Google Updates Gmail App With Better Google Drive Integration

While sharing documents and files between Gmail and Google Drive has been a nearly seamless experience on the web for some time, integration between the two apps on the mobile side has been lacking— until now.

Google rolled out an update to Gmail's iOS app Thursday that makes it easier for users to view and share documents and files between Drive and Gmail.

Gmail users on iOS can now view and save files on Google Drive directly from the Gmail app with "Save to Drive" and "Insert from Drive" options. Users can also now edit a file's sharing settings from within the Gmail app.

"The apps will even tell you if your file isn’t shared with the person you’re sending it to so you can change the sharing settings before you send it," Google software engineer, Simon Forsyth, explained in a blog post.

The update also brings new account management options for users who have multiple Gmail accounts. Those who have more than one account can choose which accounts appear within the app while remaining signed into the account elsewhere on their device.

Gmail's settings menu has also been tweaked so users can swap out their profile photo from within the app. The updated iOS app is available in the App Store. A similar update rolled out to Gmail's Android users earlier this month.

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Google Releases Android Camera App With Selective Focus

Google has released a standalone version of its stock camera app for Android— and it's a significant improvement on its predecessor.

The new app, called simply Google Camera, features a new user interface with revamped shooting modes, as well as the ability to selectively focus the camera.

Rumors of the new app first surfaced earlier this month after it was reported the company was testing a new camera app that would be released independently of the upcoming Android 4.4.3 update.

Google also unveiled Lens Blur, a brand new effect that enables users to shoot with a shallower depth of field to selectively focus on certain portions of a particular image. This is the first time Google has included the feature in its camera app.

"Achieving this optical effect has traditionally required a big lens and aperture, and therefore hasn’t been possible using the camera on your mobile phone or tablet," wrote Google software Engineer Carlos Hernandez in a blog post explaining how Google's research team created Lens Blur.

"Lens Blur replaces the need for a large optical system with algorithms that simulate a larger lens and aperture," he added. "Instead of capturing a single photo, you move the camera in an upward sweep to capture a whole series of frame."

The camera's panorama and portrait sphere modes have also been improved with higher resolution. Google Camera is also the first time the company has made portrait sphere, a shooting mode that that enables 360 degree panoramas, available to non-Nexus devices.

The app also features an enlarged shutter button and viewfinder, so what users see in the viewfinder will be what comes out in the shot.

Google Camera is available in the Google Play Store and is compatible with devices running Android 4.4 (KitKat).

Image: GOOGLE

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Google Remote Desktop for Android: Control Your PC via Smartphone

Good news for Android users: You can now access your PC desktop computer directly via your smartphone or tablet.

Google announced the launch of Chrome Remote Desktop app for Android this week, which lets you access files sitting on your home PC or Mac even when you're nowhere near it.

The move builds off its Chrome Remote Desktop app launched in 2011, which let users remotely access a desktop from another laptop or computer. The service is free — a stark contrast with costly remote-desktop software such as Parallels Access.

After downloading the Android app from Google Play, you'll need to install the Chrome Remote Desktop extension in a desktop's Chrome browser to connect the two systems. Then, grant access for the remote connection to work and set up a PIN code for the PC.

The PC name will then appear in the Chrome Remote Desktop page (and need to be selected) before plugging in the same PIN code within the app. Then, you're good to go.

Microsoft also has its own remote desktop app client, as does Amazon Workspaces, which lets employees access work computers from their personal devices.

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Best New Android Tablet Apps to Make Life Simpler: Better contact management, financial tools, and free magazines

Contacts+

Contact management is often a mess, especially with the multiple accounts that people often have to juggle. Contacts+ is a good solution for cleaning things up and linking those in your contact list to social and communication networks.

The Contacts+ app syncs the contacts' profile data and contact information so you can send a message through one of many platforms. There are greater customization options than what is found in the stock contacts Android app, with great-looking profile photo options and methods for tweaking the overall Contacts+ scheme.

Talon for Twitter

Talon is a well-designed Twitter app that is geared towards power users looking for more than just what the company-created app contains. Talon for Twitter offers viewing images and web links in-line, and multiple layout choices.

True geeks like myself also get to see which client each tweet is coming from. Another smart move is separating the discussion and conversation panels from a specific tweet so you can see if the sender interacted with others.

Just like the developer's other excellent Android app, Sliding Messaging Pro, Talon gets frequent bug fix and optimization updates along with new features.

Level Money

Level Money is a great, new tool that links to bank accounts for rapid access to financial information. It calculates total income, savings and recurring bills in order to determine spendable cash. This amount is designed to show you how much can be spent on a specific month, day or week.

Level Money also provides several widgets so you can get this information at a glance right from the home screen without the need to open the app.

ISSUU

Issuu hopes to democratize publishing with a low point-of-entry and monthly cost for creating magazines. The company boasts of over 30 million magazines and catalogues in its Android app.

The result is an interesting mix of content, which has much of the community-enthusiast feel of Flipboard. It is worth exploring for the variety of content; time will tell if this becomes a disruptive element to magazine publishing.

This article originally published at TabTimes

Image: Android

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