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Frequent travelers know Google Maps all too well. It's one of the most widely used apps on Android for a reason. A brand new update to version 9.8 just turned up, and there are a few notable changes to take a look at. This release appears to be dedicated to fine-tuning different parts of the interface, so there aren't any big changes here. Maps now gives users the option to upload multiple photos simultaneously, hide reservations from location cards, and more. As usual, we've got a download link at the bottom of the page if you'd rather jump straight to the apk.
Just last month, YouTube added support for 360-degree videos, giving us yet another way to thoroughly confound our grandparents with the cool new stuff that can be done with gadgets. We had an early warning this was coming after a Teardown exposed an option to filter search results for "spherical" and 4k videos. A subsequent update to the YouTube app enabled the filter for 4k videos, but mysteriously ignored spherical videos. It looks like it's finally time to take more of those 360 videos for a spin, Google is finally letting users filter for them in the Android app and web interface.
Google Keep was one of the first apps to add support for the Android Wear platform, giving users a quick, simple, and mostly effortless way to record short notes without reaching for a smartphone. Since then, the main application has seen several updates, but the Wear-specific companion app has gone mostly unchanged. With the latest update, the tables have been turned, and it's time for the Wear app to go through a moderately sizeable refresh.
Now that Project Fi has come out into the open, we can expect to see integration for the new service popping up in a handful of Google's apps over the coming weeks. The first app to received custom support is Hangouts, which began rolling out just hours after the Project Fi website went live. This update doesn't make any changes to parts of the app we care about, but just adds some elements that come alive when a device is hooked to Google's new service. The apk is exclusively for devices running Android 5.1, and I wouldn't expect to see another variant with support for lower versions since every Nexus 6, Project Fi's sole supported phone, should theoretically be 5.1 (unless your current carrier is evil). While there aren't any changes for most of us to use today, there are a few bits we can learn about the service from what's available in Hangouts.
In every field, there are certain tools of the trade that everybody just simply knows. Apktool has become one of those, helping app modders and themers with reshaping the software we use on our phones every day. Version 2.0 has been in the works for 2 years, and just yesterday it was promoted to a final release.
Google let the cat out of the bag yesterday with a blog post detailing just what we should expect in the next major version to Android Wear. An upcoming software update will be adding Wi-Fi support, always-on apps, and a few other interesting options. While we wait for new firmwares to hit our wrist-bound hardware, the Android Wear app just received its own update to prepare for the new features. This isn't just a small maintenance release to add configuration screens, there are some major visual and organizational improvements, and a few new features.
At one time in history, building an app that gave a consistent experience across all (or most) versions of Android was nearly impossible without dedicating a lot of time and effort. Thanks to the Android Support Library (a.k.a. AppCompat), it's easy to use some of the most important and commonplace user interface elements on versions of Android going as far back as Donut and Éclair. A fresh update for AppCompat was just released, bringing it to v22.1, and it introduces some really big changes. The ActionBarActivity has been deprecated for a new AppCompatActivity class, several new features from Lollipop were ported back to the Support V4, and some big improvements were made for Leanback, Palette, RecyclerView, and Renderscript.
When a new version of Android hits, we want to know what's inside of its candy-coated shell. One of the best ways to discover all of the new treats is to read through the developer comments located in the Android Open Source Project. We've downloaded the code and generated a changelog of every single modification made between v5.1.0_r5 (LMY47O) and the newly released v5.1.1_r1 (LMY47V).
If you're a ROM developer, or just in the mood to poke around the latest Android source code, you'll be excited to know that 5.1.1 has just been uploaded to AOSP. The tag for this release is 5.1.1_r1, and it carries the build number LMY47V. A factory image is already available for the Nexus Player, and the rest of the Nexus family will probably stabilize on this version over the coming weeks.
We've seen signs of Android 5.1.1 for the last couple of weeks in both the Android SDK Manager and Developer Portal, and it looks like it's finally ready to go live. The Nexus Player is the first device to be graced by the update, bringing the build number up to LMY47V. So far, there haven't been any reports of OTAs hitting the set-top box, but Google has posted the factory image and binaries.
