Android Community |
- Instagram for Android racks up millions of downloads overnight
- Google’s smart glasses begin testing as Project Glass
- Skyrim Unlocker concept is all the rage in the Thieves Guild
- $35 Indian “Aakash” tablet may come to Philadelphia schools
- Galaxy S III enters testing in Korea, may have non-Pentile screen
- ComScore: Android passes 50% market share in the US
- SwiftKey 3 hits beta with new UI – We go hands-on
- AT&T fixes the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Android 2.3.6 update
- AT&T Galaxy Note gets its own leaked Ice Cream Sandwich ROM
- Some iPhone owners aren’t happy about Instagram for Android
- Google Wallet gains a startup, loses co-creator to Square
- DROID RAZR ICS leak includes Motorola WebTop 3.0
- CyanogenMod team picks a new mascot: say hello to “rAndy”
- Motorola XOOM WiFi Android 4.0.4 update finally rolling out
- AT&T lighting up 12 new 4G LTE markets this week
- Instagram for Android Review
- Spotify App update in the works – Ice Cream Sandwich UI in tow
| Instagram for Android racks up millions of downloads overnight Posted: 04 Apr 2012 11:15 AM PDT Well that sure was fast. Instagram is now what I’d consider an instant hit classic for the world of Android. With over 30 million users on iOS Instagram launched for Android yesterday and has seen huge download numbers. Overnight Instagram managed to get well over 1 million downloads, and possibly as many as 5 million according to the Google Play Store.
Becoming available early yesterday Afternoon in a matter of hours Twitter and Facebook was filled with Android Instagram photos (and angry iPhone users). After waking up this morning to an update it seems they are poised to make it a smashing hit for Android too. Sadly there isn’t much for tablet support, nor is the new HTC One X supported but hopefully that will be coming soon.
If you’re wondering what all this hype and excitement is about, check out our Instagram Review for more information. It is basically a photo-centric application that allows users to tweak and modify simple smartphone photos into creations of art, then share them with the community and the social network world. Sadly it appears many of those iPhone users felt they were cool to have Instagram, and that Android users are lame and same goes for Instagram now we are members of the elite group. More on that is available by clicking here. So, have you downloaded Instagram for Android yet? If not why didn’t you, and if so feel free to share some links to your Android creations in the comment section below. We’d love to see them! [via Thenextweb]
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| Google’s smart glasses begin testing as Project Glass Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:58 AM PDT Rumors of an augmented reality system from Google have persisted for a while, but Google’s finally taken the wraps off of the project under the name “Project Glass”. It’s a wearable glasses-like device that presents a transparent screen, introducing an overlay of web-connected data to your everyday life. It’s not a full pair of glasses as some expected – the transparent screen is a small strip that hangs above the user’s right eye – but it looks like it either connects directly to the Internet over a mobile broadband connection or uses a tethered connection from a phone.
Details are still pretty scarce, but Google’s introductory video below shows a lot of the use cases. Basically, Project Glass continually scans your immediate area for information using what looks like a visual heuristic engine. The interface is voice-controlled, possibly augmented by some eye-tracking. The technology combines a camera, microphone and other sensors to create a sort of technology overlay onto the real world - this is some serious science fiction magic going on. Watch the video below – you won’t want to miss this: Google isn’t saying much at all about Project Glass at the moment – not even if it runs on Android as previously rumored. We can see that cellular services, video chat, Google’s Voice Actions (possibly with some Majel-inspired interpretive computation), Lattitude, Google Maps, Navigation, and Google Plus are all tightly integrated, at least in the demo. We can hope that a trial program (similar to the Chrome trial Cr48 program) is in the works, and we’ll almost certainly hear more about the technology at Google I/O in June. There’s no word on when Project Glass will expand or if it might become a consumer product one day. But one thing’s for sure: just about every geek in the world wants one, now.      
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| Skyrim Unlocker concept is all the rage in the Thieves Guild Posted: 04 Apr 2012 09:37 AM PDT I you’ve been following the Android Reddit for the last few days, you’ve probably seen a few concept screens for a lockscreen inspired by Bethesda’s RPG magnum opus, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Well, a developer going by “DaveRun” has finally gotten the ball rolling in earnest, developing a concept app that mimics the console and PC game’s lock-picking interface almost perfectly. It doesn’t actually unlock the phone yet since it’s at the proof of concept stage, but Dave’s getting a lot of support from like-minded users on his post. You can download the non-Market app and install it on any Android phone.
