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Google Play wants to help users find apps with curated lists
With so many new apps constantly hitting the market, it can be really difficult for users to find what they want and for developers to get their product noticed. To help solve that problem, Google Play has added a new feature to its Editors' Choice section — editorial pages that compile selections of apps, hand-picked by Google Play editors. These pages will highlight apps that offer the best experiences on Android, which will be grouped by themes like fitness, video calling and puzzle games. And the selections will come with descriptions as to why the editors liked them.
Google Play Music's New Release Radio is available for all users
Google has officially announced New Release Radio, a station on Google Play Music that provides users with a daily selection of new songs they may like based on their listening history. The feature has actually been out in the wild for almost a month now, but originally it was positioned as an exclusive for Samsung users (though neither Google nor Samsung made an official announcement).
Google Play adds HDR playback for select movies and TV shows
Next time you fire up the Google Play Movies & TV app, pay attention to every title -- it could sport a tag you've been waiting for. The service has finally introduced HDR or High Dynamic Range playback, and it's now available for select movies and TV shows. HDR makes what you're watching more life-like by displaying a wider range of colors, so that you can see more details in the darkest and brightest parts of an image despite displaying greater contrast. You'll need an HDR-compatible monitor or TV to fully enjoy the upgrade, though... and the feature is only live in the US and Canada.
Tidal’s ‘On Air’ podcast network features five exclusive shows
Jay Z's forthcoming album isn't the only new content coming to Tidal this month. The streaming music site announced Tuesday that it is following the lead of Google Play, Deezer, and Spotify and now offering podcasts to its subscribers.
Samsung exclusives are the last thing Google Play Music needs
Back in April, Samsung used the launch of its excellent Galaxy S8 smartphone to make a small but important announcement about a partnership with Google. Google Play Music would be the default music player on all Samsung smartphones, and Google would develop exclusive features for the company's devices. That's good for Samsung and its customers: Now the company isn't wasting time building apps nobody wants that simply duplicate ones that Android already has. And it's a win for Google, whose music service is now the default on this top-selling Android phone. But we're now seeing the first signs that deal is going to be a bummer for everyone else using Play Music. Some enterprising Reddit users noticed a new Samsung-exclusive feature called New Release Radio: a personalized station that surfaces new songs every day. It's similar to Spotify's extremely popular Discover Weekly playlist and Apple Music's customized New Music Mix (also updated every Friday). But at least to start, this station appears to be exclusive to Samsung users. (We've reached out to Samsung and Google for comment on this, but neither company has responded yet.)
Google highlights what it thinks an app should be
Many mobile app stores have an editor's choice section that spotlights the latest and greatest titles. However, Google wants to go one step further. It's launching an Android Excellence section in the Play Store that highlights the apps that offer "incredible user experiences," adopt Google's "best practices" and are fine-tuned to run well on phones around the world. To put it another way, these are the apps that Google wants to see -- you should have a good experience, of course, but they'll also show the way for budding developers.
Google's reCAPTCHA can tell you're not a bot from your phone
Google's reCAPTCHA has evolved from distorted text, to street numbers, to "I'm not a robot" tickboxes and, most recently, to their new invisible system. And now the company is bringing its bot-fighting program to Android.
Google teaches kids to code with scenes from 'Wonder Woman'
Google has an interest in teaching kids how to code. After all, they're going to be the next generation of engineers and developers inventing and supporting Google's products. Yesterday, the tech giant announced that they'd teamed with Wonder Woman to inspire teen girls to learn coding. Made with Code, a Google initiative that encourages teen girls to pursue coding, has released a new Wonder Woman-based coding project. With this system, users can code three different scenes from the Wonder Woman film, which arrives in theaters today, utilizing introductory programming techniques.
Android exploit adds secret, thieving layers to your phone
Researchers from UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Tech have discovered a fresh class of Android attacks, called Cloak and Dagger, that can operate secretly on a phone, allowing hackers to log keystrokes, install software and otherwise control a device without alerting its owner. Cloak and Dagger exploits take advantage of the Android UI, and they require just two permissions to get rolling: SYSTEM ALERT WINDOW ("draw on top") and BIND ACCESSIBILITY SERVICE ("a11y").
Google has a new way to call out poorly made Android apps
Google's plan to improve the Android experience involves more than just tweaking the operating system. It also requires developers to up the quality of their work, and now Google has a new way to warn app creators whose work isn't up to snuff. Long story short, if your app ranks in the bottom 25 percent when it comes to certain stability, battery or rendering metrics, you'll be hearing from the search giant through the developer console.
