Category: Android

Wireless networks in homes have, for the majority of users, been fraught with challenges. Whether the challenge is a cryptic network name or an even more cryptic password, configuring a home Wi-Fi access point can be flat out painful at times.  Even for those of us who have been working in telecom and have configured routers, switching and access points, there is something that is just makes doing it at home with consumer equipment a real challenge.  Google recognized this and last Fall introduced the Google OnHub, a home wireless access point that makes configuration and setup simple.  Not opting for a low-end branded device, Google worked closely with TP-Link to produce a stunningly impressive Wi-Fi access point that is easy and dare I say painless to setup.

I recently bought a Google OnHub, replacing my Apple Airport Extreme which was flaking out after only two years of service, and I have to say that I’ve been nothing short of impressed.  Sure it doesn’t have some of the sophisticated knob-turning of similarly price access points but it does have one of the fastest, smoothest setups I have ever seen.  From the time I unboxed it to the time I was online was literally less than 5 minutes.  And even if you are not an Android user, you can easily set up the app-driven OnHub from your iPhone.

If you are looking for a simple to setup and manage Wi-Fi network for your home (or even small business), take a look at the Google OnHub.  Here is my review.

In a blog post on the WhatsApp site, the company has announced that they are rolling out their service and app free-of-charge going forward. The Facebook owned instant messaging service has nearly a billion subscribers and while the entry price of .99 Cents was not much, the company wanted to eliminate the fee all together so those without access to credit cards can access the service.

Many WhatsApp users don’t have a debit or credit card number and they worried they’d lose access to their friends and family after their first year. So over the next several weeks, we’ll remove fees from the different versions of our app and WhatsApp will no longer charge you for our service.

It is an interesting move and one that will surely heat up the instant messaging battle that is going on in the market.

The roll out of the total free WhatsApp service will be taking place over the course of the next few weeks.  Users on Android and iOS can expect an app update to be coming over the course of that time to support the new free model.

One of the long missing elements of the Google Play Store has finally been resolved.  Unlike the Apple App Store, developers for Android have been unable to this point to offer promo codes for their apps or for in-app purchases.  That’s now changing and it is something that should help developers get their app out there in the hands of users and reviewers.

Promo codes let you give content or features away to a limited number of users free of charge. Once you create a promo code, you can distribute it subject to the terms of service. The user enters the promo code in your app or in the Play Store app, and gets the item at no cost. You can use promo codes in many ways to creatively engage with users. For example:

• A game could have a special item, such as a character or decoration, that’s only available to players who attend an event. The developer could distribute cards with promo codes at the event, and users would enter their promo code to unlock the item.

• An app developer might distribute promo codes at local businesses, to encourage potential users to try the app.

• An app developer might give out “friends and family” codes to its employees to share with their friends.

The update was announced on the Google Developer Console and lays out the restrictions on how developers can use the codes, how often they can use them and of course how to implement them into their app.

The world that is Google is expansive.  With dozens of services and solutions, getting your hands (and head) around all that they have to offer and use those services and solutions can be daunting.  Even the most powerful of power users can get lost in the maze so the company has launched Google Tips.  Google Tips is a website that has over 150 tips, tricks and how to’s to make your experience and use of their services and solutions easier.  The tips range from doing like using an app to order groceries to finding your Android phone if you left it somewhere.  There are tips that cover using Google Sheets, privacy settings and how to text hands free.  It’s a pretty impressive start and something that I applaud Google for developing as more people turn to their services and solutions every day.

After months of delays, AT&T has finally approved and with the help of Google is rolling out the Android Marshmallow update to Nexus 6 devices locked to the carrier.  In a support post, AT&T stated that the Marshmallow 6.0.1 update MMB29K is rolling out to a small group of devices but will be ramping up to 100% over the course of the next week.  The news is most certainly welcome to those Nexus 6 owners tied to the carrier as they are seemingly the last group with these devices to get the update.

The good news in all of this is that AT&T has opted to go to the December 2015 build of Marshmallow and not just to the original 6.0 release.  That means AT&T Nexus 6 owners will be more current on their security patches and other improvements that came in 6.0.1.  You can read about the improvements in the .1 release here as well as my review of Android Marshmallow

If you are a developer, regardless if it is on Android, iOS or Windows Phone, there are guidelines.  Those guidelines tell developers how things are to function in their app, how things are to be laid out and how big things are suppose to be in it.  The idea is to provide a uniform user experience regardless of the app the user happens to be in at the time.  Google, when it comes to Android, is no different but when it comes to the guidelines around icon sizes in the launcher, developers haven’t always adhered to the rules.  So Google is forcing the issue.  In the latest update to the Google Now launcher and the Google Search app, icon sizes are uniform thanks to a change in the software the reduces the size of larger-than-they-should-be icons.

With the update, which is rolling out now to the Google Play Store, regardless of the size of the icon that the developer has created for their app, the Google Now launch will enforce a size limit on it, shrinking it down to the guideline sizes per the design guide.  If it sounds draconian, it is a little bit but to be fair Google isn’t doing anything that Apple or Microsoft doesn’t do already.  For their part, Apple will simply reject your app if your icon is larger than it should be and the same holds true for Microsoft.  Google has been a bit more lax on it to this point but it would seem those days are over.

So why as an end user would you care?  Aesthetics mostly but also by having icons a uniform size, it lowers the chance of you accidentally “side touching” an icon when you meant to open the app next to it.