Google Apps for Work (G Suite) 2016 review

Top 10 Android Apps of November 2016!

We've compiled a 'Top 10' list of our favorite Android apps to hit the Google Play Store in November 2016. The apps highlighted in this video include Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Android Auto, Adobe Photoshop Fix, Break Liner, Daydream, Peppy Wallpapers, Fit In The Hole, Fingerprint Gestures, Tiles and Henry the Cloud. Which app is your favorite?

Google

Google Pixel XL

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Battle of the Streaming Music Services

My life was changed for the better back in 2011. That was the year that I was introduced to this crazy wonderful new service called Spotify, a music streaming service where you could look up just about any song and add it to your own personal playlist. You could play this music anywhere as long as you had an Internet connection, and since I only discovered Spotify after it had been made into a smartphone app, I was pretty much set.

At the time Spotify was the only service of its kind, but it’s an entirely different story today. Now you have plenty of options to choose from – Apple Music, Google Play Music, Spotify, and recently Amazon Music Unlimited are the closest in competition to each other. While each offer many of the same features, they also have slight differences that make them tempting in their own ways. So how do you choose which music streaming service to go with? Let’s break down the details of each to find out what sets them apart from each other.

Price

For the most part, all four streaming services are in the same price range. Apple Music, Google Play Music, Amazon Music Unlimited and Spotify all start at $9.99/month for an individual plan and charge $14.99/month for a family plan (all of which include up to 6 members). That’s where the bar stops for Google Play Music; however, both Apple Music and Spotify offer individual $4.99/month plans for students.

Amazon Music Unlimited gets a little more complex when you factor in an Amazon Prime membership. Prime members can subscribe to Music Unlimited for a $7.99/month price, or $79/year price for an even heftier discount if you plan to stick with the service. Family membership pricing still starts at $14.99/month, but is discounted to $149/year (from $179.88 month-to-month). Amazon also offers a special Echo-only Music Unlimited option for $3.99/month.

As far as free trials go, Apple Music consistently offers a 3-month free trial; Google Play Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music Unlimited all offer 30-day free trials, but it isn’t uncommon to see the occasional offer for a longer trial period for any of these services floating around.

Features

Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify all share the same main features. I’ll touch on Amazon Music Unlimited in a little bit because it doesn’t seem to be as extensive as the other three just yet.

Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Spotify all feature around the same amount of songs in their music library (around 35 million songs). They support Podcast listening, curated Radio stations, song recommendations, and the ability to share playlists. This is where the similarities end and the differences become important.

Apple Music’s unique offerings include Smart Playlists, which gives you more options regarding exactly what kind of playlist you’d like to create. There’s also Beats 1, which is an innovative radio station hosted by the world’s best artists and DJs. Apple Music also has a service called Connect, where artists can connect directly with their fans through Apple Music. Additionally, with an Apple Music subscription, users can upload up to 100,000 of their own personal music library to the iCloud Music Library.

Google Play, on the other hand, only has two unique offerings – but neither are anything to sneeze at. The first is YouTube Red, which is included in a Google Play Music subscription. YouTube Red gives YouTube viewers ad-free YouTube videos, the ability to continue playing a YouTube video in the background, and save videos for offline viewing later. The other differentiating feature actually doesn’t require a Google Play Music subscription (but is still a part of Google Play Music), and that is allowing a user to upload up to 50,000 songs to the cloud.

Last but not least, we have Spotify. Spotify’s shining feature is that you don’t actually need a subscription to be able to listen to music on Spotify. There are a lot of limitations without a “premium” subscription, but you can still create and listen to your own playlists, with ads, for free. Depending on what gadget you use for listening, limitations vary.

Amazon Music Unlimited’s most tempting aspect is really its pricing model for Prime members or Echo users, which makes such a service slightly more affordable. Prime members also benefit from having a fairly decent (but limited) selection of free songs without a Music Unlimited subscription. It’s unclear just how many songs Amazon Music Unlimited has in its library, as it’s only vaguely stated as having “tens of millions”.

Support

Support for each product varies.

Apple Music: Mac, PC, iOS, and Android

Google Play Music: Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Chrome, Web

Spotify: Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Universal Windows 10, Alexa, Fire OS, Chrome, Web

Amazon Music Unlimited: Mac, PC, Android, iOS, Alexa, Fire OS, Chrome, Web

Overall, I find that each service is close in comparison to each other. The addition of YouTube Red from Google Play Music and the still-functional free option from Spotify make those two a cut above the rest for me, but I can also see the appeal of Apple Music for Apple-centric gadget users, as well as the more affordable price tag on Amazon Music Unlimited (for Prime users).

Readers, do you use a streaming music service? If so, which one do you use and why?

Apple

Google

Amazon

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LG G5 receiving Android 7.0 Nougat update on T-Mobile

A little more than one week after Sprint’s LG G5 was updated to Android 7.0, another carrier’s G5 is getting a Nougat treat.

The T-Mobile LG G5 is now receiving its Android 7.0 update. While T-Mo itself hasn’t officially announced the rollout, several T-Mobile LG G5 owners have gotten their Nougat update over the past day or two.

As you might expect for an updated to Android 7.0, this update is large, weighing in at 1272.9MB. So if you’ve got a T-Mobile LG G5, you may want to find a speedy Wi-Fi connection before you begin downloading this update.

As for what’s included, you’ll get Nougat treats like quick reply notifications, split-screen app support, and more. Also included are the November 1 Android security patches.

