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.
During the Flutter Engage live event, Google bumped Flutter, its massively cross-platform app development SDK, to version 2.0, adding stable support for web apps and sound null safety.
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With an upcoming update, Google’s Pixel phones will no longer have both light and dark versions of their boot screen, ditching the stark bright white version almost entirely.
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One of the strangest features to be missing from Stadia for Android is the ability to join voice chat. Stadia app version 3.5 moves another big step closer to party chat on Android, while Project Hailstorm dissipates.
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The Google TV app for Android has received an update that includes the beginnings of a universal remote to connect to Android TV devices, which could replace the long-outdated Android TV Remote Control app.
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Google’s AR services on Android are set to gain an upgrade, adding support for multiple cameras, which should give your favorite AR apps, like 3D animals, a better sense of depth.
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Since the launch of the Pixel 3, the Pixel Stand has been Google’s signature wireless charger with exclusive features not offered for other wireless chargers. Now it seems the Pixel Stand app has added a new bedtime reminder with a shortcut to sleep sounds.
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With the first Android 12 Developer Preview, a massive redesign of the Settings app was discovered, pointing to a revamp of Google’s Material Design. Let’s take an exploratory look at what some of Google’s other Android apps could look like with these next generation Material Design cues.
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The folks at iOttie have crafted the “Made for Google” iON Wireless Duo, a 2-in-1 wireless charger designed to fit both the Pixel Buds and your favorite Android phone. Let’s take a closer look!
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A new report has detailed some of the circumstances that may have led to the closure of Stadia Games & Entertainment, including missed user targets and the developers’ desire to launch in beta.
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Jetpack Compose, Google and Jetbrain’s up-and-coming Kotlin-based UI toolkit for Android, is entering beta testing stage, meaning it’s now suitable for production-ready apps.
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TalkBack, part of the broader Android Accessibility Suite, gives spoken feedback to your taps, enabling you to use your phone without needing to see the screen. Today, among a suite of Android updates, Google has announced version 9.1 of TalkBack, adding new gestures, in-depth customization, and more.
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The PixelJunk series from Q-Games spans a wide variety of genres and an even wider assortment of consoles. Now the series is making its Stadia debut with PixelJunk Raiders, an exclusive 3D roguelike that deeply integrates State Share as a core feature of the game.
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While Google Messages offers a variety of exclusive features like bringing RCS to more Android phones and allowing texting from the web, there are quite a few things it can’t do. One of those is about to change, as it seems Google has begun to allow a lucky few to schedule when messages should be sent.
Update: Scheduled sending for the Google Messages app is now widely available.
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For some time now, the US Google Store has offered an affordable refurbished option for a few select products, including the Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Protect. Today, the Google Store has gained three more refurbished options in the US, the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Wifi, and Nest Hello.
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For years, Google’s Pixel phones have enjoyed three years of updates, the longest lifespan this side of the Android/iOS divide. Now Samsung has pushed the envelope, offering four years of security updates, beating Google’s Pixel phones at their own game.
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Google has replaced their homepage logo with a Doodle celebrating the 145th birthday of Zitkala-Sa, a Native American musician, composer, and suffragist.
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In this week’s top stories: Google releases its first preview of Android 12, Samsung is purportedly killing the most background apps, Pixel phones poised to gain face-based Auto-Rotate, and more.
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Google is celebrating the successful landing of NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars with a virtual fireworks show, an augmented reality 3D model, and more.
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One feature we reported would be coming with Android 12 is One-handed mode, which shrinks your phone to be more accessible with your thumb. Here’s our first look at One-handed mode in action on Android 12 Developer Preview 1.
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Our latest discovery in Android 12 shows that Google is working on a significant redesign of the lockscreen, including a much larger clock.
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Android 12 Developer Preview 1 released earlier today, and deep within, we’ve found the beginnings of an “Automatic” option that lets Android decide whether or not a notification is important enough to alert by ringing and/or vibrating your phone.
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Today’s the big day of the Android 12 Developer Preview, and we’re hunting for changes large and small. One interesting small change we’ve spotted is that the Pixel Launcher now offers a new 4×5 grid option.
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The first Android 12 Developer Preview build includes a new settings page for the Pixel 5, intended to allow it to respond to a “Double tap” gesture on the back, which can activate the Assistant, take a screenshot, and more, but it doesn’t seem to work just yet.
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Android 12 Developer Preview 1 arrived today, and in it, we’ve found that the Settings app has gotten a bit of a revamp, complete with a redesigned search bar.
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