We made it to the weekend! It's time for you to relax—and for your smartphone to get near-constant use. Load it up with these, our favorite apps of the week.
Google's Design Mastermind Explains the Future of Android
Two years ago, as Google first showed off Android Jelly Bean, we sat down with then-Director of Android User Experience Matias Duarte to discuss where the operating system was heading. Fast forward this week's Google I/O, where Duarte—now Google's Vice President of Design—introduced Material Design . We had the chance, once again, to ask him about Android's latest design gambit, and what it means for Google's future.
The Race to Save Your Car's Dashboard
Earlier this week, Google showed off Android Auto , a dashboard navigation and entertainment system powered by an Android smartphone . It's almost identical in concept to competing designs from Apple and Microsoft. For perhaps the first time, these companies have a unified vision for the future of in-car electronics. And that's the best news car buyers have heard in years.
The Amazon Appstore is currently offering up 30 apps, worth a combined total of $100, for free.
Android L Google Keyboard made available for others
Android L and its "Material Design" is definitely a hot topic. Some have already extracted the apps from a system dump and made them available for the general public. But if you're looking only for the redesigned Google Keyboard app, then this XDA version might be the one you should be trying out.
This version, however, comes in a form of a flashable zip file, so you'll need to use CWM Recovery or TWRP to do that. There are instructions for manually installing it should all else fail, but that does require root access since it involves writing into /system/app. You also have to install or delete any trace of the current stable version of Google Keyboard if you do have that installed.
Should you manage to get past those initial requirements and installation process, you will be greeted at first by a regular Google Keyboard. Going to the settings and choosing the "Material" scheme, however, will transport you to Google's design vision for the future. You will see a keyboard that looks totally flat and whole, with no delineation between keys at all. There are also monochromatic emoticons as well, when letters and numbers just aren't enough to express your thoughts.
Of course, this is just from a developer preview of Android L and will be subject to much change. It might be a bit too early to jump into the fray, but if you fancy yourself as a daring adventurer, do hit the link below to get the full links and instructions to install this app on your smartphone. Tested devices include Nexus 4 with Paranoid Android, Samsung Galaxy S5 with Phoenix ROM, LG G2 with stock Android, and the HTC M8. Theoretically, it should work with any Android 4.4 device, but there is, of course, no absolute guarantee.
SOURCE: XDA
VIA: AndroidGuys
Udacity app offers programming courses for Android development
Tech learning app Udacity has finally made its way into the Android platform and it brought with it several modules that are specifically targeted for Android developers. There are four learning programs that you can access through the app, but these are not just courses taught by random experts in the field, but rather actual people from Google themselves, people who had a close hand or knowledge in developing the platform.
Google’s ongoing I/O conference ties in nicely with the four course offerings, since their aim is how to create apps that can better the Android world. If you’re a newbie looking into starting a career in Android programming, then taking up the “Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals” should be your first step in learning how to build apps on this platform. Then you can move on to Google-specific development by taking the “Developing Scalable Apps: Using Google’s App Engine” module.
If you want to focus on how to maximise the mobile performance of your web pages, then move on to "Web Performance Optimization: The Critical Rendering Path.” The fourth module specifically for Android developers is “UX Design for Mobile Developers: Learn to Design” which will now focus on looking at the aesthetic aspects of becoming a mobile designer.
The makers of Udacity are also working on creating an offline mode for the app so that you can listen to the videos and read the course materials even if you do not have internet connection. These courses, among the many other programming learning tools, are available on the app that can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store.
SOURCE: Slashgear
T-Mobile won’t charge users for speedtests
If you've been worried that running Ookla's network testing app or any other similar app would run you afoul of your monthly data cap, worry no longer. At least, if you're a T-Mobile subscriber. The carrier has come out to confirm that data transmitted via network speed tests won't count towards a user's regular data usage.
Imagine if you only had 1 GB of high-speed data to use up per month and a speed test, for some reason, transmits something as large as 256 MB. Normally, you'd have already consumed a fourth of alloted usage just to test how fast the network theoretically is (whether you actually buy into such speed test suites is another matter entirely). For T-Mobile, however, that shouldn't be a reason for any subscriber to fret. as those won't count anymore.
"The Ookla Speedtest.net application is designed to measure true network speed--not show that a customer has exceeded their high-speed data bucket. Other speed test providers are also whitelisted."
This could easily be likened to the carrier's new Music Freedom announced just last week. In a nutshell, T-Mobile is offering unlimited music streaming that won't count towards subscriber's monthly limits. Speedtest data will likely be treated the same. The carrier has countered net neutrality criticisms about these exclusive features, claiming that data from these types of content aren't treated differently in a priority lane and neither are there any financial deals involved. It is simply just not counting the data at all.
In the final analysis, the speedtest exception is basically a marketing tactic. T-Mobile just wants everyone to know how fast its network really is, even if you have reached your monthly limit, and what you're missing out on if that's the case.
VIA: FierceWireless
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