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.
Since last year’s “Get the Message” advertising campaign online and in New York City, awareness of Rich Communication Services (RCS) is growing more mainstream. Google is now making RCS even more consumer-facing by prominently surfacing the name of the standard — a brand, of sorts — in Messages for Android.
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YouTube Music today officially announced its “Create a radio” feature after it widely rolled out earlier this month on Android and iOS.
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I find Google Maps Immersive View to be one of the company’s more curious announcements in the past year. Will this mode become a big way to use Google Maps, or is it closer to Google Earth’s novelty?
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After several iterations, Google looks to be closing in on releasing its first foldable some time this year. A source tells 9to5Google that the Pixel Fold will be quite a heavy device, but will make it up with the largest battery to date in a foldable.
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The 3GPP is responsible for developing mobile broadband standards, with 5G being the recent focus. Standards are made available as “releases,” with the Pixel 7 on the older 3GPP Release 15 compared to other available phones today.
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YouTube Music already lets you customize your current queue by familiarity, genre, mood, energy level, and more directly from the Now Playing screen, and it might soon get the in-depth ability to create a custom radio.
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The Memory and Energy Saver modes that Google announced for Chrome on Mac, Windows, Linux, as well as Chromebooks, in December are now widely rolling out.
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9to5Google has a rebooted newsletter that highlights the biggest Google stories with added commentary and other tidbits. Sign up to get it early in your inbox, or continue reading 9to5Google Log Out below:
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After previewing glanceable directions and rolling out Wear OS 3 AOD support, Google Maps is getting a small tweak to the photo viewer.
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Back in 2020, Google Contacts was added to the side panel found in Gmail to let you quickly view people and recent conversations. You’re now getting the ability to directly edit contacts from the Google Workspace sidebar.
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Back in September, Google announced that Google Tasks would replace Assistant Reminders; this migration will start next month.
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The Fitbit app is set to lose Challenges & Adventures and support for Open Groups on March 27 as the integration with Google continues. Those “legacy” features are said to have limited use and no updates in quite some time.
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In addition to removing two social features from the app, Fitbit is shutting down the web-based Fitbit Studio on April 20.
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An iPhone 12 or 13 on Google Fi is currently limited to 4G LTE data, but that might be changing as the iOS 16.4 beta appears to add support for 5G service.
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Google is rolling out ChromeOS 110 with a number of user-facing tweaks that will be available on Chromebooks over the coming weeks.
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The latest version of the Pixel Watch companion app (1.1.0.506033635), which hit 500,000+ downloads last week, is rolling out, and Google has provided the changelog today.
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In addition to the one we spotted in November, Google Contacts for Android is getting a second homescreen widget that will let you pin favorites.
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Longtime Google employee Susan Wojcicki is leaving her role as the CEO of YouTube, with Neal Mohan taking over.
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At the start of last month, Pixel Watch Fall Detection appeared for some users, but Google has not rolled it out in an official manner. Ahead of the winter launch deadline, here’s a closer look at how it works.
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For the past few weeks, the Pixel Watch has been missing estimated oxygen variation (EOV) data in the Fitbit app, but the graph is now back.
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As part of a broader Material You redesign, the Google app is getting a new shortcut to quickly access “Ads personalization,” which was recently overhauled.
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Last July, Google Calendar introduced an “Only if the sender is known” setting to block invite spam, and the company is now prominently highlighting that option.
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After rolling out big redesigns on Android and iOS last week, the YouTube Music “Top songs” list that appears at the top of artist pages has disappeared.
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Building on Google Assistant voice command support, Microsoft is rolling out an Xbox update that lets you remote control the console with the Google Home app.
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