Category: Google

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.

Google has started rolling out an update to Android Pay that should hit your device in the next day or two.  The update, version 1.2 for those keeping score at home, is a minor update but it does have one significant feature that you will want to have available to you.  If you recall, back in December I told you about apps you may have on your phone being able to leverage Android Pay for payments.  That list of apps was pretty long and included apps like Lyft, OpenTable and ParkMe Parking.  The update today to Android Pay is important because now you will get receipts in the app for those in-app purchases.

Essentially the receipts act like the do if you use Android Pay at a physical store.  When you make a purchase using it within an app, a receipt for that transaction is associated with the credit or debit card that you used to pay for it.  The idea of course is you have one place to go to see a history of all your transactions.  There is nothing you as a user need to do other than update to this latest version to enable this feature.  It is a back end change along with the app.

Android Pay – Free – Download Now

Google has dropped the price of the Nexus 5X by $30 at the Google Store, bringing the mid-market phone down to $349 for the 16GB model.  The 32GB model also dropped by $30 to $399.  The price change is a permanent change.

When the 5X was released back in September, many question the price point of the device for the specs it offered.  Google, it would seem, has heard this and had introduced this price reduction.  At this new price point, the Nexus 5X is really hard to beat and it comes with Android Marshmallow already installed so there are no upgrade challenges for this device.

Nexus 5X – Starting at $349 – Google Store

While searching by text has been available to smartphone users for many years now, voice commands to search and do other things is still relatively new.  Sure there have been attempts at it in the past but over the course of the last 18 months with Siri (Apple), Cortana (Microsoft) and Google Now, the ability to do far more than simply search for web content with your voice has grown exponentially.  In fact the challenge now is not so much what you can’t say to your device but remembering what you can say to your device.

This is the first part in a multi-part series on voice commands with Google Now.  I will preface this by saying that this by no means should be considered definitive or final.  Google is continually adding voice commands to the service and while I do plan to update these posts as time goes on, undoubtedly I will miss something.  Your help, of course, is appreciated in finding new commands.  For this first post I am going to focus on commands that you can give to your phone or tablet to perform a function or to get you information.

The way I have structured the information after the break is whatever you find (parenthetically) is the user adjustable command.  For example, “What time is it in (Denver)?”.

Once again the Nexus 6, last year’s flagship Nexus device built by Motorola, is on sale at Amazon.  The 32GB model is available for only $249.99 while the 64GB model is $299.99. That is a savings of $400 from when the phone was first released last year and this phone is still got plenty of swagger when it is compared to phones that are being released today.

I personally use a Nexus 6 as my daily driver and love this phone.  It has outstanding specs and performance and with it being a Nexus device, it already has Android Marshmallow running on it and I can use Project Fi.

• Display: 5.96″ AMOLED, 1440×2560, 16:9 aspect ratio, 493 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Weight: 184 grams (6.49 ounces)
• Battery: 3220 mAh Mixed usage up to 24 hours*
• Processor: 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 with quad-core CPU (APQ 8084-AB), Adreno 420 GPU
• Memory: 3GB
• Camera: 13MP IMX 214 Image Sensor

Nexus 6 32GB – $249.99 – Amazon

Nexus 6 64GB – $299.99 – Amazon

For T-Mobile and Project Fi subscribers, there has been a lot of discussion around T-Mobile’s LTE Band 12.  This coverage from the carrier is in the 700MHz frequency range and is really helpful for those in urban areas (gets through buildings a bit better) and rural regions (goes out from the tower a bit further).  While most of know that T-Mobile has the 700MHz range, there hasn’t been a huge amount of information on exactly where it is rolled out in the US.  Most of the time those of us on Fi or T-Mobile simply depend on other users who post “I have Band 12 in such-and-such city” to know if it is there or not.

Now your life just got a little easier.

Spectrum Gateway is a site that gives great insight into T-Mobile’s network coverage but they have a specific area that is dedicated to the 700MHz range to show you were it is available here in the United States.  Not only that, the map shows you where the carrier has applied for coverage but does not have it just yet. It is a wealth of information and can really help you as you plan a trip to know if you can expect Band 12 on your devices (assuming it supports it) as you travel.