APK BRO™ - Download APK Android Apps: 06/08/15

Monday, June 8, 2015

Android 5.1.1 Update Rolling Out to Sprint LG G Flex 2

The G Flex 2, LG’s latest smartphone with a drastically curved display, is now receiving an Android 5.1.1 update on the Sprint network. Android 5.1.1 brings mostly bug fixes for users who were already on Android 5.1, so if you do get the update, don’t get too excited.

On top of the firmware update, LG also included Factory Reset Protection. This feature bumps the level of security owners have with their devices, as anyone who attempts to trigger a factory reset will be met with a Google password prompt for the account in question. Only the owner of the device should know this password, given it is tied to your Google account, so it does assist in keeping your smartphone safe.

If we have G Flex 2 owners here, go grab it.

Via: Sprint

Android 5.1.1 Update Rolling Out to Sprint LG G Flex 2 is a post from: Droid Life

Deal: Buy a Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker for $50, Guaranteed Delivery Before Father’s Day

Running out of ideas for a Father’s Day gift? Does he enjoy jamming out? If so, you can pick up the Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker on the DL Deals Store for just $50, down from its regular price of $100. To make sure your dad receives the gift on his very special day, guaranteed shipping within 1-2 business days is included, meaning you will definitely receive the item before Father’s Day (6/21).

The Sound Kick features Bluetooth connectivity, allowing you to wirelessly enjoy your music for up to 7 hours before recharging is needed. Music playback and volume can be controlled directly from the speaker, or from the device you are streaming from. In addition to Bluetooth, you can also quickly connect any device with a 3.5mm headphone jack. You will also be happy to see that the Sound Kick speaker is rated very highly on Amazon, priced at just under $100. So for $50, this is a pretty good deal.

If you think Daddy-O would enjoy this speaker, follow that link below. And remember, it comes with guaranteed delivery before Father’s Day, as long as you order before 12am tonight.

Features

Enjoy up to 7 hours of playtime with the built-in rechargeable battery
Stream music wirelessly via Bluetooth
Control the volume & playback functions directly from the speaker
Quickly connect to any device w/ a simple line-in option that works with a standard headphone jack
Enhance your playlist w/ full sound, natural bass response, vocal clarity & UQ3™ spatial enhancement
Charge your mobile devices w/ the USB power port even while Sound Kick is running on battery power

Deal Link

Deal: Buy a Sound Kick Bluetooth Speaker for $50, Guaranteed Delivery Before Father’s Day is a post from: Droid Life

LG G4 Gets a Teardown, Receives Impressive 8 out of 10 Repairability Score

The folks over at iFixIt are back with yet another teardown, this time with LG’s latest flagship device, the G4. In the teardown, iFixIt notes the G4’s high repairability score, but more than that, it allows the average consumer to take a look at what actually makes up their phones. In the G4’s case, it really isn’t all that much.

In the photos, we see that only a few screws hold the entire device together, with most of the modules able to detach with the right set of professional tools. We get a good look at the G4’s 5.5″ QHD display, 16MP rear-facing camera with OIS, and 3,000mAh removable battery.

To get a little context on the impressiveness of the G4’s repairability score, the One M9 from HTC received a 2 out of 10, and the Galaxy S6 Edge from Samsung got a 3 out of 10. With a solid 8 out of 10 from iFixIt, tinkerers should be quite fond of their LG G4.

Did you pick up a G4? How are you liking it so far?

Via: iFixIt

LG G4 Gets a Teardown, Receives Impressive 8 out of 10 Repairability Score is a post from: Droid Life

FYI: Last Week’s Verizon Galaxy S6 Edge Update Also Fixed That Nasty Screen-Rotation Bug

Verizon didn’t bother to mention this in the changelog for last week’s update to the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, but the update also included a fix for that nasty auto-rotate bug that broke almost everyone’s phone at one point or another. A couple of our readers noted the fix to us, but you can find examples in Verizon’s community forums as well of users who are able to fully enjoy their phones again after receiving the update.

As a recap, a number of early adopters of the Galaxy S6 Edge were finding that their phones would stop auto-rotating after varying amounts of use. No one has ever really been able to pin down the exact reason, but some think it has to do with Fast Charging. Reboots and factory resets couldn’t fix the problem, so carrier stores were allowing users to swap out devices, assuming they were still within their 2-week grace period. For those who missed out on swapping within 14 days at places like Verizon (or who didn’t want to mess with direct Samsung replacements), they have been stuck with phones that haven’t been able to rotate.

Now, after weeks of no auto-rotation, users who have updated have fully working phones again. Yay!

