Author: Clinton

The PayPal app for Android has been updated with full support of the Android Fingerprint API.  That addition to the app means that you can use your fingerprint to sign into the app instead of having to use a PIN.  The app, this point, has supported the Samsung Fingerprint API which was to the benefit of Samsung device owners.  Now that they have moved over to the Android API, anyone with a fingerprint reader on their device will be able to sign into the app with it.

The setup of your fingerprint in the app is pretty easy and I’ll cover that after the break.

Project Fi subscribers are about to get some much needed improvements around international data usage tracking.  In a post in the Fi user forums, Community Manager Jordan posted that improved graphs and the ability to setup threshold warnings is coming to the service.

We’re improving the way you keep track of your international data usage with Project Fi. Currently, international data is not included in the threshold for triggering data usage alerts nor the data usage graph (under Account > Current Cycle). We’ll be making changes to both of these features to include international data usage to help you view and monitor more accurately. Note that international data is the same rate you’ve always paid, $10 per GB.

This is great news as now international users of the service will be able to track their data more discretely versus their domestic data usage.

A small but important update is currently rolling out for the Project Fi app.  The update brings the ability for users to chat with Project Fi support, not just an email or phone call from within the app.  Fi users have been able to chat with support but, to this point, it has only been through the Fi website.  This update gives you all three modes to contact the Fi team to get help or get questions answered.  As a Fi users, I’m glad to see this update as I there are times where having a chat session is faster than an email or phone call, especially if I’m on-the-go.

To access this new option, just open the Project Fi app, swipe over to the Support tab and tap on Chat.  Easy-peasy.

Last week I posted that Huawei had clarified their software update policy on the Honor 8.  This week the Chinese manufacture has added the Honor 5x to the list of devices under the new upgrade policy.  That means both of the latest devices, for the next 24 months, will see major and minor updates.  It is good news for sure as the Honor 5x has been a popular device (and at $189 unlocked, it’s not hard to see why) and Huawei is doing their part to keep their devices up-to-date.

Well done Huawei.

Earlier today I posted Today’s Deal on the Asus C201 Chromebook over at Amazon.  That post generated a couple of comments and questions around just which Chromebooks are going to see the Chrome 53 update that will bring Android apps to them.  For the record, the C201 is one of the Chromebooks that will be able to run Android apps when it is released later this year.  But what about the others?  Fortunately the Chromium team at Google have put together a comprehensive list.

To be clear, this list was originally posted by the Chromium team back in May and there have been some additions of newer Chromebooks that have hit the market.  It is likely that most new Chromebooks that meet the minimum specifications will be added to this list so bookmark this link for the most up-to-date list.  After the break I’ve posted the most recent update to the list from the Chromium team.  It’s searchable so just Ctrl+F to find your Chromebook in the list.

The Google Search team has added two fun games to Search that you can start playing immediately without any downloads.  On your Android phone, type in Solitaire or tic tac toe and you can immediately start playing the classic games right from within the Search results.  The new additions are just the latest in a series of app-like functionality within the Search app.  Previously information on the US election was added and more recently, detailed information about the Olympics in Rio were just a search away.  Games are nothing new either. You have been able to search flip a coin and get a coin toss from within search results too.  Now you have two more to play.