Microsoft Launcher 5.9 brings live update to "your original calendar app icon." (Whatever that means.)

Microsoft posted an update today for their Android Launcher. The update has me confused though. The changelog says this: "Live date update is now available on your original calendar app icon, and Microsoft Launcher calendar icon is also updated with a cleaner look."

My "original calendar app" is Google calendar and the app icon is live. In case you're wondering what's a live icon, it's simply an icon that shows you today's date. In other words, this is a feature built into Google Calendar and has been there for a while, like forever. So I really don't know what Microsoft is referring to. Let me know if I'm missing something.

So there you have it. Version 5.9 of Microsoft Launcher for Android brings you live calendar app icon. And the icon has a cleaner look. 

Microsoft Launcher is available for free in Google Play store.

Microsoft Outlook for Android will soon let users RSVP from their lock screen.

Microsoft released an update today for Outlook on Android that lets users quickly RSVP to meeting requests right from the notification on the lock screen, thus circumventing the need to unlock the phone first. However, at the time I'm writing this post, only the changelog has been updated.

After installing the update on my OnePlus 6T, I decided to test the new RSVP feature. I created a test event on my iPhone and sent an invite to my Outlook.com account. The event did show up in my OnePlus notification on the lock screen but without the 'RSVP' feature. Only 'Accept', 'Decline', and 'Tentative" were there. The RSVP feature is still in the invite email.

I'm not sure why the new feature is missing after installing the update or maybe a Microsoft employee forgot to toggle that server switch. Anyway, check it out in Google Play store. The 'RSVP' button will eventually show up.

WHAT'S NEW

RSVP to meeting invites in the moment! The next time you're invited to a meeting you can RSVP right from the push notification on your lock screen.

Google wants you to share calendar files via SMS.

Google, or someone at Google, thinks that Android users want to share calendar events via SMS. Yes via SMS. What a great useless idea. I never share calendar events and I doubt I'd do it via SMS, which I consider as obsolete in the age of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other cross-platform messaging apps.

Similar to Apple, Google believes you need that feature. You just don't know it yet. Now you have the ability to share calendar events via SMS with friends.

The update is rolling out now in Google Play Store. You have no choice but to download the update and move on.

Google Calendar for Android lets users duplicate or copy events to another calendar.

Google updated its Calendar app for Android with a couple of new features that will make life a tad easier for users. Google added the ability to copy events between calendars. The steps to achieve that is very easy. Simply open an item in the calendar and tap the three vertical dots at the top-right corner of the Calendar app and the option to 'Copy to...' will be there. Select another calendar, then hit 'Save' to copy the event. You may as well make some modifications to the event while you're at it.

Google also added a 'Duplicate' feature which lets you, well, duplicate an existing event and use it as a template for a new event(s). The 'Duplicate' function can be found in the same location as 'Copy to...'.

This update also lets the event organizer choose whether to inform guests of any changes made to events in the calendar. This comes in handy when making minor changes to events that do not necessitate informing participants or, as Google puts it, 'guests'.

Google started rolling out the update to Google Calendar yesterday. Head over to Google Play Store to get it.

Google adds more than 30 languages to events smart suggestions in Calendar app.

After the addition of 54 new country holiday to the Calendar app, Google is now bringing smart suggestions in more than 30 languages. As you already know, when creating events within the Calendarvapp and you start typing, matching suggestions appears that you can choose or ignore. The app also suggests places you've been at and add directions as well. Of course you can add people to those events without sending them an invite, but you can call or message them within the event. Again, you can do all that in more than 30 different languages.

Here's how:

• When you begin typing an event title, you’ll see matching suggestions―choose one or keep typing. 
• Tap “at...” to add a location to your event and later get directions.
• Tap “with...” to add people to your event, so you can easily call or message them from the event. This won’t send them an invite.
• English only: Tap “on…” to easily specify the date, time and duration of the event

The newly supported languages are:

Arabic (ar), Chinese (Simplified) (zh-CN), Chinese (Traditional) (zh-TW), Dutch (nl), English (UK) (en-GB), French (fr), German (de), Italian (it), Japanese (ja), Korean (ko), Polish (pl), Portuguese (Brazil) (pt-BR), Russian (ru), Spanish (es), Spanish (Latin America) (es-419), Thai (th), Turkish (tr), Bulgarian (bg), Catalan (ca), Croatian (hr), Czech (cs), Danish (da), Farsi (fa), Filipino (fil), Finnish (fi), Greek (el), Hebrew (iw), Hindi (hi), Hungarian (hu), Indonesian (id), Latvian (lv), Lithuanian (lt), Norwegian (Bokmal) (no), Portuguese (Portugal) (pt-PT), Romanian (ro), Serbian (sr), Slovak (sk), Slovenian (sl), Swedish (sv), Ukrainian (uk), Vietnamese (vi) 

Source: Google

Download: Google Play Store (This update may not appear in all regions right away, but it sure is coming)

Google adds 54 new country-based holiday to the Calendar app.

I started an app project over year ago on Windows Phone, which was a local holiday app which is still available today in the Windows Store. The idea came because I was frustrated that builtin calendars on my phones did not have country's holidays listed or in the case this feature was there, Mauritius was not in the list of supported countries. So I made the app to save holidays to my Outlook.com calendar which then replicated to all my devices whether they be Windows Phone, Android and iOS. Today, Google is going the same way by adding 54 new country-based holiday to the Google Calendar app, bringing the total of holiday calendars to 143, including Mauritius. This new feature is already available for download in Google Play store.

Follow the steps to add or change National holidays:

1. Open the Google Calendar app
2. In the top left, touch the Menu icon > Settings > Holidays.
3. Touch the name of the current country.
4. Touch a new country to add it, or touch the currently selected country to remove it.

Source: Google