It wasn't that long ago that Google Pay (and its previous names) was solely focused on making purchases in a store or paying on the spot to get onto subways...and sometimes sending money to friends. Google recently added support for one-time transit tickets on the Las Vegas Monorail and prepaid commuter cards with the TriMet in Portland, Oregon, but things are about to get a lot more interesting thanks to the latest update. We can expect to see support added for airport boarding passes and event tickets. There are several other big additions coming, too, so let's get straight into it.
Read MoreGoogle Pay v1.57 prepares support for airline boarding passes and event tickets, Suica and WAON payment cards, and more [APK Teardown]
Google app v8.0 beta adds a screen for Your People, prepares custom routines to run on a schedule, switch Lens to the selfie camera, and more [APK Teardown]
The Google app just leapt up to version 8.0 late last night, but despite the shiny new version number, most things are looking about the same. A new screen has been added for "Your People," while a teardown tells us that it will be possible to set regular schedules to run custom routines (when they launch), the Google Lens will be able to switch to the front-facing selfie camera, and more.
Read MoreYouTube Kids v3.27 reveals plan to launch curated collections designed by partners [APK Teardown]
YouTube has been under fire for many months over the way it handles programming and treatment of children. The main issue comes from an assortment of horrendously bad videos that were crafted to game the system and target children. The company committed to crack down on these types of videos, but there's no denying that it would still be a cat and mouse game as the bad creators would surely find new ways to wiggle through any new filters. BuzzFeed reported an entirely new app was in development and that it abandoned the algorithmic suggestions in favor of Google-curated videos.
Read MoreGoogle Pay hits 100 million installs on the Play Store
Nowadays, several phone manufacturers have their own payment services. There's Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, the upcoming LG Pay, and of course, Google Pay. After experiencing two rebrands and retaining the same Play Store listing, the Google Pay app has just hit 100 million downloads on the Play Store.
Read MoreGoogle Maps is testing landmarks in navigation instructions, v9.76 beta prepares support for community-added events [APK Teardown]
Google Maps recently made news as a few people started getting audible instructions with the names of visible landmarks in place of hard-to-see and sometimes indiscernible street names. In very nearly the same breath, v9.76 began rolling out through the beta channel late last night. Unlike most updates, this one doesn't seem to bring a lot in the way of new features outside of a couple small tweaks, but it does strongly hint at events added by the community, possibly opening up a whole new avenue to get people together.
Read MoreGoogle app v7.26.16 beta may be preparing Collections to replace Saved pages [APK Teardown]
It has been nearly two weeks since the first beta of v7.26 began rolling out with several hints about what we can look forward to, but a minor update just started rolling out that appears to contain something else of some interest. It seems like something called "Collections" is coming to Google that looks mighty similar to the Saved pages feature, but with a few improvements already emerging.
Read MoreSpotify will announce updates to its mobile app on April 24
Changes are afoot at Spotify. The company, which went public recently, has a press conference scheduled for April 24. It's still a little early (and would be impressively fast) to see the potential hardware the company is working on, but all bets are open on the software side and it looks like Spotify will indeed be focusing the conference on its mobile app.
Over the past months, nay year, we've seen test after test in the Spotify app. A fullscreen playback screen pops up every now and then for users, a new UI started showing up recently with 3 bottom tabs and a focus on playlists (which I am eager to get), and then there's the driving mode that uses voice actions to control music as well as the Stations app which was being tested in Australia.
Read MoreGoogle Duo v32 adds 'hacky' call history export, may introduce a bokeh filter and auto-rotation [APK Teardown]
Duo is getting an update to v32 today, following shortly after the launch of the long-awaited ability to link a Google account. There aren't any immediately obvious changes in the UI for this version, and a look through the teardown seems to support that it contains mostly changes to phrasing and other tweaks to improve the sign-up process. However, a few things were discovered during a teardown, including a tool for exporting call history, which is already live.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Android Messages v3.1 continues toward Android Messages for Web, a GIF browser, and Google account linking [APK Teardown]
It's another busy Wednesday as Google rolls out an update to the Android Messages app. Version 3.1 doesn't appear to have any functional or visual changes, but there are some interesting details about things to come. The upcoming web chat interface is still in progress, but it's sporting a slightly different name than when we last discussed it. There's a GIF browser in the works for those that don't have one in their keyboard. And there may be some new features destined for Android Messages that will be able to benefit from connecting a Google account. We're still watching for any live changes, so let us know if you stumble across anything interesting!
Read MoreGoogle Photos v3.18 may be testing smarter archiving feature, continues work on Likes, and more [APK Teardown]
Google Photos has a new version rolling out to users today. Like so many other updates from Google, this one appears to be holding back new features, likely in preparation for I/O in just about one month. But for as much as Google may be holding back, there are also a few things that are being packed into the app now in preparation for those big announcements.
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