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Android App Updates June 6th, 2014: Nova Launcher, YouTube, Talon, and More

Nova Launcher v3.0 Rolls Out

This week, Nova Launcher v3.0 started rolling out to those that aren’t in the beta channel. This update includes the “OK Google” hotword and a ton of other features as well. The OK Google Hotword is similar to the one that Google built into their own launcher on the Nexus 5. So you are able to just say Ok Google from the launcher, it won’t work while you’re in apps though.

Wikipedia Gets Updated with a new UI

Wikipedia got updated this week with a pretty new UI and it looks amazing. For those interested, here’s the changelog:

* A major design update (we went native!)
* Editing – help improve Wikipedia articles from your phone!
* Everything is faster, whether you’re searching, browsing, or settling a bar bet
* Table of contents to help you navigate long article and get to the information you need
* Wikipedia Zero support – data charges waived for select participating mobile operators (Wikipedia is of course freely licensed)
* Search any language Wikipedia
* Bookmark pages
* Random article
* Recent browsing history

YouTube Updates to allow you to choose the streaming quality

Before this update, you were able to change between standard quality and high quality. But with this update, you are able to go ahead and choose the stream you want, but it must be under 720p. So no 1080p or 4K streams here. So your choices are 144p, 240p, 360p 480p, and 720p.

Talon for Twitter hits v2.4

Talon for Twitter got a nice update this week as well. Who am I kidding, it got a huge update. For those interested in all the changes we’ve got them below in the changelog:

What’s new:

  • Android Wear support
  • Translate tweets (redirects to website)
  • View multiple images in a tweet
  • Schedule tweets from the compose window
  • Automatically queue tweets to send from the compose window when data connection is established
  • Filter in “top tweets” when searching
  • A little better handling of drafts
  • Better handling of clicks on the interaction drawer
  • In-line twipple image support
  • Improved list member viewing
  • Few changes for loading circle images

Instagram v6.0 gets new Photo Editing Tools

Instagram was updated this week and brought along some new photo editing tools with it. It now allows you to adjust the brightness, saturation and even the filters. Here’s the full changelog:

The Instagram you love, now with 10 new photo-editing tools!
* Double-tap on filters to adjust the filter strength
* Perfect your composition with Adjust and Vignette
* Enrich colors with Warmth and Saturation
* Adjust lights and darks with Brightness, Contrast, Highlights and Shadows
* Make your photos crisp and clear with Sharpen
Other updates:
* It’s now easier to upload and share videos
* Improved design and bug fixes