Author: Clinton

The Microsoft Arrow Launcher is one of the most useful launchers in the Google Play Store right now, particularly if you are a heavy Microsoft apps user.  I’ve reviewed this launcher in the past and Microsoft continues to make big strides in improving it on a seemingly monthly basis.  One of the features that came with the last major update was the ability to add widgets to the Utility page in the launcher.

For clarity, the Utility page is a single page that you swipe right to get to from the Home page.  There you can see your recent contacts, your calendar, documents and so forth.  All of this content is tied to your phone or to your Office 365 (personal or business) account to get you these files and information at a glance.  You can turn this page off in the settings but once you get it configured the way you want, it is actually quite handy.  Think of it, in a way, as the Microsoft version of the Google Now page.

If you are using the latest version of Arrow Launcher, you can add other app widgets to the Utility page.  This will free up space on your Home pages but also give you the ability to at glance see a bunch of widgets in one place.  It is quite handy.

Google has released their monthly Android Distribution Report for May and it shows that Android Nougat continues to grow.  The latest version of Android accounted for 7.1% of devices that hit the Google Play Store in the week ending May 2, 2017.  That is up 2.2% from the April report.  While it is still not ideal to have the latest-and-greatest version at sub-10%, Nougat has continued to grow steadily over the past several months.  This, of course, has been helped by the larger number of devices either getting updated to Nougat or new devices like the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 lineup shipping with it.

Interestingly, both Android Marshmallow and Lollipop remained steady to the April report.  Marshmallow had a 31.2% install base while Lollipop kept its 32% base.  Android KitKat continued to drop, losing 1.2% in this months report.  That version is down to 18.8% now while Jelly Bean and Ice Cream Sandwich both lost 1%.  Gingerbread continues to hold on and actually gained .1% this month.  Go figure.

After several months of waiting, the unlocked LG G5 here in the United States is finally receiving its Android Nougat update.  The update comes months after many other unlocked variants in other countries received the update.  Canadian LG G5 users for example, received the update back in December.  Locked variants of the phone on AT&T received the update in February.

The update is a big one at over 1.3GB so Wi-Fi is a must to download it and you can expect the install time after the download to take about 10 minutes.

The Google Wallpapers app for Android has been updated with several new wallpapers in most of the existing categories within the app.  The update, version 1.1.153125266 for those keeping score at home, adds wallpaper options in the Earth, Landscapes, Life, Textures, and Cityscapes sections of the app, giving you the option for more personalization of your devices.

Wallpapers is an app that is native to the Pixel lineup but shortly after the release of the phones, Google released the app (officially – it has been available as a side-load APK for months prior) for Android devices running 4.1 or higher.  It allows users to select a wallpaper for their Home page as well as the lock screen on their devices, both of which can be different wallpapers.

Microsoft has released an update to their popular note taking app OneNote for Android.  The updated build is version 16.0.8067.1772 for those keeping score at home and the biggest new feature is the ability to share a page from the share panel built into Android Marshmallow or later.  This will make it far easier and fast to share thoughts and ideas with others.

The editing tools have also improved in this update.  The ability to cut, copy and past are there now along with other performance improvements to editing tools.  Couple this with the formatting tools being immediately available in the command bar, this overall makes the app easier to use, especially on a phone.

Following the process set for the last Nexus lineup, Google has updated their Android software update page with information on the Google Pixel lineup.  Major version support for the devices will end next year, October 2018 while Android security updates will end a year later in October 2019.  While Google phrases this as “not guaranteed”, it is pretty much a lock that the devices won’t see updates after these dates.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to Pixel owners.  Google has said they will support phones for 3 years after release or 18 months from when the device was last sold in the Google Store, whichever is longer.  This is the cadence they setup on such updates with the release of the Nexus 6P and 5X although it had been somewhat implied prior to those devices. As an owner of a Pixel XL, I’d love to see support longer but the reality is, for Google, developing an Android build for a 3+ year old device is expensive with little incentive for them to do it.  Remember that they, just like any other manufacture, want you to upgrade at some point.