Category: Android

The March Android Security Update has been released for Nexus and Pixel devices and, the good news, the update is already rolling out to devices.  The update was officially released yesterday and has become the way of things, consists of two patches.  The first patch, dated March 1st, contains three critical patches and 8 high priority patches.  This patch is generally for all Android devices while the second patch, dated March 5th, has 8 critical patches and contains a whopping 21 high priority patches.  This update is mostly for Nexus and Pixel devices.

Like previous releases, this month’s security update has been released as a full factory image for those who want to flash their devices manually and so has the OTA patch to do an incremental update.  For those who want to wait until Google actually pushes it to your phone or tablet, you won’t have to wait long.

Good news this morning for Verizon customers using the Samsung Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge – Android Nougat is finally coming your way.  The update is being released today and you are looking for build  NRD90M.G930VVRU4BQA2 for the Galaxy S7 while the S7 Edge is getting build NRD90M.G935VVRU4BQA2.  Both updates come in at just over 1GB in size so you will want to make sure you are connected to Wi-Fi to download the update for your phone.  Once you have it downloaded, the install process should take about 30 minutes all-in.

By now readers will know what comes with Nougat so I won’t bore you with the details once again.  If you aren’t clear on what Nougat brings, check out my review.  As for this particular update, you aren’t going to find much different than the Galaxy S7 updates that have been on T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint.  Essentially the updates are the same with very minor tweaks between them for each carrier.  That, frankly, is good in that you don’t have a different experience just because you are on a different carrier.

Yesterday I posted on the improved support for Exchange in the latest update to the Gmail app.  The update to the app now allows you to manage your Exchange tasks from within the app so you don’t have to go elsewhere to do so.  There is another nice update that came with the 7.2 version when it comes to the app shortcuts.  Now when you long press the Gmail icon, you will be able with a single tap access any of the configured accounts you have in the app.

As readers likely know, in order for app shortcuts to work, you have to be running Nougat 7.1.1 or later.  That, for now, limits it to just a handful of devices unfortunately.

When you access the shortcuts, you will have one for each of your accounts along with a compose shortcut.  When you select one of your accounts, you are taken to the inbox for just that account, allowing you to focus just on it and not all of your emails from various accounts you have configured.

The streaming music Spotify continues to grow, passing the 50 million paid subscriber mark this week.  The news came via company’s official Twitter account yesterday and is a good indicator of the popularity of the $9.99 per month service.

Thank you to our 50 million subscribers. #Spotify50 pic.twitter.com/eXkOV71bwu

— Spotify (@Spotify) March 2, 2017

The number of paid subscribers is across all platforms and includes Android as well as iOS.

Google continues to show the love to Microsoft Exchange users with the latest update to Gmail.  The update is rolling out now and when you get it, you will be able to manage your tasks setup in your Exchange account through the app.  No longer do you have to depend on another app (like Outlook for Android) or your desktop client to manage them.

Google has supported Exchange accounts in Gmail on Nexus devices going back to the Nexus 5 but it wasn’t until mid-year last year that they opened this feature up to non-Nexus devices.  Since then, Google has been tweaking improvements into the app for Exchange but no major feature changes have happened until today.

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the solid performing BLU VIVO 5R phone from BLU.  This 5.5″ phone with 3GB of RM and 32GB of storage is down to $179 if you pick it up in black and grey.  While BLU has always been known for their budget friendly phones, over the past year the company has made great strides in the quality and performance that you get for that budget price.  The VIVO 5R is a great example of this fact.

The phone comes with a 5.5″ Full HD curved glass display that gives you an eye appealing ~401ppi.  It is powered by the MediaTek 6753 octa-core processor running at 1.3GHz and is coupled with 32GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM.  That storage can be expanded up to an additional 64GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Powering all of this is a 3150mAh battery which should keep you going all day.  The phone ships with Android Marshmallow but it is expected that BLU will update it to Nougat at some point – but when or if is unclear.