Category: Android

Google continues to improve the Google Drive mobile experience with their latest update bringing mobile notifications to file shares and the ability to share files with those who don’t have a Google account.  The updated version is currently rolling out to the Google Play Store so you may not see the update on your device for a day or two.  Once you do however, many of the share notifications that you could only get via email are not on your Android devices themselves.  It is just the latest in a long series of updates where Google continues to improve their apps on Android and slowly eliminating the need to go to various website to be productive.

Google Drive for Android – Free – Download Now

Since its debut in late September, the Nexus 6P has been a bit of a needle in a haystack to get.  Google has been sold out of their flagship phone virtually since day one and the ability to order the new phone has been met with red banners of “This selection is currently out of stock” from the Google Store.  Now, it seems, things are slowly improving.

On the Google Store, there are a few models of the Nexus 6P that are in stock in various colors and storage levels.  While I suspect these won’t last long, it is good to see that a few models are trickling in for those who didn’t pre-order or were waiting for review of it and/or Android Marshmallow.  The key here folks is if you want one, you probably need to jump on it sooner rather than later or you may be out of luck for a while.

Nexus 6P on the Google Store

Google Docs for Android has received a nice update today that brings with it several new and important features to the document processing app.  The update is version 1.4.412.07.30 for those keeping score at home and brings things like spellcheck and word count to the app amongst other features and improvements.  The update to the app is rolling out to the Google Play Store now so you should see it as an OTA update any time today or over the next couple of days.

If you have been considering moving from Microsoft Office to Google Docs, I posted a 4-part series on my move over.  It’s not for everyone but with improvements like the ones today, the transition is certainly getting more on par from a feature perspective.

My Migration to Google Docs Part 1 – The Setup

My Migration to Google Docs Part 2 – Google Docs on All The Toys

My Migration to Google Docs Part 3 – Between the Google Sheets

My Migration to Google Docs Part 4 – Sliding to Google Slides

Earlier today we saw the announcement of the HTC One A9, the next Android flagship phone from the company that will be running Android Marshmallow out-of-the-box.  Part of the announcement today also dealt with upgrades to Marshmallow and HTC made a bold statement.  In effect, if you have an unlocked One A9, you can expect an update to your device within 15 days of it being available for Nexus devices.

Let that sink in for a minute.  15 days.  Not weeks, not months.  Days.  This in light of devices running out there right now that still don’t have the Android Lollipop update.  This update is huge.

Google Photos has become one of the more powerful photo viewing, storing and editing apps available for Android phones and tablets (as well as a really good website).  While there are more powerful editing apps out there, Google Photos will meet the need for the vast majority of users and with the ability to store your photos in your Google Drive, you always have a backup of your photos.

A great feature of Google Photos is the Assistant feature.  This feature automatically creates movies, stories and enhanced photos of those you have uploaded to the service and some of them are really good.  You can chose if you want to keep what the assistant creates or not and it allows you to painlessly add some creativity to your photos.  However, there may be a time where you want to create a movie of your photos yourself.  Google has made it easy to do and in this How To I will show you the steps to take to create a movie in Google Photos.

Google Photos for Android – Free – Download Now  

Google has released the Compatibility Definition Document for Android Marshmallow and there are a lot of important elements to it for phone OEMs.  For those who may not be familiar with it, the guide serves as a roadmap of what a device most possess and do in order to be certified by Google as being compatible with Android Marshmallow.  These guides are not new as Google publishes on with each release of Android.  While it is a bit of a technical read, it is still a good read as it will help you understand what a device must have and do in order to get Google’s blessing.

A key tidbit in the Compatibility Definition Document for Android Marshmallow is section 8.3 on Power Saving Modes.  Effectively the rules are simple:  OEMs cannot alter or hide the new Doze feature in Marshmallow.  Why is this important?  Doze could well be the killer feature of Android Marshmallow and it has proven to save a huge amount of battery life when your device sits idle.  By preventing OEMs from altering how Doze works, it means everyone who upgrades to Marshmallow will see the benefits.

And that is a very good thing.