Gboard
We’ve seen an uptick of mobile keyboards designed to make typing and sending messages easier, such as the ability to find and send a GIF without having to leave your messaging app. Google’s jumping on the train with Gboard, but it can do far more than finding GIFs. Gboard lets you use Google search from your keyboard, so you can seamlessly send a restaurant’s address, your flight information, a YouTube video, and more, all without having to ever leave your messaging app. There are plans to to bring the feature to Android, and multi-language support is on the way.
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Opera VPN
If you’re growing more and more privacy-conscious every day — what with all this talk of anti-encryption legislation — you may want to invest in a VPN, or virtual private network. Opera’s made it easy to use one, thanks to its free Opera VPN app for mobile browsers. The app masks your IP address, allowing you to access content that could be regionally locked, while also blocking ads and websites from tracking you … did we mention it’s free?
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Dark Sky
Dark Sky, the iOS weather app that has a cult following, is now available for Android. The app is known for its accurate, hyperlocal, minute-by-minute approach to weather forecasting, but the Android version isn’t just a port of the original iOS version. Dark Sky has a number of unique features on Google’s mobile operating system such as a home screen weather widget and Android-style navigation. The app has a free trial version, but you’ll have to subscribe to an annual fee of $3 to get super accurate weather forecasts.
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Uncharted: Fortune Hunter
Uncharted 4 may have been Nathan Drake’s last run, but the game’s protagonist can live on in your phone through Uncharted: Fortune Hunter. Be warned that it’s not similar to the PlayStation version at all. No, in this mobile game, you control Drake in a turn-based puzzler. Your goal is to essentially reach the treasure chest by avoiding an array of traps that want nothing but to end your run. There are more than 200 puzzles, and you can also connect to the PlayStation Network to bring your rewards directly into Uncharted 4.
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Google I/O
Google I/O is days away, and if you’re lucky enough to attend, the official Google I/O app is a must have. You can navigate around the Shoreline Amphitheater, browse through events and add them to your own schedule, and even get reminders for them before they start. Of course, if you can’t attend, the I/O app offers live-streams of the keynote as well as a few other sessions.
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