Tag: Android

Google Express has added Target stores to their growing list of retailers starting today.  Now when you open the Express app on your phone, you will have the option to show Target for a wide range of products from the big box retailer.  You can also associate your Target REDcard, their discount program, with Express to get discounts and free shipping.

Target is available only in the United States and only in the lower-48.  Hawaii and Alaska are not included.  As with other retailers, Target will provide free, 2-day shipping on orders over $35.

This is the second major US retailer that has joined Google Express in the past few months.  If you remember, Walmart recently joined the service.

When the Google Pixel 2 lineup was released a couple of weeks ago, the new phones, like the first generation, were announced to have free uploading of original quality photos to Google Photos.  For those not familiar with Google Photos, original quality photos normally count against your Google Drive quota (which is leveraged by Photos) but compressed, high quality photos, don’t count against it.  Normally for photos under 16MP high quality is a great option because it is pretty lossless.

After the release of the Pixel 2 phones, it was noticed that the original quality uploading for free ended in 2020.  It cause a lot of confusion:  What happens to my photos I’ve uploaded already?  Do they get deleted?  Do they get compressed?  Thanks to an APK tear down by the Android Police team, we have a clearer answer.

The Google Daydream app has a new update rolling out in the Play Store that brings the promised support of Chromecast to the app.  The update, version 1.10.170912063 for those keeping score at home, now allows you to cast whatever you are doing or viewing on your Daydream headset so others can join in on the fun.

The ability to cast from Daydream was something that Google discussed back in May at Google I/O and was expected with the next major update of the app, version 2.0, but it appears that made it in a little earlier.

The Google Play Movies & TV app has a minor update rolling out to the Play Store that is bringing a few user experience changes.  The update, version 3.28 for those keeping score at home, has several cosmetic adjustments but nothing that is overly obvious at first glance.  But there are some detail changes that are important.

First, movie trailers can now be access by the cover art for that movie.  It use to be that there was a dedicated section within the movie’s page for trailers.  Now you will see a small banner in the cover art, “Trailer” that will allow you to watch it.  This is a bit more intuitive instead of having to scroll down to find the trailer.

With the launch of the Google Pixel 2 and 2 XL yesterday, there are still things being uncovered about the new phones and Google’s support of them.  One thing that has come to light is the length of the upgrades and support windows for these new devices.

Traditionally, Google has had their support windows for 2 years.  That meant that you would get two major versions of Android on that device and then another year of security updates.  For example, the Google Pixel XL, my phone, shipped with Android Nougat in 2016.  That means I will get Android Oreo (which I have), and Android P.  That’ll be it for major updates but I’ll get another year of security updates.

For the Pixel 2 lineup, Google is now extending that major update window to three years.  That means that the phones announced yesterday could well see Android R.

Screener, the app that allows you to pop your screenshots into a device frame, has already been updated with frames for the new Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.  The update came almost immediately after Google’s big event yesterday and was a server-side push to the app so no new download or OTA update is required.

If you aren’t familiar with Screener, you’ve seen it in action on virtually every screenshot provided in posts here on the site.  It allows you to take a screenshot as you normally do (Power+Volume Down) and then put it in a frame of a particular device.  It gives your screenshots a much more professional look than just the screen itself.