The in-game action goes something like this: the Dragonborn player is presented with a locked chest or door, and has to use his or her lockpicks and pry bar to get it open. Turn the pick around the lock to find the perfect position, then twist. If you’re off by a few virtual millimeters and twist too hard, you pick will break, forcing you to use another from your inventory. DaveRun’s app works pretty much the same way: turn the pick by sliding along the bottom of the screen, then turn the lock by swiping up. When you “get warm,” the phone vibrates. Most of the previous concepts included either replacing the lockscreen entirely or “skinning” Android’s pattern-based unlock method so that the slide points are arranged radially around the lock. The app is powered by the cross-platform Unity engine at the moment, and probably won’t make a complete solution with its current code. That said, the gaming/geek/Android community is pretty hot on this one – I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a working version in the next few weeks. Now if only someone can create programming language that works like an arcane enchanter’s table…
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| $35 Indian “Aakash” tablet may come to Philadelphia schools Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:56 AM PDT There’s been a lot of excitement ion the last few months over India’s state-sponsored Android tablet, the Aakash (AKA “Ubislate“) manufactured by Canadian OEM DataWind. Its incredibly low (and subsidized) price of between $35 and $50 US dollars has given it millions of users in the crowded country, particularly among the students and teachers that qualify for the discount. Now the Financial Express reports that the tablet, or something very similar, may be getting trial runs in the Philadelphia public school system.
Another low-end manufacturer, Wilco Electronics, is aparently in talks to license DataWind’s OEM design for the low-poered Android tablet. They hope and intend to sell tablets to Philadelphia schools and other “under-served communities” in a pilot program, presumably to help students get a grip on emerging technologies and interfaces, just like their Indian counterparts. Based on statements from Wilco vice president Brigitte Daniel (who also serves on the FCC’s Diversity Committee) the company may intend to target low-income areas, where students would be less likely to encounter smartphones or tablets at home. The possibility is an intriguing one. Young students tend to be ravenously excited about technology, even when the newest and best isn’t available – I recall putting in a lot of time on my elementary school’s Apple II machines in the early 90s, when they were all quite obsolete. Such is the case with the Aakash tablet, which has a 700mhz Cortex 8 processor and uses Android 2.2 Froyo, now almost two years old. Even if US schools can’t get the same impressive price of the original Aakash, it’ll still fall well below prices of similar technology. You could certainly make the case that they could replace current devices like the popular Texas Instruments graphing calculators, which still go for $80-100 retail. Wilco is only exploring its options for now – these public sector deals tend to be long and rather tentative. In any case, we’d be happy to see more students get access to emerging tech, and doubly so if it runs our favorite operating system. [via Liliputing]
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| Galaxy S III enters testing in Korea, may have non-Pentile screen Posted: 04 Apr 2012 08:05 AM PDT Another week, another batch of Samsung Galaxy S III rumors. We know it’s coming, because a Samsung representative told AsiaE that the device has entered the testing phase in Samsung’s home territory of South Korea. The standard testing regimen apparently takes two months, but Samsung wants it done faster than that – perhaps to get it good and ready for a pre-Olympics rollout. There’s also news out of Korean site DDaily that the GSIII uses a 4.65-inch 720p Super AMOLED screen. That sounds identical to the panel found on the Galaxy Nexus, with one important difference: it doesn’t use the Pentile pixel layout.
Pentile is an alternate screen display method whereby green sub-pixels share the red and blue cells of their neighbors, resulting in a technical loss of fidelity of about 30% when compared with non-Pentile displays. They’re popular with AMOLED suppliers in particular because they’re cheaper, but many users have expressed distaste at a perceived loss in quality. To be honest, we can’t really see the difference when the pixel density is so high, but it looks like Samsung is pulling no punches when it comes to the display on their new flagship. You can see a pretty good example of the difference here. We’re still very much in the dark when it comes to the Galaxy S III’s hardware or release dates – even the latest screen news is rumor at best. A larger and denser HD screen seems like a no-brainer, as does a faster processor (Exynos or otherwise) and Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz. Other than that, and a tentative schedule of “summer-ish” for an announcement, it’s all a chasing after the wind. All of the renders and leaks thus far have proven to be guesses, suspect, or just downright fakes. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for any more solid information. [via The Verge]
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| ComScore: Android passes 50% market share in the US Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:35 AM PDT Surprisingly, the US doesn’t have the highest per-capita Android ownership out there – at last count that goes to the UK, where one out of every four men, women and children owns an Android smartphone. But the US is catching up quickly. ComScore reports that Android accounted fora staggering 50.1% of smartphone owners in the United Stats as of February, a statistic that hasn’t been matched since Blackberry and Palm OS were duking it out. ComScore’s numbers show a 3.2% overall market share increase in the four-month period ending in February. Rival statistical firm NPD reached the same conclusion back in December.
