Category: Android

When compared to some of the more advanced activity tracking apps available in the Google Play Store, Google Fit seems pretty basic.  And it is.  While designed to be a hub of all your physical activity, Google Fit has some growing up to do.  Yet there is a simplicity about the app that makes it a joy to use.  It’s not cluttered with endless bar charts or huge amounts of data shoved in your face.  The data’s there, but tucked away so you only focus on the here and now.

I’ve been using Google Fit for the past several weeks as I explore its benefits and its limitations.  There are plenty of both and if Google continues to build on it as they have done over the past few months, it will be a powerful application for you to keep track of your steps, miles walked, runs, swims and other activities along with your weight.  Plus, there are already other apps like Withings and RunKeeper that plug into Google Fit to be that central hub of activity.  And it’s free and with Android Wear support, the future is bright for this app.  But you will need a bit of patience for now.

Google Fit – Free – Download Now

Over the weekend I posted all of the wallpapers for the new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+ here on the site.  Today I’ve managed to get all of the wallpapers that are shipping with the new OnePlus 2 and have uploaded them for everyone to download and enjoy on their devices.

Over the course of the past month I have been in the process of trying and slowly migrating to the Google suite of Office apps:  Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides.  It started as an experiment to see if it would hold up to the compared to Office 2013, up until now, my main Office suite.  I have to say, for my work and what I need out of these applications, they work amazingly well and the transition has not been nearly as painful as I expected it would when I started this little science fair project.  In fact, it’s to the point now that I probably won’t go back for 99% of what I need to do.  Indeed this weekend I plan on uninstalling Office 2013 from my laptop because for that 1% of the time where I need something extraordinary, I can simply use Office online.

Is it the right thing to do for you?  That’s a personal decision but here is how the migration has gone for me.

This will be the first of a multi-part series I’m writing on migrating to the Google suite of Office apps.  This first part is going to cover the setup and foundation of getting your files migrated to Google Drive, setting up for offline work and using Chrome extensions.  Part 2 is going to cover Google Docs on a desktop PC, a Chromebook and the mobile apps.  Part 3 will do the same for Google Sheets while the final part will cover Google Slides.

The personal finance, Mint for Android, has received another minor update that brings with it a new Weekly Summary Page.  If you aren’t familiar with Mint for Android, it is designed by Intuit, the same folks behind Quicken and Quickbooks.  Mint is for personal finance, allowing you to quickly add your banking, credit card, loans and investment accounts to the service which allows you to quickly and easily track them as well as your budget and spending.  This latest update, build 4.3.4 for those keeping score at home, is available now in the Google Play Store.  To use the app and service, you will need a Mint account which is free & you can sign up for it within the app itself or on the Mint website.

Mint for Android – Free – Download Now

Google has released an update to the Google Play Newsstand app that brings a new and asked for feature to the news & magazine app:  Automatic magazine subscription downloads.  As one who uses this app having migrated from the Amazon Kindle app for my magazines, it is a very welcome feature which I frankly missed after moving over.  The update is version 3.4.3 for those keeping score at home and it is available now in the Google Play Store and pretty much completes it as a news & magazine app in my opinion.  I moved to it about two months ago full time and I’ve not looked back.  I find the performance of the app to be outstanding.

Google Play Newsstand – Free – Download Now

Along with the Galaxy Note 5 launch today, Samsung also added to their edge lineup of devices.  The new Galaxy S6 edge+ is a larger, 5.7″ HD display version of the S6 edge.  Internally it is identical to the Note 5 which makes sense both from a production perspective (same components on two devices equals lower production costs) and for consumers (want a stylus or the edge component?).  Like the Note 5, The Galaxy S6 edge+ is available for preorder now and will start shipping on August 21st.  It will come with 32GB of storage for $814.99 while the 64GB will cost an eye watering $914.99.  They can be preordered from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and retailer Best Buy.