Apple Music for Android updated with new Friends Mix and more.

Apple Music on Android brings over 40 million songs for users to listen online or offline and the app has been downloaded over 10 million times. Which is not bad considering how antagonistic Apple and Android fans are. And the reviews in Google Play Store are quite positive. 

In case you're wondering, I had to resort to Apple Music for my music consumption for the simple reason that Google's Play Music is not available in my region. Sure I can buy or rent Movies, but no music. And now I'm deep into Apple's musical ecosystem, no matter what Google does, the chances to get me out of it equal to zero. So much for you Google.

This update includes some nice features, but my preferred one is the "Friends Mix". Basically, it compiles a list of the songs that the app thinks I'll like from everything my friends are listening to. This is cool and saves me from browsing the long list of songs available on the platform. And better yet, Apple Music also plays the top 100 songs from countries around the world. Again saving me from perusing the list for something I like. I'm kind of lazy if you haven't figured out by now.

Here are the other features in this update:

• Android Auto: The best of Apple Music in your car.
• Search by Lyrics. Use a few of the words to find a song.
• New Artist page: Play an artist with one tap, or browse all the music with the improved design.

Apple Music is free to download in Google Play Store. Subscriptions start at $4.99 per month. 

Netflix for Android officially introduces Smart Downloads.

Back in February, I blogged about Netflix testing 'Smart Downloads' after I noticed the feature pop up in the app on my OnePlus 5T. 4 months later, the feature is rolling out for everyone to use. As from now on, Netflix will delete episodes you've watched and then automatically download the next one for you. Of course, Smart Downloads works only when connected to Wi-Fi on your Android phone or tablet. Should you want to keep watched episodes, you can turn off Smart Downloads in the app settings. 



I've found Smart Download to be extremely useful and it's been turned on ever since Netflix pushed it to my device. If you do not see the feature yet, make sure you download the latest version of Netflix in Google Play Store.

Source: Netflix

Instagram introduces Music in Stories.

Have you ever watched a movie without sound or music? And did you like it? It probably sounded weird as a soundtrack is essential to any movie and as of today, will most likely become key to your Instagram Stories.

Instagram announced the 400 million people who use Stories every day will now be able to add music to their Stories from a library of thousands of songs. Instagram added a new music icon and when you tap on it, you get access to a music library from which to browse by mood, genre or what's popular. Of course, songs can be previewed. 

Once you've found the song you like and that fits your Story, you can go even further and rewind or forward to the part of the song that best fits your Story. Instagram recognizes "that music can play an important role in how you share your moments and express yourself with friends and we're working hard to bring it to the global community in the future."

Music is available on Instagram version 51 in "select countries". However, the ability to choose a song before capturing a video is only available in iOS only, but the company says this feature is coming to Android soon. If you live in one of those "select countries", look for version 51 in Google Play Store.

Netflix introduces 30-seconds long vertical mobile previews on Android.

Who doesn't love trailers? Trailers are how producers get us excited and build momentum until the release of their movies. Trailers also help us, viewers, decide whether a movie or TV show is worth our time and money, and Netflix is capitalizing on that to get us to watch more series and movies.

In an update that is soon coming to Android, the streaming giant will add mobile previews to its app. The company says, "mobile previews present members with a fun, simple, and easy way to learn about all the content on Netflix - and find something great to watch even faster." The previews are 30 seconds long and are presented in a vertical format as opposed to the default landscape mode for viewing. 

"The previews are shown like a slideshow, so if you see something you like, you can tap the screen to advance to the next preview.", the company wrote in a blog post. Of course, Netflix will show the type of movies and shows based on your taste.

Again, this feature is not yet available on Android devices yet - although it made it to Apple devices already. Netflix did not say when the update will be available for Android, so make sure you check Google Play Store.

Apple Music lets users watch videos while browsing the app and listen to music videos in the background.

Apple Music received an update on Android that brings some improvements to music videos within the app. The changelog contains four items, all of them related to music videos, and one of my favorite new features is the ability to continue watching videos while browsing the music app. A Picture-In-Picture (PIP) capability in Apple Music itself. Unfortunately, Apple is not enabling PIP on Android yet. A full-featured PIP on Android would allow users to continue watching videos while using other apps on Android 7.1 or 8 devices.

My second feature is the ability to listen to music videos in the background. Another nice feature which comes in handy when I want to, say, read an incoming email without Apple Music pausing the video.

The other two items in the release notes are:

• Watch them [music videos] in full screen or inside Now Playing.
• Add your favorite music videos to playlists to watch them back-to-back.

Hopefully, Apple will surprise us with full PIP support in a future update. Why not? They're close anyway or so I want to believe. Until then, check Apple Music in the Play Store and enjoy music videos.

YouTube for Android gets a new Activity tab with two sub tabs: Shared and Notifications.

I just noticed a new Activity tab has appeared out of nowhere in the YouTube app for Android. The new tab has two 'sub tabs' under it: Shared and Notifications. The former got replaced by the new tab and got relegated to a sub tab. Notifications got promoted from users profile. In the end, it's two features of the YouTube app that are made easily accessible. No more fiddling around to find the channels you follow closely. I'm not sure though if this update is available worldwide. The YouTube app on my other Android device still does not show the Activity tab. Just check it out and with some luck, you may find it there.

Technically, this appears to be change on the server side, so I don't expect an update to appear in Google Play Store. Or maybe it will eventually and I'll keep you posted if it does.

Netflix for Android now lets users download movies to storage cards.

Not long ago, Netflix introduced a new feature in its app for Android allowing users to save movies to their phones internal storage for offline viewing, a move that proved to be very popular; but at the same time frustrating for those devices with limited storage and without microSD cards support.

Today, Netflix has published a new update to the Store that adds support for saving downloads to storage cards for offline viewing and saving precious space on our devices. iPhone users are out of luck because Apple devices do not have storage cards slot. 

Now, you won't be able to view the downloaded movies on another device. So forget about lending your storage cards to your friends to watch your movies.

Grab the update in Google Play Store and start saving your favorite movies/shows to your storage card.