How To See App Memory Usage in Android Marshmallow

January 18, 2016 Android Marshmallow, How To No Comments

From time-to-time as with your PC, Mac or any other mobile platform, you will have an app that misbehaves.  It doesn’t load or it crashes or, worst case, it loads and runs but consumes a huge amount of memory on your device.  This is often referred to as a memory leak and it can cause other apps to misbehave and for your device to run sluggishly.  In Android Marshmallow there is a way to see not only the amount of memory you have available on your device but also the ability to see individual apps and the amount of memory they are consuming.  If you have an app that is consuming all your available memory, you can even force it to stop so you can regain the memory.

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Google Announces End of Support For Several API

January 18, 2016 API, Google, Google Development No Comments

For you developers out there, Google has announced the end of support for several APIs.  The news came late on Friday from Google’s Vijay Subramani and it impacts several search oriented APIs.

Back in 2011, we announced the deprecation of the following APIs: Google Patent Search API, Google News Search API, Google Blog Search API, Google Video Search API, Google Image Search API. We supported these APIs for a three year period (and beyond), but as all things come to an end, so has the deprecation window for these APIs.

Given that Google announced this change back in 2011 and that they supported them 4+ years, the news is hardly a surprise.  Further, all of these APIs have been replaced with the Custom Search API.

If you are a developer and are still running any of these APIs in your applications, you have until February 15, 2016 to make changes.  At that point they will be turned down and will no longer be available for you to use.

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Review of Google OnHub – Wi-Fi Made Easy

January 18, 2016 Android, Google, Google OnHub, Wireless Networks 1 Comment

Wireless networks in homes have, for the majority of users, been fraught with challenges. Whether the challenge is a cryptic network name or an even more cryptic password, configuring a home Wi-Fi access point can be flat out painful at times.  Even for those of us who have been working in telecom and have configured routers, switching and access points, there is something that is just makes doing it at home with consumer equipment a real challenge.  Google recognized this and last Fall introduced the Google OnHub, a home wireless access point that makes configuration and setup simple.  Not opting for a low-end branded device, Google worked closely with TP-Link to produce a stunningly impressive Wi-Fi access point that is easy and dare I say painless to setup.

I recently bought a Google OnHub, replacing my Apple Airport Extreme which was flaking out after only two years of service, and I have to say that I’ve been nothing short of impressed.  Sure it doesn’t have some of the sophisticated knob-turning of similarly price access points but it does have one of the fastest, smoothest setups I have ever seen.  From the time I unboxed it to the time I was online was literally less than 5 minutes.  And even if you are not an Android user, you can easily set up the app-driven OnHub from your iPhone.

If you are looking for a simple to setup and manage Wi-Fi network for your home (or even small business), take a look at the Google OnHub.  Here is my review.

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WhatsApp Goes Free For All Users on All Platforms

January 18, 2016 Android, Facebook, Instant Messaging, WhatsApp No Comments

In a blog post on the WhatsApp site, the company has announced that they are rolling out their service and app free-of-charge going forward. The Facebook owned instant messaging service has nearly a billion subscribers and while the entry price of .99 Cents was not much, the company wanted to eliminate the fee all together so those without access to credit cards can access the service.

Many WhatsApp users don’t have a debit or credit card number and they worried they’d lose access to their friends and family after their first year. So over the next several weeks, we’ll remove fees from the different versions of our app and WhatsApp will no longer charge you for our service.

It is an interesting move and one that will surely heat up the instant messaging battle that is going on in the market.

The roll out of the total free WhatsApp service will be taking place over the course of the next few weeks.  Users on Android and iOS can expect an app update to be coming over the course of that time to support the new free model.

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HTC Marshmallow Updates Coming To Many Next Week

January 18, 2016 Android Marshmallow, HTC, HTC M9, HTC One M8 No Comments

Owners of the HTC One M8 and One M9 have a lot to look forward to next week according to Mo Versi, the company’s Vice President of Product Management.  In a series of Tweets over the weekend, he announced that the One M9 running on Rogers, Sacktel, Videotron and Wind in Canada will see the Android Marshmallow update hit their devices this week.

The news is certainly welcome and is another example of how HTC is really pushing to get the latest version of Android out to devices quickly.  We all know that the unlocked One A9 receives updates within 15 days of their release from Google.  The company however committed to having updates out for the One M8 and One M9 in the first quarter of 2016.  Looks like they will reach that goal in the first month of the quarter.

There is some good news for those of you based in the US as well on updates.

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