Tag: Android

As expected, Google has gone through a rebranding exercise on the Google On app.  With the introduction of Google Wi-Fi in October, and now with that product shipping, the question wasn’t if the Google On app would change but rather would that change be a completely new app or, worse, a separate app.  Thankfully no.  Google Wifi is the name of the Google On app now, allowing you to control your entire Wi-Fi network, including your Google OnHub and Google Wi-Fi products.  The update is rolling out into the Play Store now and if you have Google On installed, you should see the update hit your devices over the course of the next 2-3 days.

At first glance, the UI for Google Wifi doesn’t look all that different than the previous one from Google On.  However, there are a lot of changes including the three tab navigation at the top of the app which gives you information, your network information and shortcuts to quick tidbits of information respectively.

After arriving on iOS a few weeks back, F1 2016 has arrived for Android.  The racing simulator gives you all 21 races of the just concluded 2016 season and allows you to race as your favorite team and driver in one-off races, a season and in weekly challenges.  Codemasters, who has been developing the official F1 games for Xbox, Playstation and PC, fully optimized this build of the game for mobile with mobile friendly touch controls and graphics.  If you have played one of their games in the past on other platforms, you will not be disappointed with what you see in this game.

The game weighs in at a hefty 1.2GB download and you will need at least 2.7GB of storage on your device in order to install it.  Yes it is heavy but all that graphic goodness comes at a cost, mostly the amount of storage required.

Huawei has become the latest manufacture to indicate which of their phones will be receiving the Android Nougat update.  The news is certainly good for those who have purchased one of their flagship devices over the course of the last 18 months or so and it means that starting in the first quarter of next year, updates should be rolling out.  As for the list, it’s all the ones you would hope for and expect to get the update:

• Huawei Mate 8
• Huawei P9
• Huawei P9 Plus
• Huawei P9 lite
• Huawei Nova
• Huawei Nova Plus

The update will come via the EMUI 5.0 update which is Huawei’s Android UI and flavor of Android.  EMUI 5.0 shipped with the Mate 8 and P9 so those devices are already running Nougat.

Just a day after releasing Android Nougat for the Xperia X Performance, Sony has dropped their update to the latest version of Android for the Xperia XZ today.  The update is build 39.2.A.0.327 and is rolling out to unlocked variants of the phone today.  If you have the dual-SIM variant of the phone, the XZ Dual, you too should be seeing the update shortly.  While the update has been released, it could take a few days before everyone sees the update hit their phone.  You can always manually check for the update by going to Settings>About Phone>Software Update.

The update weighs in at just over 1GB so you will need to make sure that you are on Wi-Fi when you download it.  Once it is downloaded, you can expect about a 30 minute upgrade period where you phone will be rebooted and Android Nougat will be installed.

Google Docs has an update rolling out today that brings the ability for you to insert a GIF animation into a document… and it not break!  The update comes into Google Docs but there are also updates to Google Sheets and Google Slides too.  All of these updates are in rapid release which means that users should see the updated versions of these apps hit their devices over the course of the next few days.

For all three apps, you now have the ability to not only view your Trash folder for the app but also restore files from your trash folder.  Now you don’t have to go to the desktop version of Docs, Sheets or Slides to do a file restore.

I appreciate that I’ve told readers about this deal already.  But it is one of those deals that is just too good to pass up.  Over at Amazon you can still pick up the Nextbit Robin for $169.  Originally the deal was only on the Mint color but now it is also on the darker Midnight color option.  Regardless of which color you choose, you are getting a solid mid-range phone with great specs and performance.  I reviewed the Robin a few months ago and at the time I said it was a pretty good deal at $299.  At $169, it is one of the best deals on a phone with these specs out there.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.