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.
Following a bigger outage earlier in the week that saw WhatsApp users unable to send or receive messages, the Meta app, along with Facebook and Instagram, are partially down as of Friday afternoon.
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Google today officially confirmed that the “Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are the first Android phones to support only 64-bit apps” and detailed the benefits.
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It’s been just over a week since Google announced new icons for its communications apps on Android. The new Google Messages icon is now available on the web with a rather nice animated splash screen.
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Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is out with a note today that predicts next year’s high-end iPhone 15 (Pro) will switch to solid-state power and volume buttons, and that flagship Android phones are expected to follow.
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Following the main redesign at the start of this week, YouTube is rolling out a very nice change that means Shorts will no longer appear in the same tab as Videos on Channel pages.
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We’ve been waiting for a tablet redesign of Google One since I/O in May, but until then the Android app is getting a new homescreen that lets you see more details about your subscription at a glance.
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Tensor G2 is this week’s topic on the Made by Google Podcast, and the fourth episode provides an overview of the Pixel’s approach to chips, as well as benchmarks.
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The Nest Wifi Pro officially launches today, and Google is giving some Nest Wifi owners a 30% discount to encourage upgrades.
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Google is rolling out an update to the Pixel Camera app a month after the last release, with version 8.6 introducing a handful of Material You tweaks and Speech enhancement for the rear Pixel 6 lens.
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Announced on Monday, YouTube’s new, darker design is actively rolling out. How YouTube is laid out doesn’t fundamentally change, but taken together, these tweaks make for a more drastic upgrade than what was telegraphed earlier in the week.
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Following Cloud Next 2022 earlier this month, Google Meet is getting two more announcements focused on enterprise video calling hardware, including how these dedicated cameras will run Android.
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Following last week’s surprise drop of Android 13 QPR1 Beta 3, Google this morning released the accompanying feedback survey, though there is an oversight.
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While Google apps have generally removed the navigation drawer in recent years, some have brought them back with YouTube for Android and iOS being the latest example of that.
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The biggest third-party apps have yet to introduce support for the Android 13 media player, with Pocket Casts being a significant addition today if you’re on the beta program.
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Over the past day, several Pixel Buds Pro owners have found that “Hey Google” has been disabled and that their Assistant headphones no longer pick up the hands-free hotword.
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During Alphabet’s Q3 2022 earnings, Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat credited the Pixel 6a as being “primarily” responsible for “solid growth in hardware revenues.”
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Alphabet today announced Q3 2022 earnings with $69.1 billion in revenue. These numbers range from July to September with the fiscal year almost coming to a close.
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After launching in Europe this August, Google Workspace Individual is now available in 12 new countries and comes up with much more storage at 1TB.
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At the start of last month, Google announced that Keep was getting a dual-pane view on large-screen devices. We’ve now encountered it on a Chromebook, but an annoying limitation restricts availability on Android foldables and tablets.
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As part of announcing the rebuilt Home app, Google reiterated that the website to view camera feeds was coming “in a few weeks.” “Google Home for web” is now rolling out this week and should be widely available by the next one.
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At the Android Developer Summit 2022, Google shared a “Large Screen Gallery” that provides layout guidance for tablet and foldables apps by category: Social media & communication, Media, Productivity, Shopping, and Reading.
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After rolling out a new icon and previewing several upcoming features last week, Google Messages is now testing new delivered and read status indicators.
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As of late, YouTube on smart/connected TVs has been a big focus area, and the company is letting the community vote on what feature requests the development team should prioritize.
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As teased earlier this month, Android 12L is now rolling out to the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 with more than a few visual inspirations from Windows 11.
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