Apple’s increased its market share as well, though not as much or as quickly as Android. iOS makes up 30.2% of the US smartphone market, combining with Android for a positively staggering 80% total share. Almost all of the gains on both platforms come at the expense of RIM (Blackberry), Microsoft and Nokia (Symbian). Despite a steady strema of new hardware, Blackberry use has declined to 13.4%, and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 is down 1.3 points to just 3.9% – from a world-beating 42% share back in 2007. No doubt about it, Android is dominating when it comes to the smartphone space. Apple still has an undeniable lead in the tablet space, but that’s slowly and surely dwindling as well. Android seems to have finally graduated to a first-tier consideration among developers, too – long-time holdouts like Instagram and Temple Run are popping up, and major titles like Angry Birds Space get a day-one Android release. The further adoption of Ice Cream Sandwich can only improve matters.
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| SwiftKey 3 hits beta with new UI – We go hands-on Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT The popular 3rd party keyboard for Android SwiftKey is back in the news today announcing the all new, redesigned SwiftKey 3 for smartphones and tablets. Available starting today is the new and improved SwiftKey 3 beta for their VIP forum members, and we can expect it to launch in the Play Store soon. We were lucky enough to enjoy the predictive text features and more all early so check out the hands-on after the break.
With SwiftKey 3 we get a completely redesigned keyboard. The layout has slightly changed, the keys are bigger and easier to type with, and most importantly the spacebar is taller, and longer. They’ve taken an entirely new approach to the feel and look of SwiftKey and made it resemble the improved look of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Holo theme.
In both the phone and tablet layouts as I’ve shown above, you can see SwiftKey’s new look and their new Cobalt theme that comes equipped by default. They still have the original light, dark, and neon themes as well as an all-new Holo theme just like ICS specific for their keyboard. My personal favorite is Cobalt though. What makes SwiftKey 3 special isn’t just the new and improved layout and spacebar, but the awesome tweaks they’ve made the the text recognition and prediction. By far the most impressive change however, is the fact that we don’t even need the spacebar anymore. Technically we still do but now the text engine can predict, correct, and suggest words all while adding in the spaces for you too. Just type away and SwiftKey 3 does all the work. It’s actually extremely impressive to hit the spacebar once at the end of an entire sentence, and have every word corrected and placed correctly. The call this “Smart Space” and it works wonderfully. You can also watch the hands-on from SwiftKey themselves by clicking here. Along with the awesome new UI, two new themes, the improved spacebar and punctuation key they also have added support for more languages. Bringing the total supported language list up to 42. New ones available today consist of: Korean, Estonian, Farsi, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Serbian. So far we are pretty impressed and I’ve been typing all week hardly ever hitting the spacebar and everything’s working out great. I’d hate to have to resort to using the spacebar again, that would be a bummer. The all new and improved SwiftKey 3 is NOT yet available in the Update: SwiftKey servers are getting hammered. Keep trying or check back tomorrow to get VIP access and the new SwiftKey 3 beta.       
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| AT&T fixes the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Android 2.3.6 update Posted: 04 Apr 2012 07:00 AM PDT Hooray! There’s an Android update for the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket! Finally users can get start enjoying Android…. 2.3.6. Yup, despite the fact that Samsung’s working on an Ice Cream Sandwich update for the LTE phone, AT&T has pushed out a slight Android update for Gingerbread. This is a repair release – the previous update to 2.3.6 was broken, and wouldn’t update the phone properly.
