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.
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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In 2022, Google updated desktop Chrome with a side panel UI that has since grown beyond providing access to your Bookmarks. Chrome is now looking to redesign the side panel, including how you launch it by getting rid of the icon.
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On Wednesday, Google announced big leadership changes that will inevitably see Fitbit move closer to the parent company. One way that’s already manifesting is with a new Fitbit Help Center that’s hosted on Google’s existing support infrastructure.
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With real-time collaboration being the main appeal of Docs, Sheets, and Slides, Google is making it a little bit faster to share documents.
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The best part of Google Podcasts was its simplicity. Google built a service that was fairly basic in terms of layout/navigation and functionality, but the app didn’t feel barebones. It had everything a podcasting client needed and those that wanted something more advanced could easily switch to another application thanks to the openness and portability of RSS.
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Following the reorg news earlier this week, Fitbit today teased a partnership or integration with SoulCycle.
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In 2021, Google allowed gambling and betting Android apps to appear in the Play Store. Google Play will soon support more of these real-money gaming (RMG) apps, which involve users putting in money with the idea of possibly earning/winning more.
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Most of the clocks introduced for the Android 14 lockscreen share the same stacked format but with different fonts. The Pixel’s Weather lockscreen clock is more unique and has added status icons for Do Not Disturb (DND) and alarm with Android 14 QPR2.
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When the At a Glance homescreen widget rolled out in October, we didn’t notice that you could scroll between the various alerts.
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Alongside the 17 feature deprecations, you will soon lose the ability to launch Google Assistant with the microphone icon on Pixel devices.
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Bard is the future of Assistant. Ahead of that happening, Google announced today that Assistant features with low usage will be removed in February.
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Google is reorganizing the Devices & Services teams responsible for Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit hardware. This change was announced to employees today, and Google confirmed the changes in a statement to 9to5Google.
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The first Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2 update of 2024 is rolling out today following the January phone patch last week.
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The Android 14 QPR2 preview is almost over with Beta 3 rolling out today, while the factory/OTA images are available for all Pixel devices
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Google is rolling out Android 14 QPR2 Beta 3 to Pixel phones, Tablet, and Fold today in what should be the final milestone before the stable launch.
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After adding loyalty card support in December, Google Wallet for Wear OS has gained support for showing airline boarding passes.
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After rolling out the new stylus handwriting capabilities last month, Gboard now offers a physical keyboard toolbar on Android tablets. It provides a much better experience for those that use a Bluetooth (or USB) keyboard as Google continues to optimize apps for large-screen devices.
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Back in September, Google introduced updated “Android” branding with a 3D robot mascot. At CES 2024, Google shared that this new Android bugdroid is called “The Bot.”
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CES 2024 is underway and Google has a number of announcements across phones, tablets, TVs, and cars:
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YouTube is now letting audio-first podcasts upload episodes via RSS feed instead of making them manually create a video.
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