Category: Android

After being announced late last month that they would be coming soon, Google has finally rolled out Routines for Google Assistant.  The six routines allow you to perform certain tasks and get information all with one “Hey, Google” command on your Google Home device or your Android phone.  They are designed to make the experience more personal but also more helpful by not having to give Assistant multiple commands to get information.

In all there are six Routines that rolled out today:

• Good Morning
• Bedtime
• Leaving home
• I’m home
• Commuting to work
• Commuting home

It should be noted that both of the Commuting routines are only for your smartphone and won’t work on your Google Home.

Google’s efforts to have Google Assistant available on all the things took another step forward yesterday.  The company released an update to the stand alone app, essentially a shortcut to Assistant, for both Android and iOS that expand device availability and functionality.

First, for Android, two big changes came to the Google Assistant app.  It can now run on devices running Android Lollipop which greatly expands the overall number of devices that Assistant can run on.  Second, support for tablets has also arrived on the app.  So instead of the app looking awkwardly huge and only in portrait mode, it now works in landscape and looks like a proper tablet app.  Keep in mind that both of these were actually supported by Assistant last year.  This update to the Assistant stand alone app just adds the support.

A new update to the Google Movies & TV app for Android is rolling out that brings some UI changes as well as improved integration with Rotten Tomatoes ratings on movies.  The new build is version 4.2 for those keeping score at home and should be rolling out to everyone over the course of the next few days.

The most noticeable change to the Movies & TV app after this update is the new bottom navigation in the app.  This falls in line with other Google apps and is the overall trend they have going on for Android.  That navigation has also been slimmed down with tabs for Home, Library and Watchlist only.

The G Suite team has announced that 25 new pre-integrated apps have been added to their SAML Single Sign-on (SSO) support in the platform.  SAML is one of two SSO standards that are supported by G Suite and additional apps being supported means that it is easier for Admins to get their users enabled across various services used by their organization.

For those who may not be familiar with Single Sign-On, the hint is somewhat in the name.  SSO allows a domain user to use their network username & password to sign into other services that their organization uses.  It cuts down on users having to remember several passwords but also gives admins greater control and recover tools for those additional services.

The additional apps will be hitting on domains over the course of the next two weeks and Admins are encouraged to review their configurations in order to enable the new apps.

Google has rolled out a new cloud-side update to Google Contacts that links it with Google Pay Send, allowing you to send funds to a contact directly from within the app.  The feature appears to have a limited rollout at this point so don’t be too surprised if you don’t see the link yet.

If you do have it, you will know when you go to Google Contacts and open up a contact’s information page.  There on the menu bar just below their picture, you will find a “$” icon with “Send” under it.  Tapping it will prompt you for the email address to send the fund to then finally a Google Pay Send page to input the amount.

A new update to the Microsoft Outlook app is rolling out for Android (and iOS) users that brings a long requested feature to the app.  The new build is version 2.2.118 for those keeping score at home and when you update to it, you will finally have calendar attachment support.

The feature brings the mobile version of Microsoft Outlook more in line with the desktop versions in that you will be able to attach items to a calendar invite and be able to read attached content inline on invites sent to you.