Category: Android

Google Play Books for Android has a new update rolling out in the Play Store, bringing with it a new shelves concept to your library.  The update, version 3.14.17 for those keeping score at home, allows you to quickly sort your books by those you have not started reading, those you are currently reading, and those you have completed.  This makes it easier to find that book you are currently reading instead of having to wade through the list of books you have already completed.

The update allows you to mark any book in your library as finished but, interestingly, it does not allow you to mark a book as not started.  This could be a handy feature if there is a book you started a while back, never completed, and want to start over on it.

The new shelves visible in the Library tab of the Google Play Books app.

The Google Clock app for Android has an update rolling out to the Play Store that brings a new dark theme, icon and support for Android O.  The update doesn’t bring any new features overall.

The new dark theme replaces the default blue/white theme that was in the app prior to this release.  There is no way to return to the old theme if you liked it as theme changing is not an option in the app.  Personally, I find this new theme a lot easier to read and easier on my eyes, especially in dark situations.

Today’s Deal is on the powerful flagship Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy S8.  Right now you can pick up the unlocked version of the phone with 64GB of storage in Midnight Black for $574.99.  That’s $150 off the original price of the phone.

The 5.8″ Galaxy S8 will be powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor running four cores at 2.3GHz and the other four running at 1.9GHz.  It is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD card.  The display renders at 2960 x 1440 QuadHD with an impressive 571 PPI.  Powering all of it is a 3000mAh battery which is charged with inductive charging.

Camera wise, the rear shooter is a 12MP camera with OIS and has a f/1.7 aperture.  On the front is an 8MP camera.  The S8 is IPS68 rating meaning it is water and dust proof.

Google has acknowledged that they are working on a reasonably significant bug between Google Home and Google Play Music.  The issue varies from user-to-user but most are experiencing one of two issues.  First, purchased music is not showing up in their libraries and is not playable.  Second, entire libraries for some artists are not searchable or playable.  What makes it interesting is that if you open up the Google Play Music app and Cast the songs in question to Google Home, they will play.

The issue was discussed in detail in a post in the Google Product Forums for Google Home.  There, users were encouraged to use the Send Feedback feature within the Home app to send detailed information to Google so they can continue to investigate.  Right now, there isn’t a fix available.

Microsoft continues to tweak and incrementally improve their Android launcher app, Arrow Launcher.  The latest beta of the launcher has hit testers this week and with it comes a handful of refinements.  None of the new features in the version 3.8 build are major changes but collectively, there are a lot of small touches & improvements to the launcher to make it a more personalized experience and visually, more satisfying experience.

On the personalization front, your Microsoft account avatar is now shown in the settings of the launcher.  Linking your Microsoft account to Arrow Launcher has been there for some time but now you will see your avatar and can quickly launch into your account settings from Arrow.

Google has been working on the the Google app for Android a lot in recent weeks, with the most notable change coming last week with the introduction of Google Feed.  If you aren’t up on it, basically the Feed is similar to the features are found in the Google Now Launcher and Pixel Launcher, but it gives you more relevant information based on your searches and location.  It is more dependent on Artificial Intelligence to give you information that is more important to you.

There is now a new feature in the Google Feed feature:  Recents.  Now you have a third tab that shows you your recent search history on your device.  You can simply swipe left and right to see the history and tap on a result to go back to that site to continue reading it.