Android Messages might bring iMessage-like features and web interface soon

Based on the information uncovered in an APK Teardown of the latest (v2.9) Android Messages app performed by Android Police chances are that Google is getting ready to launch a few significant new features for Android owners that Apple users have had for a while: A desktop interface for its official SMS/Messaging app and enhanced SMS/RCS features.

Starting the with the web interface there are strings of evidence that support the idea that Android Messages will be able to pair to a web browser so you can carry your SMS conversations from your computer. Phrases like “Messages for Web”, “Scan your QR code”, and “Sign out of all computers” send a pretty clear message that the pairing process would be similar to Allo’s.

Google has been working for a couple years to bring RCS to carriers all over the world. It recently enabled RCS for a few carriers in South America by letting the service run on Google’s cloud services. Strings that support this idea are “New! Text over Wi-Fi and data”, “Chat features are powered by Google”, and “No, use SMS only”.

It could be that Google is almost finished creating its own cloud-solution for enhanced messaging that can work independently of a local carrier and is compatible with those that have implemented RCS themselves. Perhaps the feature will be ready to announce at Google I/O. This is purely speculative but entirely plausible based on the strings found.

The final feature, and one that we don’t really have much information about, is payments to businesses. According to the strings found, Android Messages may be able to support payments to online retailers or local stores and businesses. Strings like “Buy with Google”, “Payments Summary”, and “Checkout” strongly support this.

Google recently introduced the ability to send money to your friends powered by Google Wallet, right from an SMS conversation window.

As to how the payments would work in practice isn’t entirely clear. A wild guess is that businesses would be able to send invoices or payment requests to customers by only using their phone number, thus making secure payments a bit easier without needing to remember another password. A message sent to your number would contain a payment token to make a payment for that particular transaction using a payment method already on your Android Pay wallet.

Google’s annual I/O conference is when the company announces all new features, services, and products that support and add to Google and Android (even iOS) ecosystems. The conference will take place May 8-10 in Google’s hometown of Mountain View, CA.

Check out the source link for the full, more technical APK teardown.

Source

Nougat finally becomes the most popular Android version just as Oreo passes 1% of the market

Google has published its monthly analysis of Android market share today, and we have some big news. For the first time in history, the most used version of the OS is now Nougat – which launched in August of 2016, almost 18 months ago.

It takes the crown from Marshmallow, in fact its predecessor. Nougat is now at 28.5% of the pie (up from 26.4%), while Marshmallow dropped to 28.1% (from 28.6% last month). Lollipop completes the podium, still commanding 24.6% of the market at this time.

While all the older versions of the OS lost market share, Oreo is still gaining. At the same incredibly slow pace as it has since its initial release last August, but still – it is going up. In fact, this month it has broken past the 1% milestone, now running on 1.1% of devices out there. Samsung’s imminent release of its Oreo updatefor the S8 duo should help drive those numbers even higher.

Source | Via

Samsung delivers official PyeongChang 2018 app

Samsung announced the official app for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics next month. It will offer live updates of sports venues, information about athletes, records and medal standings. In the two weeks before the Games actually begin, the app will offer news about upcoming events and the latest from the Torch Relay.

    
PyeongChang 2018 Screenshots

The app will give the ability to every user to customize the news feed and the push notifications. You can highlight athletes, sports, and even whole countries. There will be photo and video highlights.

Although the Games haven’t started, there is already information about venues, a full schedule of the events and a live stream of the hashtag #PyeongChang2018 from Instagram in which all fans can participate.

We previously reported that Samsung will hand out customized Galaxy Note8 phones to every official at the Games.

PyeongChang 2018 on Google Play • App Store • Galaxy Apps

Android 8.1 now shows you how fast public Wi-Fi networks are

Although Android 8.1 has been out for a few weeks now, Google interestingly hasn’t stopped adding new features to its latest software release. Case in point: speed labels for public (open) Wi-Fi networks.

This functionality has started rolling out today. Once you get it, you will see an estimation of how fast each nearby public Wi-Fi network is, as portrayed in the screenshot to the left. The levels are Very Fast (20+ Mbps), Fast (5-20Mbps), OK (1-5Mbps), and Slow (0-1Mbps). These labels should help you quickly decide whether it’s worth connecting to such a network, hopefully saving you some time when you encounter a slow one – time otherwise spent waiting and waiting for things to load.

Unfortunately this doesn’t work for password-protected networks. If for some reason you don’t like the speed labels you can turn them off by going to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences > Advanced > Network rating provider and choosing None instead of Google.

Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 | Via