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The Android Realm Podcast Episode 179 Not Quite Blurry Cam
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The Android Realm App Review Google Camera
Are you on an Android 4.4 or higher based device and find the camera lacking in features? Do you want to take Photosphere or Lens Blur pictures just like the Nexus 5? Then check out the official Google Camera app.
The camera app from Google can be downloaded directly from Google Play as an official Google app but currently requires Android 4.4 (KitKat) or higher. While the camera, video, and panorama modes are standard, the app introduces two features otherwise not available.
The first is Photosphere. This lets the user take highly immersive pictures in 360 degress. It can be thought of as a panorama on top of a panorama as far as size and scope. To take a Photosphere, the user needs to center the viewfinder into the dots which takes individual pictures. When the checkbox in selected, the Photosphere is processed and is ready to share.
The second feature if Lens Blur. What this feature does is focus on an object or person in the viewfinder and blur the background for additional foreground focus. Lens Blur achieves this by taking the initial picture and the user moving the phone vertically or horizontally depending on the direction the phone is angled. If the user moves too fast or the foreground object is no longer centered the app will let the user know. Processing works similarl to Photosphere and will show up in the Gallery when ready.
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 178 Flick Master 2000
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The Android Realm App Review Mailbox
If you ever wanted an e-mail app that works to remind you rather than have a multitude of apps to provide the same experience, then Mailbox may be the app for you. The app is developed by the creators of Dropbox and provides the functionality for iOS and Android. The interface is built around swyping to organize and get through e-mails. Short swyping right for example archives emails while long swyping right will delete the email. Swyping left will allow users to setup a reminder for that email later among various other reminders types.
The UI looks like a mix between iOS 7 and Android's HoloUI which gives it a very light look and feel. If Gmail is used, the app supports Gmail aliases to send and receive emails which can be added via settings. The app is very light on resources as well so performance should not be a factor along with nice transitions to make the app feel very much at home on Android.
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 177 Pushing Information
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The Android Realm App Review CCleaner
Do you find yourself losing lots of app space without reason? Want to clean up storage usage by your myriad of apps? Then CCleaner is the app for you!
CCleaner works much like its Windows counterpart but for your Android device. It scans your device's cache to find app cache that can be safely cleared. It also scans your browser history (space used vs. actual content), phone call logs and SMS logs to clear those out at the push of a button as well. Login info and other necessary app info is not cleared so it is along the lines of cleaning your browser history except applied to your device. App performance should improve along with marginal device performance improvements (may be a placebo effect but it depends on your device as well). The second ability that CCleaner provides is the ability to sort apps by storage used on the device and unsinstall any app. The final ability is the ability to view CPU & RAM usage, storage space used and battery level & temp.
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 176 Looks Good To Me
Google Glass could look flashier, BlinkFeed on all the devices, M8 is ironic and more!
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The Android Realm Podcast Episode 175 All Google All The Time
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 174 Interactions
Google Drive expanded, all up in your Wallet, all of the cameras in one, and more!
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The Android Realm Podcast Episode 173 Socially Challenging
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The Android Realm App Review QuizUp
Love trivia? Want to challenge your friends (or get challenged by them)? Love taking quizzes? Then QuizUp is the trivia game for you!
Using Facebook, Google+ or E-Mail login, players can challenge other players to trivia questions in a variety of categories. The idea is to get as many questions right against your opponent to win the game of several questions. Bonus points are awarded to the winner.
By using Google Play Games, players can score rise on the leaderboard to see how well they are doing compared to their friends. Achievements can also be unlocked for various items like 'Atlas' and 'Couch Potato.'
The app generally follows the HoloUI look and feel yet retains a very colorful and exiting look. The app feels lite on resource usage as well, even with sliding animations for transitions.
The Android Realm App Review Google URL Shortener
Ever need to shorten URLs on the go? Want to keep easy track of clicks on your links from your website or blog? Then Google URL Shortener is for you!
The app is an unofficial app which ties to the user's Google account and helps keep track of shortened sites. That way if a URL is shortened from the app or a browser, they all show up together. HoloUI guidelines are also followed so it flows well with Android 4.0+. The final bit of simplicty is the ability view the shortened URL, copy to clipboard or share the link right from the notification drawer so it is easy to get to however the user wants to share the link.
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 172 That Denominator Android
Google Experience launches, “new” Android devices, and more!
