Tag: App Update

Fitbit has rolled out a pretty nice albeit minor update to their Android app this week.  The update, version 2.37 for those keeping score at home, has some improved charts and graphs for body mass and weight history.  While most people tend to think of Fitbit as an activity tracker – which they do well – their app is actually fairly comprehensive when it comes to tracking things like your diet, weight, water consumption and, of course, exercise.  This update mainly focuses on providing you a bit more information around your weight and body composition.

First, there is an updated body lean mass versus fat mass graph.  With this you can better visualize your body composition based on the inputs that your provide to the app for your weight and fat mass measurements.  This information, if you have the Aria scale, can be automatically synced to the app so you can see your lean mass versus fat mass in the app.

If you thought that Android Pay had killed off Google Wallet, think again.  Google has just rolled out an update web portal for the person-to-person payment service along with a refreshed Android app.  The update brings a completely refreshed website for Wallet that is Material Design in nature and intuitive on sending or receiving funds from others.  The app update mirrors this new look of the portal and it, as before, is simple to use.  The app is certainly faster than the website and has some added security features like requiring a PIN to get into it.  However, if you don’t have your phone handy, you now have an easy way to send or receive funds using the service.

Google Calendar for Android has an update rolling out that brings mostly one new but desired feature by users:  A monthly calendar view widget.  The updated version of the app, version 5.6.2 for those keeping score at home, allows you to add a widget that can be resized to show an entire month of your calendar without having to open the app itself.  This is a feature that many other calendar apps have already so it is very much a catch up feature.  Previously you only had one widget which provided you the schedule view.  It too was resizable but it would just stretch out the items on your schedule.  Not super useful if you need to see what you have going on a few weeks from now.

Google Allo has not had the best reception since its release last month but it is clear that Google intends on driving it and their new video app, Google Duo, as their primary messaging apps.  Allo, for its part, is getting a healthy update today that brings a couple of feature many users requested on the initial release.  First is Direct Reply.  This feature allows you to reply to a message right from the notification shade – like you can with, oh, just about every other messaging app from Google and others.  While you have had quick responses available in the Notification Shade, being able to reply with your own text, to now, hasn’t been an option.  This is certainly a must have feature for a messaging app these days and it is good that Allo has it on board.

With the shipment of the Google Home device just days away for many of us, Google has started laying the groundwork for their arrival.  At the October event the company held, we learned that one of these steps would be rebranding the Google Cast app.  That has happened and is rolling out now.  The Google Home app is, essentially, the same app as Google Cast but will be able to add additional cast devices and of course the Home device once it is released.  Google, wisely in my opinion, has lumped the Cast and Home device management into one app, much like they have done with Google OnHub and Google Wi-Fi into the On app.  This will help cut down on the number of apps you have to install to manage the growing number of devices.

As a Google Photos Top Contributor, there are a few feature requests that I hear pretty regularly.  One of those is now off the list:  Albums in search results.  The latest update to the Photos app now shows you albums in your search results when you are looking for a photo (or in this case a set of photos) within the app.  It is a small feature mind you and frankly, should have been there a while ago.  But it is there now and it is a good proof point that Google does take user feedback seriously.  With any Google app, if there is a feature you want to see, use the Feedback feature to get that to Google.  It really does work.