With the latest version of Google Play services rolled out, the Android Developers blog is detailing what new features this update brings. Version 8.4 introduces an easier way for users to share their favorite apps, a more accurate way to determine location, and new APIs for fitness data.
In the past, we’ve seen developers get Game Boy Advance games working on Android Wear watches. It’s not entirely practical for a number of reasons, but it’s still kind of fun and cool. There is now a Space Defender-esque game for Wear that was released as an Android Experiments app.
Kamcord, the popular platform for gameplay recording in mobile apps, is today launching support for live streaming directly from Android.
Apple has updated the Apple Music Android app with a bug fix and a couple of new features.
This update fixes an issue that prevented listening to Beats 1 without an Apple Music membership. It also includes support for the upcoming beta of Apple Music on Sonos, and for playlist folders created in iTunes.
It also includes stability and performance improvements.
Apple first offered the app to Android users last month, and offers a three-month free trial, after which an individual subscription costs $10/month while a family of up to five can share a $15/month subscription.
Check out our setup and first impressions video for a taster.
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
Instant Articles are Facebook’s attempts to speed up webpages on mobile in order to keep users reading and sharing within the social network. The serviced fully launched to all iOS users in October and has been in public testing since then on Android. Today, Instant Articles are rolling out to all Android users, as the rest of industry continues work on an open sourced alternative .
In September, to coincide with the beginning of the school year, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides added the ability to use a template to start a document. Previously restricted to the web, an update rolling out starting today adds the same ability to Android and iOS apps.
Now on Tap has been criticized for its lack of usefulness since its launch in October. Today, it’s receiving its first major update that adds new languages and now recognizes more types of information. The screenshot feature previous seen in the beta channel is also now rolling out again.
Inbox, Google’s smart assistant-heavy email client, is getting updated with new features for sharing travel plans and an easier way to attach photos to emails.
Google’s Maps app for iPhone and iPad got a small but useful update on the App Store today. The latest version of the Google Maps iOS app now includes a couple of handy features.
First up, and undoubtedly the most useful for drivers is the up-to-date gas prices in the US and Canada. The feature was included in the Android version of Google’s app a couple of months ago and lets users check nearby gas stations to see which has the most affordable prices. You can find prices simply be searching for ‘gas’ or ‘gas stations’ in the search field and Google Maps will automatically bring up the nearest options and list pricing for those locations.
Business hours have been included in the app for some time, but today’s update also lets you check when is best to avoid/visit particular businesses. Like its online search and maps tools, the updated iPhone app brings the ability check popular visiting hours for local stores and outlets. Now you can see what you always knew about any business or retail location: It starts getting busy after lunch.
Google Maps version 4.13.0 is available to download from the App Store for free and requires users to be running iOS 7.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
An updated version of Play Music for Android redesigns the music controls in the notification drawer. When expanded, the notification now features thumps up/down buttons. This is almost certainly an effort by Google to get a more accurate picture of user’s music taste.
In addition to improving cut/copy/paste, the redesigned text selection pop-up in Android 6.0 Marshmallow allows developers to take advantage of the new contextual selection feature. The Wikipedia app has been updated so that when text is selected there is now an option to ‘Search Wikipedia’.
Update: To be out of stock they appear.
Update 2: The Cardboard viewers are back in the store. I was able to get one as of 12PM PST.
As we come to the weekend before Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives, the movie tie-ins are hitting even harder. The Google Store is giving away free Star Wars-themed Cardboard viewers to anybody who wants one…
The latest beta of the Google app adds a share icon to Now On Tap that doubles as a quick way to take and share screenshots of your current screen. While Now on Tap hasn’t been the most useful feature yet, most people will find this to be a very practical and nifty trick.
With Mailbox now decommissioned, the third party Android email app scene is a little more bleak than it was before. One company hoping to bring us a little joy is Yahoo. It recently updated its Yahoo Mail app to version 5.1.0 which (among other things) now includes support for Gmail. With it being an Android app, you’d assume that it should have Gmail compatibility from the outset. But apparently, Yahoo didn’t see it that way.
Gmail support is added to the pre-existing list of providers, including Outlook, AOL and Yahoo mail accounts. What’s more, you can search your inbox and archive messages just as you would with any good Google-supporting email client. Along with the ability to connect with Gmail accounts, version 5.1.0 also brings the option to select all messages in any individual folder for mass-deleting and moving. They’ve also made it easier to access different accounts and settings.
Here’s the change log posted to the Yahoo Mail Play Store page:
5.1.0:– Connect Gmail mailboxes to read, organize, search and respond to your Gmail messages within the Yahoo Mail app– Select all messages in a specific folder on your device – just tap on the select all icon in the upper-left corner when moving or deleting multiple messagesInterface improvements for account switching, settings, touch targets, and message list readability– TalkBack accessibility improvements– Performance enhancements
While Google has shifted its focus to Android Pay for contactless payments, Google Wallet has needed to reinvent itself somewhat as a peer-to-peer payment system. With the latest update, it’s become a whole lot easier to send money to your friends, family and contacts.
