Usually, Android updates improve all aspects of your handset. The latest Android KitKat update, however, made at least one thing noticeably worse: the status bar is now mostly transparent. I’m sure this looks good on some devices with certain backgrounds. Unfortunately, anyone who uses a light desktop background now has an invisible status bar. White text over a light background makes it impossible to see the time of day, battery percentage, and other critical information. That’s…
Last year, phone manufacturers were obsessed with fingerprint scanners. This year, it’s time for retinal scanners to make their much-anticipated debut. At least, that’s what a new tweet from Samsung seems to suggest. That tweet can be found here. There are two possibilities here: Samsung simply used a stock “mobile security” image which features a random ‘eye’ with a target around it; or, Samsung is not-so-subtly hinting that its next major device will have a retinal scanner…
You can look at the website of any local college and find app development courses. However, today I’m here to tell you about a unique kind of app development course. Unlike any other app development course in the world, this one is offered by Google. Google’s new course is available for $150 per month and is designed to help anyone think like an Android app developer. The course is being offered through Udacity and is titled Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals. The…
Anyone can submit an app to the Google Play Store. Your app doesn’t go through an approval process before it’s available for anyone to download. And, as long as your app doesn’t explicitly violate Google’s terms of service policy, it can stay up there for a surprisingly long time. Now, things might change. Today, Google finally added a “Flag As Inappropriate” button to the Google Play Store. This button lets you flag malicious or inappropriate apps. It seems crazy that…
Remember Flappy Bird? Of course you do. Well, people are already calling Timberman the next Flappy Bird. In Timberman, players embrace their inner lumberjacks and chop down trees while avoiding falling branches. The game is animated in an 8-bit art style and has quickly reached the top of the Google Play Store. Just like all good Android games, the gameplay is easy to learn and difficult to master. Getting good at this game requires as much dexterity, skill, and quick thinking as…
Say what you want about Kim Kardashian, but she knows how to take full advantage of celebrity star power. Kim K’s new mobile app is a great example of using celebrity star power to its full potential. Developed by Glu Mobile, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is one of the top downloaded games in both the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store. Although the app is free to download, users can purchase items in-game and spend as much as $99.99 in real dollars. The most surprising part of the…
Google’s smartwatches are now available around the world. In fact, there are three major Google smartwatches currently available along with smartwatches from LG, Samsung, and other manufacturers. All of the smartwatches run a customized Android kernel called Android Wear. Not all apps are available for Android Wear. Today, I’m going to tell you about the best apps that are currently available for your new Google smartwatch. Google Keep Google Keep is a lot like Evernote. Both Google…
A smart phone is supposed to make management of various events and happenings in modern life easier for the user. Android is one operating system that enables you to stay on top of things and remain organized. The many useful applications dramatically improve productivity in daily life and it is worthwhile knowing about some of them as under: Google Keep The first one is the Google Keep app that enables you to maintain lists of to-do things. Since many of us tend to have multiple lists on…
In some parts of the world, new phones come unlocked. Europeans, for example, are typically able to buy unlocked phones from their carriers. In North America, however, carriers are different. Whether you’re purchasing a phone in the United States or Canada, you will likely receive a locked smartphone. What does “locked” mean? When a phone is “locked” it means it’s restricted to a certain carrier’s network. You can’t pop an alternative SIM card into your phone to access…
I’ve never found a voice-to-text system that’s 100% accurate. I don’t think one exists. That’s why it can be so frustrating to use voice activation features on your Android device. The few times I’ve used Google Now while driving, I feel like I’m driving more dangerously because I have to correct all the mistakes Google made. That’s why I was happy to discover a new feature with Google Now. That feature is simply, “No, I said.” For whatever reason, Google isn’t…
