Kyle Bradshaw joined 9to5Google in 2018 with a special interest in Google’s Fuchsia OS, rooted in his experience of being the first to offer a visual preview of the revolutionary design of the in-development operating system. Since then, his attention has broadened to include the secrets hidden within other areas of Google’s public codebases.
By reading the public Fuchsia code, Kyle was able to prove the existence of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub Max months ahead of their respective announcements. With evidence from Chromium, he reported on Google’s since-canceled efforts to create an offshoot of Android designed for “touchless” feature phones.
In 2018, Kyle reported on three distinct Made by Google Chromebooks in development, the Pixel Slate, the Pixelbook Go — a full year before its release — and “Meowth,” the original version of the Pixel Slate that was canceled due to Intel’s delays that year. For ChromeOS itself, Kyle was the first to demonstrate the upcoming light theme redesign in action.
Looking at the early evidence of the Pixel 5’s specs, Kyle accurately predicted in February 2020 that the Pixel 5 might not be a traditional “flagship” phone. In 2021, he reported that Google’s next headset would be the “Pixel Buds A.”
Kyle was the first to report that the Pixel 6 would mark the debut of Google’s in-house processors, later revealed to be the Tensor chips.
Kyle contributes to the APK Insight column at 9to5Google, discovering the hidden changes in Google’s apps. These efforts have revealed hotly anticipated features, details about upcoming devices, and unexpected connections between companies.
He can be reached for tips or just friendly chat by Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or email. If you’re looking for his other works or side projects, head over to Kyle’s personal portfolio.
Google Messages is preparing a new, specialized Android permission that will help you send RCS messages from a tablet or smartwatch using Samsung’s “Continuity.”
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Chrome OS is set to get a new quality of life upgrade, allowing you to automatically sort the apps in the launcher.
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Stadia players are currently unable to play F1 2020 on the service as the game has been taken “offline” to fix a save corrupting bug.
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Back in December, Google opened the Fuchsia project to contributions from developers outside of Google. Thanks to a new official Discord server, developers and enthusiasts have a place to gather and discuss Fuchsia OS.
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Three variants of Google’s next mid-range phone, the Pixel 5a, have appeared at the FCC for certification, one of many tasks to be completed before its launch later this year.
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The latest Easter egg in Google Search celebrates the 2001 classic Legally Blonde ahead of the movie’s 20th anniversary.
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As of Tuesday afternoon, TikTok has been experiencing an outage, with the app telling users to “connect to the internet.”
Update: After being down for nearly six hours, TikTok is back online.
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A new feature being tested in Chrome for Android lets you quickly swap between Google Search results with a single tap.
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Google has replaced their homepage logo with a Doodle celebrating the birthday of Ángela Peralta, an internationally recognized opera singer once dubbed “Mexican Nightingale.”
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Google has posted a job listing, seeking a Product Manager for Stadia to, among other things, bring the platform to more devices.
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A new trademark filing reveals that Google’s recently released Fuchsia OS is getting a new yet still familiar-looking logo.
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This year, in response to iOS 14, Google has begun a new push for more and better home screen widgets in Android apps. It seems Google Photos will be the next first-party Android app to get a widget, showcasing your images from one year ago.
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Ubisoft+ is now offering deep Stadia integration in many more countries, and in support of the subscription, Rainbow Six: Siege and more are coming soon to Stadia.
Update 6/30: Rainbow Six: Siege has now formally launched for Stadia.
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Google has announced today that Google Pay is now capable of saving and displaying COVID-19 vaccination cards on Android, starting with select providers in the United States.
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A set of leaked renders reveal Samsung’s next foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold 3, in three different colors, including a pearlescent silver.
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For years now, Google has been one of the biggest proponents of using a more secure HTTPS connection everywhere possible. Google’s latest optional push, “HTTPS-Only Mode,” would make older HTTP websites inaccessible in Chrome.
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The latest indie game announced for Stadia is Moonlighter, which expertly blends action-packed roguelike gameplay with relaxed pace shopkeeping.
Update: Moonlighter is coming soon as a free-to-claim Stadia Pro game.
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The latest update to Stadia for Android points to a promo for YouTube Premium members and includes more work toward using your phone as a controller for Stadia on your TV.
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The latest Google Doodle celebrates the birthday of Pedro Linares López, the artist who sculpted the first “alebrijes,” a mainstay of Mexican folk art.
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With the new capability for playing in web browsers, Xbox Game Pass streaming can now be played on Chrome OS, though only unofficially.
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According to the latest rumor, Google’s next mid-range phone, the Pixel 5a, is set to release sometime in August.
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With the Olympics just under a month away, Google has replaced its homepage logo with a Doodle celebrating Tommy Kono, a Japanese-American weightlifter and Olympic gold medalist.
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In this week’s top stories: recent Google app update causes frequent crashes, Samsung teases a “new era” for smartwatches, Google Play makes a push for Wear OS, Google TV, and Android Auto apps.
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The Stadia content schedule is picking back up this week, with Hello Engineer arriving as a First on Stadia title. Borderlands 3 also got a free update this week, adding cross-play for every platform but PlayStation.
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