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.
It’s an annual tradition for Google to decorate holiday-related search terms. With Hanukkah 2018 already in full swing, the three major year-end holidays have been given a fresh coat of paint in Google Search, with Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa getting their own special treatment.
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Earlier this week, it was reported that Microsoft would be basing their next browser on the same Chromium base used by Google Chrome. Today, Microsoft has stepped in to clarify that Edge, the Windows 10 default browser is not being replaced, but rewritten, with a Chromium base. The company also shared what this means both for users and for the company themselves.
One of the key features of Chrome OS is its built-in search capabilities (Google is a search engine company, after all), which can show you web results in addition to matching apps. Now this Chrome OS search box is getting two improvements to make Android apps more dynamic thanks to Firebase App Indexing and make finding your installed Linux apps easier.
With yesterday’s Flutter Live event and the stable release of Flutter, one of the primary ways to create Fuchsia apps, Google is one step closer to possibly unveiling their in-development operating system. Another unexpected step is coming, in the form of the official Android Emulator from Android Studio gaining the ability to boot Fuchsia’s Zircon kernel.
Today marks the debut of Flutter Live, Google’s first ever major standalone event for their Flutter app development SDK. In a surprise announcement at the end of the keynote, the Flutter team unveiled the work-in-progress Hummingbird project as a way to bring Flutter apps to the web at large.
For years, Google has been working on a cross-platform app development SDK for Android and iOS called Flutter. Since entering beta early this year at Mobile World Congress, Flutter has seen incredible growth. Today, at its first ever major standalone event, Flutter Live, the SDK leaves beta with the release of Flutter version 1.0.
Flutter Live is taking place today, marking the first major standalone event for Google’s new cross-platform app development SDK. One of the big announcements made today is the availability of two Square SDKs for Flutter. This allows developers to create cross-platform apps that can easily take payments both with and without the Square Reader.
Google’s Flutter app development software has grown from its early beginnings to be an extremely powerful kit for developers. After being highlighted at both Mobile World Congress and Google I/O, the company now believes Flutter is ready for its own developer event, Flutter Live. Here’s where to watch the opening keynote for Flutter Live.
Whether you’re using Google Chrome, Opera, or Brave to browse the web, under the hood, it’s all based on Chromium. Chrome’s Blink engine has become more-or-less the de facto way to render the web. Microsoft has long tried to avoid that fact by constantly working on Internet Explorer then Edge, but it seems no more. Microsoft is reportedly embracing Chrome’s dominance with a new replacement browser for Windows 10.
Three more devices from LG have gained ARCore compatibility today, including two extremely limited Signature Edition variants of the company’s V30 and V35 phones.
In this week’s top stories: We ponder whether getting a Pixel phone on launch day is worth your time and money, uncover the inevitable demise of Google Hangouts, and check out an affordable way to get started with Google Fit from Xiaomi.
Things are shaking up again in the ever-quaking world of Google’s endless messaging apps. Yesterday, we reported that Google’s Hangouts messaging service would shut down some time in 2020. While one Googler has refuted that timeline, he’s not denied that what he calls the “classic version of Hangouts” is on the way out, and one step of this process is to open Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat to consumers.
Android TV is slowly making a comeback, and Amazon wants in, despite recent overt competition between the two tech giants. To dip its toes in the water, Amazon is starting by creating an Amazon Music app for Android TV.
Normally in the holiday season, retailers try to lure in shoppers with tempting discounts. This weekend, the Google Store is taking a different tactic by donating a percentage from all orders to an education charity, DonorsChoose.org.
Do you work on a library for use by Android developers, or know someone who does? Google is actively seeking out these developers to get both them and their work registered for personalized updates regarding changes to Android that may affect their product.
Spotify’s library of music, while great, can never truly be complete. There will always be rare tracks, B-Sides, and bootleg versions that aren’t available for streaming. On desktop, Spotify is willing to let you import your local files to mingle with their library of streaming tracks and create playlists using both sources. Soon, the Spotify Android app may let you import tracks directly from your phone.
For years, Intel has provided the power behind the best Chromebooks money can buy. This includes all of Google’s own Chromebooks, ranging from the original CR-48 prototype device to their latest release, the Pixel Slate. Now, evidence has come to light suggesting Chrome OS is skipping Intel’s next generation of processors, Cannon Lake, altogether.
Recently, Google updated their Family Link program with Chromebook support, to help families supervise Chromebook usage. However, this initial Chrome OS version of Family Link did not allow child accounts to use the (initially Pixelbook exclusive) Google Assistant features. This will soon be changing according to a newly discovered code change.
One of the many things that could be improved on by modern devices is battery life. We strive for smaller and smaller phones which leaves less room for the battery. According to a newly uncovered FCC listing, Motorola is taking smartphone development in the opposite direction with its upcoming Moto G7 Power.
T-Mobile, the self-titled “Un-Carrier,” is further separating itself from the competition by getting into the booming world of mobile banking with “T-Mobile Money.” The new service also comes with extra benefits for T-Mobile’s wireless customers.
As we manage to do more and more tasks directly from our smartphones, the need for many traditional brick-and-mortar businesses and services has decreased. This has led to fully digital alternatives, even for things like banks. Today, a Google Pay support page has revealed that T-Mobile is re-launching their digital finance service under the name T-Mobile Money, with day one support for Google’s payment service.
Google Pay is constantly gaining new footholds across the globe, partnering with banks and credit card companies in new countries to bring its mobile payment system to the masses. The latest country to gain Google Pay is Chile.
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the rear view, there’s a decent chance you’ve picked up a Google Pixelbook on sale, either for yourself or a loved one. A premium high-end laptop like the Pixelbook would be well-complemented with some accessories. In this gift guide, we’ve got everything you need to know about the Pixelbook accessories worth buying.
Google’s ARCore software powers some of the richest augmented reality experiences available on both Android and iOS today, and the list of compatible devices is growing every month. The list of phones that can use the software in China is completely separate from the otherwise global list. Now, three Huawei phones were added to ARCore’s list of supported devices in China.