It’s been a while since Material Design first started making its way into the real world, especially from third-party apps like Facebook, but the social network’s messaging app is finally getting updated.

The announcement was made today via the official Messenger Facebook page, confirming that the update to the popular app will be rolling out beginning later today. The post explains that Facebook’s Messenger team has been working on the Material Design update for quite some time, but considering how important the app is for so many users around the globe, it took time to get it right.

The brand new design will bring in the Material Design philosophy, and it will also let the Messenger team to implement new features faster down the road. It’s also been confirmed by the company that more design changes are in the works, and those will be rolling out in the following weeks. What that actually means, though, remains to be seen.

Keep an eye on your Facebook Messenger app for an incoming update, and let us know what you think of the new Material Design aesthetic after you get the update.

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Android 6.0 is no longer a stranger to several different Android phones all over the globe, and now even Sony has begun the rollout to some of its devices.

Based on a report from Xperia Blog, the global Sony Xperia Z5 family of handsets is now receiving the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update. That includes the Xperia Z5 Compact and Xperia Z5 Premium along with the standard Xperia Z5 handset. Sony is also including Google’s February security patches with the software.

It’s not all positives, though. For the folks that have adopted Google’s “adoptable storage” feature into their lives — or have been waiting to, anyway — because apparently Sony has left out the Android 6.0-specific feature that allows users to treat their external microSD card as internal storage and put app data on the card. There’s no official word as to why Sony opted not to include that feature, but they aren’t the only one, seeing as Samsung has also left that bit out.

Still, this is good news for any global Xperia Z5 owners out there. Are you looking forward to the update?

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Contracts used to be the go-to option for the majority of folks getting their hands on a new smartphone, but installment plans are slowly starting to take over. Now even OnePlus is getting in on the fun through purchases made from its U.S. online store.

For any purchase that’s over $99, OnePlus will offer a variety of different installment plan options for customers, allowing them to split up the cost of a device in different ways, hopefully making it an even more feasible option to buy a OnePlus X or OnePlus 2. OnePlus will also let customers pay off their device at any time, so even if they just want to pay a little up front and pay it off the next month, that’s possible.

For the OnePlus X, which retails for $249.00, customers can pay $16.12 every month for 18 months, 12 monthly payments of $23.06, or $43.95 every month for six months. And for the OnePlus 2, which has a retail price tag of $349.00, the monthly breakdowns start at $22.60 each month for 18 months; $32.33 for 12 monthly payments; and 6 monthly payments of $61.60. OnePlus notes that these monthly payments all include an APR of 19.99 percent.

While the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X aren’t the most expensive devices on the market, it’s still nice to see the company offering new ways for customers to pick up the handsets. Did you get your current daily driver through installment plans?

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Whichever phone you own, there’s a good chance that the pre-installed mapping application is of a decent standard. For the majority of people, it will be perfectly capable of getting you from A to B and back again. One benefit of Android as a platform in fact is the tight integration with Google’s own Maps app. If you require more advanced or specific functionality, you can always turn to Google Play and find a slew of apps that aid you in arriving at your destination.

Lacking in most maps applications, though, is any guidance once you get to your desired location. Cartogram is a mapping app that aims to solve this with its detailed layouts of buildings and searchable indoor maps. We’ve taken it for a spin to see how well it works.

When first opening Cartogram, you will be guided through the app and its functions with a tutorial. This gets you up to speed with the app quickly and gives you an understanding of its features and how it works.

Using Cartogram for navigating indoors is as simple as using other mapping applications for navigating outdoors. You are given the floor plan for the building you are in as well as points of interest. A great way to see how powerful Cartogram is using it at the mall. With support for multiple floors, the app can show you the mall layout across all floors with stores labelled for easy browsing. With search, you can type in the desired store, drop a pin and have the app provide walking turn-by-turn navigation to its location. The UI will most certainly feel familiar if you’ve used other apps for navigating, and that’s intentional.

With just this feature, Cartogram is really useful and means you don’t need to fumble around with paper maps or seek out a fixed map board showing you your current location.

Being on your internet-connected phone, Cartogram can (and does) go further, though. Not only can you search for stores, you can also search within them. After a particular product that is available in multiple locations? You can use Cartogram to teach for it and seek out the best price without needing to browse each store and compare for yourself. This is a very cool feature and was pretty accurate in the locations I tested in, and I would hope that prices, locations and offers were kept updated consistently. I don’t know about you, but the less time I can spend trailing around the mall, the better and I can imagine how much more efficient this could make my shopping trips.

