Pocket Casts update fixes Stats sharing, improve Chrome Cast support and more.

I listen to a lot of podcast every day of the week, with two podcasts each day covering technology exclusively. Pocket Casts for Android is my favorite pod catcher app and is also reliable in that I don’t have to remember downloading my podcasts when they become available, Pocket Casts handles that for me. The app is so good that it won the Google Play Top Developer award, a Google Play Editors Choice and Google Material Design award. This is to say that if you’re not happy with your current podcast app, Pocket Casts is one you should consider. It is not free, but it’s well worth the $3.99.

Today, Pocket Casts was updated to version 6.4.2 with a few fixes, no new features this time. The developer has fixed an issue with stats sharing. I did not know until today that Pocket Casts had this feature in its settings. I went to check on seeing this update and indeed, it’s right there under Settings > Stats.

According to the screenshot above, I’ve been listening for 18 days 20 hours of podcast. I’m pretty sure I’ve listened more than that, but it seems the collected stats are exclusive to the Android device I use. Sure enough, I checked Pocket Casts on my Lumia 1520 and it does not even have this feature. I have been switching between both at some point, but I now exclusively use Pocket Casts on Android since the developer stopped updating the Windows Mobile version. No surprises there. There’s more to the Stats screen than just numbers.

Right under the Stats, Pocket Casts displays random data related to the numbers of hours spent consuming podcasts. For example, the app says that 2,714,300,000,000 emails were sent during the time I spent to listening to podcasts or “during which time you released 320 oz of air biscuits. Gross!”. Funny, right? 😊

Besides the stats feature, the developer also fixed other issues. Check the rest of the change log below:

·       Fixed some issues with auto download and manual downloads when leaving/entering WIFI networks.

·       Improved Chrome Cast support.

·       Some other small tweaks and improvements.

Pocket Casts users can update the app in Google Play Store for free.

Microsoft Office Lens on Android finally supports scanning multiple images.

Microsoft Office Lens is very useful to me. I use it to scan receipts after a doctor's visit among other things and having the app on all major mobile platform is a great plus. However, I have been using Office Lens uniquely on my Windows Mobile and there's is a simple reason to that: The Windows Mobile version offers the ability to scan multiple images and store them in one file. A feature that makes sense, but which was strangely absent from the Android version of the app. Until today.

Responding to a most requested features from users, Microsoft today published an update that adds support for multiple scans on Android. Scanned files can then be saved as a single file in various supported format such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, OneNote or a regular image to the local device, your favorite cloud storage service.

This is definitely a welcome addition and one that makes my Windows Mobile device even more irrelevant. 

Grab the update in Google Play Store to finally enjoy scanning multiple images.

Launcher 10 brings Windows Mobile live tiles to Android and it looks great.

Android is the most customizable mobile OS on this planet and you’ve probably read that several times and as such the Google Play Store offers a wide choice of launchers for you to use if you do not like your device’s default one. I currently use Microsoft’s Arrow Launcher, which is to me the smartest launcher available on Android as it learns from my daily usage and habits to push up the apps I use most to the top for quick and easy access. This post, however, is about another launcher that Windows Mobile fans will very likely appreciate for its similarity to Windows Mobile live tile screen. Actually, it brings the Windows Live tile experience to Android.

It’s name is Launcher 10 and is available free in the store with in-app purchases. This launcher brings Windows live tiles to Android making it look like a Windows Mobile device. The live tiles will show notification for the calendar, contacts, clock etc. Tile badges will show number of missed calls, unread messages etc. And like Windows, swiping from the right will reveal the all apps list, while pinned apps can be resized. Additionally, users can choose the tiles color, transparency, tap and hold to reposition them, and unlike Windows Mobile, Launcher 10 supports landscape mode. The tiles will rearrange perfectly to fit as you rotate your device. 

If you are a previous Windows Mobile user or fan or would just like to experience live tiles on your Android device, Launcher 10 is definitely worth a look. To help you make up your mind, check out the change log for the latest update:

1. Most widgets should now fill the full size of the tile if you have turned off the tile background behind widgets option.

2. Tile labels and live tile text should now scale to fit the tiles. Now if you change the number of tile columns, the text will scale to ensure a consistent look.

3. Added a preference for tile label text size so you can customize the size of the tile labels.

4. Added a preference for app list size to allow for custom sizing of the all apps list (text and icons).

Launcher 10 can be downloaded in Google Play Store.