The new Google Hangouts app for Android and iOS is the best messaging service Google’s produced yet, but one thing that will probably prevent it from taking off is its lack of SMS support.
If you tried the Hangouts yesterday you probably noticed the amount of people you can talk to is sparse. That’s because Hangouts only uses Google+ to connect to other humans so all of your friends would have to sign up for Google+ before you can use Hangouts to send them a message.
The dearth of people on Google+ probably means that Hangouts isn’t quite ready to be your go-to messaging app quite yet, however, Google’s Community Manager says SMS integration is coming to Hangouts soon.
Just over a month after acquiring Summly for $30 million, Yahoo! has gobbled up another smartphone app. This time it’s Astrid, a pretty task management client for Android and iOS, which has a strong focus on sharing. Astrid announced the news on its blog today.
Yahoo! is today rolling out the latest version of its Android app, which boasts an all-new design and Summly integration, a week after it made its debut on iOS. The update comes just over a month after Yahoo! acquired Summly for $30 million from British teenager Nick D’Aloisio.
Google has updated its terms and conditions for Google Play to prevent developers from updating their apps outside of the store. The move comes after Facebook began experimenting with in-app updates that circumvented Google Play and confused a number of its users.
The official WordPress app for Android has been given a welcome redesign in the “big UI update” out today. Users will find that the app now fits in nicely with Android’s Holo guidelines, and has new navigation features that make it easier to get around. There are also a number of nice new features.
The Tumblr app for Android devices got an update today that’s more of a visual redesign than anything else. The app has a new Post Anything screen that will let you post photos, videos, quotes, chats, links, and text, all with a single tap from a single screen. This changes things from the previous design, in which you had to post each type of item from its own screen, similar to the web interface.
Google released its monthly Android adoption numbers today, and there’s more good news for Jelly Bean. As you would expect, the platform is continuing to grow, reaching a quarter of Android devices for the first time since its release nine months ago.
If you’re a mobile Twitter user, I’m sure you are aware of the huge amount of Twitter clients there are available to download on Google Play. But here’s one that’s really worth your attention.
Developer HandlerExploit recently released an update for their Twitter client called Tweedle for Twitter. Although Tweedle was previously plagued by a bug that led to unexpected crashes, the new Tweedle fixes everything that was wrong with the app before, in addition to optimizing performance and updating the language translations.
Hold the phone! Or, rather — don’t. Martian Watch models see much of its promised potential unlocked With the launch today of iOS and Android apps, just ahead of their estimated ship date(s).
The app finally adds two major features to the watches — remote camera control and social media updates — along with a few smaller ones.
Glympse is a clever — and potentially lifesaving — feature that we’d love to see in more smartphone-connected cars.
It started out as a free app that can broadcast the user’s location to selected contacts, Facebook friends or Twitter followers. But it’s become a valuable tool for drivers of smartphone-connected Fords and Merecedes-Benzes, allowing them to broadcast their location without taking their hands off the steering wheel.
Now BMW and Mini have partnered with Glympse, raising the marque total to four.