Cheers Robert!

FYI: Last Week’s Verizon Galaxy S6 Edge Update Also Fixed That Nasty Screen-Rotation Bug is a post from: Droid Life

Droid Life Q&A Sessions: Volume 30

There is a ton of action taking place in the world of Android and mobile tech in general, so what better time to field any questions from our community than right now?

Google introduced Android M and Android Pay during Google I/O just a short time ago, so maybe you have questions about it? Or maybe you would like our take on Apple’s latest unveilings during WWDC? Heck, we would even love to discuss this year’s NBA Finals with you. As long as you agree that there were some seriously blown calls during Game 2. Don’t be shy, ask whatever you would like.

Shoot those questions below in the comment section, and then on Friday, our team will choose the best ones to tackle.

To see all of our previous Q&A’s, check them out here.

Droid Life Q&A Sessions: Volume 30 is a post from: Droid Life

Monday Poll: Android Fans – Are You Considering a Switch to Apple Music?

Apple Music is official and coming to Android. For die-hard Android users like those who hang out here at DL all day, every day, you are for the first time, going to have a choice of a new service that involves Apple that won’t force you to leave Android. That’s kind of nuts if you think about it.

So here is the question – are you now considering a switch to Apple Music when it launches this Fall? Some of you may be asking back, “Why would we do that?” For a couple of a reasons. If you look at the entire service, Apple Music may not be all that terrible, other than the fact that it’s Apple who is controlling it.

For example, the music library that Apple has access to is easily the best in the business. From exclusive albums or tracks to early pre-orders and releases, no one has as many as Apple. No one gets everything first, like Apple does. Beyond that, Apple is allowing you to sign-up up to six members of your family with Apple Music for just $14.99. Individual subscriptions at almost every other music service will run you $9.99. Apple’s is also $9.99 individually, but think how much money you will save by letting the whole family in for a total of $14.99? And that way, you don’t have to share your Google account between devices, like my wife and I do to both access our Google Music subscription. Finally, if you look at that screenshot, Apple seems to have followed Android’s app design guidelines as well. This doesn’t just seem like an iOS port – they may have actually cared about the experience.

Tell us, are you considering the switch toe Apple Music? If so, why?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Monday Poll: Android Fans – Are You Considering a Switch to Apple Music? is a post from: Droid Life

Apple May Have Another Android App in the Works to Help You Migrate to iOS

Apple Music doesn’t appear to be the only Android app that Apple is currently working on. According to the iOS 9 features list just posted to Apple’s site, Apple is working on an app that will help Android users easily migrate over to iOS, assuming they would want to make the switch.

The app will “wirelessly switch” users from an Android device to a new iOS device, securely, of course. The app brings over “contacts, message history, camera photos and videos, web bookmarks, mail accounts, calendars, wallpaper, and DRM-free songs and books.” Apple says that it will even help you rebuild your app library by suggesting apps for download from the App Store.

Once the transfer has been completed, Apple will then recommend that you recycle your Android phone for free at the Apple Store. (You should be shaking your head at that idea, just as I am.)

We could find the app on Google Play or Apple’s App Store, so it could be that it will be available closer to this Fall’s iOS 9 launch. Still, that’s two Android apps in one day for Apple!

Via: Apple | @brandonminiman

Apple May Have Another Android App in the Works to Help You Migrate to iOS is a post from: Droid Life

Can We Get a Better Digital Assistant Without Violating Our Privacy? [Opinion]

AI, or artificial intelligence, is an old idea, but it’s still probably the most important technological leap that we’ve yet to make. We’ve been inching closer with things like Google Now, Siri, and Cortana, but we are still so far away. As we inch closer, though, there’s an implementation battle happening. The question we have been asking for the past few years is whether Google will get better at design faster than Apple will get better at web services. I think the new question we need to wrestle with is, can Apple make better apps and services without violating our privacy faster than Google can do so by hoarding all of our information and possibly violating our privacy?

Apple introduced us to the idea that we could have a personal, intelligent assistant with us on our phones with Siri in 2011, but Google took things a step further in 2012 with Google Now. With Siri, we could ask our phones for information and to do things for us, but Google made it so that our phones (or more accurately Google’s servers) would do things without us even asking for them. When Now works properly it is brilliant, but when Google pretends to not know something about you it can be incredibly frustrating.

