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.
In this week’s top stories: Wireless Android Auto coming to all Android 11 phones, new Google Pixel 5 renders leak, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is reviewed, and more.
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The folks at Thunder Lotus Games, the studio behind titles like Sundered and Jotun, have announced that their upcoming game Spiritfarer is coming to Google Stadia.
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While the Pixel 4a’s plastic body should afford it a bit more durability than “glass sandwich” flagship phones, there’s still a chance it can break. Google is once again partnering with uBreakiFix to offer same-day repairs for the Pixel 4a.
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Starting with Android 11 later this year, all phones will soon be able to connect wirelessly to compatible cars with Android Auto.
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This year, Google has been working on ways to bring Android and Chrome OS devices closer together, expanding their “Better Together” initiative. Chrome OS’s latest work-in-progress feature would allow you to sync WiFi passwords between your Android phone and your Chromebook.
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As students are going back to school, Google has swapped their homepage logo this morning with a Doodle honoring Julius Lothar Meyer, one of the pioneering scientists who discovered that chemical elements could be organized into a periodic table.
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Fans of Stadia and Dungeons & Dragons alike have been waiting for Baldur’s Gate 3, a fantastic looking RPG game based on the rules of D&D. Today, Larian Studios has shared that we can all get our first taste of Baldur’s Gate 3 when it arrives for Stadia and PC in Early Access in September.
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There’s no denying that Fortnite is one of the biggest titles in gaming today, and these days, many of the same folks who would want to play Fortnite already have a Chromebook, perhaps through school. Here’s the best way to play Fortnite on your Chromebook.
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Ahead of the launch of Google Stadia, two of the first games teased for the streaming platform were Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal. Starting today, 2016’s Doom reboot is available for purchase on Stadia.
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At the Galaxy Unpacked event earlier this month, Samsung unveiled and teased a wide swath of devices, especially new phones. Today, Netflix has added official HDR support for many newer Samsung devices including the Galaxy Note 20, Z Fold 2, and more.
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Google’s Area 120 experiment incubator may be launching an app called “Orion” to help make it easy to pay for WiFi access while on the go.
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On Chrome OS today, you can easily connect your Android phone to your Chromebook for things like text/RCS messages, automatic Wi-Fi hotspot, and Smart Lock, all part of Google’s “Better Together” initiative. Now Chrome OS is getting ready to expand with a new Android “Phone Hub” that promises notifications and “task continuation.”
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In this week’s top stories: our Damien Wilde goes hands-on with OxygenOS 11, the Pixel 4a brings a new battery-centric “Eclipse” live wallpaper, the Google Home app gains “advanced networking” features from Google Wifi, and more.
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This afternoon has been an interesting one for fans of Apple, Google, and Fortnite alike, as the three companies have become intermingled in a pair of lawsuits. Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, have now filed a lawsuit against Google for anticompetitive practices between Android and the Google Play Store.
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Slowly but surely, Google Stadia has been picking up new features, shaping it into a proper gaming platform. Version 2.29 of the Stadia app for Android has arrived in the Google Play Store, bringing with it signs of pre-ordering games, text messaging, and more.
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Before a device or software that uses Bluetooth can be made available to the public, it needs to be approved by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). Tonight, a portion of Google’s long-in-development Fuchsia OS has been listed with the Bluetooth SIG.
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Earlier this year, the folks at LineageOS, one of the most popular third-party Android ROMs, launched version 17.1, upgrading to Android 10 and supporting a variety of new devices. Now LineageOS 17.1 is becoming available for the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.
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Google is launching ChromeOS.dev as a single hub both for developers of apps for Chrome OS and for developers who use Chromebooks.
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We’re well into August, which means the school year is growing ever closer to beginning while many of us are still stuck at home. To help us learn chemistry, Google Search has added a variety of new 3D models showing how certain molecules are formed.
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One of the cooler recent features of Google Pixel phones, Bedtime Mode, including the previous Pixel Stand exclusive “Sunrise Alarm,” is now becoming available for all Android phones through the Google Clock app.
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The Windows version of Google Chrome is preparing to add a desktop shortcut to open directly into an Incognito window, perfect for whatever you use Incognito Mode for.
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In this week’s top stories: Google sends notices for a Google+ class action lawsuit settlement, the Pixel 5 may have gotten its launch date leaked, OnePlus teases Android 11 based HydrogenOS, and more.
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One of the more drastic changes so far in Android 11 is that media apps and their controls now have a dedicated place, bundled in with your quick settings tiles, a feature called “media resumption.” With Android 11 Beta 3, you can now swipe away those media player controls altogether, if you really want to.
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This weekend, Stadia Pro members can play Borderlands 3 for free as part of Stadia’s first-ever “Free Play Days” event.
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