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Latest Google Home update delivers live data usage charts to Nest Wifi owners
Plus support for second-gen Nest Hub
The Google Home app is getting an update to version 2.34 today in the wake of the debut of the new Nest Hub — namely, the app has been made to support said new device as well as a couple of other more features if you're in a Google Workspace or own a Google Wifi or Nest Wifi mesh network.
A Google News bug has been making the rounds since early September, but has recently picked up steam and claimed many victims: the app is downloading tons of data in the background and causing overages for many users.
An interesting new version of the Project Fi app began rolling out yesterday. There's a big change to the version number, but otherwise, nothing special to see in the app. However, a teardown of the resources reveals some important changes are scheduled to arrive. The biggest addition will be spam filtering, which should remove all of the disturbances caused by annoying telemarketers and scammers. Also in line are notifications when your data usage suddenly skyrockets, and an in-app feature to turn off Bill Protection once your data is throttled.
Version 3.4 of Google Photos started rolling out earlier today, and like so many other recent app updates, you're probably not going to see much in the way of changes. This is a pretty common theme around this time of year as Google prepares to launch new hardware and services. But investigating the app updates themselves can still turn up clues about future enhancements. In this release, there are signs that users will be able to mark photos as "favorites" and quickly pull up a list for easy browsing. There's also going to be a new notification when you're on cellular networks to allow one-time passes for the backup system to use some of that data and get your photos and videos into the cloud ASAP.
Yesterday's update to Allo came with announcements that it now supports reactions (basically "likes") and that the doomed blobmoji are to be kept on life support in the form of a sticker pack. As meager an update as it might seem at first glance, it turns out that there are several other new features in this release. On top of that, a teardown shows quite a bit is in the works.
If you've been using Verizon's prepaid service, you may have noticed some limitations in the variety of plan management methods. That is to say, short of visiting the My Verizon site, you didn't really have many options. But, starting June 28th, Verizon prepaid consumers will be able to manage their plan details and view things like data consumption with the My Verizon app.
Do you want more data allotment per month? If the answer is no, I'm not sure why you're reading Android Police and I'm starting to doubt whether we should be friends. The answer should always be yes, regardless. And to that, Cricket Wireless is upping its data allocation on its $40 monthly plan ($35 with autopay) from 3GB to 4GB.
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It's 2016, and despite the proliferation of services that get us to store our data on other people's servers, most of us have carrier plans that limit how many of those bytes we can transfer over a cellular network. I personally have access to Wi-Fi for most of the day, and I don't particularly want to spend the time that I don't staring at a phone, but even then, background data usage can pose a problem. Android already lets you set warnings and limits that prevent you from going over your monthly cap, but N introduces a feature that intends to increase how long it takes you to get to that point.
Snapchat's developers have pushed out another update to the Android app, version 9.14. Like before, users get to satisfy their thirst with a trickle of new features.
For AT&T customers, the myAT&T app serves as a mobile portal into their cellular accounts, a place to view usage, curse, and make payments (though not necessarily in that order). Version 3.0 has rolled out a new UI, and while it does look better than the previous version, it's still just a mobile web page with an app wrapped around it. Slideout menus are pretty and convenient though (perhaps even pretty convenient), so the app gets points for having one.
With the launch of the Galaxy Nexus, there's a good chance that many users left their current carrier to go with Verizon. Since Big Red no longer offers unlimited data plans, keeping tabs on your data usage is an absolute must. For that, Onavo is here to help, and the most recent update to its app makes monitoring your usage even easier.
Let's face it -- no one likes tiered data plans. Still, it is something that most of us have to deal with, and I've never met anyone who wants to suffer the result of going over their allotted bandwidth. Fortunately, Google is offering a nice, proactive solution (not to be confused with the face cream that gets rid of acne, that's something else entirely) to help users avoid connection speed slowdowns or, even worse, surprise overage fees.
Update: According to two separate Verizon memos intercepted by Droid-life, existing Verizon customers can keep their existing data plan pricing when renewing or upgrading. Unfortunately, as with all offers of this type, just how long it will last remains to be seen. But, given that the BIONIC is coming some time soon-ish, it seems very likely that existing Verizon customers will be able to get the device without being forced into tiered data.