Category: Android

A new update of Chrome for Android has been released to the Play Store, bringing the mobile browser up to Chrome 65 along with a few new features.  The new version is build 65.0.3325.109 for those keeping score at home.  It will take several weeks to reach everyone.

This Chrome 65-based build has been through four beta builds in that version of the browser, with the last one coming just last week.  That build from last week is the exact same build that has now been promoted to the stable version for everyone.

An interesting new commit has been found in the Android code review Gerrit that could allow your phone to become a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse for your computer.  There commit has two parts to it.  The first enables the HID (Human Interface Device) Profile in the Bluetooth stack while the second adds Profile Proxy to the HID stack.

In theory, by enabling these features, your Android phone becomes another HID and allows it to perform functions of those devices.  Any Bluetooth keyboard, mouse or trackpad that you connect to your computer or phone is a HID.  This commit turns your phone into one.

A new update to Google Gboard is rolling out over the next few days that will bring support for 20 new languages to the keyboard.  Those language additions include two of the most requested of Google:  Korean and Chinese, both traditional and simplified.  The addition of the languages brings the total languages supported by the app to over 300, covering 74% of all of the world’s languages according to Google.

Google has a comprehensive list of all of the languages supported by Gboard.  You will note in the list that there a few that do not have an available dictionary to download.

After the latest Chrome 64-based build of Chrome OS rolled out last week to the majority of Chromebooks, several of them picked up Android app support in the Stable Channel.  This means that owners of these Chromebooks no longer have to live in the Beta or Dev channels to have Android apps run, providing a more stable and robust experience.

Here are the Chromebooks that added Android support in the Stable Channel:

• Acer Chromebook 15 (CB5-571 / C910)
• CTL J5 Convertible Chromebook
• eduGear CMT Chromebook
• Haier Chromebook 11 C
• PCMerge Chromebook PCM-116T-432B
• Prowise Chromebook Proline
• Viglen Chromebook 360

In the case of all of these Chromebooks, Android app support worked on them in the Beta channel previously.

With the release of the March Android Security Update patches earlier today, the opportunity has come to test the Check for update button on Pixel devices.  And guess what?  It works again.

The saga of the Check for update button has been going on for months – really years if you take in the fact that it has never really done anything in the past.  That changed late last year when Google indicated that the button would actually go tap the update servers in Google and give you the latest update for your Pixel or Nexus.  Then an update to Google Play Services broke it.  Then a new beta of Google Play Services was released with the explicit indicator that it fixed the issue.  But that update came out after the February Android Security Update patches.  So today was the first real opportunity to test it.

When it comes to Personal Assistants on phones, we tend to think of Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa most often while iOS users tend to think of Siri.  But Microsoft Cortana slowly and quietly continues to develop and made inroads on both Android and iOS.  A new report suggests that Cortana is about to go even further into both platforms.

The Verge is reporting that Microsoft is working on integrating Cortana in Outlook for both Android and iOS.  This would allow for things like emails to be read to you while you are on-the-go but could also allow for dictation of emails.