Google Play protects your Android phone against rogue apps
Your phone's security is more important than ever, and Google knows it. The internet giant is launching Google Play Protect, a suite of services that helps you secure any Android device with Play Store access. The feature scans apps for threats (including relatively new risks, thanks to machine learning) and will either keep these rogue apps off of your device or remove them. It's always updating, and its relatively high visibility (see the image above) promises greater transparency into the security of your Android gear.
Samsung's latest app could help curb your kid's screen addiction
Samsung has an idea for how to encourage kids to use their devices responsibly. With its Marshmallow app (not the outdated version of Android), kids earn points by following their self-set usage plan. With the application installed and running, kids are limited to using eight apps, parents can filter which apps are and aren't appropriate and they can set a bed time for the phone as well.
Galaxy S8 owners can upload 100,000 songs to Google Play Music
Samsung has historically been guilty of loading up its smartphones with apps that duplicate features already found in Android. The company's software game has definitely improved over the years, though, and Samsung appears to be focusing more on what it does best and leaving the software to others. To that end, Google just announced that its own Play Music service will be the default music player for the just-launched Galaxy S8. That's a smart move, as most customers will be better off with Google's player than things like the Milk Music service Samsung tried (and ultimately failed) to get Galaxy smartphone owners to use.
Android's new filters will help you purge unused apps
Use a smartphone for long enough and you'll likely accrue a bunch of apps you don't really use -- think dead social networks or games you only ever tried once. How do you do that spring cleaning without sifting page by page through your app list? On Android, you now have some help. After some earlier experimentation, Google has started the broader rollout of a Play Store update that gives you more control over your "My apps & games" section. Installed apps and updates are now separate, and the installed section now lets you sort by alphabetical, last updated, size... and most importantly, last used. If you have a slew of apps you haven't touched in ages, you can get rid of them all in short order.
'Super Mario Run' lands on Android a day early
Nintendo notoriously resisted making any of its games available on mobile platforms, a significant move for a company that's been making handheld titles for almost three decades. Then, with almost no notice, it released Super Mario Run for iOS back in December to cacophonous fanfare and promised an Android version in March. Originally planned to come out on March 23rd, the floodgates have opened a bit early: Super Mario Run is live in the Google Play store.
Google Play Music has a few new options for playback quality
After seemingly forgetting about Google Play Music for an extended period of time, the search juggernaut has been showing its music streaming app newfound love lately. The newest update across Android and iOS adds options for playback quality (low, normal, high and always high) over WiFi and for downloaded tracks. Previously, you could only adjust quality for streaming over mobile data. As 9to5 Google notes however, the selections don't say what bitrate each option corresponds to.
Google's first original podcast is 'City Soundtracks'
Spotify isn't the only one experimenting with original podcasts. Today, Google is announcing its first exclusive series for Play Music users called City Soundtracks. The concept is similar to the BBC's Desert Island Discs, focusing on individual artists and the people, places and moments that have influenced their lives. The chatter will be punctuated with tracks, picked by the guest, which reflect their hometown and the stories they've chosen to tell. It'll be hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway, the voice behind music podcast Song Exploder and the self-explanatory West Wing Weekly.
Google now lets developers offer sales on Android apps
During Google's Developer Day at GDC 2017 today, the company introduced a few new features that will benefit both developers and consumers on the Google Play Store. The one customers will notice most starting today is strikethrough pricing, which makes it more obvious when apps are being sold at a reduced rate.
Google may lean on a partner to sell Android apps in China
Google's presence in China is limited, to put it mildly, but it might have found a way to get its foot in the door. The Information sources claim that Chinese internet veteran NetEase is talking to Google about launching the Play Store in China. There's no guarantee that the talks will lead anywhere, but NetEase may be just the partner Google is looking for. Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt has previously explained that Google needed a business ally that could negotiate the intricacies of both Google and the Chinese government -- that's clearly the case here.
RadiTo podcast app sidesteps Iran's censorship
Fighting censorship has become an active part of life in the future we live in. To help combat it in Iran, the RadiTo app offers programming from the BBC, Iran's Radio Farda and Radio Zamaneh from Amsterdam. As Wired reports, it's available on Android and is "uniquely suited to the conditions of the country's internet." Meaning, it apparently works on slow data networks, shows can be downloaded for offline listening and programming is in a variety of under-served dialects.
