Category: App Update

Google has pushed a small but important update out to Google PhotoScan, the app that allows you to quickly and easily scan your photographs and upload them to your Google Photos account.  The update, version 1.1 for those keeping score at home, is rolling out now to the Play Store.  On the surface, you won’t really notice any changes to the user experience or any new features to the app.  However, you will notice once you start scanning your photos.  In the original release of the app, scans were limited to 3MP.  That may seem small in in this day of 12MP or more cameras but for scanning old 35mm photos, it worked out just fine.  Google found a way to improve this however and with this new 1.1 version, photos are scanned at 5MP.

There is an update to Google Contacts that is rolling out in the Google Play Store that sports a new round icon and a new Suggestions page for easier contacts management.  The update is version 1.6 for those keeping score at home and the first thing you will likely notice with the update is the new round icon.  This follows other Google apps that have gone with the Pixelesque round icons such as Hangouts and Messenger.  This new round icon, like Messenger, shows up regardless of which launcher or icon pack you have installed on your Android phone.

As expected, Google has gone through a rebranding exercise on the Google On app.  With the introduction of Google Wi-Fi in October, and now with that product shipping, the question wasn’t if the Google On app would change but rather would that change be a completely new app or, worse, a separate app.  Thankfully no.  Google Wifi is the name of the Google On app now, allowing you to control your entire Wi-Fi network, including your Google OnHub and Google Wi-Fi products.  The update is rolling out into the Play Store now and if you have Google On installed, you should see the update hit your devices over the course of the next 2-3 days.

At first glance, the UI for Google Wifi doesn’t look all that different than the previous one from Google On.  However, there are a lot of changes including the three tab navigation at the top of the app which gives you information, your network information and shortcuts to quick tidbits of information respectively.

It has been a long time requested feature of Netflix and it is finally here in the Android app.  The latest update to the streaming content provider now gives you the option to download television shows and movies so you can view them offline.

Let’s all take a moment to raise a glass to Netflix.

In the latest update to the app, version 4.12.0 for those keeping score at home, you now have a section “Available for Download”.  Here you will see all of the shows and movies that you can download to your phone or tablet so you can view them later.  You have two options for quality of the downloads:  Standard (720p) or High (1080p) and, as you would expect, the High quality downloads take up more storage on your device.

Microsoft has pushed an update out for the OneDrive app for Android and it has some great new features.  The banner update is the improved sorting options.  Previously you had basically one sort option which was alphabetical.  Now you have a slew of sorting options available to make finding that file much easier and faster.  The new sorting options include:

• A-Z
• Z-A
• Newest files or folders
• Oldest files or folders
• Largest files or folders
• Smallest files or folders

It is likely that if you have a lot of files in OneDrive that the newest file sort option will be the most appreciated as you can find all those files you were working on instead of having to hunt around for it.

Microsoft has begun rolling out an update to Next Lock Screen for Android phones that brings a lot of new improvements and features.  Probably the biggest new feature in the version 2.7 release is the ability to swipe down and search (via Bing or Google) right from the lock screen.  This makes searching for things faster and easier as you don’t necessarily have to unlock your phone every time to search for something.

This update also brings customization to the layout of apps page in the app.  Now you can select 4×5 or 4×6 for your app layout to give you the number of apps you want to see and quickly access.