Tag: Google

A few weeks ago, Google announced that Wi-Fi Assistant would be coming to all Nexus phones over the course of the coming weeks.  That appears to have started happening.  Several Nexus owners are now seeing the option in their settings and are now able to take advantage of the data saving feature.   Wi-Fi Assistant to this point has been exclusive to Project Fi users which allows their devices to automatically connect to Google approved Wi-Fi hotspots securely and without any user intervention.  It is a huge benefit to Fi frankly as it saves on data plan usage.  It will connect your phone to Wi-Fi without you even knowing it.  Now all Nexus owners will benefit from the feature.  The good news is that it is all a back end change and there is no update required on your phone.

Just two days after their initial release, the Over-the-Air (OTA) updates for the September Android Security Update are starting to hit Nexus devices.  While they are sporadic at this early point, owners of Nexus devices should start looking for the updates to hit their devices over the course of the next week.  In my case, my Nexus 6 (running Marshmallow) was updated while my Nexus 9 (running Nougat) also received its update to the 09-06-2016 patch.

It should be noted that not all Nexus devices have received their Nougat update yet so it is possible that you could get a double OTA update over the course of the next week or two.

The Google Contacts app for Android has been updated and with it comes a new duplicate contact finder.  The updated app, version 1.5.16 for those keeping score at home, will give users the ability to search the contacts on their phone, identify any duplicate contacts, then merge them into one.  If this sounds familiar, it should.  Google Contacts online has had a duplicate contact finding feature for some time now and essentially it works the same as as it does on the Android app.  Now, like so many things we do today, you don’t necessarily have to go to the web to sort this part of your life out.  You can do it on your phone, which is likely always with you.

The Google OnHub app was updated last week and while the official release notes indicated it was primarily around performance fixes and adding support for Phillips Hue lighting, there was another small but important change made to the app.  The OnHub app has always been able to do some network testing and when I initially reviewed the router and app, this was one area that was really in need of improvement.  That improvement has come over the course of the past few updates (I have no hesitation in recommending it now) but the change made to the app last week brings some clarity to those network tests.

To begin, the testing of your Internet connection speed and your Wi-Fi speed are now two separate tests.  You can run both of them or just one of them where as before, they were all lumped in together.  To be clear however, you have to run the Internet test first, every time, to get to the stand alone Wi-Fi test.  Hopefully this will change in the future but for now, it is what it is.

Based on a leak from the ever reliable Evan Blass, it looks like we could well see a new 7″ Android tablet from Google coming very soon.  In fact, it could be as early as next month with the October 4th event slated to announce the new Pixel phones, a 4K Google Cast device, Google Assistant and Google Home.  Adding a tablet to that mix wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.

Google’s Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year.

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 5, 2016

If the rumor is true, this would be a welcome device by many Android fans.  The very popular Nexus 7 (2013) tablet is no longer available or supported as far as major releases are concerned and the only real Google branded tablet option is the Pixel C.  That’s a nice device and Android Nougat has certainly made it more usable, but at 10″, it is bigger than what some people will want or need.

Last week a small update hit the Google Play Music app but on the surface there wasn’t much new.  However, within the settings of Google Music you will now see the option for a Sleep Timer.  Essentially it acts like a countdown timer and when it expires, it pauses your music.  The idea, as the name suggest, is to play some music to help you go to sleep then shut down so you aren’t playing music all night or running down your battery if your phone isn’t charging.  This new feature is in version 6.13.3321 for those keeping score at home and you likely got the update last week if you have the app installed.