Tag: Android

Google has released the April Android Security Update today for Nexus and Pixel devices but, and likely more interesting to readers, the update comes in the Android Nougat 7.1.2 release.  Nougat 7.1.2 has been in beta for several weeks know and is purely a maintenance build for devices.  There are a few  new features in the build but a lot of refinements on features already in the platform.  Perhaps the biggest news is the enablement of Fingerprint scanner swiping on the Nexus 5X and 6P.  There are also some new battery usage warnings for both devices.

Google has already released the full images and the OTA images for devices.  The release notes, however, outlining everything that has been addressed, have not been released at the time of this writing.  Remember that unless you are comfortable manually flashing your devices, you should wait until the OTA update rolls out from Google to your device automatically.

After dominating the world for the past three decades-plus, Windows is no longer the most widely used Operating System in terms of Internet usage.  That honor now goes to Android according to the team at StatCounter.  In their latest report, Android passed Windows by .02% to take over the top spot.  The report measures the Operating Systems in use globally to access the Internet and this is the first time that Windows has been beaten – by anyone.

The report reflects what many have seen for a long time:  The world is going mobile and with Android dominating the mobile landscape as far as install base, it isn’t shocking to see it take over the #1 slot when it comes to Internet usage.  It also reflects a fundamental shift in how we get to the information we need in our day-to-day lives.  Mobile search has continued to climb as the most common way people access information so this report fits that trend too.

Joining an ever increasing list of devices that support Google Daydream, the Google VR team have posted via Twitter that the Huawei Mate 9 now supports the Virtual Reality platform that is built into Android Nougat.  This will add the Mate 9 to the list of devices that support Daydream that currently includes the Google Pixel phones, the Moto Z, and ZTE Axon 7.  The update to support Daydream will include the Mate 9 as well as the higher priced Porsche Design version of the 6″ phablet.

The support for Google Daydream will come to the Mate 9 via an OTA update.  When that update will be coming & the size of the update is unclear.  Given that Google has announced this more-or-less, my suspicion is that the pressure is on Huawei to get it out in reasonably short order – likely the next few weeks.  If you have the Mate 9, be sure to check for updates.  Once you have Daydream support, you can use the Google Daydream headset for VR experiences.

With the bulk of the editing feature of Google Map Maker now in Google Maps, the company quietly shut down Map Maker last week, on March 31st.  The help page for Map Maker now indicates that the service is no longer available.  The news isn’t entirely a surprise.  Map Maker had been around since 2008 and gave users the ability to add places to Google Maps, edit places and edit road segments amongst other things.  All of those features are in Google Maps now so it somewhat made Map Maker redundant.

On the help page, Google points out that they will continue to brings more features to Google Maps from Map Maker.

Project Fi subscribers, there is a small update rolling out for the app that should be hitting your phones in the next few days.  The update is build N.3.3.19 for those keeping score and it brings with it some minor updates and improvements.  Perhaps the most noteworthy update according to the Fi User Forums moderators post is more flexibility to notify users from inside the app.  What this means exactly wasn’t explained but I can assume it means that there are improved notifications or different types of notifications coming from the Fi app than previously.  I’ve already received the update but I’ve not seen any noticable changes in notifications or how it functions.

Along with this, fixes for app crashes have been applied in this update as well as, “Minor polishes to the account management experience”.  Again, having looked at this, I’m not seeing a change.  If you are a subscriber to Google’s MVNO and see a change, let me know (I’ll update this post with proper credit).

Good news this morning for those with the Moto G4 Plus.  For those who have the unlocked version of the phone, the Android Nougat update is rolling out to you starting today.  The update brings all of the goodness of Nougat 7.0 to the budget friendly but powerful phone.  Once you have it installed, things like improved Doze, multi-window support and inline notification replies will be yours.

The update weighs in at about 740MB so you will certainly want to make sure that you are on Wi-Fi to download the OTA update.  Once you have it downloaded, expect about a 15-20 minute install before a final reboot.  You’ll need to make sure you have plenty of battery (75% or more remaining) so you can do the update.