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.
Back in October, the main YouTube rolled out a slew of mobile updates like stable volume and a hum to search capability. Song search is now rolling out to YouTube Music.
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Welcome to the second episode of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. We talk all about Wear OS this week — its recent past, pretty good present, and promising future.
As a platform and ecosystem, Wear OS is in a good place right now. That wasn’t the case three years ago before the Samsung partnership. Wear OS 3 reinvigorated the operating system with the Galaxy Watch 4 serving as the flagship device until the Pixel Watch over a year later. The next hardware milestone was the Snapdragon W5 in mid-2022 giving manufacturers a more capable chip to work with. Also, keep in mind how Google and Qualcomm are working on a RISC-V chip for Wear OS.
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Back in November, Google Photos introduced better document sorting and another update to the capability adds labels to screenshots, notes, etc., as well as a manual categorization option.
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The battery-adjacent tweaks in Android 14 QPR2 continues with Pixel devices redesigning App battery usage in Settings.
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When Google announced Android 14 QPR2 with the March Feature Drop last week, the US rollout was set to begin on March 11. This started happening for some users today.
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In mid-2020, Google introduced an Area 120 project called Keen that was a take on Pinterest but with ML recommendations. It’s now shutting down this month.
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Following the “Break the loop” puzzle this morning, Google has announced that I/O 2024 is taking place Tuesday, May 14 at 10 a.m. PT.
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Google Messages is rolling out its own camera UI that replaces your phone’s default viewfinder.
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The road to Google I/O 2024 is underway this morning with a puzzle to figure out the date for the developer conference.
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For those that want the most secure tier of Google Safe Browsing, Chrome offers “Enhanced protection.” The “Standard protection” in place for all other Chrome Safe Browsing users is now getting a real-time upgrade.
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Like the main service, YouTube TV is also rolling out a redesign of its video player on televisions to offer live scores and other sports information.
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In one of its deeper discounts, Google Fi is effectively offering the Pixel 8 Pro for $199 after monthly bill credits.
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Google Home for web is entering general availability and adding camera history, while the custom clips feature is similarly exiting preview.
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After months of testing via the “Tour” program, Waymo One is launching to “select members of the public in Los Angeles” from March 14 onwards.
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To date, YouTube on televisions has been a leanback experience focused on displaying fullscreen content. An upcoming redesign of YouTube video player for TVs adds more interactivity.
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Google Calendar for Android is rolling out a small tweak to how you create an event or task.
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Following Photomoji, animated emoji, and some Screen Effects, Reaction Effects are seeing wide availability in Google Messages for Android.
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The Google app on Android handles a lot of common information requests throughout your day, and I’m not just talking about Assistant, Lens, or Gemini.
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The latest episode of the Made by Google Podcast (S5 E2) goes into the sound (and haptics) design on Pixel devices.
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Google is at the Games Develop Summit (GDC) this week and has a number of Android-related announcements, including progress about Play Pass and Play Points.
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Google Search can generate a slew of alerts related to your interests, and the website on Android, as well as iOS, is now adding a notifications feed.
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Google is testing an interesting use of Picture-in-Picture (PiP) on Android that lets you minimize Chrome Custom Tabs.
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Google’s assimilation of Fitbit continues with the Google Store now selling Fitbit accessories. This is live in the US, Canada, and Asian-Pacific markets today.
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