Droid Life

Category: Apps

The latest selection of Android apps, both free and paid, are found right here. If you were looking for that fresh list of trending Android apps, we have you covered on a daily basis. Want to know the newest Android application releases first? Want to know which Android applications are free for a limited time?

Whether it’s Gmail, Google Calendar, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, or lesser known apps like Nova Launcher, Trello, Sling TV, and Philips Hue, you will know the best Android apps at all times.

Got a suggestion for a new app you think we should check out? We are all ears and regularly accept user-submitted applications, so that you won’t pay until you know if we approve.

  • Google Maps to Get Even More Personalized With Dining Matches and New Explore Tab

    Google Maps to Get Even More Personalized With Dining Matches and New Explore Tab

    Google Maps received quite a bit of love at this year’s Google I/O, with many of the new features announced said to come a little later this year.

    According to Google, Maps is becoming more assistive and personal, allowing even better discovery or not just food, but activities you may want to check out around you.

    As detailed, a new Explore tab features everything you need to know about dining, events, and activity options in an area that you’re interested in. When checking out a specific area, Google Maps can list out the top things to do in that area, such as activities and places to eat.

    Additionally, Google Maps is receiving better support for group planning. With the upcoming update, you can create a shortlist of places within the app and share it with friends across any platform, so you can quickly vote and decide on a place to go. This is good for trying to pick a spot to meet up on a weekend.

    The other new feature is all about matches. With this, Google Maps will recommend a spot for you to check out, with an associated match percentage with it. Let’s say you love hot dogs. Well, based on your Maps data, Google can determine this, then provide a matched location along with a probability that you’ll enjoy it. Kinda, crazy, yeah?

    Here’s how Google puts it.

    We use machine learning to generate this number, based on a few factors: what we know about a business, the food and drink preferences you’ve selected in Google Maps, places you’ve been to, and whether you’ve rated a restaurant or added it to a list. Your matches change as your own tastes and preferences evolve over time—it’s like your own expert sidekick, helping you quickly assess your options and confidently make a decision.

    Be on the lookout for these changes in the coming months.

    // Google Maps

  • Google Lens Getting New Features, Coming to Other Native OEM Camera Apps

    Google Lens Getting New Features, Coming to Other Native OEM Camera Apps

    Announced at last year’s Google I/O, Google Lens is soon to receive an update in the next few weeks to make it more useful. Not only that, but Google announced this morning that it is coming to a ton of other OEM’s native camera apps.

    For changes, Google lists Smart Text Selection. With this, users will point their camera at a word or group of words, and can then manually select what they want more information on via Lens. For example, let’s say you’re at a fancy restaurant and don’t recognize a few of the dishes. Now with Lens, you can pull out your camera, hover over the dish you don’t know, then Google Lens will return a photo of the dish and a list of ingredients.

    Google also mentions this feature will be useful for recipes, gift card codes, or WiFi passwords. And yes, all of the text is selectable for copy & paste action right on your phone.

    Another new feature is Style Match. With it, instead of discovering what something is, you can find other things are like it. For example, you’re in a boutique and notice a shirt, but it costs too much. With Style Match, point your camera at the shirt, then Google can return images and shopping results based on the shirt in front of you.

    As for Google Lens coming to phones other than Pixel phones, Google details that Lens will be available natively on devices from LG, Motorola, Xiaomi, Sony, Nokia, OnePlus, Asus, and others. For exact availability, look for announcements from the various OEMs.

    We’ve heard from LG already and they mention the G7 ThinQ will have Google Lens out of the box.

    // Google

  • You Can Now Set Your Android Phone’s Assistant Default to Use Alexa Instead of Google Assistant

    You Can Now Set Your Android Phone’s Assistant Default to Use Alexa Instead of Google Assistant

    I’d imagine there are a few of you out there who purchased a bunch of Amazon Echo devices out of the gate instead of Google Home, since Echo had such a head start on Google’s smart speakers. And if that’s the case, you might want quicker access to Amazon Alexa from your phone to control your smart home or interact within the Alexa ecosystem.

    Thanks to an update that arrived within the past few days, Android is now recognizing Alexa as a possible Assistant substitute in the way it has Microsoft’s Cortana. In other words, you can set Amazon Alexa to be your default Assist app instead of Google Assistant.

    How do you make the switch? You’ll need the Amazon Alexa app for one. You can find that through the Google Play link below. And two, you’ll need to tell your phone to use it. You do that by heading into Settings>Apps>Default apps>Assist & voice input. You could also just search for “Assist” and you’ll likely see the “Assist app” option appear. Once you find that, you’ll tap on “Assist app” and then choose “Amazon Alexa” instead of Google.

    With those steps complete, a simple long-press on your home button will load up Amazon Alexa and start listening for your command. So now, you can fire up Alexa and get info or have it complete tasks from any screen where you have access to your home button’s long-press action.

    NOTE: I’ve tried this on a Pixel 2 XL running Android P and a OnePlus 5T running Android 8.1 and both worked.

