Tag: App Update

There is a new update to the Starbucks app rolling out for Android that brings a much easier way of tracking your progress towards a free coffee.  The update, versions 4.2.1 for those keeping score at home, now has a Rewards bar at the top of the main page that tells you how many stars you need to collect to get that free cup of Joe.  In the previous version, you had to tap on your star count at the top to see how many you needed for your reward.  This update eliminates the need to do that tap, putting your needed number of stars front-and-center for you.

The Google Apps team have announced some new editing features for both Google Docs and Google Sheets.  These new features are coming to the apps on both Android and iOS and should be rolling out to devices over the course of the next few days via an OTA update.  Both features are aimed at bringing more desktop-like editing features to the mobile device so you don’t necessarily have to be at a Chromebook, PC or Mac.

For Google Docs, you can now edit documents while you are in Print Layout view within the app.  To edit the doc, just tap on the edit pencil icon and you can make your edits without having to leave Print Layout view.

Microsoft has once again updated their Android launcher app, Arrow Launcher, with some nice improvements.  The update, version 1.4 for those keeping score at home, brings several improvements in user controls.  For example, you can now hide page headers, a feature that many users of the launcher had requested.  Users can also hid SMS preview on the People and Recent page.  This change is done in the Settings of the launcher.  Both of these changes represent the fact that Microsoft is indeed listening to users of their apps as both were heavily requested changes.

The official Twitter app for Android is getting a major makeover today that brings a full-on Material Design makeover along with improvements in the overall user interface of the app.  The update is rolling out now in the Play Store so if you have it installed, you should be seeing the OTA update over the course of the next day or so.  Once you have it, you will have a vastly improved Twitter experience on your phone or your tablet.

The Google Clock app for Android has been updated with a few new improvements that most users will likely appreciate.  The updated build is version 4.4 for those keeping score at home and it is rolling out in the Google Play Store now.  There are two big features in the update:  Inline volume controls for alarms within the app and the ability to have timers vibrate, not just give an audible tone.  On volume controls, previously when you wanted to adjust the alarm volume, you had to use the volume rocker on your phone to turn it up or down.  With this update, that is no longer the case.  You can now change the volume of your alarms within the app using a slider within the Clock app, making setting the alarm a bit more precise and easier than tapping a physical button.

Google Hangouts has been updated for Android that brings a much desired feature for those who use Hangouts a lot:  Direct Share.  For those who aren’t familiar with what I’m referring to, Direct Share allows you to share content from another app directly to someone on Hangouts.  To this point, if you wanted to share something, it was difficult and involved a fair bit of cutting and pasting in some cases.  That isn’t a big deal for those who don’t use the app much but for power users, it was a time consuming step.  That, for the most part, is gone now.