Monday, April 29, 2013

Tools of April. Review of Android-month application - BBC News

Among the virtual store shelves Google Play is easy to get lost easily dial unnecessary and not find the application, which will make your life a little bit better or more interesting. Vesti.Haytek will help you not to miss the most interesting new (or updated) software for Android.

Keyboard Swype 1.5
Let’s start this review with a monthly, perhaps, the most useful soft-Android-month trends. Actually, for those who practice the installation of applications not only from Google Play and not shy away from beta, Swype keyboard is not new for a long time, but last week the final version 1.5 of the program first appeared in Google Play.

For the uninitiated, let us recall: Swype – a utility that replaces the native Android keyboard or the creation of the manufacturer of your smartphone the other, more “intelligent.” Tracking movement of the finger (on the job) on the display, the system guesses what word the user types, and, in addition, has given the context. If it is not – it offers options for replacement, and pretty accurate.

Originally created by Cliff Kashlerom (this man long ago invented a system of predictive input T9, 5 years ago, you probably have used it, typing on a standard mobile phone SMS) technology Swype was acquired by Nuance at the end of 2011.

and a half years it took to develop a completely new application – worked, apparently, on the integration of technology into the program Nuance. First, it is one of the most advanced to date implementations of voice input. Second, the “cloud” dictionary, which should make the system is essentially a self-learning and dramatically improve the quality of predictive input. If you have a smartphone and a tablet on Android, the user dictionary data can be synchronized via the “cloud” Nuance.

detailed review of new items we did on the day of its release, you may read. In Google Play can also download a free trial or a full charge (31, p. 32 cop.) Version.

Press
In the March survey was tops in the news reader Feedly, which, for all its functionality, I somehow did not like. But competitor called Press, which happened in April, a major update, as time is for me the news default application on Android. While the application is running in tandem with living out the last months of Google Reader, but soon the developers promise to add other synchronization options.

In patch 1.2 the program have emerged two widgets: one large with a slightly transparent black background, which you can zoom and scroll (it shows the news feed in a compact form) and the other small (1×1 meter size, which displays the number of unread articles). If you have Android 4.2 +, widgets can be placed on the lock screen.

Press also got a long-awaited scrolling cards articles via swipe. A list of the title of this article, you can quickly share it, add to favorites, or mark all lower-or higher as viewed. To do this, hold your finger on the icon with the icon on the left of the feed plate. A single press allows you to mark items as read or returned marked “not read”.

Press attracts a stylish design in a spirit of Holo (although the colors are more consistent with the popular on iOS and Mac Reeder), a fast and smooth animation, as well as the attention of developers to its users. Version 1.0 had a lot of shortcomings, it was awkward to use, and also design the program is not much attractive. The criticism was heard, and the Press 1.2 – this is, in my opinion, the most beautiful and user-friendly news reader for Android. Especially for those who have subscribed to a couple of dozen feeds, each of which poyavletsya daily by dozens of news.

program can be downloaded at Google Play (90 p. 51 kopecks.)

Launcher Facebook Home
Although, judging by the reviews, this application can rightfully lead the list of the worst innovations of April (rankings in Google Play about two, more than half of people put unit) to mention it still stands. The world’s largest social network announced with fanfare in early April own replacement desktop Android, in which there is no place for widgets, or “living wallpaper”, and have mostly never-ending stream of what your dear friends, as well as representatives for some reason, “layknutyh “your brand, posted for all to see.

Lock screen after installing the Facebook Home converted to leaf through a horizontal swipe cards with a list of status updates from your news feeds in social networks, in the background of the records used photos posted by users (in many cases, one is forced to run the application like fire). By clicking on the circle with his own portrait, you can start chat panel applications (it is possible to send new records), or return to the last used program.

Just once you see it live, and the truth is, the idea is interesting, but we can only recommend to those who can not imagine my life without Facebook, spends the day and spends the night in the social network, and happily agreed to the implantation of its application the customer directly to the brain.

For some devices, Facebook Home installation is available from the store Google Play, while the rest can experiment using the previously described method of bypass.

Twitter for Android 4.0
significant upgrade in the beginning of the month received the official Twitter client for Android. Where the earlier version of the overall appearance and function to copy applications for iOS, now put an end to this outrage – the official Twitter switched to Holo-style and began to look for modern Android-devices where organically.

From the point of view of the main functions of change has navigation – between tabs (“Home”, “Connected”, “In the know” and “I”) can now be navigated using horizontal swipe. It’s much faster, and the owners of devices with large screens seriously diminish the risk of dislocation of the thumb – there is no need to reach for the buttons tab at the top of the screen.

Twitter for Android: it was (on the right), and it became

buttons have tabs removed the signature design made flat disappeared and separators between the buttons. Font tweets become thinner and more elegant, in short, I like the new design much more. If at the end of March I was almost moved permanently to Robird (read about this exciting development in the review of the best Android-application of March), but now do not even know – a regular customer swipe, a new design and an almost perfect smooth scrolling seems to me no less attractive .

Twitter in Google Play (free)

Battery Core Live Wallpaper
addition to practical tools, the soul often requires any marginally useful, but beautiful pampering. From this series of new live wallpapers Battery Core Live Wallpaper. Pretty stylish (though for the latest versions of Android better suited to a flat design) made application allows you to constantly see in the home screen as wallpaper slozhnosochinenny a disk representing the smartphone battery.

less battery power left, the slower it rotates either semi-organic gear, or the all-seeing eye tehnoboga future (style, by the way, you can choose). Displayed and the exact value of the remaining battery charge and voltage, and temperature. What exactly is displayed and what is not – you can choose in the settings. Free version seeks to force the user to spend a dollar on a paid, showing the advertisement and not allowing to change the color of the items “live wallpaper”.

Personally, I

these wallpapers hardly going to use, very much I like the ones that have a standard delivery Jelly Bean. But I know many owners of Android-devices, someone new just like it. Plus the fact that this is a live wallpaper, not a widget, so you do not sacrifice for output to real-time information about the battery an inch of screen space.

Battery Core Live Wallpaper in Google Play (30 p. 70k.)

Google Play Store 4.0
Finally, in April renewed (so far, however, not at all Android-devices), in a sense the most important Android application, then, from which, in most cases, we take all the rest – store Google Play. If you want to install it on your machine, without waiting for the official update, it’s very easy, finding the apk-file to a network and install it manually. Naguglit can do, and I took over here on LG Optimus G has replaced the old version of the application and have been no problems.

functional “market” essentially unchanged, but the appearance has changed dramatically – instead of black and gray now mostly white (as in “intelligent assistant Google Now) with color accents. Google Now in the style of change were and fonts. Title screen application and the startup screen sections is now somehow more insistent offer users different content, but links to the individual partitions (in Russia are applications, games, books and movies) which is brought to the top. Overall, Google held a store redecorated updated storefront, and generally successfully – well done.

C our review of the most notable applications Android-March can be found here. In general, about interesting new applications we write regularly check for updates to the site can Twitter, VKontakte, Facebook or even Google+.

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