Category: Android

Back in May at Google I/O, the company previewed offline navigation in Google Maps.  With this feature enabled, users would be able to download a map area and get turn-by-turn navigation to their destination even if they have no internet connection on their device.  Now six months later, the company is starting to roll the feature out to users.

You can download an area by searching for a city, county or country, for instance, and tapping “Download” on the resulting place sheet, or by going to “Offline Areas” in the Google Maps menu and tapping on the “+” button. Once downloaded, Google Maps will move into offline mode automatically when it recognizes you’re in a location with spotty service or no connectivity at all. When a connection is found, it will switch back online so you can easily access the full version of Maps, including live traffic conditions for your current route. By default, we’ll only download areas to your device when you are on a Wi-Fi connection to prevent large data fees.

The updated feature is great for those who may be traveling in a rural area where data connectivity is sketchy or for us urban dwellers, we are in a multi-story car park and have no connectivity available.

The all singing and dancing Blackberry Priv is now available and the initial reviews of this Android device complete with a physical keyboard are pretty good.  As is usually the case when a new phone is released, any special software bits and wallpapers are stripped out by the developer community for everyone to enjoy and the Priv is no different.

Over on the Mobile Wallpaper page I have posted all five of the stock wallpapers that come with the Blackberry Priv.  These, along with the over 100 others, are completely free to download and you can do it either from your Android device, PC, Mac or Chromebook.

Mobile Wallpaper Page

Google’s SMS/MMS app, Google Messenger, had received a minor update to address some bugs and other performance issues.  The update take the app to version 1.6.043 for those keeping score at home and for those who use the app, its an update to make sure you have, especially if you have had any strange issues with the app.

For those who aren’t familiar with Google Messenger, it is the Mountain View company’s answer to your texting needs on your Android phone that has a rich set of features including group chats and super easy photo and video sharing.  The app is beautifully done in a Material design so if you like the look of Android Lollipop and Marshmallow, you’ll love the design of this app.  You can read my full review of it here on the site.

Google Messenger – Free – Download Now

If there is one thing that I genuinely miss about the iOS ecosystem it is family sharing.  Back in the day when I was running around with an iPhone and iPad, the ability to share apps and music purchases with my family and regulate what apps my kids were buying was a huge help.  It is one of the things I wish Google had with the Google Play Store and indications are my wish is about to get answered.

Several sites have done a tear down of the latest APK for Google Play Store for Android and indications are that Family Sharing is coming to Android.

While much of the tap-and-pay focus in Android has been on Android Pay, that doesn’t mean that Google has given up on Google Wallet.  While the latter app has morphed into more of a send a payment to a friend app, Google continues to work on it and add new features.  The latest update that was released yesterday, version 11.0-R234-v13 for those keeping score at home, gives you the ability to add multiple bank accounts to the app.  It is a nice addition that comes with other improvements to the app.

Google Wallet for Android – Free – Download Now

Android Marshmallow has made it into the Android platform versions report from Google for the first time, just a little less than a month after its public release.  The new report can be found on the Android developer website and while the number for Marshmallow is low, .3%, it is expected to jump up pretty fast given the number of device manufactures who have started rolling out their updates or have committed to do so in short order.

For those who aren’t familiar with this report, Google published monthly a report that indicates which versions of Android are being used on devices that access the Google Play Store over the previous seven days.  This month’s report ended on November 2nd, well within the 30 day window since the release of Android Marshmallow to the public (October 5, 2015).  While it is aimed to help developers know what versions they need to continue to develop for in their apps, it is a good indicator to everyone of how a particular build of Android is doing – or not doing.  The report often serves as a prime resource for those who are concerned about Android fragmentation but that isn’t really the intent of it nor does that completely show itself in this report.