From today, the updated app on both iOS and Android will let you send money to anyone on your contact list, even if you don’t have their email address. You can send money to them using their phone number, and it’s secure and fast.
The Chromecast Audio was announced with the ability to basically replicate the functionality of a high-end Sonos system, but at a much cheaper price of $35. An update rolling out starting today further fulfills that with multi-room and Hi-Res audio support…
Yahoo today released a new “Yahoo Video Guide” app for mobile devices that acts as one central location for users to find content from across a long list of competitive video services and networks.
The app allows users to search from one place and then offers links to buy or start streaming the content in other apps like Amazon, Netflix, HBO GO, and many others. So you’ll still need to be a subscriber, have the app downloaded, and or purchase the content once the Yahoo Video Guide app redirects you.
And while you can just search for something you’re looking for, the app also has a Mood Picker feature that lets users pick a from GIFs to search through curated lists.
Yahoo of course has its own Yahoo Screen app for mobile devices, but it also links to content on iTunes, Amazon Video, Hulu, Netflix, HBO GO, ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, Xfinity, YouTube, A&E, BET, Cartoon Network, Cinemax, Comedy Central, Disney, Food Network, and others. In total it says it’s promoting over 30 video services through the new Video Guide app.
The Yahoo Video Guide Android app is available to download for free in the US.
Back at Google’s big event in September, the company announced a new feature destined for Google Photos later this year: Shared Albums. This lets you invite friends and family to view albums that you create and add photos to, and you can optionally allow them to also add photos to these shared albums. As promised, Google will begin rolling out its new Shared Albums feature for Google Photos starting today.
When Pebble announced its new Pebble Time watches and (later on) the Pebble Time Round, it also released a brand new operating system for its popular wearable. This new Timeline was a drastic departure from its original user interface. Sadly, it was a UI only available to those with the new Time models, although the company did promise that the new OS would make its way to older devices too.
Modern ironies: a metro or train journey is one of those occasions when you have some time to catch up on your Facebook feed, but you often have no data connection or a very intermittent one. The company is currently testing a couple of features that should help.
The first is caching posts that have been downloaded but not yet viewed. When you’re offline, the app will display these posts.
We look at all the previously downloaded stories present on your phone that you have not yet viewed, and rank them based on their relevance. We also factor in whether the images for the story are available. This way we can immediately display relevant stories you haven’t seen yet, instead of showing a spinner while you wait for new stories.
Second, it will allow you to comment on posts even when offline, storing your comments in the app and then uploading them once you’re back online.
There’s no indication on when we’ll see the new features, but the fact that Facebook is sharing them suggests that they are likely to be introduced sooner rather than later.
Via Engadget. Photo Dado Ruvic/Reuters.
Historically, Chrome to Phone has been one of the most useful apps and extensions to be launched by Google. Using it, Android users could send links from web pages direct to their Android phone from the Chrome browser. It made its official entry in 2010 with the aim to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile. Earlier this year, Google announced that it would be discontinuing the extension.
As spotted by Android Police — to add the final nail to the coffin — the company has marked the Android app as [DEPRECATED] on the Play Store, and intends to shut it down by March 2016.
Chrome to Phone was launched in 2010 to help bridge your desktop and phone experience by making it easy to send Web links to your phone. Over the years, Google’s core products have evolved to be more integrated across different form factors. As of today, Chrome to Phone is deprecated. The app will continue to work until Mar 31st 2016 after which it will no longer work.
If you’re still using the service, there are several alternatives. One of which — of course — is Google’s very own Chrome tab-sync which synchronizes tabs across all of your devices with Chrome installed (assuming you’re signed in to all with the same account). Another third party option is Pushbullet which lets you sync notifications from Android to desktop, send SMS messages, share links and even remotely access files.
Google has highlighted new features for Google Drive apps today that it says make it easier to search for files on Android, iOS, and web.
Among the improvements to search in the app, you’ll now be able to narrow your search by file type and open advanced search from the search box. For iOS specifically, users can now get quick access to recent files and search from the Home screen icon using 3D Touch and the ability to search from iOS’s Spotlight feature.
Here’s a full list of improvements courtesy of Google:
Google says the improvements for Drive will roll out to the Android and iOS apps over the coming weeks.
Having announced its intention to do so earlier this year, Google is now rolling out its up-t0-6 person family plan for its popular music streaming service. Starting today, you can sign up to the Google Play Music family plan for $14.99 per month and you and your family can listen to as much music as you like without ads. Over the next few days, Android devices in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France and Germany should see the option to sign up become available in the Play Music app.
