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.
One of the more interesting upcoming features of Android 12, teased in leaked mockups, is “People Space” which puts your friends and family on your home screen. With the second pre-release of Android 12, this People Space widget has begun to take shape.
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Google is working on a “game dashboard” for Android 12 — perhaps exclusive to Pixel phones — that adds useful controls and info like a frames-per-second counter, easy capture options, and a YouTube streaming shortcut.
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The second preview of Android 12 has arrived today, and with it, Google is introducing a variety of changes to the picture-in-picture experience to make it feel faster, easier to use, and out of the way when you need it to be.
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So far, 2021 has not been a great year for Google Stadia, especially with the shutdown of Stadia Games & Entertainment and, therefore, all efforts toward first-party exclusive games. Simultaneously, many of Stadia’s exclusive titles are now leaving their exclusivity period and launching on other gaming platforms.
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One of the obvious goals for every gaming platform is to offer titles that appeal to every type of gamer. To that end, Stadia players can enjoy a definitive JRPG experience through Dragon Quest XI S.
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For better or worse, the foldable dual-screen Surface Duo, Microsoft’s first Android phone, was one of the most interesting devices launched last year. According to a new report, a successor to the Surface Duo is in the works to be launched later this year.
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Visible, Verizon’s once iPhone-exclusive MVNO that offers “unlimited everything,” has begun to allow select Android phones to connect to Verizon’s 5G towers, starting with the Galaxy S20 series.
Update: Visible has also toggled on 5G support for the Pixel 5, Pixel 4a 5G, and Galaxy S21 series.
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Google’s ever-present Discover feed is testing a minor design tweak that moves the weather from a wide strip down to a chip in the corner.
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Google has updated a support document today, adding references to unreleased devices from seven different Android makers, including the LG Stylo 7 and Samsung A82.
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In this week’s top stories: AAWireless dongle for wireless Android Auto begins shipping, Google Fit launches its camera-based heart and respiratory readings, Pixel 6 poised to move its hole punch camera, and more.
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Many Stadia players on iOS are unable to play games this morning as issues arise with games refusing to load and controllers being non-responsive.
Update: According to Google the issue has now been fixed.
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Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, id Software, and more, has come to fruition today, bringing many exciting games like Fallout 4 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to Android and more through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
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Google has opened the door for more companies to offer a smart home doorbell that can integrate with the Assistant.
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Over the weekend, Google rolled out an update to their Pixel series’ Camera app, and in it our team has discovered some interesting tidbits about the likely Pixel 6 and Pixel 5a, particularly about the front-facing cameras used on the two phones.
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One of the handier features of Google Voice is the ability to send text messages via your phone’s original number and messaging app. Unfortunately, Google Voice is now set to lose this message forwarding capability “soon.”
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Google is honoring Dr. Wu Lien-teh — inventor of the surgical mask that helped stop the Manchurian plague of 1911 — with a homepage Doodle.
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The latest Alpha update for Xbox One and Series consoles updates the Microsoft Edge browser to the more recent version based on Google’s Chromium, and players have already found a way to run Stadia.
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Google is honoring Masako Katsura, the world-class billiards player who blazed the trail for women to be included in the sport, with an animated homepage Doodle.
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In this week’s top stories: Pixel phones get their March Feature Drop, Google shows off the ability for the Pixel 5 to take photos underwater, Nest Hub series gains new clock faces, and more.
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The latest update to the Pixel series Google Camera app, version 8.2, has begun rolling out, bringing an improved experience for taking videos with a long-press of the shutter button.
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With work from home becoming more prevalent over the years — the last one especially, Android OEMs have repeatedly tried to make their tablets more productive and work-ready. This past week, I tried to use an Android tablet — Lenovo P11 Pro with keyboard cover — for work instead of my usual Chromebook, and it didn’t go well.
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This Friday, Stadia players will get a chance to start causing some major mayhem in the streets of Steelport, as Saints Row: The Third Remastered arrives for the streaming platform.
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This week, as part of the March Pixel Feature Drop, Google launched deep integration between Pixel phones and an underwater-ready photography case. Now Google has shared a first look at some photos of undersea life as taken on the Pixel 5.
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Microsoft is publicly sharing its efforts to improve Google’s Flutter SDK with better support for foldable devices, particularly the Surface Duo.
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