Tag: Android

A new update to the Google Movies & TV app for Android is rolling out that brings some UI changes as well as improved integration with Rotten Tomatoes ratings on movies.  The new build is version 4.2 for those keeping score at home and should be rolling out to everyone over the course of the next few days.

The most noticeable change to the Movies & TV app after this update is the new bottom navigation in the app.  This falls in line with other Google apps and is the overall trend they have going on for Android.  That navigation has also been slimmed down with tabs for Home, Library and Watchlist only.

Asus continues its slow but steady rollout of Android Oreo to their devices.  The latest to get the Oreo 8.0 treatment is the Asus ZenFone 4 Pro.  The 5.5″ displayed phone running the Snapdragon 835 SoC is receiving firmware update V15.0410.1802.34.  The update is for the unlocked ZS551KL variant of the the phone.  That is the model that was sold here in the US via Asus’ Amazon store front.

According to the release notes, you have all of the benefits of Oreo coming to the phone but also improved power consumption through software optimization and Oreo itself.  There is also a new “Long Screenshot” function for taking screenshots of an entire scrolling screen on your phone.

A new update to the Microsoft Outlook app is rolling out for Android (and iOS) users that brings a long requested feature to the app.  The new build is version 2.2.118 for those keeping score at home and when you update to it, you will finally have calendar attachment support.

The feature brings the mobile version of Microsoft Outlook more in line with the desktop versions in that you will be able to attach items to a calendar invite and be able to read attached content inline on invites sent to you.

A new top navigation slider is making its way out to the Google Play Store app this weekend.  The change is a cloud-side change so there isn’t anything new to download.  It will just be pushed to your app so long as you are running the latest version.

The change is a minor one but it is something that Google has been A/B testing for a while now and would appear to be the direction they want to go with it.  At the top of the Google Play Store app you have the tabs for Home, Games, Movies & TV, Music, Books and Newsstand.  But under each one of those, you know have a content specific slider for filtering.

A new cloud-side update to Microsoft Translator for Android is rolling out that brings support for six new languages.  So long as you have the latest version of the app installed, version 3.2.254, then you will have the new languages available to you.  These new text-to-speech languages include:

• Bulgarian
• Croatian
• Malay
• Slovenian
• Tamil
• Vietnamese

These additions bring the total number of text-to-speech languages supported to 36 in Microsoft Translator.

Microsoft is one of the most consistent at updating their apps for Android with the company’s launcher, Microsoft Launcher being no exception.  The latest beta of the launcher is rolling out to testers and it shows that the Redmond company isn’t just updating their launcher, but listening to what users want in it.

The new beta build is version 4.7 for those keeping score and it brings an expansive change log with it.  First, you can now get a new daily background on your phone.  While you can do this today, it only can come from Bing daily wallpapers.  Now, based on user requests, you can set up your own custom set of wallpapers to be rotated daily on your device.  Oh, and those wallpapers can be set to be scroll-able.