YouTube updates its iOS and Android apps with Music homepage

The YouTube app for iOS and Android has been updated with a new music homepage, which feeds you an endless YouTube Mix based on your favorite music videos. The new section also contains recommended music playlists based on what you’re into and playlists of trending music across YouTube.

YouTube Music will also contain full albums, even artists’ whole discographies. If you want to enjoy the music without ads then YouTube Music Key (beta) is for you – its promo price is $7.99/month with the regular being $2 more.

The service also features background and offline play. Moreover, it will include a subscription to Google Play Music, giving you additional access to over 30 million songs.

Also, if you score an invite to try YouTube Music Key, it will be free for the first six months.

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Samsung Flow is like Apple Continuity, but for Samsung devices

Samsung has announced a new technology called Flow. Well, new would be a bit misleading since it is similar to Continuity that Apple launched with iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite.

Flow has three basic features. The Transfer feature lets you push content between your Samsung devices. You can send a document or a web page from your phone to your tablet, start navigating on your phone and then push it to your Gear S, start watching a movie on a tablet and then push it to your Samsung television, etc. You can also start a video call on one device and then continue it on another.

The other feature is Defer. Defer lets you save tasks on one device so you can access them later on another. You can save a link or a document on your phone and then when you get back to your PC you can continue from where you left off.

The last feature is Notify. Notify syncs notifications between your Samsung devices, so if you get a call or a message on your phone, you will see a notification on all your connected Samsung devices, including your watch, tablet, computer, and even you television.

It’s not clear yet what operating systems will be supported for syncing with your computer, whether it will work with Windows or Chrome OS (or OS X, maybe?) and also how it will work with Samsung televisions.

It’s still seemingly a work in progress but you can expect to find it on Samsung devices in the near future.

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HERE maps beta officially released for all Android devices

Nokia’s HERE Maps launched on Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones recently to offer “true” offline navigationand an alternative to Google’s preloaded Maps.

But the app was in testing only on Samsung’s smartphones even despite the leaked apk file that allowed us all to sideload the HERE navigation on non-Galaxy smartphones. Now that’s about to change – Nokia is releasing the apk for all Android smartphones so you can try HERE maps for yourself.

You’ll need to download the apk file to your smartphone and sideload it (using a file manager of some sort) but you’ll need to go into the Security settings of your device and enable the Install from Unknown Sources option. Nokia has the entire step by step tutorial over at the source link.

The app is still in beta so a few bugs are to be expected but it should be safe to try out.

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Google Play Music gets contextual music stations, Material Design

Google has announced a big update for its Play Music service. First off, the Android and iOS apps have received a new, Material Design-infused coat of paint. Second, the service now brings you contextual music stations.

These have apparently been “hand crafted” by a team of music experts, including DJs, musicians, music critics, and ethnomusicologists, to give you exactly the songs you need for a particular moment.

When you open the app, you’ll be prompted to play music for a time of day, mood, or activity. You can choose an activity, such as a workout, a commute, or so on, to get shown several music stations you can then instantly start listening to. These music stations can be downloaded to listen to when you’re offline too. You can also see what song is next, and even reorder the contextual playlist, add songs to it, or remove songs from it. And you get to start a new station for any song in the mix.

Play Music’s Listen Now page has been redone too. Your recently played music, new songs you may like, and radio stations based on what you usually listen to are presented in a card-based interface, complete with Material Design.

The contextual music stations are available today for Play Music subscribers in the US and Canada, through the Web, as well as the Android and iOS apps. The new Listen Now page is showing in all of the 45 countries where Play Music is available, and it too is out for the Web, Android, and iOS.

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