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.
With the Pixel 6a now available in stores, some buyers have noticed that any fingerprint is able to unlock their new phones in a rather worrying security lapse by Google.
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As of late, Google has been working to add more features to Chrome’s New Tab Page, and the latest example is Google Photos integration.
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One of YouTube Music’s best features is access to the YouTube library of fan covers, live performances recorded by concertgoers, and more. YouTube Music is now surfacing these “Other performances” right from Now Playing.
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The Pixel Buds Pro launched earlier this week in four delightful colors, but it should come at no surprise that Google considered many more during the development process. Here are some variants that we believe came closer to launching, but ultimately didn’t.
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In an email to customers this morning, Amazon announced that its “Drive” cloud storage service is shutting down at the end of 2023.
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A bug that started overnight (PT) sees “Google For Education iOS users with an under-18 age settings” (i.e., K-12 and equivalent students) unable to access Gmail or Google Drive though the iOS apps.
Back in June, Google announced that it was merging Duo with Meet in a migration that’s currently underway. As part of that, Google’s first “Meet” app is now called “Meet (original)” with a different icon.
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Google is bringing Gmail’s email template layouts and multi-send capabilities to more Workspace users, just as they did with appointment scheduling in Calendar earlier this year.
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With the Pixel 6a officially launching today, Google has published the Android 12 factory images for customers that have already received the phone.
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In recent years, Android has increasingly offered contextual suggestions throughout the OS. Pixel phones have recently picked up the ability to suggest what chats screenshots should be sent to.
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“Look and Talk” for the Nest Hub Max launched at I/O 2022, and Google has now detailed how exactly the camera-based, “Hey Google” replacement works.
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Google was originally planning to get rid of third-party cookies in its browser by 2022, but that was later pushed back to 2023. That cookies deadline for Chrome is now being delayed to 2024.
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To mark this week’s ninth anniversary of the Chromecast line, Google has announced that the Chromecast with Google TV is finally getting support for watching live video feeds from the newest Nest Cam devices.
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Google is previewing a number of new productivity and personalization features for Chromebooks that will launch over the coming months, including a redesigned movie editor inside Google Photos.
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Google last changed the Play icon in 2016 when Play Movies & TV, Music, and Newsstand were still vibrantly kicking. Over six years later, the Google Play Store is getting a new logo.
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In addition to location sharing notifications, Google Maps is getting more detailed cycling route information and nearly 100 aerial views of iconic landmarks.
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Google is rolling out a handful of new Maps features for the summer, but the highlight is a significant update to location sharing that lets you receive arrival and departure notifications.
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Back in June, YouTube Music rolled out a playlist and album view redesign to tablets, and the former is now starting to appear on Android phones.
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Alphabet today announced Q2 2022 earnings with $69.7 billion in revenue. These numbers range from April to June with the fiscal year is well underway.
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Ahead of the first units shipping for Thursday’s launch, it has emerged that the Google Store is giving the Pixel Buds Pro an extended 30-day return window.
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Back in May, Google updated the UI for Calendar’s working locations to make it less obtrusive, and is now enabling the feature by default for Workspace users.
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Just shy of two weeks since the last major release, Google is rolling out Android 13 Beta 4.1 to Pixel phones with several bug fixes.
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With the Pixel’s June Feature Drop, Google said that At a Glance would soon show Air Quality Index (AQI) alerts, and these readings are starting to roll out.
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At I/O 2022, Google announced that over 20 first-party apps would be optimized for tablets. We’ve already seen a handful of launches since May, and Google Drive, Docs/Sheets/Slides, and Keep are now set to receive updates that improve multitasking on Android tablets.
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