gallery - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[New App] SphereShare.net Is A Massive Gallery Of PhotoSpheres, With Private And Public Posting

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Want to show off the fancy spherical photography prowess of your Nexus 4, but can't find buddy rocking Android 4.2? SphereShare is here to solve your shutterbug problem so that you can post those omnidirectional masterpieces somewhere other than Google+. The app is dedicated to the PhotoSphere feature, allowing users to upload their own photos for quick and easy sharing, or post them to a public gallery for all the world to see. It's like a very narrow Picasa, minus the editing features.

The app can share your PhotoSpheres to all the standard social networks, in individual or gallery form.

Feb

SugarSync App Moves To Version 4.0 In First Update Since Summer 2012 With New Design And More

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Popular cloud syncing and sharing app SugarSync, which promises to give you "all of your data at your fingertips," got a major update today – its first since July 20th, 2012.

Probably the most obvious change is to the app's interface. In the 4.0 update, SugarSync has been totally redesigned to bring it closer to its desktop and web counterparts, adding – among other things – a new gallery with larger thumbnails, thumbnail support for common video formats, and some holo-esque elements.

Besides its visual overhaul, the app has several handy new features. Among them are cloud search (which lets users search across all their computers), the ability to sync folders from your SD card, and some under-the-hood performance/battery life enhancements.

Feb

Stock Android Isn't Perfect: Jelly Bean 4.2 Edition

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Jelly Bean 4.2, Stock Android Isn't Perfect

Last Updated: February 7th, 2013

A few months ago I wrote "Stock Android Isn't Perfect," an article where I turned my usual harsh UX critique on stock Android, instead of just picking on TouchWiz and Sense all the time in my reviews. The article went over pretty well, and even got a few responses from Googlers! I didn't cover everything that was wrong with Android, though, and there have been a bunch of updates since the original article, so it's about time I wrote a sequel.

So we're officially making this a series now, and it'll serve two purposes: One, there's a new version of Android out, and more things to complain about; and two, to give credit where it's due, because, since I wrote that article, a lot of things have been fixed.

Dec

[APK Teardown] The Mysterious Leftovers Special: The Jandycane Logo, Google+'s Coffee Mug Notification, And Lightcycle Instructions

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, Jelly Bean 4.1, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Normally I rip apart APKs looking for news-worthy items and unreleased features, but I've covered everything that's currently out, so this teardown session is going to be a little different. During my usual digging for features, I've stumbled across a surprising amount of unused files, movie references, and canceled beta assets. I've always thought it was a shame that no one knows about them, so today we'll be exploring all the crazy leftover files that ship on our phones and tablets. If you've ever checked out the deleted scenes section of a DVD, this article will be right up your alley.

Nov

Getting To Know Android 4.2, Part 2: The Revamped Gallery

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

It's time for another installment of Getting To Know Android, the series where we show you every polished pixel in Google's latest Android update. Today's target is the Gallery, which, in a rare APK Teardown whiff, is not white. I have no idea what was going on with our crazy 4.2 alpha version, but the Gallery is still black, and the icon is still the same. Sorry about that. There is lots of new stuff to talk about, though.

About

First up is the "App Info" screen. As always, the old version is on the left, and the new version is on the right.

Nov

Download The Android 4.2 Camera/Gallery App With New UI, Editing, Photo Sphere [Update: Now With Working Sphere Viewer]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

UPDATE: We've updated the links below with an install package that lets you capture and view Photo Spheres right on your handset.

One of the most popular features introduced Monday with Android 4.2 was a revamped camera/gallery app (that we got a peek at early). The camera introduces a new focus/settings UI (popping up with an "options ring" only when you need it), a refreshed gallery interface, and of course – Photo Sphere.

Photo Sphere, for those who missed it, allows users to capture 360° images of their surroundings a la Google Maps, using XML data in concert with an enormous JPG file to help you save an immersive photo experience of where you've been.

Sep

Google Acquires Nik Software, Maker Of The Incredible Snapseed Photo Editing App

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

It's almost become trite to hear that Google has bought another company that deals in photo editing software. Yet, here we are again. Today, Vic Gundotra announced on Google+ that Nik Software, creators of the impressive Snapseed app that we saw demoed at CES this year, will be joining the Mountain View team.

While there's no indication yet just which Google product will see the benefit of this new talent, it can only mean good news. When Google purchased web-based editor Picnik, for example, the app ended up being built right into Google+. Even if it remains fairly well hidden.

Sep

Galaxy Note In Germany Gets An Update To Make UI Match Galaxy Note II, Adds New Gallery

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), News, Samsung

Today, a software update began rolling out for the Galaxy Note in Germany. The primary changes are cosmetic, it seems, to bring the phone more in line with the look and feel of the Galaxy Note II. The menu interface has been updated to be more consistent, and Samsung has also added a brand new Gallery that looks fantastic.

The gallery has some impressive new UI flair. How practical it is remains to be seen, but it sure looks nice. It's also unclear if the features demoed at Samsung's recent Unpacked event will make an appearance.

Jun

Jelly Bean Feature Closer Look: Android's Camera Receives A Few (Extremely Useful) Tweaks

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

One of the bigger changes we saw in the jump from Gingerbread/Honeycomb to Ice Cream Sandwich was in the camera app. ICS not only brought a streamlined, more subtle design to an app that so badly needed it, but also introduced zero shutter-lag, meaning the time between pressing the shutter release and capturing a photo was pushed down to (almost) zero. In fact in many cases, the time between touch and capture is imperceptible. This was huge.

At today's Jelly Bean announcement, however, we learned that Jelly Bean treats users to even more enhancements to the camera app. While they are rather minor tweaks, they enhance the app's productivity and usability by a lot, something that seems to be a common thread in Jelly Bean's enhancements.

Apr

T-Mobile HTC One S Review: The Future Is Now

Posted by David Ruddock in HTC, One S (Ville), Phone Reviews, Reviews, T-Mobile

Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

An Android phone is like a Leatherman Tool. It does a lot of things - without a doubt, a triumph of function over form. Android is the world's most versatile mobile operating system, the most tweakable, the most adaptable, and the most fully-featured. It just does more than any other comparable product out there. But if Android is a Leatherman, the iPhone is the basic Swiss Army Knife - compact, simple, iconic, and good enough for the vast majority of people, even if it does do a little less.

Building on that analogy, Android users, even die-hard fans, actually look at their phones more like tools.