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May

Google Play Books Updated To Allow Uploading Your Own Documents And Books, Plus Additional Tweaks

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in News

Google's Play Books service launched last year as a competent reading app, and a necessary pillar for Google Play. But one feature readers have since been asking for is the ability to incorporate their own files into the library, and now Google is adding that option to the service.

Play Books supports PDF and EPUB files, which can be uploaded through the online library on your desktop. The feature appears to still be rolling out, so don't worry if you get a 404 right now. For comparison, Amazon's Kindle service has long supported uploaded content, but it relies on awkward email attachments.

May

Google I/O 2013 App Gets Last Minute Update To V1.1 – Includes DashClock Support, Higher-Res Photos, Session Feedback, And More

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Even if you're not physically attending Google I/O, the official convention app might serve you well. It allows attendees to scan badges, view schedules, and just guide themselves around with vector-based maps. If you're not going to be in Moscone Center tomorrow, you can stream sessions with the app. Waiting just about as long as possible, Google has pushed an update to the I/O app, and it adds some cool stuff.

Here's the full changelog:

Added session feedback form.
Improved maps functionality.
Higher resolution speaker photos.
Added DashClock widget support.
Various fixes for stability and performance.
Added localizations.

May

Airbnb Revamps Android App In Version 2.0 – Adds Calendar Management, Host Pre-Approval, And A New UI

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Had enough of noisy hotels infested with bed bugs and slathered in unidentifiable fluids? Why not rent short term accommodations from a regular human being? That's the service Airbnb provides, and the startup has been making headway in recent years. In an attempt to make the process of finding appropriate lodging more convenient on mobile devices, the company has completely redesigned its Android app and added a few new features.

The new app is more attractive an Android-y than the old version, which made heavy use of gradients and iOS-style buttons. The new UI is flatter and has some Holo (#YOLO) design elements.

May

Google I/O Android App Updated For 2013 With A Ton Of New Features

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

As the start of Google I/O 2013 grows achingly close, Mountain View has seen fit to grace us with a pretty significant update of the official Google I/O app for this year's conference. For anyone attending the event, this app is going to be their golden ticket. The app should work on most Android form-factors (2.3 Gingerbread or higher), with a killer card-based UI that's consistent with Google's new design aesthetic. As for features, there's quite a lot going on:

NEW! Scan attendee badges via NFC
NEW! Schedule changes are immediately synchronized between devices
NEW! Lock screen widget for viewing your agenda on the go
NEW!

May

Action Launcher Updated To Version 1.6 With Easier Shortcut/Widget Placement And Home Screen Locking

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Alternative launchers have been on Android since the beginning, and most of them have made their name by taking the stock experience and piling on new features. Action Launcher is a little different. This app shakes up the UI conventions of the Android home screen, and it's really got some good ideas. The new update fixes a few niggling issues with the way apps and widgets are added to the home screen.

Adding new app shortcuts or widgets to Action Launcher before this update was perhaps the most clunky part of the experience. You'd have to open the customization menu and scroll through the list to find the items you wanted.

May

WeatherBug App Gets Complete UI Overhaul – No Longer Looks Like A Hot Mess

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

WeatherBug has been a big name in online weather forecasting for a number of years, and it was one of the first full-featured weather apps on Android. The problem, however, is that the app looked like it was designed by inebriated orangutans. Well, no more. The WeatherBug app has been updated with new features and a streamlined (not ugly) UI.

The new app has Holo-style tabs up top along with a drop-down for your locations. It also uses the left side slide-out menu system many apps are implementing these days. It still does all the usual weather app things like updating the current conditions, multi-day forecasts, and animated radar maps.

Apr

Linden Lab Makes Creatorverse Free, Offers Paying Users Additional Content (Maybe)

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

You may be familiar with Linden Lab as the folks behind the once very popular online world Second Life. The company also has a cross-platform mobile app called Creatorverse, which used to cost $4.99. Now, that app is free with in-app purchases, and users who paid for it are a bit confused.

Creatorverse is a sandbox-style app that lets you build various contraptions, machines, and puzzles with a wide array of tools. You can think of it like Apparatus, but even more open. The free version of Creatorverse includes a subset of the tools from the original paid edition, but Linden Lab says anyone who paid for the app will still get access to premium features at no additional charge.

Apr

Subsonic Music Streamer Updated To Remove Ads, No More In-App Purchase Required

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Back in October Subsonic was updated with a Holo interface, which was a vast improvement over the old UI. However, that update also included ads. There was a $4.44 in-app purchase to remove them, but now that's a thing of the past. The new version of Subsonic for Android is completely ad-free by default.

The upsell in the app didn't really make much sense in the first place. Subsonic is a streaming service that runs from your home PC to give you access to your media on the go. However, the server software is not free if you want to stream to a mobile device, so charging again in the app felt a little unnecessary.

Mar

Falcon Pro Updated To Version 1.7 With Customizable Widgets And Tweet Translation

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Yes, Falcon Pro is still kicking after temporarily running out of Twitter auth tokens last month. The developer has just updated the app with a feature he promised in the wake of tokengate: widgets. There are a few other changes, but man.. look at how widget-y those widgets are!

Falcon Pro was previously dependent on the Falcon widget for home screen interaction. That setup gets the job done, but requires two process to be running and updating the feed simultaneously. These new Falcon Pro components also feel much more responsive than the Falcon widget. The Falcon Pro widgets come as a scrollable feed or a quick actions bar.

Feb

Falcon Pro Dev Resets Tokens To Free Up Space For New Users – App Back On Sale At More Reasonable Price

Posted by Ryan Whitwam in Applications, Apps/Games, News

The ongoing saga of Falcon Pro and the great Twitter token shortage of 2013 has taken yet another turn. No, Twitter hasn't stopped being a jerk-face. Developer Joaquim Vergès has reset all the tokens for Falcon Pro in an effort to free up unused ones. This should (temporarily) solve the problem of new users being locked out.

This means that when users download the new update, they're going to be forced to log back in to Twitter. Because there are actually fewer than 100,000 active users, there should be enough access tokens to go around. Popular wisdom states that it was returns, former users, and pirates that were soaking up a large chunk of the tokens.