Here is one update to the last two columns I wrote about Google Maps and Waze for Android devices. Guess what? Waze released a new version of its excellent product. It has a couple of nice new features but mostly it was cosmetic with a few navigational changes. I believe it looks better, is quicker and well worth the time for the upgrade. Try it out and let me know what you think.
Another update that took place toward the end of 2015 was the Google Chromecast. This device allows you to view most anything you can watch on your computer on your TV. Of course, you have to plug it in and do a quick setup. I had the first version of Chromecast and all was well. They rolled out the second one and all continued to be well. Then early this year they did another update which was to work with either the older or newer devices. It may have been well for some but not me.
I used an older broken Android phone to "act" as my remote control for our Chromecast. The phone had not been able to make calls for years. However, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth features functioned perfectly so for those it remained useful.
After the update the Chromecast app failed. I could no longer control, start or even make the application run with the old phone. When I started the application it looked good then a message came up saying it had to restart, over and over again.
I uninstalled it, reinstalled it, rebooted the phone, etc. You know, all the techie things you should do. Nothing worked. I then Googled and found other people with the same or a similar issue. They suggested downloading the previous version from a now-defunct site. I did and it all worked well again but within a week or so the new version was pushed back on my phone automatically and it started all over again.
To make all things good once more I installed the new version of Chromecast on my current Android phone and now all is well. I just do not care for using my phone as my TV remote.
Now the Windows 10’s update: I was basically and still am a W10 supporter with a few caveats you have read from me before now. Here is one more.
After a recent update Microsoft decided that CCleaner (one of my favorite third party apps) could be a danger to my computer. So instead of warning me about it and letting me make a decision as to what should be done, guess what? The programming brains behind W10 decided it should automatically be uninstalled from my system! All I had to do was reinstall it but what if I had not seen the small warning message when it rebooted? I would have spent a long time trying to figure out what happened. W10 can do this to you for a multitude of programs, so be cautious and read all the pop ups.
