Recent design trends on Android take away app bars' individual colors and replace them with white, making it harder for us to distinguish apps. After Facebook already followed that fad with its Messenger redesign (which thankfully includes a dark theme), the company announced at its annual developer conference F8 that its main app and website will become whiter, too. Along with these visual changes, groups will receive a more prominent place on the platform.
Read MoreFacebook Messenger 4's simplified user experience is rolling out worldwide starting today
A common complaint about Facebook's apps (and, really, apps in general) is that they suffer from feature creep: the tendency for products to add more and more often unwanted features on top of the core functionality they originally became popular for. Messenger is a prime example of this trend, having gone from a simple instant messaging app to sort of a bloated mess. Facebook wants to make that right with the simplified Messenger 4, which is rolling out to everyone starting today.
Read MoreRachio's app redesign for 3.0 brings a tabbed UI and more functionality to boot
Here at AP, we're big fans of Rachio's smart sprinkler system (well, at least Artem is). Rachio has just taken the wraps off its 3.0 update, which improves the app both in terms of looks and features. Those features include improvements to Remote control, Quick Run, Weather Intelligence, and scheduling.
Read MoreYouTube for Android TV adds manual resolution selection, starts rolling an updated interface
YouTube for Android has had a few ups and downs in the last months as the native app was replaced by what is essentially a web wrapper (you can test it by going to youtube.com/tv) and dumped many features that were later slowly added back. The latest of the features to make it back onto the interface is the resolution adjustment selector that you can see in the screenshot above. Also rolling out is a new interface, but it doesn't appear to be live for everyone just yet.
YouTube usually updates your video's resolution on the fly depending on your connection speed, but if you want to manually choose a specific quality setting, you can do so now.
Read MorePlay Games v5.3 comes with a whole new look and three new mini-games [APK Download]
Updates to the Play Games app aren't as free flowing as they are for many of Google's other apps, but they often do bring pretty big changes or additions. The latest version bump gives Play Games a huge visual makeover that looks cleaner and puts installed games front and center. There are also three included mini-games to play if you get bored and don't have something else installed yet.
Read MoreUber overhauls its app, focuses on the destination
Celebrate, Uber riders! The ride-sharing service has announced that it is overhauling its aging app. Gone will be the overly complicated navigation (they said it, not me) — instead, the app will be cleaner, smoother, and faster. Uber even states that it will be rebuilt from the ground up. The redesign focuses on the question of "Where to?" Since we all use Uber to, you know, get somewhere.
Read MoreBank of America revamps interface in version 7, adds Spanish language, FICO Score, and credit card rewards
Bank of America's Android app has been stuck on the same look since 2014 when version 5.0 added a hint of Material Design and saved the interface from its Froyo days. With this new version 7.0, the app gets a major facelift with plenty of new features.
The new redesign and side-menu are getting mixed reviews on the Play Store: some users are raving about how easy it is to use and others are complaining about how unintuitive it's become and how some areas require a lot more steps to get to. I can't verify that by myself since I'm not a BofA customer, so I'll let you praise it or vent about it in the comments.
Read MoreBig Google Analytics 3.0 Update Brings A New Icon, Material Design, Report Sharing, More [APK Download]
It's not often that we witness a complete application overhaul from Google, so today is a special day. Granted, not everyone uses Google Analytics so the number of users who will benefit from and appreciate this update is small, but it's nothing to scoff at. Web admins, like our own Artem, are just going to love it.
The first immediate change you'll notice is an icon switch. The old icon wasn't bad really, but the new one is simpler and less square. It also has a lot more yellow and no dark orange / quasi-red.
Old icon (left) vs new icon (right)
There are new onboarding screens that explain a couple of the new app's features like swiping through dimensions and sharing reports.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
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