Send tips/talk to abner@9to5mac.com or @technacity (open DMs).
Abner Li has worked at 9to5Google since 2015 and in late 2020 took on the role of editor-in-chief. He is keenly focused on tracking what happens at Google, and is often the first to spot new features in Google’s ever-growing family of applications that are updated on a daily basis, including Search, Assistant, Maps, Workspace, Android, Chrome/OS, Wear OS, and YouTube Music.
To him, what Google does greatly impacts the technology space and modern life. Inside the company, he is particularly interested in the key products mentioned above, as well as services like Google Podcasts and Google Lens. Each are massive platforms that can be unwieldy to grasp, with Abner keenly bent on understanding their philosophy and future direction. He is most excited about Google’s plans for augmented reality glasses.
Abner spearheads the APK Insight program at 9to5Google to chronicle all changes in the company’s Android apps, often finding new features before they are officially announced. This includes redesigns and revamps, launches, and new products.
A big area of interest is Google’s hardware division, including Pixel, Fitbit, and Nest. He detailed all of the Pixel 3’s camera features before launch and scooped the 2nd-generation Nest Hub’s Soli-powered Sleep Sensing capability, including how it would integrate with Google Fit.
Recently, Abner detailed the Pixel Watch’s specs in full before launch, including bands and pricing. He also got wind of the Pixel Tablet’s ultimate form factor.
The Pixel Watch being too small has been the key design complaint of the first- and second-generation wearables. According to a source familiar with the matter, Google is planning to address that, with two Pixel Watch 3 sizes in development for this year.
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Google is streamlining how you unsubscribe to unwanted messages in Gmail, while it has separated the report spam and unsubscribe option.
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After widely rolling out the floating bottom bar earlier this week, Google Chat is adding some complexity to that UI in the form of an overflow button and sheet.
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One of Google’s biggest augmented reality investments is Live View. Google Maps is elevating the AR navigation and discovery capability with Google Lens branding.
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At the start of December, Google said Gemini Ultra would launch in early 2024 and be available in “Bard Advanced.” When it launches, Google will position Bard Advanced as providing “complex, better responses.”
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In addition to new progress bars, Material You has redesigned sliders that are thicker and should be easier to interact with.
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Google’s refinement of Material You components continues with an updated design for progress bars.
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While Gmail on foldables has used a navigation rail for several months now, that bottom bar replacement is only now making its way to Android tablets.
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Fitbit is offering a notable 60% discount on its Premium subscription until the end of January.
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Bard is coming to Google Messages to “help you write messages, translate languages, identify images, and explore interests.”
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With the new icon widely rolled out, Google Chat’s homescreen redesign is now making its way to Android.
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So far, Google has made job cuts and reorganizations across hardware, Assistant, ads, core engineering, and YouTube. Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the layoffs are about “removing layers to simplify execution and drive velocity in some areas.”
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Besides “Read aloud” on the Pixel 8 and Android’s underrated “Reading mode” app, Google Chrome is working on a built-in “Listen to this page” TTS capability.
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Google Meet is rolling out a trio of new personalization options including a UI redesign for accessing effects that’s split into three tabs.
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Following the Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Slides, Google Bard is set to get its own image generator.
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Following last week’s layoffs across hardware, Assistant, engineering, and ads, YouTube is cutting around 100 roles as part of a restructuring to Creator management and operations.
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Amidst the flurry of Galaxy S24 announcements, Google also announced a handful of new AI features for Android Auto.
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Google is following “Now on Tap,” “What’s on my screen?” in Assistant, and later “Search screen” with a new “Circle to Search” feature debuting on the Pixel 8 and Samsung Galaxy S24 series.
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AI features are a big part of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and Google’s Gemini models are directly powering many of the new capabilities.
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At the end of November, Google announced several new Messages features in preview. Some of the biggest expressive capabilities are now exiting beta with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series.
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To comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Google is making a number of changes to Android, Chrome, and Search.
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A new Fitbit study is looking at how wearables, including the Pixel Watch, can “help people better understand and improve their metabolic health to stay healthier.”
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During the Pixel 8 event, “Assistant with Bard” was announced for 2024. Before it launches on Android, Google might be dropping the “Assistant” moniker and rebrand to just “Bard.”
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Last week, Apple named some of the third-party apps that will be available for its spatial computing platform. No Google productivity or entertainment services were explicitly mentioned for Vision Pro. For the latter, we got “Disney+, Max, and other services,” while Microsoft 365 and Slack were the big work names.
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