Google might be changing the launcher for the 2016 Nexus

If we’re to believe a new report from Android Police, Google’s changing the way you access its launcher in the upcoming Nexus devices. One big change is getting rid of the launcher icon. What you’ll get instead of the button is the ability to swipe at the bottom of the screen to get to your apps. You’ll see a white arrow pointing upwards to indicate there’s more to swipe down there. And quick-launch icons have a frosted white color surrounding them. This makes sense in that it adds an extra icon space at the bottom.

The search bar is also gone and replaced with a “G” nub” that you can tap to start a search. The phone will still allow you to swipe right to access Google Now. Also on the primary homescreen is what looks like a permanent calendar widget. Android Police pointed out that the launcher wasn’t running on Android Nougat and some of the features weren’t working yet.

Google Photos now offers free original quality storage for Nexus users, introduces new features

To celebrate its first year, Google has officially released the free original quality storage for Nexus users on Google Photos. This means you don’t need to let Google compress your image to fit 16-megapixel resolution requirement to not count against your Google storage. Other new features coming to Google Photo include new sorting methods for photos within an album (including newest first, oldest first, and recently added). Contrast and Exposure controls are also coming to Google Photos soon.

Source: Android Community

Google Photos rumoured to soon offer unlimited storage for ‘original quality’ photos on Nexus phones

In case you didn’t know Google Photos has been offering unlimited storage for all its users. The caveat is it’s for the compressed versions of photos and not as Google terms it “original quality.” If you own a Nexus device though, you might soon be able to upload your photos in its full resolution, no matter what size it is. Android Police did a full APK teardown of the newest Google Photos version and found a promo for Nexus devices. It says, “With Nexus, back up all you want. Unlimited free storage for original quality photos and videos uploaded from your Nexus device.” This’ll come in handy in the future especially with the advent of higher resolution smartphone cameras plus 2K and 4K video recording.

Source: Android Police | Via: SlashGear

Gmail app gets fix for Hotmail sync issues, still working on Nexus trouble

A new version of Gmail is fixing issues you may have with trying to manage your old Hotmail account on Google’s email app. Version 5.10 of the app takes care of this bug as well as other bugs you might be experiencing with the email client. It wasn’t specified if there were also issues with Outlook.com addresses, which replaced Hotmail, but it’s worth a try to update.

Unfortunately, the Nexus users who are having trouble with Gmail accounts don’t get a fix just yet. Google said these syncing issues are “actively being worked on.” Let’s hope they remedy that quickly. It’s a bit strange that Android users are having issues with a phone sold by Google that runs stock Android.

Source: Greenbot