For those of you who are Verizon customers who have the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, take a few minutes to check your phone for updates. Verizon has started rolling out the June Android security update to the device and given it is a sub-200MB download, it should be available to pretty much everyone at this point. The updated build is version MMB29M.N910VVRU2CPF3 for those keeping score at home.
There is a new update to Snapseed for Android available in the Play Store that brings a few but nice improvements to the photo editing app. The update is version 2.6 for those keeping score at home and if you have the app already installed on your phone or tablet, you should get the OTA update in the next few days.
The first change is the addition of a blue filter to the Black and White filter of the app. This allows you to create high contrast B&W images by ramping up the blue while toning down the yellow. You don’t see the colors obviously in the black and white image but the effect creates the high contrast for your photo.
Today’s deal over at Amazon is not just one product but a wide range of products from iClever. Today you can pick up a range of USB desk or travel chargers, wall chargers and car/airplane USB chargers from 15-70% off their regular price. For example, you can pick up the iClever Boost Cube 6-port USB charger for $17.90 instead of the regular price of $29.99. I reviewed that product last summer and it remains my primary USB charging point for my devices at my desk.
So first, let me be clear. This update to the Project Fi app that is rolling out to the Google Play Store does not enable U.S. Cellular support. Yet. If you are a Fi users then you will be seeing the update come to your Nexus 5X, Nexus 6 or Nexus 6P over the course of the next few days and it is part of the puzzle for U.S. Cellular support with Google’s MVNO.
As readers will know, U.S. Cellular was announced as the 3rd carrier that makes up the service, joining T-Mobile and Sprint. That announcement was last month and the expectation has been that an update to the Fi app would be required to make all of it work on the back end. That, effectively, is this update.
Let’s all give AT&T a slow clap. It only took them three months after every other carrier released it but they finally have dropped Android Marshmallow on the Galaxy Note 5 for their customers. Well done.
The OTA update for Marshmallow 6.0 is huge at 1.4GB so be prepared to wait a while for the download. Once you get the update, it will take 20-30 minutes to install and your phone will reboot. As always, I highly recommend that you have all your files and photos backed up before you begin the update process.
In a move that makes all kinds of sense, Evernote has moved the premium feature of being able to lock your note with a passcode to their free tier. This means every users of the service can lock their notes from prying eyes. This is great to see as it corrects something I personally never liked about Evernote: Security should not be a premium option. It should be there by default.
I have been a user of the service since 2011 and a premium user of the service (for other reasons) so the ability to associate a PIN with the app has always been there for me. It prevents anyone from picking up your phone, opening the app, and reading your notes. It is simple yes but does the job. In my mind, Evernote has corrected a wrong with this change.
The podcast app Pocket Casts has received a healthy update this morning, bringing with it a host of bug fixes and other stability improvements. Pocket Casts is by far my favorite podcast app for Android with its ability to sync between my devices and generally good performance. The update, however, aims to improve that performance and stability. The updated build is 5.4.1.324 for those keeping score at home and is available now in the Play Store.
Android N is nearly upon us and the question that everyone wants to know is if their phone or tablet will see the update. For their part, Google has clearly outlined which Nexus devices will get updates and for how long after it is no longer for sale. While the definition has been roughly outlined and discussed by Google, to this point there has never been a document outlining which devices will get updates and when those updates will stop. That, thanks to a post in the Google Support pages, has been formally defined.