Tag: Android

Good news this morning for those of you who have the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active from AT&T.  The U.S. carrier has released the Android Marshmallow update for the device and it is rolling out now.  The update is build MMB29K.G890AUCU3CPE4 for those keeping score at home and it weighs in at a hefty 1.44GB.  That means you will most certainly want to download this via Wi-Fi which, depending on your network, could take 20-30 minutes to download.  Once you have it downloaded, the installation of the update will take another 20-30 minutes and will require a phone restart.  Make sure you have any local files (docs, photos, etc) backed up to your favorite cloud service just in case things so pear shaped.

The PayPal app for Android has been updated with several new features for users.  One of the key new features is the ability to donate to hundreds of charities across the United States right from within the app.  On the home page of the app you will now see a new Donate section.  Tap this and you will see a searchable list of charities and organizations you can support through the app.  Find the one you want to support then tap the donate button to send funds to that organization.  It is quick and easy and allows you to get funds to the organizations you want to support quickly.  One note is that, for now, this feature only works in the United States.

Google Fit, Google’s fitness tracking app, has received a major update that brings an all-new user experience.  For all intents and purposes, the whole app looks completely new with far more detail on the main page of the app along with more granular historical data.  Gone is the large circular indicator of steps and exercise and replacing it is a cleaner UI with your active minutes, distance, calories burned and steps across the top of the page while more detailed information is found in sections below.  This information not only shows you which days of the week you hit your step count goal, but also your activity goal and a clean, easy-to-read graph of your weight with a trend line.

After an online naming suggesting site and countless rumors, we now know the name for the next version of Android.  The Android team tweeted this morning that Android Nougat is the name for the “N” release, ending speculation and probably making more than one person say “I told you so” this morning.

Introducing #AndroidNougat. Thank you, world, for all your sweet name ideas! #AndroidNReveal pic.twitter.com/7lIfDBwyBE

— Android (@Android) June 30, 2016

While many thought that this would be the official name, until now we were not 100% sure.  Many had hoped that Nutella would be the name and teasing by Google suggested that was in the running.  But Nougat was one of the first names to be thrown out there and it seems to have stuck.

Google has rolled out a behind-the-scenes update that enabled comment notifications in Chrome and on Android for Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides.  Previously, when someone made a comment on a shared file, you would receive an email notification that the comment had been made on the document.  Now you will get a standard notification on your Android devices or in Chrome when these comments have been made on the file.

Microsoft has rolled out a sizable update to their launcher app, Arrow Launcher, that brings some much needed support and improvements.  The update, version 2.0 for those keeping score at home, brings native Office 365 support.  This means that users of the launcher will be able to view files from their Office 365 account without actually having to launch the Office app on their phone. Further, for documents on your phone, you can upload them from the phone to your Office 365 account (OneDrive).  It is a really nice update and while the lack of Outlook support for the calendar in Arrow remains an issue, this is a huge step towards fully “Microsofting” your Android phone.