    Google Play Link

    // reddit

  • Google Assistant Now Helps You Find and Purchase Movie Tickets

    Google Assistant Now Helps You Find and Purchase Movie Tickets

    Google Assistant is getting a new feature today that helps you attend the latest blockbuster movie without lifting a finger. Starting today (and it seems to be live already), you can ask Google Assistant to buy you movie tickets.

    All you have to do is say “get me tickets to the Avengers” and Google will bring up showtimes that you can choose from in your area. If you choose a time or theater that doesn’t have assigned seating, Assistant will ask if you want to go ahead and buy tickets. You can say “Yes” or choose the types you need (adult, child, etc.). If there is assigned seating, Assistant will redirect you to Fandango to complete your purchase.

    google assistant movies

    google assistant movies

    Google says that you can even use this new feature to buy advanced tickets, like to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which just opened up ticket sales.

    Again, the option appears to be live for me. If you aren’t getting access to it yet, be sure to update the Google App to the latest version. You may need to join the beta, which you can do by opting-in through a box at the bottom of the link below.

    Google Play Link

  • Gboard Update Adds GIF Maker!

    Gboard Update Adds GIF Maker!

    Google’s Gboard keyboard picked up an update today that introduced a new “Make a GIF” feature. Since GIFs will never get old, you’ve got to love this addition to the best keyboard around.

    To use Gboard’s GIF maker, you’ll head into the keyboard, tap the emoji icon, then the GIF button, and you should see the option to “Make a GIF” with a big “+” over it. Tap that and you’ll be on your way to making a GIF using either your front camera or the camera setup on the back of your phone. You can add effects before pressing the record button to capture your animated magic. From there, you will find options to send, save, or re-do.

    The “Make a GIF” option appears to only be in the Gboard beta at this moment. To get into the beta, open the link below on your phone, scroll to the very bottom of the listing until you see the box that lets you join the beta program. Opt-in, give in a few minutes, and then the latest beta update will appear.

    Google Play Link

    gboard gif maker

  • Google Play is Celebrating Star Wars Day With In-App Goodies, Discounts on TV and Audiobooks

    Google Play is Celebrating Star Wars Day With In-App Goodies, Discounts on TV and Audiobooks

    Today is May the 4th, international Star Wars day, a very important day for anyone who considers themself a fan of the series. In honor of this day, Google Play is hosting a massive promotion, granting in-app goodies for select Star Wars games, as well as discounts on entire TV show seasons and audiobooks.

    For you Star Wars gamers, Google details extra crystals and Han Solo shards inside of Galaxy of Heroes, a free crystal crate in Force Arena, 50% off Star Wars: KOTOR, and even discounts on Star Wars tables inside Star Wars: Pinball 6.

    Beyond apps and games, we’re seeing massive discounts on basically all Star Wars audiobooks. For example, you can get the amazing Thrawn novel for $16.95, down from its usual price of $25. You’ll also find discounts on Tarkin, Ahsoka, the pre-order for Thrawn: Alliances, and Lords of the Sith.

    For TV, it appears Google has marked everything down 50%, which means big savings on entire seasons of Rebels, Clone Wars, as well as the LEGO stuff. Personally, Clone Wars is amazing, so if you’ve never watched an episode, I highly recommend. It’s all canon, too, so bask in its glory of epicness.

    May the 4th be with you all!

    Google Play Link

  • Twitter Recommends You Change Your Password Right Away

    Twitter Recommends You Change Your Password Right Away

    Twitter is recommending that all of its users change their passwords today after finding a bug that unmasked passwords internally. After discovering the bug, they investigated it and found no evidence of a breach. Still, they want you to be safe and consider changing your password anyway.

    The bug had to do with the technology Twitter uses to mask passwords (with a random set of numbers and letters) from their internal systems as they validate you. For whatever reason, this system was creating a log with passwords that were no longer masked. Going forward, Twitter says that they are implementing plans to prevent this bug from surfacing again.

    To change your Twitter password, head into your Settings.

    https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/992132808192634881

  • Pocket Casts Acquired by Group That Includes NPR, Nothing Changes for Users

    Pocket Casts Acquired by Group That Includes NPR, Nothing Changes for Users

    Announced today, Pocket Casts, one of the more popular podcast listening and sharing platforms, has been acquired by a group of four large podcast producers. The new owners are NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago, and This American Life.

    Together, these producers are responsible for over 170 million podcast downloads a month, and with that combined experience, the goal is to, “reach a new generation of listeners and to serve the needs of audio producers across public radio and beyond.”

    Now, according to Pocket Casts, absolutely nothing is changing for users, at least for the time being. Everyone involved on the Pocket Cast team remains, the app’s pricing remains the same, and moving forward, “Our aim is to make it better, like we always have, year in, year out.” Building on that, “Going forward things are going to be different. We’ll be moving faster, we’ll be more ambitious in the things we do and we’ll have some amazing insights from the top podcast producers in the world to help guide our future steps.”

    No financials have been shared, but the Pocket Casts team specifically states, “Sadly we chose to not sell our souls or you all out for crazy amounts of cash money, which means that you owe us [a yacht].”

    // NPR | Shift Jelly