When I was reviewing the Galaxy S6, I told Google Now to call my wife. It asked me who my wife is. Google doesn’t know a lot of things about me, but Google absolutely knows who my wife is. There’s a plethora of information indicating who my wife is on Google’s servers, but with this request Google pretended it didn’t know. To make matters worse, Google asked me if I wanted it to remember that she was my wife; I said yes, but the next time I asked Google to call my wife it asked who she was again. Granted, that may be a bug, but it’s built on a foundation where Google is still pretending to not know much about us.

I get it. Google doesn’t want to seem any more creepy than it has to to stay competitive. Most people don’t realize just how much information companies like Google and Facebook have about us. When Google first unveiled Now there was a bit of shock. How can they know about this kind of stuff? They know where I work and when I should leave? Is this not violating my privacy? Then most users settled in and let Google take control, because for most people convenience is more important than privacy.

For a long time I have been assuming that Apple’s future may be in trouble, not because they will stop making amazing products, but because of their stance on privacy. Then WWDC 2015 happened. Apple announced a bunch of Siri integration that does a lot of predictive work to guess what information you might need or want and all of it is done without storing your data in the cloud. It’s nothing short of astonishing, not because of the features, but because they are doing this without a gigantic database of information about you.

Throughout the WWDC keynote, Apple announced several new features and ended with the refrain, “You’re in control.” It’s another obvious shot at Google, but I think it’s an important one. While Google has made it much easier to control what personal data of mine they retain to use their services, I honestly had never considered if Google could make just as powerful of services without my information. I was assuming it was impossible until now. I still think it’s incredibly difficult, but maybe we can keep control of our data and still have incredibly helpful AI, too.

I think Google Photos is Google’s first way of showing how they can use their search technologies to actually make a superior product without tying it into the rest of Google. Photos shows incredible reserve on Google’s part because they recognize that privacy is a huge obstacle they face with maintaining trust with their users. I don’t think Google is going to do that with products like Now, though. The opportunity to leverage our information to make better educated guesses about what we need is too great.

Apple has always been more privacy focused than Google (and even privacy focused as a means to communicate a competitive advantage against the search giants), which is good for consumers, but ultimately bad for them if Google gets there first and is able to convince the vast majority of users that trading their information for features is a fair exchange. Part of me thinks that it is absolutely fair, but the other part of me wants to see Apple meet Google’s challenge and create something that is just as capable of helping me without me having to trust someone to keep my information safe on their servers. We need that kind of assistant so that we can live more present lives that allow us to use technology when it’s appropriate and let it work for us in the background otherwise.

The question is, can we get there with our privacy still in tact?

Can We Get a Better Digital Assistant Without Violating Our Privacy? [Opinion] is a post from: Droid Life

Apple Music is Coming to Android This Fall

Apple’s WWDC kicked off today (our live blog has been touching) and outside of the typical Android jabs that accompany their keynotes, they also announced something that Android users can actually use. Apple Music, the company’s new music service, is coming to Android. Seriously, it’ll be here this Fall.

The service launches globally on June 30, but again, not on Android. The initial rollout will be on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Mac, and PC, with Apple TV and Android getting access later on.

As for pricing, you are looking at $9.99 per month, or you can do a family plan that gives you service for up to six family members for just $14.99 per month. Apple will offer a free 3-month trial when the service first launches.

So why should you even consider signing up for it? Well, Apple does have access to a big music library. The Music service also has a radio feature, something called Connect (artists can share photos, backstage happenings, lyrics, or whatever they want directly with fans!), and can curate music for you. That’s it. Tough to tell if it’ll be any better than Spotify or Google Play Music until we get to spend some time with it.

Introducing Apple Music — All The Ways You Love Music. All in One Place.

Worldwide Debut June 30

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today unveiled Apple Music™, a single, intuitive app that combines the best ways to enjoy music — all in one place. Apple Music is a revolutionary streaming music service, a pioneering worldwide live radio station from Apple broadcasting 24 hours a day and a great new way for music fans to connect with their favorite artists. Apple Music combines the largest and most diverse collection of music on the planet with the expertise of world-class music experts who have programmed playlists for your iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch®, Mac®, PC, Apple TV® and Android phones.* Apple Music will be available starting on June 30 in over 100 countries.

“We love music, and the new Apple Music service puts an incredible experience at every fan’s fingertips,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “All the ways people love enjoying music come together in one app — a revolutionary streaming service, live worldwide radio and an exciting way for fans to connect with artists.”

“Apple Music is really going to move the needle for fans and artists,” said Jimmy Iovine. “Online music has become a complicated mess of apps, services and websites. Apple Music brings the best features together for an experience every music lover will appreciate.”

