Adoption of iOS 11 lags behind previous versions at 52 percent

While it’s still light years ahead of Android Oreo’s adoption (which is currently at 0.2 percent), there is a drop in the number of iOS devices running iOS 11. The latest version of iOS is currently installed in 52 percent of iPhones and iPads, according to Apple’s App Store support page for developers. Last year, iOS 10 reached 60 percent of devices, while iOS 9’s adoption rate was at 67 percent by November 16, 2015.

This slower rate of adoption though could be attributed to a number of factors. One is there have been bugs plaguing the operating system. Another is it’s seen as an iPad-focused update so less iPhone users see the need to upgrade.

Source: The Verge

Snap Inc. announces major redesign for Snapchat on Android

Looks like Snap Inc. is finally going to pay better attention to its Android user base. In an investor note that’s part of the company’s third quarter 2017 financial results, Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel announced that they are working on a major revamp of Snapchat on Android, citing they’re building it “from the ground up.” The app will be built from what the company’s Android development team has learned from working on Android in the past five years. Spiegel claims that the new Android version will be “a huge focus over the coming year.” The company says they saw “significantly more Android users” added with the improvements they’ve added to the app, even when compared to iOS users.

Spiegel didn’t give a specific time frame for the release of the new Android app but they did say it’s coming out in a limited number of markets first before they roll it out worldwide. On top of this, Snap is exploring a redesign of the app to appeal to a wider audience, even if this might be as he says “disruptive to our business in the short term.” These announcements come out as Snap reported a lower-than-expected 4.5 million new Snapchat users in the third quarter. The app currently has 178 million daily active users.

Source: Android Authority

You can now fully disable Bixby on Galaxy S8 devices and Note8

It seems like a hard-fought battle but finally Samsung has acquiesced to the demands of the users of being able to disable the Bixby button. It can now be physically disabled so it would no longer summon up the Bixby Home screen. At first, they disabled it but it could still wake up the phone’s display like the power key would. The latest update though completely disables the button. The caveat, though, is you need to update all Bixby-related apps (Bixby, Bixby Home, and Bixby Service) on your Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note 8 to the latest version to disable the feature.

Source: Android Authority

Google Assistant can now identify songs playing near you

Now you no longer need a third-party app to identify songs for you. Google Assistant can now name songs for you. All you need to ask is “What song is this?” or “What song is playing?” for it to answer you. Google Assistant will then pull up a card with the title of the song, the artist, release date, genre, possibly lyrics as well as links to YouTube, Google Play Music, and even Spotify. It takes a few seconds to a minute for it to work and it might not work on lesser known songs—and for that you might have to rely on the likes of Shazam.

Source: The Verge