AT&T hasn’t provided a changelog, but the update is probably just some bugfixes and stability improvements. I pulled down the update on our Skyrocket review unit and couldn’t see any serious changes. It’s a quick update that shouldn’t take more than ten minutes even on a 3G connection. There’s no reason not to upgrade for stock users, but those who have rooted their phones might want to just wait until the official Ice Cream Sandwich update. Of course, those who are rooted are probably either running a custom ROM or already running the leaked Ice Cream Sandwich update. If that’s the case, there’s not a lot here for you. But those who intend to update just as soon as it’s available (whenever that might be) should check their settings menu – the Ice Cream Sandwich update probably won’t be going out for anything but the latest version of the Skyrocket stock ROM. Of course you’ll probably have the option of flashing a clean ROM at that point. It’s up to you. [Thanks, Steven!] Device Info
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| AT&T Galaxy Note gets its own leaked Ice Cream Sandwich ROM Posted: 04 Apr 2012 06:59 AM PDT Someone at Samsung and/or AT&T must be just giving this stuff away, and whoever you are, we thank you. After leaks of the official Android 4.0 ROM for both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S II Skyrocket, the same update for the plus-sized Galaxy Note has also appeared. You can download it now over at RootzWiki. The ROM in question is only for the SGH-i717, AKA AT&T’s customized LTE version of the Note hardware – it won’t work on international GSM versions. The leaked software runs Android 4.0.3, and doesn’t appear to have any significant issues.
This is the real deal update, straight from Samsung (via some community-minded tipster) and includes Samsung’s TouchWiz. Of course it’s a little different that the standard version, owing to the Note’s relatively massive screen size and adjuster ergonomics, but seems to include all of the current features plus the standard goodies from Ice Cream Sandwich. The download comes in a Windows EXE, so you’ll need to use the Odin method from a desktop or laptop running Windows. A ZIP file of the update, flashable from your custom recovery of choice, should be hitting the standard Android ROM and forum sites within a day or so. Of course if you’re not a fan of TouchWiz, there’s plenty of stock and slightly modded ROMs out there for the Galaxy Note… all of which should be improved very soon by the addition of a sanctioned ICS kernel. Popular ROM families like CyanogenMod 9, MIUI 4 and AOKP all have representations on the hardware, though not all are “official” and not all may be available for both major versions of the hardware. Samsung has planned to upgrade the international Galaxy Note with ICS sometime this quarter, and AT&T’s update will go out at some point, though they haven’t said when.     Device Info
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| Some iPhone owners aren’t happy about Instagram for Android Posted: 03 Apr 2012 07:16 PM PDT Full disclosure: I’m not a fan of Instagram. I see very little value in low-resolution photos with minimal filters posted to an “exclusive” social network, when anyone can do the same with a smartphone and a free editor. That said, I’m glad to see the millions of Android users who were patiently waiting to get into Instagram finally have their patience rewarded. But one group of people isn’t so thrilled to see Instagram’s potential userbase grow by a couple hundred million: iPhone and other iOS users. And they’ve taken to Twitter en masse to whine about it. Aww, bless their poor little hipster hearts.
Yes ladies and gentlemen, there are iPhone owners, and apparently lots of them, who think that Instagram has been “ruined” by the sudden influx of Android. A running theme on their Twitter complaints seems to be “ew, people with no artistic sense will be able to follow me!” Some are tweeting with the hashtag #teamiPhone, echoing the pop culture battle between Twilight readers that is, like, so 2009. Even less tactful posts seem to imply that Android users are poor, despite one of the most popular iPhone models being AT&T’s free 3GS. For a smattering of retweeted iPhone complaints, you can check out this brand-new and very NSFW Twitter account (warning: tact, taste and basic language skills may not be present). Why all the hatred? Well, one of Instagram’s founding principles is that you can only post to the service from your phone or mobile device… which, until today, only included Apple hardware. It seems that this isolation has given some Instragram users a sense of artistic entitlement brought on by owning a piece of glass and plastic that millions of others do as well. To be fair, there’s plenty of iPhone users out there who aren’t twenty-something elitist jerks… but by the look of popular social networks, most of them don’t use Instagram. You stay classy, Apple fans.
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| Google Wallet gains a startup, loses co-creator to Square Posted: 03 Apr 2012 05:00 PM PDT Google Wallet has had a rocky time in the last few months, and a pair of happenings today give it one step forward and one step back. Good news first: Google has acquired TxVia, a company that specialized in electronic payment systems. At the same time the NFC Times reports Google engineer Rob von Behren has jumped ship to rival mobile payment company Square, according to his own LinkedIn profile. Behren was one of two Google employees who created the Wallet NFC payment system.
