Microsoft has updated the Microsoft Bing search app for Android and iOS, bringing a new visual search functionality to it. The feature works very similar to Google Lens (albeit not real time) by allow you to snap a photo of an object, bar code or a photo from your phone to identify objects in it.
The feature is also part of Microsoft Launcher and Microsoft Edge for Android with the feature coming to Edge for iOS shortly.
Microsoft’s efforts to update and modernize their Android apps continues with a new update to what was known as MSN News. The revamped app is now under the name Microsoft News and it has a load of changes. Well really, it is pretty much a new app.
Starting with the new first run experience to help you personalize the news and information you get and when you sign in with your Microsoft account, your interests will follow you device-to-device. You also have a new dark theme and a revamped look and feel overall.
The latest update to Gmail for Android is making its way out to the Play Store and it brings a new Tip setting for users. The new build is version 8.6 for those keeping score at home and when you get the update, you will have a new Inbox Tip inside settings for your Gmail account.
The setting is enabled by default and when you tap it, you see the Unsubscribe tips. With this turned on, you will get occasional tips to unsubscribe to bulk email that you rarely read.
One of the most frequently updated apps from Microsoft is their Android launcher, Microsoft Launcher. A new build, version 4.10 for those keeping score at home, has been released to the Play Store today and it brings some new features and fixes.
The biggest news is the support of a new family safety feature that is part of the Family Account support. If you remember, last week Microsoft Edge, the Redmond company’s browser, gained support for Family Accounts as a way to regulate sites your children can or cannot visit. This addition to Launcher allows you to keep track of your child’s whereabouts and their app activities from the family card on the feed within the launcher.
A small update is rolling in the Google Play Store for Google Sheets that brings improved support for pivot tables. The new build is version 1.18.232.03 for those keeping score at home and should be hitting everyone this week. With the update, you can now expand and collapse pivot tables in the app. This a pretty big deal for those who use pivot tables as you no longer have to go into the web version of Sheets to do this activity.
While doing this on your Android phone can still be a bit tricky simply because of screen size, if you are using the Google Sheets app on a Chromebook, this will be hugely handy.
The second Chrome 68 build has arrived for the Chrome for Android Beta app. Build 68.0.3440.23 is now the updated version number and it has been released into the Play Store. If you have the Chrome Beta app, which is free and anyone can install, you likely already have the update installed.
As with most of these incremental updates to the beta app, this one is mostly focused on bug fixes and stability improvements as the Chromium team within Google, along with feedback from testers, continue to tweak the the build before it goes live for everyone in the Stable channel.
The popular weather app Dark Sky has a new update rolling out that brings a much needed User Interface update along with a handful of new features. The update is version 2.0 of the app and if you already have the app installed, you should have the update already or very soon.
The bulk of the changes in this update to Dark Sky are around the apps interfaces. For example, there is no a unified forecast tab with the next 24 hour and week forecast. You can also save up to six locations in the app to swipe between so they are always available to you.
A new update to the Chrome for Android app is now rolling out in the Play Store. The update is build 67.0.3396.87 and is the second Chrome 67 based build of the mobile browser. The first build was released late last month and with that release, a bug was introduced that impacted the use of the Autofill feature of the browser. This update fixes that bug.
The update has been released to the Play Store so you should see the update land on your phone over the course of the next few days if it hasn’t already.