Tag: App Update

The Chrome team has released the latest update of the browser for Android.  The updated build is version 62.0.3202.66 for those keeping score at home and should be rolling out via the Play Store over the next few weeks.  This is the first build in the 62 train for Android that has hit the production release.

This new version contains the normal security and performance improvements that you have come to expect from this big monthly updates so no real news there.  No, the news is in the new features.

Accelerated downloads are now a part of the browser to allow for faster downloading of files while on your phone or tablet.  If you aren’t familiar with Download Accelerators, essentially what they do is break up large files into smaller bits which are faster to download than one big file.

Microsoft’s Skype for Android has hit a rare benchmark.  The communications app has hit the 1 billion downloads mark, something that few apps have reached, especially those outside of Google itself.  The messaging, calling and video app has been around in various names for years and is one of the linking apps between phones and PCs for Windows users.  It may have taken it a while to hit one billion downloads but it did it and many others have never come close.  Indeed, even Microsoft’s other apps are mostly in the 100 million download range.

Like many of their other Android apps, Microsoft has continued to update the features of Skype and that continues today.  There is a small update that is rolling out in the Play Store that bring messaging improvements.  The update is version 8.9.0.64295 for those keeping score at home and should be rolling out to users over the course of the next few days.

It has literally been a year since it was announced but Visa Checkout integration into Android Pay is finally starting to roll out to users.  Back in October 2016, Google and Visa announced that Visa Checkout and Masterpass would be coming to the tap-to-pay app for purchases online.  At the time, it was indicated that the integration would happen in early 2017 but it has taken until October of this year to happen.

Better late than never I suppose.

With the integration, Android Pay users can pay on hundreds of thousands of new sites where Visa Checkout or Masterpass are accepted using their preferred device authentication method – like fingerprint recognition. No longer will users have to remember multiple usernames and passwords in order to checkout, saving them time and hassle.

Google Text-to-speech, the underlying engine for converting on screen text to speech has been updated.  Version 3.13.3 is now rolling out and with it comes support for Filipino and Greek languages.

Chances are that the majority of readers have never leveraged the TTS engine but it is a critical application for those with visual impairments who need the text on their device display’s read aloud to them.  Setting up of the engine is done in Settings>Accessibility and powers Google’s TalkBack feature built into Android.

Microsoft OneNote for Android has a new update rolling out that finally brings support for setting passwords on note sections.  The updated build is version 16.0.8625.2040 for those keeping score at home and with it comes the ability to set a password on a section of notes and to open that section using your phone’s fingerprint scanner (or password if you phone doesn’t have one).

Password protection of sections has been in OneNote for a while and while you could open up a section on your Android device, you could not set the password in the app itself.  You had to use the OneNote desktop app in order to set passwords.  No more.  Now you can long press a note section in the app on your device and you will see a new Protect Section option on the menu.  Tap it, set the password for the section and you are good-to-go.

The popular keyboard app SwiftKey has a new update rolling out in the Play Store today.  The update, version 6.6.9.32 for those keeping score at home, is primarily a performance and bug fix release but there are a couple of new features of note too.

First, the app now supports signing in and synchronizing of your learned words and typing patterns with your Microsoft account.  Support for Google and email sign-ins have been support for some time now but not for those who prefer to use their Microsoft account.  Why is this a big deal?  Because Microsoft owns SwiftKey.  They bought the company in February 2016 so it seems odd that it took this long to bring support for their own accounts to their own apps.