To be blunt, things don’t look good for Google Wallet. Any time a senior engineer leaves it’s bound to cause a little consternation, but a service founder leaving his own product for a separate company smacks of a lack of confidence in the product. That could be from any one of a number of issues: low adoption among retailers, security concerns after a pair of high-profile exploits, or increased pressure from the credit card/mobile operator backed ISIS program. The acquisition of TxVia is probably more to do with personnel than technology. Though the company has only been in operation for five years, they’ve become a player in behind-the-scenes electronics payments. Google hasn’t said how it intends to use TxVia’s technology, just that it’s going to enhance Wallet. On the other hand, all five of TxVia’s managing partners have been given undetermined positions at Google, according to their website.
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| DROID RAZR ICS leak includes Motorola WebTop 3.0 Posted: 03 Apr 2012 03:52 PM PDT Well would ya look at that – Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t the only thing included in the Android 4.0 ROM fro the Motorola DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX. There also appears to be a brand-spanking new version of WebTop, the desktop-style operating system that’s activated when you plug a compatible Motorola Android phone into a LapDock accessory. Stifle your yawns, Android faithful: it looks like this version isn’t just a spit and polish update. No, it’s more like a full tablet makeover, not unlike the shift from smartphone UI to tablet UI in the ASUS Padfone.
A couple of Motorola enthusiasts on YouTube popped their upgraded DROID RAZR into a LapDock 100 to see how it ran, and were surprised to find that the previous separate Linux OS was nowhere to be found. Instead, the docked mode is all Android, bringing in a full Ice Cream Sandwich tablet interface to the LapDock. The advantages here are tremendous: no longer are “phone” apps restricted to a separate window, instead getting the whole screen to work with just like any tablet app. Some of the previous features are gone (like a desktop Firefox browser) but overall the experience seems to be much more effective. Observe: It’s not perfect: some tablet apps like Chrome aren’t displaying properly, apparently not getting the message that they’ve got a lot more resolution to play with. Even so, this makes us excited for RAZR and other Motorola users. The concept is not unlike the previously mentioned Padfone, or the rumored “desktop mode” in Android 5.0 Jelly Bean. Added features like this could really push Motorola up if they can demonstrate its usefulness. The 3.0 version of WebTop is labelled as “beta”, so expect it to improve in later (and more official) software releases. [via AndroidandMe]
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| CyanogenMod team picks a new mascot: say hello to “rAndy” Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:51 PM PDT Here’s some fun news for CyanogenMod 9 users: you’ll be getting a new mascot in a nightly ROM soon, and no, it isn’t a duck. After a lengthy submission and approval process, the team of developers chose Caio Avles‘ design for a new logo and mascot, and have tentatively christened the little guy below “rAndy”. That may or may not be the final name. You can expect to see the little guy show up in new ROMs and on the CyanogenMod website in the next few weeks, as the final touches are put on the CyanogenMod 9 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The CM team has been hard at work in the last few months, putting their signature touch on open-source Android 4.0 and releasing various nightlies to the masses. The most popular devices get ROMs the fastest and the most consistently, but since CyanogenMod publishes its code for any develoepr to download, there’s plenty of unnoficial versions available for dozens (maybe even hundreds, at this point) of devices of all kinds. Obvioulsy the Nexus series gets a lot of love, but even offshoots like the Nook Color and the HP TouchPad are covered. It’s taken a lot longer for the final release to come than we had first anticipated, but the builds are mostly complete at this point. The CyanogemMod Team are famous perfectionists (and don’t ask them about deadlines) so it may be a while still before release candidates are ready. Don’t worry, Cyanogen faithful: the ROM will keep its distinctive hue intact.
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| Motorola XOOM WiFi Android 4.0.4 update finally rolling out Posted: 03 Apr 2012 02:06 PM PDT Good news for those that still own the Motorola XOOM WiFi tablet. After hearing last week from Motorola that an update was on the way, then Google announcing Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich was being pushed to multiple devices, we can now report it is available for the XOOM and rolling out as we speak.
