Author: Clinton

I’m a big fan of Google+ and in fact it is where you will find me most of the time these days over Facebook or Twitter.  I’ve posted on the service several times in the past few weeks as it continues to improve and becomes more community centric.  It seems nearly on a weekly basis that improvements are made to the website and every few weeks to the Android app for it that improve the experience or performance of them.  Today there is a new little update out on the website that may not seem like a big deal but as a user, it is a nice improvement.

The photos and video social sharing app Instagram has a new update rolling to the Google Play Store that is bringing support for multiple user accounts.  The new feature is something that the company has been testing the past few months and is one of the most requested features of the app.  Currently, if you have multiple account, you have to manually log in and out of each account in the app each time you want to switch from one to another.  This is not difficult but it can be a lengthy process when you are on-the-go.  As more corporations are leveraging Instagram to reach their customers and prospects, this became even more of an issue with those account managers having to continually switch between multiple accounts or their work and personal accounts.

That’s now changing and while the back end process for the update is all done, the app update is just now rolling out to users.

OnePlus continues to push hard for your business with the removal of their invitation system to purchases their devices and now have dropped the price of their flagship.  The OnePlus 2, which the company released last year as their “flagship killer” device, has had a price drop of $40, taking it down to $349 for the 64GB model. The new price is effectively immediately and while a $40 isn’t huge, it certainly will make a difference for those who are considering picking one up.  It also makes it very competitive on price when you consider the amount of storage that the device has compared to others in the same price range.

This new price is a permanent drop so there is no special discount code or time in which you have to buy it.

If you have a Qi Wireless Charging compatible device, today over at Amazon you can pick up a great deal on a charging stand.  The EC Technology 2nd generation Qi Charging base is now only $11.99.  That is over 75% off the regular price of $49.99 and it is good while supplies last.

There are a wide range of devices that accept Qi charging including a wide range of Nexus devices.  The Nexus 4, 5, 6 and 7 (2013) all accept Qi wireless charging as well as a good range of Samsung devices.  You will need to double-check on your specific phone to see if it is compatible and yes, there are a few Windows Phone devices that will work on this too.

Raise your hand if you remember Snapseed?  Raise your hand if you knew it was owned by Google? My best is many of you didn’t raise your hand on either question because of all the Google owned apps, this one is one of the quiet ones.  That said, a little noise was made today.  Snapseed has been updated to version 2.3 for those keeping score at home and with it has come some pretty nice improvements to arguably one of the best photo editing apps available for the platform.

The update is rolling out to the Google Play Store now and with it comes several improvements and updates that users will appreciate.  First, from filters perspective the Lens Blur filter has been update to recognize faces and automatically apply the blur around them.  Before the process was a manual move to the person’s face and you can of course still do that, but this addition will make things a bit quicker for you.  In my testing for this review, it worked really well and in fact even recognized my cat’s face in a photo. 🙂

The other big filter change is a new one:  Automatic Straighten.  As the name suggest, this filter will automatically level a photo with the horizon of the photo to give you a level photo.  Depending on how much askew your photo is, you could see a little bit of cropping to make the photo level so play around with it to see how it works for some of

Filters in Snapseed

your photos.

Along with theses changes, Snapseed has now been enabled to be installed on an SD card.  Many apps now have this ability which can save you storage space on your device.  That’s pretty handy if you have a 16GB or smaller device without having to pick-and-choose which apps you have installed at any given time.

There are a few other minor tweaks like improved filter help information in the app but these are the big ones of note and it certainly adds to an already impressive photo editing app.  If you haven’t tried the app, it is free and it is really powerful for what it can do.  Give it a go.

Snapseed for Android – Free – Download Now

Apple Music, the subscription music service from Apple, has been updated for Android devices that brings support for SD cards.  The update is in the Google Play Store now and it is version 0.9.5 for those keeping score at home.  With the recognition of SD cards, users can now associate it with the app and download music to it for offline listening.  Previously you could only download music to your device memory which for many was a severely limiting factor.

Along with the support for SD cards, the update also brings the ability to search the Beats 1 schedule for shows that you want to listen to while on the go.  Beats 1, for those who don’t know, is a 24/7 radio station based in Los Angeles,

Apple Music for Android

New York and London that provides a wide range of programs for listening. This new update also brings improved searching functionality to the app.  Now you can search more easily by composer and compilations to find your favorite artist or type of music.

While the app is still very much in the early stages, Apple continues to tweak and improve it, offering a music alternative to the likes of Google Play Music and Spotify for Android users.  Users can also try the service for 3 months and then it is $9.99 per month, the same price as other services.  For those of you who have migrated from iPhone to Android but still have a big iTunes collection, Apple Music is a good way to keep those songs and play them on your new device.

Apple Music for Android – Free – Download Now