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Pushbullet is a necessary app for millions of users, but it's not the only service of its kind. Join launched back in 2015 as an alternative from prolific Android developer João Dias, best known for his work on Tasker, designed to control your phone remotely from your computer. It's been a while since the app received a significant new update, but that ends today. Join 3.0 is available now, and it comes with a ton of adjustments for how the service works on all of your devices.
Join app will soon have a new desktop client with clipboard sync and keyboard shortcuts
It's in beta, for now
Join is the Pushbullet clone created by João Dias (also known as 'joaomgcd'), the same developer behind Tasker and many of its popular add-ons. It allows notifications from your Android device to appear on your computer, complete with the ability to respond to text messages, take screenshots, and more. Join is now testing a new desktop application, with multi-platform support and the ability to sync clipboard data.
Pushbullet's Chrome extension approved after nebulous Chrome Web Store policy violations
Google couldn't decide what was wrong with Pushbullet's extension
We haven't heard a lot from Pushbullet lately, but it's still out there mirroring notifications and flinging data between devices. It almost had to stop, though. Google threatened to remove the Pushbullet extension from the Chrome Web Store, but it didn't explain why. As a result, the developers had to scramble to address Google's concerns... whatever those were. After a little helpful prodding, Google has accepted Pushbullet's updated extension.
If you're an Android enthusiast, you might have more than one device running the OS in your possession, and you might have AutoApps' Tasker and Join set up to automate a number of things across them. If so, you can now import a new Tasker recipe created by the apps' developer himself that lets you match Do Not Disturb statuses across your phones and tablets.
Google has made the clipboard manager app an untenable proposition in Android 10 with the reclassification of a system permission vital to how it works. But João Dias is persisting: the maker of Tasker and many other automation apps has updated the beta version of his clipboard manager called Join and you'll be able to cheat your way back to making it work from your Android 10 device again.
Joaomgcd (Joao Dias) is responsible for some of Android's most interesting apps, and one of those is Join. It gives you convenient remote access to the notifications, files, and clipboard on your Android device while you're using another system (and vice versa), and there are a lot of even deeper integrations besides. A major new update to version 2.0 has just been announced, making Join more useful than ever.
João Dias, better known online by his handle Joaomgcd, is one of the most prolific indie developers around. In addition to his work on a smorgasbord of Tasker plugins, he's also released Join, a Pushbullet alternative that allows sending commands to your phone via a Chrome extension on a nearby PC. The latest update to the extension adds voice control, so users can "push" links to Android or perform other tasks with a Star Trek-style voice command. It even uses "Computer" as the prompt - classy.
When Pushbullet adopted a subscription model, some casual users had trouble justifying the cost. Seeing an opportunity, joaoapps released Join. It has many of the same notification and messaging features as Pushbullet, but it only costs $5 for full access. The app has gotten a big update today to v1.0.27. Despite the inauspicious version number, there are a lot of big changes in this one.
Join is a pretty cool app. It can do a variety of things, from sending texts to transferring files across your variety of different devices. Developer joaomgcd has added another feature to its extensive arsenal, making it easy to record an Android phone or tablet's screen from another device.
We're big fans of cross-device sync here at Android Police. Therefore, we're of the opinion that if you haven't yet heard of joaomgcd's latest app, you're missing out. Join is a bit like Pushbullet, in that it can do Android-to-desktop notifications, desktop SMS, and a cross-device clipboard. But it can do a lot more; for example, you can set your Android wallpaper through Chrome simply by right-clicking on an image of your choice and selecting "Set image as wallpaper."
Join, by joaomgcd of many Tasker plugins and automation apps fame, has been in beta for nearly two months now. When I tried it out at launch, it already had a lot of its functionality covered, allowing your phones and computers to share things with each other: links, SMS messages, screenshots, media files, copied text, and more. The app has been getting frequent updates since then, adding Tasker integration and making it possible to send SMS from any browser without the need for a Chrome extension. You could say that Pushbullet's little brother has grown up to actually compete against it.
When Pushbullet introduced its pro plan, some folks walked away upset. For some of them, Join from Tasker-plugin maker extraordinaire Joaomgcd was just the ticket. The service doesn't quite stack up feature per feature, but it does a decent job of handling the basics.
Chrome to Phone used to be a nice way to receive links, directions, and notes from your Chrome browser on your Android device. The app's functionality was however rendered redundant after Chrome gained open tab sync across devices and Google added a way to send notes and directions (and reminders and alarms) from Chrome to your phone.
Around the Android corners, joaomgcd is known for his automation tools, most of which rely on heavy Tasker integration and require a level of tinkering that most of us lazy people can't bother with. So when Joao released his new app Join and the featureset seemed to closely mirror Pushbullet's upon close inspection, I was intrigued. Not just because of Pushbullet's latest switch to Pro plans, but because the main selling point of the service was its simplicity. That has not been Joao's strong suit — at least through a newbie's eyes, his apps always seemed a little too overwhelming.
Free-to-play Android games aren't difficult to come by, but this one has a little more going for it than mere affordability and simple play mechanics. CastleStorm made quite the name for itself on consoles this past fall, and now a touch-friendly adaptation is hitting Android as a private beta. The game combines tower defense with destructive physics, crisp graphics, fully voiced characters, and over 100 quests. The game isn't entirely free, as you need to spend money to get your hands on some in-game items, but with any luck, this won't hinder gameplay too much.
Google Play Movie Rentals Come To Germany, Hangouts On Air Spread Through Europe
One of the most common complaints against Google's Play Store is the lack of certain content or functionality in countries outside the US. Google has
One of the most common complaints against Google's Play Store is the lack of certain content or functionality in countries outside the US. Google has been making progress in expanding access to other corners of the globe, though. You may remember, for example, that Play Books hit France just last month after Play Movies opened for the French in March and for Spain in June.