Tag: Android

Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides all have an update rolling out in the Play Store for Android.  The update brings the normal raft of bug fixes and performance improvements but also has some new editing tools.

There are new toolbar items will allow you to more easily format tables, images and drawings within your Docs, Sheets or Slide documents.  The editing features are tools that have been on the web-based versions of the apps so these updates bring feature parity between the platforms.

Microsoft has begun rolling out a significantly revamped Bing for Android app to the Play Store.  The update brings a new look with a simplified search experience, a color refresh, and quicker access to specific content in search results.  The update also expands the search results you can get from the app such as searching for GIFs and being able to save them to your favorites.

While most Android users tend to think about Google Search on their devices, Bing remains the number 2 search engine in the United States and for those who are deep into the Microsoft ecosystem, especially Windows 10 users, this update to the Bing app will be a welcome update.

The Google News & Weather app for Android has an update rolling out that brings some tweaks to the overall layout of the app as well as a new, bottom tab style navigation.  The update is version 3.3.1 for those keeping score at home and it is in the Play Store now.  For those who have it installed, expect to see the OTA update over the course of the next few days.

The overall layout of the app has subtile changes and brings the app a bit more inline with the web version of the service that was updated a couple of weeks ago.  You still have the top carousel that allows you to select topics of interest and the articles presented are heavily dependent upon AMP for quick opening.

The bottom navigation has changed however in Google News & Weather significantly – as in, it’s there now.

Yesterday, T-Mobile started rolling out the June Android Security update to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on their network.  Today, Sprint has followed suit.  The update is build G930PVPU4BQF3 for the Galaxy S7 while the S7 Edge will be getting build G935PVPU4BQF3.  The update for either device comes in at just under 300MB in size and it is recommended that it be downloaded via Wi-Fi and that you have at 50% of battery left prior to trying to install it.

The release notes for the updates are somewhat generic in describing what is addressed.  The security is improved thank to the new Android Security patch level but there are also “device stability & improvements”.  There are also performance improvements but again, not specific is called out.  This is similar to the T-Mobile release yesterday which just indicated “various system improvements”.

There are reports from some Google Pixel owners that the July Android Security Update, which was released yesterday, is failing to install on their devices.  The issue appears to be rather discrete and not broadly impacting all Pixel owners.  The issue appears to be only on the 5″ model and only with build NKG47M.  That build is for T-Mobile and Project Fi.  The Pixel XL and other builds, at least for now, do not appear to be impacted.  I was able to install the same build on my Google Pixel XL, which is on Project Fi, without any issues.  That update was 70MB in size.

The issue is that the update simply will not install.  Users are prompted that the update is available and when they attempt to install it, they are given an error indicating that the update couldn’t be installed.  There is an option to try again but this appears to have no impact on the issue as it still will not install.

As expected with it being the first business day of the month, Google has released the July Android Security update for eligible Nexus and Pixel devices.  The update consists of two patches per the usual.  The first is broader Android fixes and patches for all devices.  It is dated July 1, 2017.  The second patch is more driver specific items for Nexus and Pixel devices which is dated July 5, 2017.  Nexus and Pixel devices will eventually see the July 5th update which is already rolling out and available as full images and OTA images on the Android Developer site.

In the July 1 update, there are 48 total items addressed in these updates, 10 of which are considered critical.  These issues mostly have to do remote code execution and permissions elevations in areas like framework, media framework and libraries.