Android Atlas

Add pop-up notes to calls on Android with bytNotes

Like most humans, you probably forget to ask certain questions or make certain plans when you're on a call with someone. It's that moment when you hang up, only to remember exactly what you were supposed to talk about. How annoying. Instead of trying to remember everything in your busy life, or having to call people back all the time, why not let your Android remind you of what you need to say?

Naturally, there's an app that does this -- though seeing it integrated into the stock Android system would be a nice future perk. bytNotes, … Read more

Record iOS, Android app downloads tallied in last week of 2012

The last week of 2012 saw a significant surge in the number of apps downloaded by iOS and Android users, according to new data from research firm Flurry Analytics.

From December 25 through December 31, 1.76 billion applications were downloaded by iOS and Android users, up 65 percent compared with the weekly average of 1.07 billion between December 4 and December 17. On Christmas Day alone, 328 million applications were downloaded across iOS and Android.

Flurry's data was taken from analysis it performed on more than 260,000 applications available on iOS and Android. The company claims … Read more

Falcon Pro updates, integrates YouTube API

The folks behind the increasingly popular Falcon Pro Twitter client for Android have managed to push one last app update out the door before the new year, and it's not all about bug fixes. Version 1.4 of the slick client brings a host of new features, including double-tapping on tweets and a log-out button. See the full changelog below.

Added YouTube API integration Added option to enable double tap on tweets Added log-out button Added hide keyboard on RT Added report for spam Added mute management from settings Added hash tag autofill when searching for tweets Added slider … Read more

BlueStacks for Mac quietly moves to beta

After launching to public alpha back in June of this year, BlueStacks for Mac today advances to beta. This means that Mac users are one step closer to accessing a chunk of Google Play's Android-apps catalog on their Apple-made desktops and laptops.

Earlier this year, BlueStacks made headlines when it won the Best of CES software award for bringing its powers to Windows 8. The program successfully showcased a swathe of Android apps on Microsoft's newest OS and was even announced to come preinstalled on select Windows 8 machines.

BlueStacks Beta for Mac is available now for free … Read more

Google names best Android apps of 2012

By way of a new staff-curated page on Google Play, Google lists its picks for best apps of 2012. Titles include big-name hits like Pinterest and Evernote, as well as more-obscure choices like Ancestry and Grimm's Show White. Overall, I find the list a bit underwhelming, but since it is composed solely of staff recommendations (and not best sellers), there's certainly room for differing opinions. See the full list of Google's recommendations below.

Zappos Evernote Pinterest Grimm's Snow White Pocket Expedia Hotels & Flights Ancestry Fancy Mint.com Personal Finance SeriesGuide Show Manager Pixlr Express Ted … Read more

Press for Android wraps Google Reader in a slick package

Editors' note: Price of the app has been corrected.

Meet Press, a slick new app for keeping up with your RSS subscriptions on your Android device. It syncs to your Google Reader account and presents all of your articles in a well designed package, with an attractive typeface and dead simple navigation.

Perhaps the best thing about Press is its interface. The open layout and six different font choices make it a pleasure to look at. And just like Google Reader it's really easy to navigate.

Once you sync Press to your Google Reader account, the app opens up … Read more

Google Play surges, but Apple's App Store is still No. 1

Google Play is on a growth spurt, but Apple is still tops in app sales.

Over the past four months, Google's app store saw its daily sales jump by 43 percent across the 20 countries measured by analytics provider Distimo in a report out today.

At the same time, sales growth for Apple's App Store rose just by 21 percent on a daily basis. That's slowed considerably since January, when the App Store's daily sales growth was 51 percent.

As Distimo points out, however, the daily revenue values in the App Store were already much higher … Read more

CloudOn MS Office app adds support for iPhone, SkyDrive

CloudOn's Microsoft Office app has expanded its horizons beyond just the iPad.

Released today, version 3.0 of CloudOn supports the iPhone, the iPad Mini, and the iPod Touch.

It handles the iPhone 5, taking advantage of the new phone's longer screen. There's also a special reading mode for the iPhone, so you can easily scroll through a document without the Ribbon or keyboard getting in the way.

The app has kicked in support for Microsoft's SkyDrive. That means you can store your documents on SkyDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or Box.

CloudOn lets you create and … Read more

How to send a Square gift card

The ability send and process gift cards were recently added by Square as an additional service for its merchants. The process is simple, but requires you to download and install the Square Wallet app (iOS, Android) on your smartphone.

Once you have Square Wallet installed you'll need to set up an account, complete with your payment information. You can then find a local store listed in Square Wallet, such as a coffee shop or bookstore, open the respective card for that business, and then tap "Send Gift Card." Enter the recipient's information, select an amount and … Read more