Another useful feature of Cartogram is the ability to share your location with others — even if they do not have the app installed — making it easy for you to meet up. If they have the app installed, they can see your location within the app. If not, the app generates a link to the web that can be viewed on any browser with your location pinpointed on a Google map. Making it possible to share with people outside of the app is a great benefit as not everyone will have this app installed.

Cartogram’s features can be used without the need to create an account, but there are benefits to doing so, the main one being in-app chat and the ability to see each others’ location and arrange a meeting place without leaving the app. You can log in using your email address or Facebook account — I’d like to see Google account or Twitter added to that list, too.

The app operates smoothly and was pretty much bug free in my experience. In terms of design, Cartogram is fairly plain and uninspiring. It’s utilitarian in most respects — it does its job with little in the way of visual flourish. This focus on utility is representative of the app on the whole. Cartogram wants to be the most useful indoor mapping app, and doesn’t try to do things outside of that remit (which I prefer, personally).

Cartogram doesn’t have support for everywhere yet. It has 10,000+ maps — and the team is constantly adding more — but the app is US-only currently and of course covers only a small portion of the possible locations as of yet.

If you are looking for a solid indoor mapping app, definitely try out Cartogram. Its focused approach means it does one thing well and, while I feel it could do with a design refresh, I can see wide-ranging applications for Cartogram from shopping malls and events to sports venues, health resorts and more.

Check out Cartogram on Google Play where it is available to download for free.

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Two days of trading have seen HTC’s stock price skyrocket 21%. While the surge in HTC’s stock price is newsworthy in its own right, what’s even more surprising is that HTC’s stock went up 10% on Monday after HTC reported that revenue for February was 35.16% lower than it was in January and 54.48% lower than what HTC reported in February of 2015 – resulting in the worst monthly revenue for HTC in over 10 years.

So why is HTC’s stock price going up? Investors are flocking to purchase HTC shares on news that HTC Vive pre-orders are off to a great start and that HTC’s first production run of the UA HealthBox has sold out. Naturally, HTC isn’t giving exact HTC Vive pre-order figures, but we do know that more than 15,000 units were pre-ordered in the first 10 minute. To break that down, HTC managed to secure more than $12 million in revue (15,000 times $800) in ten minutes. While HTC Vive pre-orders kicked off on February 29, HTC will likely not report the revenue of those devices until April since customer credit cards will not be charged until the HTC Vive ships.

Despite the fact that the HTC Vive is off to a good start, HTC still needs the HTC 10 to be a success if it wants to survive 2016. The phone’s performance should be in line with that of the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7, but HTC will need to step up its marketing game if it truly wants to compete.

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Previously, a Huawei employee had stated that the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update would be hitting the Huawei Watch this past Tuesday. Unfortunately, that ended up being wrong information. It happens, though, and some people likely got very excited because the update is a big one.

Thankfully, official information is here. The Huawei Watch‘s Marshmallow update will come to everyone by March 10th. The update will finally enable the built-in speaker on the device, allowing you to use the watch as a speakerphone and play sounds. It’s definitely an awesome addition to an already awesome watch.

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The BlackBerry Priv launched on AT&T five months ago, and though some people ignored it, it’s a solid device. It features a 5.4-inch 2560×1440 display, a Snapdragon 808 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of memory with a microSD slot, an 18MP camera, and a 3410mAh battery. Plus, it has that classic BlackBerry keyboard!

Verizon has finally launched the Priv on its own network for $720 retail price, or two years of $30 payments. You’ll get both Android and BlackBerry’s legendary security, though Marshmallow is still not available for the device. Will you be picking one up?

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Verizon is usually slow with the updates, but this time it beat the other three major carriers. Verizon has announced that its Samsung Galaxy Note 5 is now receiving the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, which should bring a lot of good stuff to users .

The update, which has a software version of MMB29K.N920VVRU2BPB2, will bring features like Google Now on Tap, customizable permissions, Doze mode to save battery, and more. Samsung also includes a redesigned look for TouchWiz, which is always a good thing. And Verizon has added WiFi calling and removed the Amazon Appstore.

