Tag: Google

The mobile analytics firm App Annie has pegged, for the first time, that the combined Android app stores in the market will out earn Apple’s App Store this year.  According to their report, they project that Android based stores will earn about $41 billion in 2017 compared to the $40 billion that Apple will earn with their app store.  The report is quick to point out that the Android numbers are a combination of the various app stores for Android that exist, such as Amazon’s Underground and Samsung’s app store.

If you strip down the report to just the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, Apple still leads the way.  The Google branded store will account for $20 billion of the projected $41 billion this year but the Apple store alone churns $40 billion in earnings.

After being announced last week followed by a limited roll out, the new location sharing feature of Google Maps has rolled out to the masses.  Users can expect the feature to be enabled in the Google Maps app shortly if it isn’t there already.  You will find the new feature located on the menu of the app.

The feature works cross platform (and on the web) and allows you to share your location or your status on a journey with others that you choose.  That sharing can be limited to a specific time period for sharing while the sharing of your journey will automatically end when you arrive at your destination.  It is more-or-less a return of the old Latitudes product but is more refined.

The day has finally arrived Star Wars fans.  Rogue One:  A Star Wars Story is now available for purchase in the Google Play Movies & TV Store.  The movie has been available to add to your wishlist since January and was one of the most successful movies of 2016.  The movie is set between the much maligned prequels and A New Hope, the original Star Wars movie, focusing on a band of Rebels who are trying to steal the plans to the Death Star.  If you haven’t seen it yet, rent it and see what you missed.  It has become one of my favorite movies in the franchise.

The movie is $19.99 in HD.  Right now there is not a rental option nor is there a UHD option for the movie.

Google Trips has seen its second update this week, bringing two new features that users will appreciate.  First, you now have the ability to manually add hotel and airline reservations to a trip.  Previously, there was no way to do this and the only way to get reservations into a trip was by having it automatically added via Gmail.  Now when you go into a trip within the app, you will see a FAB (Floating Action Button) which will now let you add flight and hotel information.

The other big change in this update is that Google Trips will now watch your Gmail for bus and train travel and add those automatically to your trips.  This expands the apps ability in searching Gmail as previously only hotel and airline information was automatically added.

Google has announced that a new backup feature is rolling out for Google Photos.  The update will be for both Android and iOS and will offer users the ability to backup low-resolution copies of their photos while they are on a slow mobile network.  The photos, which will look fine on smartphone screen, will be replaced by a High Quality version of the photo once a stable Wi-Fi connection is established on your phone.

The feature is aimed at users who do not have a high throughput mobile signal.  This gives users the option to have photos backed up so in case something happens to their phone, they will not have lost the photos.  To this point, backing up in Google Photos on mobile networks was done at full original or Google’s compressed High Quality.  Those can take a lot of time to backup on a slow connection.

Google Maps is in the process or rolling out a location sharing feature that you may actually want to use.  Location Sharing is something that has been a bit spotty for both Android and iOS with Apple probably having it figured out best with Find My Friends.  But, as is usually the case with Apple, it is only for fellow iOS users.  That is why this new feature in Google Maps is so exciting.  It works cross platform between Android and iOS.

In a nutshell, here is how it works.  When the feature rolls out to you, there will be a Share Location feature in the menu.  Tap it then select the contacts you want to see your location in real time.  You can set it up to share your location in real time for a set amount of time or until you turn the feature off.  Once you start sharing, your selected contacts will get a notification on their phone and when they open up Google Maps, they will be able to see where you are in real time.