app - 32/79 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

Draw Something's "Fresh New Look" Could Use Some Help, But A Few Tweaks Could Make All The Difference

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Design, Editorials

With the introduction of Draw Something's "fresh new look!" update a couple of days ago came many design changes, not all of them entirely great. Just for fun, I decided to take a shot at making Draw Something's design slightly "fresher," or at least slightly more sensible. Just like my last design critique, I'll start by taking a look at what issues the current design has, and then make a few suggestions (with some quick mockups) as to what I think could be improved.

What's Wrong

To be completely fair, Draw Something's new look isn't terrible. It's just not what it could be.

Jun

Nokia Acquires Scalado, Maker Of The Magical Object-Erasing Remove Software

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Back in February and shortly before MWC, developer Scalado unveiled an app called Remove. Put simply, the app allowed you to remove unwanted objects from images - for example, if your significant other is posing in front of the Louvre, you can remove other tourists from the picture. It works by taking multiple photos of the scene, then determining which ones moved through, and removing them at a touch.

As you can see in the video above, Remove was demoed on an Android device, suggesting with relative certainty that an Android app was near. Unfortunately, Nokia has acquired the company (you know, with all that spare cash they have), meaning it's unlikely Remove for Android will ever see the light of day.

Jun

Frisbee Rush For Android Lets You Play Frisbee With Aliens - On Your TV

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Games, News

Frisbee Rush is undoubtedly one of the most original games we've seen in ages. The story is simple - the city has been invaded by aliens, and only you and your awesome frisbee-wielding abilities can stop them - but the mechanics are anything but. See, your phone is only the controller; the game is played on your TV or PC.

Getting started with the game is about as easy as it gets: download the Android app, and load up http://www.frisbeerush.com on your TV or PC. Choose how many players you want (1, 2, or 3) and the game mode you want (training or arcade), then just enter the sync code.

Jun

Official U.S. Open Golf Championship App Released With Live Video, Scoring Updates And ESPN Radio

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

With the 2012 U.S. Open right around the corner - things get under way tomorrow - The United States Golf Association has released an official Android app to allow fans to follow the action on the go right from their phones.

The app is full of information for users to sink their teeth into, from full course details and information about each hole to biographies for each player competing.

Although the application is available to everyone, live video functionality is only available to view within the United States. For those of you in the US, you can look forward to live marquee groups and hole coverage in the app.

Jun

After Eighteen Months Of Service, Popular Security App TekTrak Shuts Its Doors

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

In an e-mail to its customers today, the team at TekTrak (an app we reviewed back in August) officially announced that the service has shut down and that users will no longer be able to utilize its features. In the heartfelt message the team explains that, as with many startup ventures, it has come time for the service to shutter its windows and call it quits.

TekTrak's official website has also been updated to reflect the end of the service.

Dear TekTrak Customers,
We are sad to announce that the TekTrak service has shut down, and you will no longer be able to use its features.

Jun

Evernote Food: Now You Can Save, Share And Relive That Deep-Fried Triple Twinkie Bacon Sandwich In Excruciating Detail

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

While after a discussion we at Android Police were unable to determine exactly why Evernote couldn't implement the functionality of its newest Android app, Food, into the existing Evernote app, we were able to settle on one thing: people take too many pictures of the things they eat. Evernote Food wants you to do this more, though, and has a veritable cornucopia of tools at your disposal to make you the ultimate delicacy documentarian.

In all seriousness, this does look to be a pretty good app for creating your own visual, step-by-step recipes (you can take photos and caption them as you go), something I can appreciate.

Jun

Tagy Replaces Rows Of App Icons On Your Home Screen With A Tag Cloud, Lets You Know What You Don't Use

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

One of the nicest things about Android that gets taken for granted is the ability to customize your user interface. While most folks tend to stick to app icons for launching their apps, Tagy offers an alternative approach: a tag cloud. Tagy is actually a set of widgets that let you specify a list of apps, contacts, or bookmarks to appear in a single widget. Then, as you use the widget, the items you use more often will get bigger.

Users can customize the color of their tags to fit into whatever theme they're already using. Additionally, because the items you use get larger the more you use them, you can isolate the less-used apps, which you can then either remove from the list or uninstall altogether.

Jun

Open Garden Beta Comes To The Play Store – Create Mesh Networks, Share Internet Connectivity On The Fly

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Open Garden is hands down one of the most impressive apps I've seen this year. The app, first introduced at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC 2012 as the startup that would go on to win the conference title of Most Innovative Startup, allows users to create an "open garden" of internet connectivity for multiple devices to share. The startup's official website explains it this way:

The operators sell us fancy handsets, but behave as if broken networks are a fact of life. … Imagine, instead, if all of the smartphones in any location could use their formidable processing power to share access to the Internet.

Jun

Sony SmartWatch Update Is Breaking Devices, Users Report Problems All Over The World While Sony Is Silent

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News, Sony

If you own a Sony SmartWatch, you may want to ignore the impending update to the SmartWatch app on the Play Store right now. Some users are reporting that, after updating the required app, their watches are experiencing random reboots, notifications no longer working, and random disconnects. We've reached out to Sony for comment, but so far we've heard nothing back.

It appears that version 1.2.33 of the software began causing problems. The current app has now been bumped to version 1.2.34, however it's unclear if this update fixes the problem and allows users to upgrade safely. What is clear is that if you already updated to 1.2.33, and your device was then bricked, you won't be able to update to 1.2.34, as the device disconnects right away.

Jun

[New App] Instapaper For Android Lands In The Play Store – Save Webpages For Offline Reading In Style

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Instapaper, "a simple tool to save web pages for reading later," is wildly popular among iOS users, but has – until now – eluded Android users. Looking to quench users' thirst for the highly desired app, Mobelux has just made Instapaper live in Google's Play Store.

For those who aren't familiar, Instapaper allows users to quickly, easily save reading material they discover online but don't have time to read right away. The app is able to save just about any webpage in a text-only format, allowing for easy, "distraction-free" reading at your leisure.

Perhaps the best part about Instapaper is that saved content is stored for offline viewing, meaning users can read their saved content anywhere at any time.