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Android’s Reading mode now lets you convert any article into a mini podcast
Google’s accessibility-focused reading tool now offers audio background playback
Enjoying podcasts and audiobooks on the go is easy enough with some of the best entertainment apps out there. However, consuming news and other information delivered in text form usually requires reading it yourself. In December last year, Google introduced the Reading mode app to fix this issue. Now, the app has received its first update since launch, packing background playback features.
'Androids' by Chet Haase is on sale now, and you can get started reading for free
Available from both Google Play and Amazon Kindle
Read update
The history of Android has been told in many small parts; but to get the whole story you would have to scour thousands of blog posts, hundreds of podcasts, and the minds of a few dozen people that would probably ask you to leave them be — until now, that is. Androids: The Team That Built the Android Operating System is set to release tomorrow, bearing the tale of how the world's most widely used operating system came into existence. If you're curious about the backstory of the OS that you spend half your day staring at when you should really be working, you can buy the book now on Google Play and Amazon Kindle.Chet Haase, the author of Androids, is perhaps best known for delivering witty banter while hosting Google I/O fireside chats and developer sessions, or even educating people about bugs wherever they will let him. But he is also a longtime developer at Google with over a decade on the Android, working primarily on the UI Toolkit team; and he had a lot to do with enabling the smooth animations and visual effects of Material Design.[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/chethaase/status/1424113349160144896[/EMBED_TWITTER]As Chet pointed out shortly after the original announcement last weekend, this book is meant for everybody, not just engineers. There won't be a lot of technical jargon, but instead it's filled with the events, experiences, decisions, and anecdotes of the people behind the green bot. And fear not, it has been confirmed on no uncertain terms, there will be puns.The ebook is now available for $9.99 USD from either Amazon or Google Play Books. If you would like to preview part of the book before purchase, samples are available from both stores. Amazon provides the first 4 chapters, while Google Play provides the first 7 chapters (about 20% of the total book).
Now Pocket can tell you if that article will fit in your bathroom break
Read time estimates will help you pick the perfect article for your schedule
Pocket is all about spotting something interesting and saving it for later, when you have time to really dig into that article. But exactly how much time you have is crucial: are we talking a thirty minute bus ride, or a five minute, um, personal break? A new addition to the app allows you to sort your saved sites and articles based on how long it will take to read them.
Google is shutting down its Rivet reading practice apps
It will be offered as a "Google Assistant experience" later this winter
Back in 2018, Area 120, Google's experimental product division, introduced Rivet, a free reading-practice app for kids. It has since dropped the beta label and gained smartphone support, making it more accessible to a higher number of parents and children. As Rivet is a Google product, it was safe to assume the app could be axed unexpectedly, which is precisely what the company just announced.
Today Google has announced that Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have access to a small pile of new "Lexend" family of fonts meant to make reading a bit easier. Based on a bit of research which claims that character size, spacing, and stretch can enhance understanding if customized to reading speed, the new fonts come in eight different widths from "Zetta" to "Deca."
We've recently told you about Rivet, a free reading-practice app for kids developed by Area 120, Google's experimental product division. Since the software is still in beta phase, it's continuously improving with better features and interface tweaks. The app was initially designed for tablets because they offer a better experience, and couldn't be installed on phones through the Play Store. The APK could still be sideloaded on handsets, though, but the interface didn't look pleasing compared to larger screens. However, the application has just been updated and now officially supports smartphones as well.
There are many ways you can get your words published online these days, but if you're an aspiring author who takes themselves and their writing seriously, choices are more limited. I hadn't heard of Inkitt before, but from checking the site and reading the impressive editing and vetting process described in its guidelines, it looks like a good contender for indie authors who want to reach readers quickly, get feedback, and publish their writing without too much formalities and hassle.
For better or worse, Amazon dominates the e-book lanscape. After buying Audible, it commands audiobooks as well. In 2011, the retailer introduced a way to attract readers with content from magazines and periodicals. Alongside digital magazine subscriptions, the company began selling articles and other long-form content between 5,000 and 30,000 words.Amazon called these stories and essays Kindle Singles. Now it's expanding on the category with timeless well-known stories. It's calling these Kindle Singles Classics.Think content such as TIME Magazine's 1966 cover story "Is God Dead?" Kindle Singles Classics are launching with more than 140 to choose from. Material comes from writers such as Margo Jefferson, Chang-rae Lee, Gloria Steinem, Gay Talese, Lawrence Writer, and others. Their work originally appeared in the likes of The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, TIME, and similar publications.Kindle Singles Classics go for 99 cents each. Kindle Unlimited subscribers get them for free.