The update to 4.0.4 ICS was made available on Google’s servers for the Xoom, Nexus S, and Galaxy Nexus late last week and if you haven’t already manually updated, or flashed a custom ROM like Cyanogenmod 9 with 4.0.4 you should be getting the update starting this week as reported by Droid-Life. As a reminder this update is for the WiFi only model and currently not available for the Verizon 3G/4G LTE XOOM that is still stuck on Honeycomb. Just like with handsets the XOOM’s update brings general feature improvements and stability to Ice Cream Sandwich. You’ll have faster screen rotation, better camera support and capabilities, MS Exchange improvements and general performance stability and increases. As usual you can wait for the update, or manually get it now by going to settings > about tablet > check for updates. Then you’ll be enjoying the latest tasty frozen treat from Google in a matter of minutes. Let us know how the update goes, and enjoy it. Now when is the Verizon XOOM and XYBOARD tablets getting ICS? Device Info
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| AT&T lighting up 12 new 4G LTE markets this week Posted: 03 Apr 2012 01:21 PM PDT Well, it looks like the folks at AT&T are starting to realize they need to begin cranking out the updates for their 4G LTE network. Being way behind Verizon’s rollout is one thing, but taking forever to add more is another. Today they’ve announced an additional 12 markets will see 4G LTE speeds starting Sunday, April 8th.
They’ve started to increase the speed at which they are updating markets and networks, so that is a good thing. Verizon already covers over 200 million people and growing every week or so, and AT&T appears to be starting to update at the same rate. Today we’ve learned multiple markets in Texas, Missouri, and Florida will all be getting the green light from AT&T. AT&T’s coverage might still be slightly limited, but it is growing everyday. New markets include: Bloomington and Muncie, Indiana as well as Bryan-College Station, Texas. Other markets to follow are St. Louis, Missouri; Naples, Florida; Lafayette, Indiana; Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana; Akron, Canton, and Cleveland, Ohio; and Staten Island, and New York City. They have some great LTE capable phones. The HTC One X coming soon will be one awesome AT&T 4G LTE device and if you haven’t seen our review of the Tegra 3 version check it out below. [via SlashGear]
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| Posted: 03 Apr 2012 01:02 PM PDT It’s finally here! Instagram has launched for Android today, and all you amateur photographers and social media fanatics should be plenty happy to give it a try. The hugely popular photo filter and tweaking app for iOS is finally available for the Android masses, and we’re taking a hands-on look below for your viewing pleasure, and compare it to ICS.
I was really trying not to jump on the Instagram bandwagon but I actually really like it. The user interface is nice and clean (better than iOS version), simple to use, and makes sharing a breeze. The effects are good although there’s plenty of similar apps available for Android already since Instagram took so long. None of those however have the community that Instagram does. In my hands-on video below I show you all of the filters, and just how easy it is to use them and the app itself. Then I quickly compare it with the few tweaks available on stock Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Some will be drawn away for the fact you have to sign up first, but that is because in a way Instagram is its own social community. You can follow fellow grammers, enjoy others pictures and follow your friends. I’m actually starting to enjoy it as I’m meeting people based on my Android picture alone already. I’m really digging the simple and clean user interface. I wish all developers released such a polished product on day one as Instagram has here today. A few key differences over the iOS version are worth being noted. Instagram said the Android version would be better than the iOS app, but I’m giving this a 50/50. For one, on iPhone you can see the tweaks and effects in real-time before you take the photo, and after. Android only offers after from what I can tell. That is a huge feature we should have, but the tons of devices and camera types might make that difficult.
Then for Android we have more share options. Android offers Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Tumblr. While iOS only has a few but are adding more soon. Instagram should also be adding more share options in the future for both platforms, hopefully Google+ will be one of them. This photo-centric app is impressive to say the least, and if you weren’t planning on giving it a try (like me) I’d suggest at least checking it out. It is free after all over at the Google Play Store.      
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| Spotify App update in the works – Ice Cream Sandwich UI in tow Posted: 03 Apr 2012 12:48 PM PDT News in the music streaming world has been turned up to 11 this afternoon regarding reports that the popular 3rd party application Spotify for Android is set to receive a huge update soon. According to folks at The Verge Spotify is working on a major app update that will bring tons of changes, and support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
Spotify for Android is awesome. The streaming options and having 320 kbps version available are great too, but their application UI is quite terrible. It works great on Gingerbread but looks like it was designed for FroYo 16 months ago. It hasn’t been updated since back in November last year and seems to struggle on Android 4.0 devices. All of that should be changing soon if the rumors are correct. Not a lot of details were made available regarding the update. It is said to have a huge UI overhaul that will work great, and look great on Android 4.0 ICS, and hopefully we get some new features or sharing options. We love Spotify here at Android Community, but Google Play Music is pretty good too. What do you use for your music steaming on Android?
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