Author: Clinton

Google Assistant Go App is The Latest Go Initiative App

Google has released another new app into their Go initiative, Google Assistant Go.  The new app will bring a subset of Google Assistant benefits to devices with limited RAM, following in the footsteps of other Go apps.

With Google Assistant Go, there are now six Go apps:  Google Maps Go, Google Files Go, GBoard Go, Google Go, and YouTube Go along with Assistant.  If you aren’t familiar with the Go program, it is an initiative set out by Google back at Google I/O last year to bring apps & services to devices with low RAM.  These apps are mostly aimed at emerging markets or those with very low cost devices with 1GB or 2GB of RAM.

Google Backup & Sync Update Brings Network-Attached Storage Support

A new update to the Google Backup & Sync app for MacOS and Windows 10 is rolling out that brings a lot of fixes and a few new features.  The updated build is version 3.39 for those keeping score at home.  This new build was released on February 1st so it is likely that you already have it installed as Google pushes updates to Backup & Sync behind the scenes.

For those who use Network-Attached Storage (NAS), this update is an important one for you as it is finally supported.  You can now backup files and folders stored on a NAS to your Google Drive.  The folder has to be mounted and you will be able to add a NAS folder from the My Computer section of Google Backup & Sync.

Download The Huawei Mate 10 Pro Stock EMUI Themes

Over the weekend, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro became available for pre-order from several retailers, including Amazon.  The $799 flagship phone will ship on February 18th and if you buy it at Amazon, you get a $150 Amazon gift card with it.  Not a bad deal.

As with previous Huawei phones, the Mate 10 Pro will come with a selection of EMUI themes that are unique to it – for now.  As these things go, it doesn’t take much to extract these stock themes and now you can download them yourself for your current Huawei or Honor phone.  In all, there are 9 themes that come on the phone and you can download the files here in one ZIP file.

Android Oreo Finally Breaks 1% Install Base in The Latest Android Distribution Report

The slow and somewhat painful adoption of Android Oreo continues but there are some highlights to point out in this month’s Android Distribution Report.  Google released the report today and it shows that the latest version of the Android platform, Oreo, was installed on 1.1% of the devices that hit the Google Play Store for the 7-day period ending February 5, 2018.  That’s up .4% from the January report but there isn’t much to applaud frankly.

Android Oreo has been out now six months and despite Google and manufactures releasing updates, the needle has hardly moved on adoption.  This is likely due to a couple of reasons.  First, manufactures are being painfully slow in getting the updates out themselves.  Two, lots of people are using devices that are over 2 years old and will not be updated.

Google Release The February 2018 Android Security Update Patches

Google has just released the February Android Security Update patches for the Pixel and Nexus lineup.  Traditionally, Google releases the patches on the Monday of the first full week of each month (barring a holiday falling on Monday) so today’s release was somewhat expected.

All told, the updates this month are pretty small when it comes to patching vulnerabilities within Android.  It does consist of two patches, one dated January 1 with the second dated the 5th.  Google devices will receive the second patch when the OTA updates are released.

Huawei Mate 9 – One Year Later It’s Still A Stunner

In the fast paced world of Android phones (and iPhones for that matter), some devices age well while others seemingly die without much of a thought to them.  A lot of it depends on the manufacture and their willingness to continue to develop updates for the device but also it depends on the niche in which the device attempts to be the answer.

In the case of the Huawei Mate 9, the Chinese company has continued to support the 5.9″ phablet by recently releasing their Android Oreo based EMUI 8 experience.  That, along with filling the need of a large screen device for some, has let this phone age well.  It’s still a powerhouse of a device that, even though it has now been superseded by the Mate 10, I don’t have a problem recommending.

I reviewed the Huawei Mate 9 back in March 2017 and at the time, I felt it was one of the fastest devices I had reviewed to that point.  I felt the same way about the smaller Huawei P10 which has the same SoC (System on Chip) setup as the Mate 9.  Now nearly a year later, I still feel the same way.  This is a solid phone with a lot to offer despite its age.  Yes, Android Oreo will likely be the last major update for the Mate 9 but that shouldn’t completely turn you away from it.  It has a lot to offer and remains one of the best overall flagship phone options out there, especially now that it is under $500.

I’m not necessarily going to be re-reviewing the Mate 9 in this post but rather will highlight how the phone has performed over time.  I’ll cover how the chassis has held up, how battery life has performed over time and the new EMUI 8 update for the phone to name a few things.

Android Oreo Hits The Sony Xperia X and X Compact Starting Today

Good news this morning for those who have the Sony Xperia X or Xperia X Compact:  Android Oreo is on its way.  The company has released firmware version 34.4.A.0.364 for both devices, bringing Oreo to the 2016 phones as well as a handful of other updates to the devices.

Along with the update comes the January 2018 Android Security Update patch so you will be protected against Spectre and Meltdown after you update your phone.  There are also new features to the camera app and overall performance improvements to both devices.

Android Wear Google App Update Brings Fix to OK Google Detection

An update to the Google app on Android Wear has resolved a significant bug with the OK Google detection on wearables.  The issue was that if you had OK Google detection enabled on your watch, overall performance of the watch would be impacted.  Watches were either laggy or they would stutter through things as you navigated the watch interface.

This seems to have been fixed with the 7.18.50 release of the Google app for Android Wear.  According to Android Police, once you have this update, you should be able to turn on the OK Google detection and not impact the overall performance of your watch.

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