If you’ve got a T-Mobile LG G5 and you haven’t yet updated, you can check manually by going into Settings > General > About phone > Update center > System update > Check for update. Alternatively, some folks have had luck triggering the update by turning off Auto-date in the G5’s settings and then manually setting the clock to some time between 11:00 pm and 4:00 am.

LG G5

T-Mobile

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OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 will be on the same update schedule following Nougat release

With the launch of the OnePlus 3T, there might be some folks wondering what will happen with both it and the original OnePlus 3 with regard to updates. OnePlus has explained the situation.

OnePlus says that for now, the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T will be updated separately. This will continue until the two phones are updated to Android 7.0 Nougat, which will be released by the end of 2016. After that time, both phones will be on the same update schedule.

OnePlus also today elaborated on the software updates that it released to the OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 last week. Here are the details of the two updates:

Highlights for the OnePlus 3T OxygenOS 3.5.3 OTA 

• Added emergency calling for India (triple press the power button to trigger) 
• Added motion detection in camera and enhanced image capturing quality 
• Added OnePlus community app 
• Updated touch panel firmware and optimized touch precision 
• Updated GPS library and optimized location accuracy 
• Redesigned clock UI 
• Redesigned calling UI 
• Increased stability and implemented various bug fixes 

 

Highlights for the OnePlus 3 OxygenOS 3.2.8 OTA 

• Added 1080P 60FPS video recording 
• Added emergency calling for India (Triple press of power button to trigger) 
• Optimization of Snapchat, fixed video calling and scrolling lags 
• Increased system stability 
• General bug fixes

Existing OnePlus 3 owners might be frustrated by the arrival of the OnePlus 3T, as it means that there’s newer OnePlus hardware out there months after the OP3 launch, and that device is getting different updates than the OP3. The good news is that that won’t be the situation for long, though, and that OnePlus 3 owners will still be getting Nougat before the year is up. While that’s not quite the same as getting new hardware, at least OP3 owners know that they’ll be on the same update schedule as their OP3T counterparts.

OnePlus 3

OnePlus 3T

OnePlus

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Google gets better at detecting and removing fake reviews in the Play Store

Last month, Google announced that it was improving the Play Store’s detection of fraudulent app installs used to boost an app’s ranking in the store. Now Google is taking another step to make the Play Store a better place for users.

Google said today that it’s improved the ways that it identifies and removes fake app reviews and ratings. With these improvements, Google has gotten more accurate at detecting and removing fake reviews.

The company also mentioned that if you’re a developer and you’re working with another party to promote your app, you should be sure that their actions follow Google’s legitimate practices. For example, reviews should come from real users, and devs should not try to boost their reviews with fake, paid, or incentivized reviews.

This move will help to improve the Play Store for users. By detecting and deleting fake reviews, users can get a more accurate picture of an app and its ratings, which can then help them decide if that app is worth their time.

Google

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Verizon offering half-off Daydream View with Google Pixel purchase, other accessory discounts

After offering upgrade deals on phones like the Pixel, Moto Z Droid, and iPhone 7, Verizon now has special accessory offers for several of its devices.

Verizon is now offering discounts on accessories for phones like the Pixel, Moto Z Droid, and Galaxy S7. For example, you can get 50 percent off the Daydream View VR headset when you buy a Pixel or Pixel XL, which would bring the cost of the Daydream View to $40.

You can also get half-off a Moto Mod with the purchase of a Moto Z Droid, Moto Z Force Droid, or Moto Z Play Droid. That means that you can get the Hasselblad True Zoom for $125, JBL SoundBoost for $40, Mophie Juice Pack battery for $40, Tumi Wireless Charging Power Pack for $45, or a Tumi Style Shell for $30.

If you’d prefer a new Galaxy smartphone, Verizon will sell you a Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charging Stand for half-off ($35) with the purchase of a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge.

Also of note is that Verizon is still offering discounts on flagship smartphones with device trade-in. New customers can get up for $400 off devices like the Pixel, Pixel XL, and Moto Z Droid with eligible trade-in, while existing customers can get $300 off the cost of those devices. The Galaxy S7 and HTC 10 are also available for $300 off with trade-in for new and existing customers.

It’s worth noting that these discounts require device payment plans and are applied as monthly bill credits.

Google Pixel

Google Pixel XL

Moto Z Play

Motorola Moto Z

Moto Z Force

Samsung Galaxy S7

HTC 10

Verizon Wireless

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Facebook Messenger adding games like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Words with Friends

Facebook has been beefing up Messenger quite a bit this year with features like Instant Video and Secret Conversations, and today Facebook announced another new Messenger feature.

Facebook Messenger now includes games. There are several big names included, such as Pac-Man and Galaga, as well as newer titles like Words with Friends. Other games includes Frenzy, Space Invaders, EverWing, Track & Field 100M, and others.

To play these games, you can open a conversation with a friend and tap on the game controller icon where you type your message. When you’re done, the people in your conversation will see your score and have the chance to try to beat it. You can also search for games in the Messenger search field.

By adding games, Facebook is looking for another way to keep users inside of Messenger. Rather than having them leave Messenger to play a game when they’re bored, Facebook is hoping to keep users inside the Messenger app to play a game and possibly convince their friends to play, too, in order to beat their friend’s high score.

Games on Facebook Messenger is starting to roll out today on Android and iOS. It’ll be available in 30 countries initially.

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