Head to Settings and check for updates if you want it now, but make sure you have a solid network connection (preferably WiFi so you don’t eat into your data) and a charged battery before embarking on the update. If you don’t get it, give it a little while to roll out to everyone. Let us know how the update goes!

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It’s possible to make a smartphone that’s compatible with all four major carriers in the US. Look at the Moto X Pure Edition and the new Nexus devices, which can go between AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon at will. HTC was hoping to achieve the same thing with the unlocked One A9, but unfortunately those plans have fallen through.

HTC has officially announced that it will not be bringing Verizon support to the One A9 following extensive testing. Either Verizon wasn’t happy with the idea, or the company just couldn’t get it to work well enough for release (the latter is more likely here). It’s a shame, but HTC is willing to make it up to those who already bought the device ahead of time.

HTC is committed to providing the best experience for all of our device owners. Following extensive testing, we are unable to support the Verizon network with the Unlocked HTC One A9. For individuals on the Verizon network that ordered the Unlocked HTC One A9 on HTC.com, we will refund his/her order and provide a 20% discount on any current HTC phone or future phones launching through Dec. 31, 2016. Individuals may contact HTC Care at 1-888-216-4736. We regret any inconvenience.

If you’ve already purchased the device in hopes that Verizon support would be added through an update, you can get a full refund and a 20% discount on any HTC device until the end of the year. It’s definitely a good move by HTC, and puts some faith in the company. How many of you were hoping to use the A9 with Verizon? Leave a comment!

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Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most frequently upgraded apps for the week. We’ve found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to find the ones that are actually being updated by the developers rather than selecting the apps with the most installs. As in the past, we’re going to filter out minor updates for the super-popular apps that have over 10 million installs, but we’ll make exceptions for apps that have had significant updates. We hope you enjoy this weekly feature and that you discover some apps that end up being useful.

Square Cash – Version 2.10.1

What’s new in this version:

• Introducing the Cash Drawer! Optionally keep your cash in the app for sending and receiving payments, and cash out to your bank whenever you want.
• Redesigned Activity! Easily keep track of outstanding payments, and approve requests even easier than before.
• Protect payments with your fingerprint on supported devices.
• Various bug fixes and improvements.

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MLS – Version 7.0.0

What’s new in this version:

• Improved News section will keep you up to date on the latest happenings from around the league
• Improved Schedule and Matchcenter sections will allow you to follow real-time stats and highlights from every single game
• Squashed some bugs

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IF by IFTTT – Version 1.5.5

What’s new in this version:

• New Channels include BMW, Netatmo Welcome, Nest Cam, Tesco, Musixmatch, Narro, SkyBell HD, Ring, Emberlight, GE Appliances Refrigerator, Concur, D-Link Smart Devices, Gogogate, Leeo, Neurio, Stack Lighting, WeMo Air Purifier, WeMo Coffeemaker, WeMo Heater, WeMo Humidifier, WeMo Lighting, WeMo Slow Cooker, AT&T M2X, Recon, and Yo Status.
• Fixed an issue that sent duplicate push notifications to a few folks.
• Our most improved and optimized release of IF for Android to date. Enjoy!

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Fenix for Twitter – Version 1.7.0

What’s new in this version:

• You can now easily search and share GIFs when composing a new tweet (thanks to the folks at Giphy)

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NBC – Version 3.1.1

What’s new in this version:

• You asked, we listened. The NBC app now has Chromecast support!
• Fixed a bug to resolve playback errors.

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Opera browser beta – Version 36.0.2126

What’s new in this version:

• New tab selector
• Webapp discoverability
• Web Bluetooth
• Upgrade to chromium 49.
• Stability improvements

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Sky Map – Version 1.8.0

What’s new in this version:

• Twice as many stars! (Down to magnitude 5.6)
• Fixed some data errors (e.g. misnamed Rigil Kentaurus)
• Made the menu accessible in the action bar
• Corrected planet order so that Jupiter appears behind Venus.
• Added Arabic translations (thanks to xsoh on github)
• Minor bugfixes.

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VLC on Android – Version 2.0.0 Beta

What’s new in this version:

LastPass Password Manager – Version 4.0.20

What’s new in this version:

• LastPass has a new icon and logo! Head to http://ift.tt/1S0jEsq for more details.
• This release also includes minor app fill improvements, bug fixes and stability improvements.
  

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Inbox by Gmail – Version 1.18.0

What’s new in this version:

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