It was only a few months ago that Google finally updated its long-neglected News and Weather app, sometimes called the Genie widget because of the package name. Today there's already a sizeable update for the app that brings a new dark theme, material animations, search, and more.

What’s New

The APK is down below for you to grab, but here's what you can expect when you update.

  • Changes share icon to universal Android tree style
  • Adds search function
  • Dark theme option
  • Change to standard G+ background image account switcher UI
  • Material animations (hamburger flip, overflow waves, drop-down refresh spinner
  • New weather charts (wind, humidity) and new chart UI

The dark UI is pretty slick, and it's much easier on the eyes in a dark room. The new theme is accompanied by material flourishes throughout the app. The refresh spinner, hamburger icon, and overscroll all fit better with the Lollipop aesthetic. The new weather charts can be found in the expanded weather section at the top. The chart UI is laid out as a series of tabs that better accommodate the new graphs. We're still poking around to see if there's anything else new in the update.

Download

The APK is signed by Google and upgrades your existing app. The cryptographic signature guarantees that the file is safe to install and was not tampered with in any way. Rather than wait for Google to push this download to your devices, which can take days, download and install it just like any other APK.

File name: com.google.android.apps.genie.geniewidget-2.2_(1608414)-2200190-minAPI14.apk.

Version: 2.2 (1608414) (2200190) (Android 4.0+).

MD5: 37eb866199c4e894878b8998d5752c31.