let users automatically back up their photos and videos from their smartphones to the cloud as well as a home computer.

The team will continue to work on “building amazing products” at Google, but it’s not exactly clear yet what the team is going to be doing—or what parts of Odysee may or may not be making it into Google+. Auto-upload of photos to Google+ has been pushed in the company’s official app for quite some time now, so maybe the team is coming on board to flesh out and expand that functionality of the service…
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CamFind visual search for Google Glass launches after being shown off in September

Stephen Hall Feb 6 2015 - 8:06 am PT

Update: Added official app description and Glassware directory link.

CamFind’s technology is exciting because it’s a big step toward truly accurate and reliable visual search, and while their Android app has been on the Play Store (and the App Store) for quite some time now, it’s been a long time coming for the app’s launch on Google Glass.

First shown off to the world in September of last year, CamFind—and its ability to recognize most objects in your daily life and give you more information about them hands-free—is finally making its way to the Glassware Directory today.