It has been a crazy week with all sorts of awesome news. From Android 4.4 KitKat, the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Note 3 and more all making headlines. So while you’re all busy watching our IFA hands-on coverage, we figured a quick update on some important applications was in order. There’s plenty of apps getting updates this afternoon, but here are a few big ones.
For one Google Play Games was updated last night in the Play Store. Which is Google’s new backend service and gaming platform for leaderboards, multi-player gaming, invites and much more. Similar to Apple’s Game Center. The update was minor and only lists fixes for no-touch accessibility, along with the usual bug fixes and performance improvements, but most likely Google made some behind the scenes improvements as well.
Then Google Chrome got a pretty big update, which finally added some of those features we’ve been seeing in their beta channel. Chrome for Android 29 arriving today brings fixes for issues with WebAudio, fixes for font problems on some devices, and more. Then we’ll enjoy faster startup performance and general stability, along with improved scrolling and a nifty visual indicator when you’ve reached the end of a page.
For all you teens and Facebook fans, their Android app just got a little better for those who love smiley faces and emoticons. Some stickers will now be animated in Facebook Messenger, but this only works on Android 4.0.2 devices and higher. We also got bug fixes, and Facebook Home users can enjoy lockscreen music controls.
Finally, the NFL Season is here. Starting today we have our first actual regular game on Thursday Night Football. One which I’ll be watching from the airport on my Galaxy S4 with NFL Mobile. Speaking of that, NFL Mobile just got updated as well. Along with all the previous video streaming footage, we can now stream exclusive NFL.com footage. The newly redesigned app lost live game audio coverage, and that’s been returned (for Verizon only), and we can even share news content right to Google+ now.
NFL Mobile is now available for those in Canada, although live video is probably still limited to Verizon only, and Bell Mobile TV customers have access as well. Good stuff all around NFL. Now all we need is this app to be free for NFL Network subscribers. No point in us paying twice. Get any of the above updates from the respective links, or from the Play Store below.
VIA: Google Play Store