When we buy gadgets, it's usually with the expectation that their useful lifetime will carry us at least until we're ready to replace them, and hopefully well beyond. Most people assume their smartphones should last at least two years, in part because contract customers in the US are accustomed to unreasonably high upgrade prices for mid-term upgrades, and also because most manufacturers have adopted yearly release cycles that fit well with this pace. The expectations for tablets aren't as well defined, but most customers seem to want about 3 years or so. Even when we're done with a device, we want to be the ones to end the relationship, rather than wake up and find our hardware dead beyond hope. Unfortunately, recent reports suggest the 2013 Nexus 7 from Asus is not living up to the standards set forth by many owners as units are catastrophically failing at increasing rates.
Sunshine 3.1 Adds S-OFF Support For HTC One M9 And Automatic SIM Unlock For Most Of HTC's GSM Phones
New smartphones are rolling off the line pretty regularly, and that means the tools we use to work with them have to update, too. Last month, Sunshine v3.0 emerged with support for an extensive collection of HTC and Motorola handsets, and now an update to v3.1 is about to build on that list. With the latest release, Justin Case and Beaups have added support for almost every variant of the HTC One M9, except Verizon's. Expanded compatibility isn't the only new treat for users, Sunshine has also added the capability to automatically SIM unlock most of the GSM-based phones manufactured by HTC.
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Update Wednesday hit like a ton of bricks, this week. It didn't help that it also happened to land on tax day in the United States. Not only were there new versions for about a dozen apps from Google, but a couple of new ones joined the mix. Yet again, Drive and its associated document editing apps are gracing the Teardown stage with even more new improvements on the horizon. This time, we see that Drive is getting a chip-based interface for adding collaborators, Slides will allow for presentations over Hangouts, all of the editors are going to have stylized templates, and there might even be a Secret Next-Gen UI on the way (but probably not).
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- Installing Play Services 7.3.27 will also change the pull-to-refresh implementation in Google+ from an animated bar to Google's newer rotating arrow.
Google Play services made a rather lofty jump from 7.0 to 7.3 a few days ago. While there don't appear to be any big API changes for developers, a couple of pretty obnoxious issues were cleared up for regular users. It looks like the Home address in Trusted Places is not only working again, but there may be an improved UI that makes it even easier to set up safe zones (if you didn't already have it). Android Wear owners will also be pleased to say goodbye to the persistent notification. As always, we've got a download link below.
Some over-the-air updates just began their rollout to the Nexus 4 and 2013 Nexus 7 LTE, bringing their build versions up to LMY47O. If you're curious about what's actually different, we've generated a changelog with all of the gory details. That is to say, not much has changed. Sadly, the list of commits is limited to fixing a handful of relatively trivial and uncommon bugs.
LastPass users, the day you've been looking forward to is finally here. The tool you rely on to keep your online life secure has finally gone Material. If you check the Play Store or have automatic updates enabled, you'll see LastPass is now available with a fresh coat of paint and significant improvements in every corner of the interface. All of the menus and settings screens have been reorganized to be cleaner and more readable, a navigation drawer provides access to all of the app's features, and a brand new floating action button makes additions more intuitive.
For the last couple of months, we've seen a lot of big things happening for Drive, Maps, Search, and even the News & Weather app. It's been fairly quiet for the suite of Google Play content apps – but don't be fooled, big changes are coming. A recent Update Wednesday release of Play Movies didn't present any noteworthy or visibly obvious changes; but a look inside revealed a couple of hints about upcoming changes. Just two days later, a brand new release of the Play Store came along to not only fill in some of the gaps, but to add even more interesting bits. That's right, it's a double-header teardown of the Play Store and Play Movies & TV apps.
A fresh update to the Google App, formerly Google Search, just started rolling out. Don't get too excited yet, it looks like the only user-facing change today is that Nicknames has finally gone into wide release for the users that didn't already have it. The good news is that a quick teardown shows that Trusted Voice might be launching soon, possibly even with this version. There's also a new experiment in the works called Seamless Hotword.
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Google Wallet news picked up dramatically a few weeks ago amidst rumors of a more competitive strategy from Google, followed shortly thereafter by the Softcard technology acquisition. Naturally, we were anticipating something pretty big when an update suddenly brought Wallet from v8.0 to v9.0. We...were let down. Google was kind enough to finally add search functionality to the Transactions screen, but sacrificed the Orders screen in the process.