Category: App Update

The Microsoft To-Do app has an important update rolling out this morning that brings a handful of fixes and improvements.  The updated build is version 1.18.40 for those keeping score at home and is primarily focused on performance improvements and bug fixes.

The biggest improvement is around TalkBack, the screen reading Accessibility feature in Android.  Users with multiple lists would not be read the list name or the correct one in the last version of the app.  That has been fixed now and you will have your list name vocalized as it should be with this update.

Reminders have also been updated to where you can now get them down to the second.  Why you would need a reminder at specific second I’m not so sure, but hey, it’s there now if you need it.

For those of you who use WordPress to manage your blogs and sites, there is a new update to the Android app rolling out.  Version 8.8 of the app brings several new fixes and features, including the ability to link and login with your Google account.

If you have configured your WordPress account to work with your Google account, you have been able to log into your blogs with your Google account for a while now but not on the mobile app.  That’s changed now.  If you have your WordPress & Google accounts linked, you can log in with your Google credentials from the app.

Also in this update, the Media Browser in the app has been repurposed in the app as a media picker.  This should make finding an image for your posts a bit quicker and easier.  You can also choose your Feature image for a post from your device’s media picker.

The ever popular Android launcher, Action Launcher, has yet another big update rolling out this week.  Version 31.2 of the app brings several new features along with support for the Essential Phone.  This update comes just two weeks after the last major update to Action Launcher which brought several Pixel 2 looks & feels to the launcher.

In this new build, support for adaptive icons is now available.  This is a big feature of Android Oreo as readers likely know by now.  The cool thing is, this new feature will work in the launcher if you are running Android Lollipop (version 6.x) or later.  This new adaptive icons has also been extended to the folders and this is all included in the free version of the app.

For those of you who are on Oreo, support for Android 8.0’s widget and shortcut pinning is now added to Action Launcher.  If you have the Essential Phone PH-1, good news is in this version of the launcher for you too.  Your phone is now supported.

Google Play Music has a new update rolling out that significantly drops the size of the app as well as Adaptive icons.  The update is version 8.5 for those keeping score at home and the slimming down of the app comes primarily from the dropping of the Android Wear APK that was built-in the main app.

The requirement of the Android Wear APK was a holdover from pre-2.0 Android Wear when in order to control music on your watch, you had to have the app installed.  Google’s sorted that out with standalone app support in 2.0 and now in 1.x versions of Android Wear.  What this means is that the APK is simply no longer needed.

By stripping out the APK, Google was able to reduce the app size significantly, but nearly 2MB.

Chrome for Android has a new update rolling out today that brings several security fixes to the browser.  The new version is build 62.0.3202.84 for those keeping score at home and should be hitting all devices over the course of the next few days.

The update contains a number of security updates to the browser that have been identified by external sources.  While the exact details of what was addressed are not disclosed, Google did link to the GIT repository for the update on all of the changes.  The abridged version is that this update fixes some buffer overflow issues, credentials issues and invalid printer URIs being used.

Ultimately for consumers, the bottom line is that this build is going to protect you against malicious code that could compromise your phone or your data.

Good news for those of you who use OneDrive in the enterprise.  A new update to the app is rolling out now in the Play Store that brings support for SharePoint 2013 and 2016 to it.  The update brings the app to version 5.0 for those keeping score at home.

With this new version of OneDrive installed on your Android phone, you will now have access to file that are stored in SharePoint.  That means you can open and edit them and you will have the ability to do so even if you are offline.  It is a big step forward for enterprise users who were limited to pretty much having to use their desktop to access SharePoint and edit files.