Category: Productivity Apps

Microsoft OneNote, the company’s note taking app, has a new update rolling out that brings a number of improvements for users.  The new build is version 16.0.9001.2134 for those keeping score at home and has been released to the Play Store.  This update likely brings something for everyone as it is pretty comprehensive.

First, there is a new lasso tool, which allows for you to select ink drawings and other content on your page in a much easier and more controllable way.  The lasso tool on the desktop version of Microsoft OneNote always worked well but it hasn’t been in the mobile version up to this point.  Now you have feature parity, on the lasso at least, across all devices.

A new update to Microsoft Outlook for Android is rolling out, bringing a new one-tap handling of spam email and your junk folder.  The updated build is version 2.2.88 for those keeping score at home and is in the process of rolling out to the Google Play Store.

With this update, you will now be able to mark a message as spam when it comes into your inbox as well as empty your junk mail folder with a single tap.  Previously if you wanted to do this, it involved marking the message and then having to navigate to your junk mail folder to delete the message for good.  Microsoft has now streamlined it, making it faster and easier.

Evernote has begun rolling out a healthy update to their Android app that brings several improvements on editing of notes.  The update, version 7.9.9 for phones for those keeping score, adds the ability for strikethrough, subscript and superscript text in notes.  These text styles were available on the Mac or PC version of the Evernote app, and were visible in the mobile versions, but you couldn’t actually add them in the Android app.  Now you can just like you can on your laptop.

Improvements have also been made to the camera function of the app.  Now it can automatically detect and capture business cards, documents, whiteboards, Post-it® Notes and receipts.  Just enable the camera function in the app, point it at what you need to capture and it will do the rest for you.

One of the challenges of working with spreadsheets is if you want to import text into that spreadsheet from another document.  Often times it is imported with no problem but getting it organized into columns can be a painful experience.  The Google Docs team is trying to make that process a bit easier with an update they have introduced to Google Sheets online.  Now when you import text, you can highlight the columns you want to separate the text to in your spreadsheet thanks to a new “split text to columns” option.

Google has released an update to Google Calendar that, while is mainly focused on performance improvements, also brings a new and pretty sophisticated reminders function to the app.  The update is version 4.1 for those keeping score at home and it is in the Google Play Store now.  If you have not received the OTA update, you should over the course of the next couple of days.

The new reminder function allows you to setup a reminder for a wide range of activities from phone calls to checking in for flights and is found on the “+” menu in the lower right corner of the app.  Now you can chose Reminder as well as Event on that menu.  By adding a reminder, you will be able to tell the app what you want to be reminded of and fill in the details.  A reminder is then placed in your calendar for that event and you can setup notifications to remind you of your reminder.

One of the oldest yet best eWallet applications for Android remains in my opinion to be Ilium Software’s eWallet.  I have been using this app on a wide range of platforms for over a decade now and while there are other apps that do similar things – and even some a bit prettier and better – eWallet remains my go-to.  With the ability to sync across multiple devices and platforms, it gives me my plethoria of user names, passwords and PINs at my fingertips. It is 256-bit AES encrypted and can be set up to lock immediately once you leave the app.

The Ann Arbor, Michigan company has just released their latest update to eWallet and brings it into full compliance with Android Marshmallow’s new permissions system.  The update brings the app to version 8.1 for those keeping score at home with the flagship feature being the new permissions system.

eWallet for Android – $9.99 – Download Now