Category: Android Tablet

Over the course of the past few weeks it seems every team within Google has been pushing out updates to their respective apps. Google Maps is no exception. Last week we saw a minor update roll out, version 9.13 for those keeping score at home, and it looks like version 9.14 is just around the digital corner.

The updates to Google Maps 9.14 really focus on the navigation user experience when you first look for a location and the inclusion of Popular Times. Popular times provides you a chart of when a business tends to be the most busy. It is something Google has been working on for a while now and it is slowly rolling out across their services.

Google Maps for Android – Free – Download Now

The new Navigation UI is certainly something you will notice and I think likely will appreciate.

I am a big user of OpenTable and have been for a long time.  It’s a great way to make a restaurant reservation whether you are at home or on the road.  One of my biggest complaints however is the lack of profile management in the app for Android (or iOS for that matter).  Anytime I want to change my email address or password I would have to log into the OpenTable website to change them.  Thankfully that is no longer the case.

OpenTable for Android was updated today to version 5.0.0.1398 for those keeping score at home and the big news with this update is the ability to update your profile from within the app.  No longer do you have to go to the site to make these changes and the update is available for both Android phones and tablets.

OpenTable for Android – Free – Download Now

It has been nearly a month since the release of Angry Birds 2 and the popular game which saw 20 million downloads in its first week, has just received its first update.  The update, version 2.1.0 for those who keep score at home, brings 20 new levels of play in an all new chapter, Pigsyland.  What is Pigsyland you ask? Why, that would be Pig City’s first amusement park.

If you haven’t tried Angry Birds 2 then do yourself a favor and download it.  It’s huge amounts of fun and very different from the original game.  Strategy on how you are going to pop the pestilent pigs is far more important in this game. Personally, level 119 is killing me right now!

Angry Birds 2 for Android – Free – Download Now

Over the course of the next three weeks, Google is going to be rolling out updates to Google apps that will allow for events to be automatically entered into your Google Calendar.  Now users won’t have to create the events on their own – they simply will appear in your calendar from sources like Gmail.  The update is part of the continuing effort from Google to make their apps and services more user friendly and integrated.

In the blog post announced the change, Google uses the example of an upcoming flight you have booked and you have received the email confirmation in your Gmail account.

When an individual receives an email in Gmail with flight, hotel, restaurant, or ticketed event information, that event will be automatically added to their Google Calendar, complete with things like flight numbers and check-in times. Calendar will even update those events if plans change and a new email is received (for instance, when a flight is delayed or a reservation pushed back).

No more having to create these events on your own.  Google apps will do it for you.

Last week I posted Part 1 of my migration from Microsoft Office to Google Docs.  In that post, I outlined the foundations of why I moved and the process of migrating your files from your PC or other cloud storage to Google Drive, how to setup offline access and the importance and power of Chrome Extensions as part of that offline work.

Read Part 1:  My Migration to Google Docs Part 1 – The Setup

In Part 2 I’m going to cover the ins-and-outs of Google Docs, the document processing app.  I’m going to cover using the app from the perspective of a PC running Chrome, a Chromebook and the Google Docs app on my Android phone (OnePlus One) and tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab 4).  I’ll cover the pros and cons of Google Docs versus Microsoft Word and some of the things that you will need to keep in mind if you are thinking of switching.  This same methodology will repeat over the course of the next few weeks when I cover Google Sheets and Google Slides.

As a reminder to everyone who is thinking of making this transition, I will repeat what I said in Part 1 of this series:

Take your time.  You will find that the majority of features in Microsoft Office are in the Google apps but they will be in different places.  It may take you a few menu clicks to sort it out.  Be patient.  Give it a chance.  Sure it may turn out that it isn’t right for you and your needs but I would suggest trying the experiment over a week or two before you make a final verdict.  It isn’t as big a migration from say a PC to a Mac but it is similar to moving from Internet Explorer to Chrome in many ways.  Same thing, but bits in different places and this process or that process may be a little different.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and moving from one way of editing your documents to another won’t be done in a day either.  Give it an honest try and take your time.

Google has released an update to the Google Photos app for Android that brings the ability to reorder photos in an album and the ability to view shared albums within the app.  The update comes on the heals of the update to the Google Photos website yesterday which brought the ability to reorder photos to it as well.  This latest update is build 1.2.1.99.143001 for those keeping score at home and is available now in the Google Play Store.

Google Photos for Android – Free – Download Now