Google Play Books gets a night light

For those quite nights you want to read books on your mobile phone, Google Play Books is making it friendlier for your eyes. The app is introducing a new Night Light feature. It gradually filters out blue light from your screen to replace that with a warm, amber light as the sun sets. If you use f.lux, the same principle applies. It will automatically adjust to the amount of sunlight based on the time of day to give you the right temperature and brightness.

The feature is available to both Android and iOS readers, you just need to update to the latest version of the app. To turn it on, all you need to do is open a book and select Night Light option from a pop-up that will show up.

Source: Android Official Blog | Download: Google Play Store (Free) + Apple App Store (Free)

Google cuts down on bloatware on Android

Never used Google+? Now you don’t have to see that on your phone if you don’t have to. New partner guidelines from Google have taken out Google Play Games, Google Play Books, Google+, and Google Newsstand as mandatory apps to be included in all Android phones. This move helps free up more space for the apps you do want on your phone. If you, however, do use those apps, well, you can still download them on the Google Play Store.

Source: Android Central | Via: Engadget

Google tweaks Play Books on Android

Google’s Play Books on Android gets few UI changes and new recommendation feature that’ll surely interest the bookworms out there. The Read Now section shows the recent books you’ve read in a horizontal carousel. It also shows a tiny progress bar to see how far you’ve read through a particular book. There are also Buy buttons underneath sample books you have on your device.

Aside from that, underneath the recommendations at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a new section where Google can recommend books to you based on your reading preferences. And for graphic novel readers, the app also now has a fit-width option for full-screen horizontal viewing. Android Police also noticed a new setting that lets you save bookmarks, notes, and highlights in Google Drive. But this seems to be a work in progress at the moment.

Source: The Next Web | Download: Google Play Store (Free)

Google Play Books hits 1 billion mark for Android app installations

While it’s not exactly as great a feat as WhatsApp and Facebook crossing the one billion line, Google Play Books is only the ninth app to hit this installs mark. This app, like other Google apps, has the advantage of coming pre-installed on most Android devices. But it’s good to know that people are still looking for ways to read books on their devices. The other Google apps that have hit the one billion mark include Games, Movies, Music, and Newsstand.

Source: Android Police