ClintonFitch.com

Keeping with their self imposed end-of-2016 deadline, OnePlus has released the Android Nougat based OxygenOS 4.0 update for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.  The update was released very late on December 31st, hitting the deadline and the update is now making its way out to all owners of the 3 and 3T.  While it still may take a few days for your phone to see it, it is out and it is only a matter of time.

The update is all focused on Android Nougat.  The release notes in the OnePlus forums essentially highlight all of the features of Nougat and speak very little of any other changes that the company has made in their custom version of Android.

Over at Amazon you can still pick up the Nextbit Robin for $149.   I reviewed the Robin a few months ago and at the time I said it was a pretty good deal at $299.  At $149, it is one of the best deals on a phone with these specs out there right now.  Over the holidays the phone was $169 on Amazon so this price drop makes it the lowest price the phone has ever been available.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.  You can read my review of the Robin to see all my thoughts on this great little phone.  I also think it is perhaps one of the most underrated phones of 2016.

Snapseed has an update rolling out for both Android and iOS that brings several tweaks and improvements to the popular photo editing app.  The update, version 2.14 for those keeping score at home, refines the Face filter which was introduced a couple of releases ago, making it smoother and giving users a bit more control over how it is applied.  The Face filter is a powerful feature of the app and the new tweaks to it are excellent based on my testing this morning.

For Android users, the Perspective tool brings back the horizontal and vertical adjustment modes.  These went away a few revs ago and many users (Clinton raises his hand) asked for it back as it was a super handy tool.  Google, who owns Snapseed, listened and it has returned.

After several days of customer and general tech community backlash, Evernote has reversed their policy that would have allowed a select number of their employees read your notes.  The change was announced late last night on the Evernote Blog where it is made clear, in bold, that employees will not be able to read your notes without your express permission.  Good.

In addition, we will make machine learning technologies available to our users, but no employees will be reading note content as part of this process unless users opt in. We will invite Evernote customers to help us build a better product by joining the program.

Frankly, this is how this should have been in the first place and it is good to see the company respond to consumers and their customers.