Author: Clinton

The alchemy melding of Chrome OS and Android show no real signs of letting up and the latest example that is in the Chrome OS Canary Channel may be one of the most useful yet.  In the Canary Channel, when you open up the Files app to view files, you will now also see Android app related files with an appropriate flag enabled.  It means, for the first time, you can actually see the files associated with Android apps on your Chromebook all in one place.

The flag is -show-android-files-in-files-app and right now, it is only in the Canary Channel.  That means, roughly, that it is based in Chrome 69 which isn’t due out until September 11th of this year.  In other words, we’ve got a ways to go but the fact it is there is great news.  If you want to read the code commit, you can do that here.

The latest update to Google’s keyboard app Gboard for Android is rolling out and it is bringing a lot of new features.  With the update, version 7.2.9 for those keeping score at home, will allow users to create their own GIFs to share with others.  The feature requires that you give Gboard access to your camera and when you do, it will fire up the selfie camera on your phone to record about 3 seconds of video.  It then uses the video to create the short animation and will allow you to add filters to it as well.

The new feature is found when you open up Gboard for Android and then tap on the emoji icon (the smiley face) then tap on the GIF option.

Good news this morning for those of you who have the 2017 LG G6 on the Verizon network.  Your Android Oreo update has been released and is on its way.  The update is about 1.9GB in size so you will certainly want to download it via WiFI.  You are looking for build VS98820a according to the release notes from Verizon.

The update of course brings all the goodness of Oreo to the G6 but also brings a few refinements to the phone too such as an improve home screen layout as well as some new lock screen wallpapers for you to enjoy.

It has been a long time coming but Google Photos is finally going to give you the ability to mark photos in your library as favorites.  The new features, which the Google Photos team announced via Twitter, is a cloud-side update and will be rolling out to all accounts throughout this week.  Once you have it, you will be able to view a photo and will see a small star icon as you view that photo.  Tap that star, that photo gets marked as a favorite.

As part of this feature, there will now be a new Favorites album in the menu and in your Albums view in Google Photos.  That way you will be able to quickly find them in your library.

As a general rule, for most Chromebook users, the default apps to open particular file types will do the job.  But sometimes you install an app, be it a Chrome OS web app or an Android app, and it takes over the behavior and becomes the default app for that file type.  Sometimes that’s good, sometimes that’s not so good.

Fortunately changing the default app to a new app for a file type is pretty easy in Chrome OS.  The trick is finding it because it is not in Settings like you would find in your Android phone.  In this How To, I’ll show you where you need to go in the Files app on your Chromebook to change the default apps.

When it comes to over-the-ear headphones, the number of options is a bit dizzying.  You have the ultra high end coming in north of $300 while the low end, the sub-$50, often leaves a lot to be desired.  And why you may find a pair that gives you reasonable audio, it may not work great on Bluetooth or even given you the option to go wired if you wanted to do so.

One of the newer player in the headphones and headset market is Tribit.  The Chinese company makes a wide range of Bluetooth enabled audio accessories that are aimed at providing a premium experience without the premium price.  The Tribit XFree Tune Headphones hit that mark.

Recently the company sent me a XFree Tune unit for review and I have to say, for the sub-$45 price tag, you will be hard pressed to find a better option out there, especially one with a built-in microphone to use for phone calls.  Yep, they are versatile too.