Things have been relatively quiet on the mobile front this week, seemingly the great quiet before the storm. Of course, that doesn’t mean nothing of importance passed us by. This week saw one of the biggest updates to Android Wear: official support for watch faces. We’ve also seen a good number of games land on Android. India also continues to be mired in controversy . This is your latest edition of Android Community’s Weekly Digest, covering the period from December 8 to December 14, 2014
Android Wear Faces
After asking developers to hold off from going berserk with watch faces, Google has finally released the official API for making them. Now developers and designers need not rely on hacks, workarounds, and pieces of code that may change right from under their noses. And to start the Android Wear watch face support with a bang, Google is launching over a dozen watch faces from big brands.
The latest Android Wear update isn’t just about looks either. Both the smartwatch OS and the companion Android app have been improved to be faster, quicker, and easier to access. New smart modes have been added that adjust to your situation, like Sunlight mode or Theater mode. All in all, Android Wear is slowly, but surely, shaping up to be a formidable companion to your Android smartphone.
India’s Growing Presence
It seems that the drama between OnePlus and Cyanogen, Inc. is far from over. Taking one step forward and two steps back, Cyanogen clarified that while it will indeed support OnePlus One devices in India with continued OTA, there is a subtle, confusing, and arbitrary caveat: It will not update OnePlus One smartphones bought from India, specifically the ones being distributed through Amazon India. This is supposedly to respect its exclusive partnership with Micromax, though it does disregard its already existing partnership with OnePlus.
But OnePlus isn’t the only Chinese company having problems in the sub-continent. Chinese mobile star Xiaomi has been banned from selling its products in India due to an ongoing patent lawsuit from Ericsson and its India office. Although Xiaomi is hardly the first one to meet this kind of adversity from Ericsson, with India’s own Micromax experiencing the same, the timing couldn’t be worse as the Chinese OEM tries to spread its wings to other parts of Asia.
Games Galore
A lot of promised games were finally delived to Android this week. Marvel’s “console-like” brawler Contest of Champions, with its promise of high quality graphics and more intuitive touch controls, punches its way through Google Play Store. The Game of Thrones Adventure Game, a point and click, er, adventure game also arrives for fans of both novel and TV series to enjoy. Minecraft makers Mojang also release the card slash board game Scrolls, with the assurance that you do not need to pay to win. Next year we’ll be anticipating the mobile port of Heroes of Might and Magic III as well as the super-deformed Transformers: Battle Tactics.
Head on over to our Friday roundup of games for more details, and be sure to check out our Gaming selection for more.
Devices
Vivo unveils the incredibly and ridiculously thin X5Max, with a 4.75 mm profile that will make super models die of envy. OPPO’s R5, while not exactly that thin, proves in a video ad that thin doesn’t have to mean fragile or bendable. While details of what Samsung has in store for “Project Zero” a.k.a. the Galaxy S6 are still relatively slim, it seems that the Korean OEM is quite busy with its SoC expansion. For one, Samsung is rumored to have an Exynos chip with Cat. 10 LTE support, speculated to be heading for the Galaxy S6. But even here and now, Samsung might out a Galaxy Note 4 edition solely for Korea, at least initially, that bears the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor.
Apps
Power users, customizers, and developers have quite a bit to chew on this week. Google has finally released version 1.0 of Android Studio, the official Android Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Meanwhile, several new app launchers have hit the market, starting with the newest, and rather controversial, Action Launcher version 3.0, updated not just with Material Design but in code as well. Sadly, it is also missing some features. Flow Home is a launcher that keeps your social network feeds just a swipe away, ala HTC’s BlinkFeed but for everyone. Microsoft has also pushed out a new version of its unexpected Next Lock Screen, bringing in weather information and customization options. And speaking of Microsoft, Redmond surprisingly continues to expand its Android apps roster.
Google has also revealed its top app picks for 2014, so be sure to check that out as well.
Updates
A long time coming, Amazon has finally updated it Kindle app for Android, adding the much desired X-Ray functionality as well as flashcards for making studying easier. VLC finally sheds off the Beta tag after many years of development. Nokia’s HERE Maps, on the other hand, clings to that Beta title, but at least it can be downloaded from Google Play Store now. Keeping up with the times, Hangouts has added stickers to its feature list. Google Fit added support for 100 more activities to track, some of which you can customize on your own. YouTube gets another Material Design makeover and adds offline support in some countries.