Apple Music

Apple Music is a revolutionary streaming service and app that puts the entire Apple Music catalog at your fingertips across your favorite devices. Starting with the music you already know — whether from the iTunes Store® or ripped CDs — your music now lives in one place alongside the Apple Music catalog with over 30 million songs. You can stream any song, album or playlist you choose — or better yet, let Apple Music do the work for you.

Curation is the soul of every playlist created on Apple Music. Apple has hired the most talented music experts from around the world, dedicated to creating the perfect playlists based on your preferences, and they become better curators the more you listen. The “For You” section of Apple Music provides a fresh mix of albums, new releases and playlists, which have been personalized just for you.

In addition to human curation, Siri® is also dedicated to helping you enjoy great music and have fun with Apple Music. Ask Siri to, “Play me the best songs from 1994,” “Play the best FKA twigs song,” or “What was the number one song in February 2011?”

Apple Music Radio

Beats 1℠, Apple’s first ever live radio station dedicated entirely to music and music culture, will broadcast live to over 100 countries. Beats 1 is a 24-hour listening experience led by influential DJs Zane Lowe in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenuga in London. Listeners around the globe will hear the same great programming at the same time. Exciting programs on Beats 1 will offer exclusive interviews, guest hosts and the best of what’s going on in the world of music.

Apple has also redesigned radio with human curation taking the lead. Apple Music Radio gives you stations created by some of the world’s finest radio DJs. The new stations range in genres from indie rock to classical and folk to funk, with each one expertly curated. With membership, you can skip as many songs as you like, so you can change the tune without changing the dial.

Apple Music Connect

Artists and fans now have an incredible way to connect with one another directly in Apple Music with Connect. Through Connect, artists can share lyrics, backstage photos, videos or even release their latest song directly to fans directly from their iPhone. Fans can comment on or like anything an artist has posted, and share it via Messages, Facebook, Twitter and email. And when you comment, the artist can respond directly to you.

Pricing & Availability

Starting on June 30, music fans around the world are invited to a 3-month free membership, after which a $9.99/month subscription fee will apply. There will also be a family plan providing service for up to six family members available for just $14.99/month.

Requires initial sign up. At the end of the trial period, the membership will automatically renew and payment method will be charged on a monthly basis until auto-renewal is turned off in account settings. Family plan requires iCloud® Family Sharing. http://ift.tt/1KXu5Jt for more information.

*Apple Music is available on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac and PC starting June 30. Apple Music will be coming to Apple TV and Android phones this fall.

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, the Mac and Apple Watch. Apple’s three software platforms — iOS, OS X and watchOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

Apple Music is Coming to Android This Fall is a post from: Droid Life

WWDC 2015 Live Blog! Incredible. Beautiful. Fantastic. Great. Amazing.

Apple’S WWDC 2015 is happening this morning, in case you didn’t already know. WWDC doesn’t stand for “What Would (Jesus) Do (in) Charades” or “Willy Wonka Dots Candy” or “Where’s Waldo, Dammit, Come’on!” It stands for “Worldwide Developer Conference.” Forget the fact that Apple is using two Ws out of Worldwide, which is one word, and focus on the fact that we shall once again live blog the hell out of the happenings. Yes! Another DL Apple live blog is upon us.

I don’t need to explain why we cover these events, do I? Good.

So what is Apple going to call amazing, great, beautiful (x100), extraordinary, phenomenal, wonderful, gorgeous (x5), magnificent, exciting, amazingly remarkable, incredible (x26), advanced, and magical, this time around?

According to the Apple blogs of the world, Apple should give us a new music service, that won’t be revolutionary by any means and will cost the standard $9.99 per month. Apple will try to trick you into thinking it’s great and different by offering exclusives on albums from their friends like Beyonce, Drake, and U2 (lulz). Of course, those exclusives only hang around for so long because record labels like to actually sell albums in lots of places. It’ll basically be a re-branding of Beats Music…with some temporary exclusives…yeah.

We should see iOS 9 and whole bunch of Android features from KitKat. KitKat came out a long time ago, so I couldn’t tell you what that means.

Then, Apple will bring the heat with a watch SDK for Apple Watch. It’ll let apps run faster, since right now, you can’t do anything with a 3rd party app on Apple Watch without buffering for a good minute.

But the iOS 9 and Watch SDK probably won’t actually be out for months, so don’t bother getting excited about it now.

Fun, right? The event kicks off at 10AM Pacific (1PM Eastern). If you want to watch it, you’ll have to use an Apple device or install Safari. You can watch it here.

We will also live blog the event below. There will be commentary, snark, giggles, and, more snark. Join us!

