Latest Articles
If you can remember, Google displayed a Paper Planes interactive map at the Google I/O keynote before the actual presentation began. Users in the audience could catch and throw paper planes, with the planes themselves flying all across the world. If you need a refresher, this is what it looked like at I/O.
Tasker is one of the most useful power tools on Android, allowing you to automate your device to do practically anything. Tasker plugins, like AutoShare, only seek to make Tasker even more feature-filled. If you have never used AutoShare, it allows you to send data to a Tasker tasks via Android's share menu.
The burning question on everyone's mind when Allo was released - "can you send SMS?" The answer, as seemingly common with Google products, is "it's complicated." Allo-w me to explain the answer, and more of Allo's quirky behavior, below.
I know what you're thinking. "Haha, it finally got a Marshmallow update when Nougat is out, Samsung sucks." But before you go into the comments and trumpet about how your Nexus 9 already has Nougat, keep in mind that this is a Samsung tablet, from 2014, on Verizon, that is being updated. If any of those alone were true, this would be newsworthy.
Firefox may have been overshadowed by Chrome in terms of worldwide users, but it is still an excellent browser, even on Android. The latest update, version 49, has the usual dose of new features and bug fixes.
There is no shortage of WiFi-capable wireless security cameras on the market today. The Canary Flex is another entry, but with a few tricks that help it stand out from the crowd. First off, the design marks a strong resemblance to GlaDOS, and is available in white or black colors.
Instagram has been testing the ability to save posts as drafts since at least the end of July. With today's Instagram 9.4.0 update, the feature appears to have gone live for everyone.
If you have never heard of Google's Accelerated Mobile Pages Project, it's exactly what it sounds like. AMP documents are minimal web pages, with the same basic HTML syntax, designed to load as quickly as possible (even at the cost of some functionality). Web developers can create AMP versions of their webpages, with Google mirroring every page on its own servers for the quickest load times possible. For example, here is the AMP version (left) and normal mobile site (right) from Forbes:
Finding that one important file hidden in a sea of unrelated documents is never fun. Thankfully, Google is seeking to help solve that problem - at least for Google Drive users. Starting today, the Google Drive search bar on the web app can use Natural Language Processing (NLP) to help you find documents. For example, searching "show me presentations from last year" brings up all your documents modified in last year with a presentation file type.
Text messaging applications are a dime a dozen. Luke Klinker, the developer behind Talon for Twitter and EvolveSMS, is working on another SMS app. Simply entitled 'Messenger' while in testing (the final release will have another name), this app allows you to use SMS on your phone, tablet, Android TV, through a web app, and even with a Chrome extension. As far as device compatibility goes, this is pretty impressive.
Until today, I had no idea Yahoo Messenger even existed. But it most certainly exists, and if you happen to use it, you might be excited to learn you can now send video. The iOS and Android apps now support sending video, up to one minute long, in both one-on-one and group conversations.
Read update
- Just as predicted, Twitter made the official announcement today that media no longer counts towards the character limit. Rejoice!
Back in May, Twitter revealed they were changing the way their tweet character limit worked. Currently everything you can shove in a tweet - text, media, polls, etc - counts towards the 140-character limit. Twitter has not revealed the exact date this change is coming, but The Verge believes it will be September 19.
Google Photos remains one of my favorite Google products. Unlimited free photo uploads (at a capped resolution), easy organization, automatic tagging, the list of features goes on and on. Google Photos is rolling out two new features today that improve sharing and automatic video creation.
Earlier this month, Samsung began an exchange program for Note7 owners in the United States after a global recall was announced. The United States program allowed customers to exchange their affected device and either receive a fixed model when stock was available, or buy a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge and receive a refund of the price difference.
The Galaxy Note7 roller coaster is not quite over yet. After reports of the phone's internal battery exploding, Samsung ordered the immediate recall of all Note7 devices worldwide. The Note7 Exchange Program was announced alongside the recall, asking Note7 owners to return their phones to receive fixed stock when it became available. Samsung is placing a high priority on replacing every damaged device first, before continuing sales of the phone to new owners.
It's a bit difficult to get excited over updates to presentation software. But the latest Google Slides update brings a new feature that should have been implemented ages ago - remote control with Android Wear devices. Google Slides has supported streaming presentations to Chromecasts for a while now, but you have always had to control the show from your phone (or your laptop, if using the web version).
Read update
- Evan just tweeted that he also believes the release is coming September 21. This adds some credibility to the claim, and September 21 marks the last day of summer (when Google promised to release Allo).
Google Duo and Allo, the company's latest messaging applications, were announced back at Google I/O this year. Only Duo has been released to the public, and as I'm sure you all know, Google has been silent about the release date for Allo apart from a summer release. With the first day of fall coming on September 22, time is running out to meet the deadline.
Google rarely advertises anything on the Google.com homepage. Most of the time the ads consist of single-line text banners about a new Nexus device or donating to disaster relief. They were the subject of much criticism in 2012 when they used an animated advertisement (for the Nexus 7) on the homepage for the first time.
There is no shortage of file managers on the Play Store. But Solid Explorer remains my favorite, simply because of its Material design and ease of use. For you power users out there, it also boasts drag and drop, FTP/WebDAV/SMB client support, batch file management, and much more. Solid Explorer has just been bumped to version 2.2, and there's a lot to get excited about.
Google for Work, also commonly known as Google Apps, is a service available to businesses on a subscription model from Google. As you might figure out from the name, it allows companies to create and manage accounts that can use Gmail, Google Calendar, Hangouts, Google Drive, and other related services. As a matter of fact, everyone at Android Police has a Google for Work account.