Read update
The News & Weather app is a bit of a dark horse among Google's lineup. It's also not as talked about as Google+, or as vital as Gmail; and it doesn't fit in with the Play-branded apps like Newsstand, which it is effectively a direct competitor to. For many people, News & Weather is just another widget that came pre-installed on a Nexus device, at least until it was made available on the Play Store, in late August. Since then, a few really big updates have drastically improved the once stale app. This trend continues as a bump to v2.3 adds notifications for important stories, an easier interface to configure the weather card, and a 'Suggested For You' section that allows users to fine-tune their topics of interest.
There's a surprising lack of options when it comes to Android audiobooks. Sure, there's Audible, but its metered subscription service isn't an ideal solution for a lot of people, and other services tend to be light on content. Audiobook enthusiasts now have another alternative: Barnes & Noble. NOOK (ALL CAPS) Audiobooks is available as a free download on any Android 4.0+ device, though I'm betting that only those in the US can actually buy books.
Amazon has pushed out an update to its Kindle app for Android that might pique your interest if you're into audiobooks, speak Dutch, or like to highlight things. Yes, that's an admittedly eclectic mix of traits and interests, but that's the way these updates work. Developers aren't particularly invested in making sure we bloggers have a theme to categorize each new version under.
If you have an affinity for vintage cameras, you may find yourself toting around a light meter to make sure every exposure comes out just right. If you happen to also be a Glass explorer, David Young has a solution for that - Google Glass Light Meter, a piece of Glassware that entered Google's official collection just a few days ago.
Let's be honest, busy people don't have time to trudge through long books made of mostly filler. Unfortunately, publishers know they can't put a high price on a 40-page book. In the end, authors are stuck building a lavish sea of meaningless words around the simple concepts they want to convey. That's where Blinkist comes in. It's a service that boils popular non-fiction books down to their most formative and salient points. Think of it like Cliffs Notes, but even shorter and not funded entirely by high school students. Blinkist has been around for about a year with a website and iOS app, but now its making a debut on Android.
When Barnes & Noble and Samsung announced that they were going to work together to produce a Nook tablet, it was unclear just what this would entail. Now the tablet is available for purchase, and to be upfront, it doesn't look all that different from any other Samsung product. Setting aside the predictable hardware, we're looking at a TouchWiz tablet with a few Nook apps and a dedicated reading button on the homescreen. There's a Nook shop for content, but fortunately the Play Store is there for apps. The Galaxy Tab 4 Nook comes in black or white for $179.99 following an instant $20 rebate.
When the time comes to shop for ebooks, Amazon's Kindle Store is one of the first online destinations that comes to mind. Likewise, Audible, a company now owned by Amazon, is an easy recommendation for audiobooks. Thus far, people who own both the ebook and audiobook versions of a novel have had to hop back and forth between mobile apps to switch between the two.
A year ago Barnes & Noble closed the book on its Nook line of tablets, opting to lend the brand out to other manufacturers instead. Now we're seeing the first Android device to capitalize on this idea. Take a guess as to which company decided, sure, I'll make a Nook tablet. That's right, none other than Samsung. When you're already flooding the market with umpteen different tablet variants, what's one more? Dear reader, I present to you the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook.
We post about a ton of games around these parts, but those nifty Android devices of yours are good for more than shifting around pixels as quickly as possible. They're also great for reading, and those of you in Norway are now able to purchase digital books from Google Play. Just head over to the virtual marketplace to see Google's recommendations for what reads are hot right now or what the company thinks you may be into.
Instapaper is a popular service for saving web pages to read later, one that competes with the likes of Pocket and Readability. Today the app hit the big 3.0, so I'm going to take a moment to highlight what's new. The headlining feature is text highlighting, the ability to save a section of an article to read or share with others later. The app groups all of these snippets together in an accessible location. These highlights are then synced with other devices and the web.