WWDC 2015 Live Blog! Incredible. Beautiful. Fantastic. Great. Amazing. is a post from: Droid Life

Report: New Samsung Smartwatch Will Offer Mobile Payments

According to a report out of Electronic Times, Samsung’s next smartwatch will have NFC so that the Korean manufacturer can extend its payment system from phone to wearable. The current target for release is “second half of the year,” but I would imagine a new watch with payment capabilities will launch alongside the Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Pay in September.

If you follow the smartwatch scene outside of Android, then you know that one of the Apple Watch’s best features is its connectivity with Apple Pay, where users can quickly pay for items with their watch instead of having to fish out their phone from a pocket or purse. Should Samsung extend payments from Samsung Pay to watches, you should see a similar experience. Then again, the biggest feature of Samsung Pay is its ability to pay at almost all regular credit card terminals, so adding NFC to a watch is somewhat limiting, in that you would only be able to use it in stores that have NFC-ready terminals.

Either way, simplifying payments is the new name of the game. While I can’t imagine any of us ever leaving our wallets at home, a world where you need to use them less and less could be here very soon.

As a reminder, the next Samsung smartwatch should be round. Assuming they take the same approach to quality with this watch as they have with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, it could be a fantastic device.

Via: Reuters

Report: New Samsung Smartwatch Will Offer Mobile Payments is a post from: Droid Life

OnePlus One is Now Permanently $249, “Free” Dropbox Pro Subscription Included With 64GB Model

A week ago, OnePlus announced that their first phone, the OnePlus One, would see a flash sale-like $50 discount for a week. Since that “experiment was a great success,” they have decided to drop the price permanently by $50 to $249 (16GB) and $299 (64GB). Even though this phone is over a year old, that’s still a heck of a price for a phone this good.

On a related note, OnePlus also announced that Dropbox is a new partner. Thanks to this new partnership, a new bundle that includes a “free” year of Dropbox Pro and a 64GB OnePlus One can be purchased starting June 10 for $349. I put free in quotes there because it’s not exactly free. The 64GB now starts at $299, so technically, the Dropbox Pro account is costing you $50. A year of Dropbox Pro typically runs $99, so you are still receiving a $50 discount, but again, I don’t know that “free” is the right term here.

So, there you go. Anyone interested, even with the OnePlus 2 arriving within the next couple of months?

You can buy the OnePlus One here.

Via: OnePlus

OnePlus One is Now Permanently $249, “Free” Dropbox Pro Subscription Included With 64GB Model is a post from: Droid Life

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Specs (Official)

Samsung and AT&T unwrapped their latest Active exclusive this morning with an announcement of the Galaxy S6 Active. The phone is the latest in the Active line that has been an exclusive for AT&T dating back to the Galaxy S4.

For those new to the Active line, think of it as a phone that is every bit as good as the current flagship (the Galaxy S6) except that it was created for an active life style. The phone is dustproof, and water and shock resistant, comes in camo colorways, and should be able to withstand drops, scrapes, and bangs. The phone still features the 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, cameras, and Exynos 7420 from the Galaxy S6, but again, has been given some rugged strength. Oh, Samsung also tossed in a massive 3500mAh battery.

The full specs are below.

Galaxy S6 Active Specs

Display: 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED (577ppi)
Processor: Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core
Storage: 32GB
Cameras: 16MP rear; 5MP front (wide-angle)
Battery: 3500mAh; wireless charging and Fast Charging
Water and Dust Resistance: IP68
Network: 4G LTE; HD Voice
Software: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
Other: Shock resistant case; Activity button
Colors: Camo White, Camo Blue, or Gray

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active Specs (Official) is a post from: Droid Life

AT&T Finally Announces the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active With 3,500mAh Battery

Well, they sort of did through YouTube. Unless they pull this video, we will go ahead and assume that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active is now official for AT&T.

As we expected, this is very much a Galaxy S6 only with an “active” body and special set of features. It still includes a 5.1-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED display, Samsung’s Exynos 7420 octa-core 64-bit processor, and 16MP/5MP cameras. But, it does also feature a big ol’ 3500mAh battery and a quick launch action button on its left side, so you can quickly pull up a flashlight, compass, or other goodies from the phone’s “Activity Zone.”

The GS6 Active is rated IP68 for water resistance and dust proofing, comes with camouflage designs, and should withstand a drop or ten, thanks to its protective casing.

We are still waiting for AT&T to post the press release with details on availability and pricing. We will update this post when that happens.

AT&T Finally Announces the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active With 3,500mAh Battery is a post from: Droid Life

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Monday, June 8, 2015

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