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.
Google plans to update many of its smart home devices with the Matter standard in the near future. Ahead of that support, the Nest Hub Max is going to lose its ability to be used as a range extender or bridge.
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Google officially announced that At a Glance on Pixel phones would be getting Nest Doorbell integration at the start of this month and it’s now widely rolling out.
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YouTube Music finally began offering an extensive year-in-review summary at the end of 2021, and now looks to be rolling out Spring Recap ’22.
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Somewhat amusingly, Google Store Williamsburg is the announcement from I/O 2022 by the hardware division that is launching — so to speak — first, and here’s a virtual tour of it.
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For quite some time, the Google Weather app could only be found on Android phones, but it’s now coming to tablets.
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Google launched its Android, iOS, and web note-taking app in March of 2013. Now, over nine years later, Google Keep is about to add text formatting that will let you bold, italicize, and underline text.
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The Google Workspace Marketplace is a directory of third-party applications that integrate with Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs/Sheets/Slides, and Forms. Its “Recommended for Google Workspace” apps program is a “distinct way for third-party developers to better reach” customers and the 2022 edition is out today.
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At the end of June 2021, Google Pay gained the ability to save and display COVID-19 vaccination cards on Android. More countries and states are letting people add this “COVID Card” to their Android phones.
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Back in March, Google announced a spate of new features for the Messages app on Android. Most of those capabilities have rolled out since then, but there’s still a subset of Messages users that don’t have Google Photos video uploading.
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One of the ways Google demoed Soli Motion Sense on the Pixel 4 was through an interactive Pokémon app. After nearly three years, Google has removed Pokémon Wave Hello from the Play Store.
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On desktops, emails are a big way people interact with Google Calendar invites and they are now getting a layout redesign focused on making them “more accessible and useful.”
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All of Google’s major consumer platforms, like Android and ChromeOS, allow for third-party developers. In the case of Assistant, Google is making a change to focus on Android and will essentially no longer allow third-party voice experiences – including apps and games with visual interactions – on Smart Displays or speakers.
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Over the weekend, a Google engineer on its Responsible AI team made the claim that the company’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) conversation technology is “sentient.” Experts in the field, as well as Google, disagree with that assessment.
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In what was only a matter of time, somebody looks to have bought a Pixel 6a from the party in Malaysia that was selling the midrange phone before the July 28 launch and has done a full hands-on.
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Google’s list of YouTube Music features launched in April and May is now available. We’ve already covered the major changes, but there are several smaller YouTube Music tweaks to the radio and shuffle.
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Update 6/13: According to a Google spokesperson, YouTube is not running any such offer like the one described in the screenshot, which the company cannot confirm the origins of.
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Announced on Monday as part of the June Feature Drop, the Pixel’s At a Glance widget now offers a very convenient Flashlight reminder and control.
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With the Pixel Watch official, we now have a much clearer picture of Fitbit’s future. At the same time, it’s clear that Google Fit will remain, while we’ve found that the service is set to receive a new logo.
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On Wednesday, the launch of Android 13’s third beta was somewhat rough and delayed by an hour or two. Google is now rolling out Android 13 Beta 3.1 for Pixel owners to address one particular issue.
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Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. is rolling out a new share prompt UI on the web that the company touts as being “simpler.”
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The latest updates to YouTube Music sees the web client tweak carousels and how you navigate them, while the service is trying a “Forgotten favorites” shelf to highlight your past listens.
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We spotted in Android 13 Beta 3 how the Pixel Battery widget can be resized into smaller sizes, but you don’t have to wait for a new operating system to benefit. A Settings Services update is rolling out on Android 12 along with a partial Wear OS appearance.
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After three months of beta testing, Android 12 QPR3 hit stable on Monday and is now more widely rolling out to Pixel phones. That said, one small bug with Android 12 QPR3 sees widgets often reload when you return to the homescreen following a rotation change.
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Following last night’s leak that Meta has canceled its first smartwatch, The Information reports that Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is delaying a 2024 launch of AR glasses, while Portal is going business first.
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