Applications - 6/262 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jun

[New App] GMD Hide Soft Keys Banishes The Navigation Bar For Root Users, Nexus Only For Now

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Soft navigation keys are desirable in post-4.0 Android device... at least for some users. Some people love 'em (and curse the likes of Samsung and HTC every time a new flagship with hardware keys comes out) and some don't. For those who don't, Good Mood Droid (whom we've featured before) has created GMD Hide Soft Keys root. It's a root-only application that gets rid of the navigation bar in all areas of the device.

We've seen this implemented in a few different ways, mostly on custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, Paranoid Android, and AOKP. We've also seen similar apps in the Play Store, like full!screen.

Jun

[Hands-On] Falcon Pro Version 2.0 Beta – New UI, Themes, And Multi-Account Support

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

Falcon Pro is the latest app to take advantage of Google's new Play Store beta program, and the developer is testing out some much anticipated features. The UI is flatter and more clean, a new theme is on-board, and there is finally multi-account support. Rejoice, brothers and sisters. Your prayers (complaints) have been answered.

Jun

[New App] Redbox Instant Streaming Comes To Google TV Courtesy Of Verizon

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Google TV, News

Who's excited for Redbox Instant Streaming? ...Anyone? Though the digital streaming arm of the popular DVD rental service is noticeably behind, well, everyone, customers who've paid their money can now stream movies directly to their Google TV units, thanks to the new app. Redbox Instant is available for download now. By the way, don't be misled by that "by Verizon" tag on the app title - you don't need to be a Verizon Wireless or Verizon FiOS subscriber to use the app.

HD streaming is available for those whose connections can handle 3Mbs of sustained downloads, and users without a Redbox Instant subscription can still use the service to buy or rent titles.

Jun

YouTube App Updated To 4.5.17 With Slide-Out Navigation Menu And Video Suggestion Overlays

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, News

Google is slowly adding the new slide-out navigation menu to all of its major Android apps, and today it's YouTube's turn. The latest incremental update to the official video app doesn't add a whole lot more than that, but what's there is handy: the menu that used to be available via the "app button" in the upper-left corner only on the homescreen is now enabled on all standard UI screens with a quick swipe to the left, just like in the shiny new version of Gmail. As always, YouTube is a free download, available for all Android users.

Strangely, the app button uses the little "back" icon everywhere, not just in UI screens where it will actually go back, and has not yet been switched to the "hamburger" menu button.

Jun

24 Best New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (5/22/13 - 6/3/13)

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, News, Roundups

Last Updated: June 5th, 2013

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

DigiCal Calendar & Widgets

Today's roundup is presented by DigiCal Calendar & Widgets from Digibites. DigiCal is a complete calendar solution that integrates with Google Calendar, matching it feature-for-feature and then some.

Jun

Tip: Multi-Select Is Still Alive And Easy To Use In The New Gmail 4.5

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Google, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: June 5th, 2013

Gmail 4.5 started rolling out today to Android devices (have you installed your update yet?), and immediately some of you noticed that it has definitely shuffled some things around. The bottom bar moved up top, the navigation is now on the left, and the multi-select checkboxes are gone. Don't worry, though - multi-select functionality hasn't disappeared. In fact, it's still very easy to use.

If you lost your Delete button, look no further than PSA: Your Gmail's "Delete" Button Is Not Gone In The New App, It's Just Hiding - Here's How To Re-Enable It.

With the addition of sender images, two separate scenarios exist for using good old multi-select.

Jun

Hulu Update Brings "Even Higher" Resolution Playback To DROID DNA, Galaxy S4, And HTC One

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Apps/Games, News

While it's not exactly ripe with details, the Hulu Plus for Android app's latest update promises increased playback resolution for three popular 1080p handsets: the Galaxy S4, DROID DNA, and HTC One. The assumption you might make, then, is that it's adding 1080p playback.

That's possible, though the amount of 1080p content Hulu currently provides is pretty limited, apparently. And Hulu itself lists a maximum resolution of 720p on its supported devices page. Last summer, the Hulu app was updated with "high resolution" support for small tablets, so my guess is rather that this new update merely allows 720p playback on phones, not the Full HD experience.

Jun

Download: New Gmail For Android v4.5 With Slide-Out Navigation And Brand New Inbox

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Google, News

The new Gmail is here, very slowly rolling out thanks to staged rollouts that may take a few weeks to complete. Thankfully, we already have the APK, and it's only a quick download away. The version number is 4.5-694836, and it's beautiful. Gogogo grab it!

Update: If you don't see the categories, go to the desktop version of Gmail, click the gear icon on the top right, and select Configure Inbox.

Update #2: Swipe down to refresh (see 4th screenshot)!

Update #3: You can finally empty the trash and spam folders with one tap (see 6th screenshot).

Jun

[New App] Twitter's Video Sharing App Vine Finally Launches On Android

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

Vine is a way to shoot short videos and share them on Twitter, but it's been an iOS exclusive for the last few months. Well, Twitter has finally seen fit to grace the lowly Android users with some mini videos. Happily, the interface has a bit of Holo to it.

The Vine app is still propagating in the Play Store, so don't be alarmed if the link doesn't work yet. Once you get up and running, you'll be able to shoot 6 second videos with sound. That might not sound terribly impressive, and from a technical perspective, it isn't. Vine is useful because it makes sending videos over Twitter much easier.

Jun

[New App] Maxelus Releases Space Colony, A Staggeringly Gorgeous Live Wallpaper

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

Even if you're not particularly in love with live wallpapers, you owe it to yourself to check out the newest offering from Maxelus. This developer has a reputation for creating beautiful live wallpapers that don't destroy performance. And the just-released Space Colony might take things to an entirely different level.

Space Colony turns your home screen into an alien cityscape with towering buildings, epic star-filled skies, and glowing starships flying past. There are five different city locations, and all the colors are configurable. Accelerometer control can be used to move the view around, but swiping does the same thing if you want to save a little battery.