Category: Android Tablet

In the flurry of updates that happened to not just Google apps but apps in general for Android at the end of last year, one big change came to Google Maps.  The app gained the ability to have offline maps available, something that competitor products had enjoyed for a long while yet for whatever reason, Google had not yet supported it.  That has changed now and in typical Google fashion, they have made it very easy to create offline maps.

Why would you want offline maps?  Simple really.  No matter which carrier you use for your mobile service, you will undoubtedly hit a dead zone where you have no coverage.  I experienced this over Thanksgiving when I drove from my home in Denver to ski in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  There is a good 50-odd miles stretch that has absolutely no mobile coverage.  I did not have it with Project Fi (which meant there was no T-Mobile or Sprint in the area) and my wife had no coverage on her iPhone with AT&T.  This scenario is exactly where offline maps become important, especially if you know you are going to have to make some road changes to get to your destination but aren’t exactly sure where those are going to happen.

For this How To I’ll show you how easy Google has made it to create offline maps in Google Maps and how the app works with them.

Just in time for your holiday break, Angry Birds 2 has been updated with new levels and a new arena competition where you can play other players from around the world.  The team at Rovio who develop the game are saying that this is the biggest update to the game so far and based on the release notes and a bit of game play this morning, I believe it.  There are a huge number of improvements and changes to the app along with the new player vs player arena.

Like in the previous versions, when you tap on the arena you have your nest of birds and you try to clear as many levels as possible before you run out of birds.  It use to be that you would simply see your score and the scores of other players on the scoreboard but now you are pitted against another player to see if you can beat their score.  Add to that the ability to collect stars which allow you to level up your birds and other rewards, it has really changed how you play in the arena – and for the better in my opinion.

Part of this update in the area and throughout the game is a new Star Ranks where you earn starts in campaigns and tournaments.  This allows you to upgrade your birds and get other rewards in the game.

That’s really only the beginning of this update to Angry Birds 2

I read a lot, especially at night, on my Nexus 7 tablet, so eye strain and fatigue is always a concern for me.  I’ve found ways around this to a large extent by enabling sepia tone mode in Google Play Books but it only goes so far.  Google seems to agree and with the latest update to the eBook reader app, they have created a Night Light mode.  Using information based on the amount of sunlight available, the app will gradually change the temperature and brightness based on that information.

When turned on, Night Light gradually filters blue light from your screen, replacing it with a warm, amber light as the sun sets. Night Light automatically adapts to the amount of natural sunlight outside based on the time of day, giving you just the right temperature and brightness. The color adjustment is more comfortable on your eyes and greatly improves low-light night reading.

Essentially, if you have been using the Sepia mode like I have in Google Play Books, this is an automatic version of making this change plus it adjusts the brightness.  It is a bit genius.

Google Play Books – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now

Google continues to push the Google Play Newsstand app as your single source for news and information about topics you care about as well as a magazine reader.  The latest update add something simple but important for those who start their day with this app:  Local weather.  Now when you open up the app, at the top in the Headlines section you will see the local temperature as well as the forecast high and low for the day.  You will also see an icon next to the temperature to indicate if it is sunny, raining, snowing and other weather conditions.

The updated version of the app is in the Google Play Store now and it is version 3.4.6 for those keeping score at home and if you already have the app installed on your phone or tablet, you should see the OTA update shortly.

In addition to the weather information, Google has also improved the article layouts in the app to improve loading speeds and performance.

Google Play Newsstand – Free – Download Now

One of the big additions to the Google Now launcher and Android Marshmallow has been Now on Tap.  With this new feature, you can tap and hold the home button on your Android phone or tablet and get contextual information about what it is you are reviewing on your device.  The idea and first implementation was around Google Chrome so if you were viewing a website, you could get more granular information about that site.

The good news is that Google is expanding Now on Tap and it works in the Google Play Store app on your phone or tablet. If you are in the Play Store app and looking at an app, tap and hold your home button to pull up the Now on Tap information.  The context you get will vary from app-to-app.  For games I generally found that you would get links to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  On some developers I also got a link to the developer’s site to check out the app or others they may offer.

It was a long time coming but earlier this week the Google Photos team updated the app and service so you can share photo albums with others.  The idea is that if I share an album with you, you will be able to see the photos without having to be a user of the service or even an Android user.  It also gives you the ability to allow people you share with to add their photos to the album which are uploaded to your photos library.  When Google previewed this back in September, it was a feature that I personally had keen interest in seeing as I use Google Photos and Android while my wife is an iPhone user.  Now we can share albums of our events without having to do the USB stick drive swap.

To share an album in Google Photos for web, just open up the album you want to share and tap the Share icon in the upper right corner.  There you can select those you want to share it with anyone by getting a link to the album (so you could send it via email) but I can also share that album with Google+, Facebook and Twitter too.  You can also select if those you are sharing with can upload photos to the album.

Sharing on Google Photos for Android is just as easy.