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The Android Realm App Review A Better Camera
Do you like HTC's Zoey feature? Want Samsung's auto-removal feature? Love HDR pictures and panoramsas? A Better Camera can help you with all of the above!
Rather than have multiple apps to have all these features or be limited to specific devices, the developer has created an "all-in-one" app to use your device's camera capabilities to provide these features. To start, the camera has basic functions like a single shot camera, panorama mode, and a video camera to help get used to the controls and navigation around this app. Other features like burst mode, group mode and night mode are available for general use photos.
To get the HTC Zoey feature, switch to 'Preshot.' This will take start taking a short video (with a 1-10 second preroll) to allow for people who blink, take a little bit to get their smile or for shifting in position. Once the picture is done, the user can slide through the picture to keep the one that looked the best.
To use the Samsung like person or object removal feature, simply switch to 'Object Removal' mode. This will take a series of pictures (any # from 5-8 which can be adjusted in the settings) then put a circle around objects that can be changed so if a person needs to be removed or someone blinked, then touching that part of the picture will change it to the part the user likes. In the settings for this feature, the elapsed time can also be adjusted if minor changes are needed (i.e. fast motion changes like a bike rider moving through the background) or a little longer (i.e. blinking eyes, shifts in smiles or photobombing).
The third feature users might enjoy are the sequence shots. If watching a play or something with lots of moving, this mode will help with getting a sequence of shots to pick the best one and delete any pictures not desired. Group shot pictures work in the same way except the user selects the base image and add images with better shots of individuals.
The app itself comes in free and paid version (with the paid version unlocking high resolution panorama mode, merging movie objects, and the limit on group shots). The paid features can be unlocked individually or all together at a lower price.
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 171 Sensors and Internet
Casting to more of the things, unified CyanogenMod, tracking your walk, and more!
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The Android Realm App Review Pedometer
If you're like me, you like Google Now's monthly walking summary. The only thing missing is a regular count for how many footsteps or how many miles I walk daily or monthly. That is where the Pedometer app does its magic.
After installing the app, the user is given the choice to login with Google+, Facebook, or e-mail. Once the account is setup, getting your distance walked (or run for that matter) is simply a matter of starting the workout. The main screen keeps track of the number of steps walked, duration, approximate speed, etc. The app continues to run in the background with minimal resource usage (which may vary by device). Once the workout is stopped, the user can rate how they felt, the kind of surface, weather, etc. to keep track of changing conditions if desired.
The app does have various configurable settings like the size of the user's footsteps to adjust by stride or height, adjusting what the app should consider a normal, fast, or slow walking speed and the ability to adjust how the app interacts with the screen timeout. The final feature of the app is the ability to have it play music once the workout is started if the user wants something to keep them going. This feature defaults to the user's default music app (i.e. Google Play Music).
Accuracy of the app will most likely vary based on the sensors available on the user's device along with how new or old the device is as well. Newer devices should be more accurate/reliable with older devices being generally accurate but not necessarily spot on.
The app itself is free with a paid version unlocking more features like weather.
Android 2.2+
The Android Realm Podcast Episode 170 Media In All The Places
Episode Guide
- Show Notes
- App Review - Galaxy Parallax
- App Review - Muzei Live Wallpaper
- Game Review - Dungeon Keeper
- Direct Download
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The Android Realm Game Review Dungeon Keeper
Do you like the idea of building your own lair? Want a fun and lighthearted tower defense game? Dungeon Keeper may be the game for you!
After installing the game, there may be an additional download for extra content so be sure to be on Wifi to account for this. Players can also login to their Google+ account to be on Google Play leaderboards for achievements as well.
Once the player gets into the game proper, there is a brief tutorial on how to build the lair, get workers to destroy blocks, attacking & defending with enemeies, etc. Once complete, the user can then build up their lair to expand their area for more collection items like stones, gems, etc.
For easy comparison, the game is similar to Farmville or games of that style but with cartoonish demons and lighthearted dark theme.
The Android Realm App Review Muzei Live Wallpaper
Do you like changing your wallpaper based on your mood? Do you like quality art from famous painters as your wallpaper? Then the new app called Muzei Live Wallpaper may be for you!
Use of the app is very straightforward. Everyday, a new image is loaded from http://www.wikipaintings.org/. From there the user can set how sharp or blurry the wallpaper should look along with how bright or dim the image should be. These settings are basically there to help the user decide how they want the wallpaper to look with on-screen icons and widgets. The app also lets users select their own images (or image directory) which changes every so often automatically.
