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.
While Google One has expanded to offer a VPN, premium Meet features, and more Photos editing tools, extra storage space is still a core part of the subscription service, and the company is now releasing a rather high-profile ad about that.
Expand Expanding Close
A small update to the Google Meet UI will help indicate how much noise cancellation is active and how loud your background environment is.
Expand Expanding Close
The Pixel 6 and 6 Pro introduced a (slightly) more detailed battery graph and Android 13 brings it to older Google phones.
Expand Expanding Close
Following a next-gen Nest Wifi that supports Wi-Fi 6E yesterday, the Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro have now passed through the FCC.
Expand Expanding Close
While Android releases are no longer named after desserts, Google continues to mark each major update with a “number” statue. The Android 13 statue – both the AR version and the real thing – is notable for also doubling as a swing.
Expand Expanding Close
After installing Android 13’s stable release today, beta users might notice that the new unified Pixel Launcher search experience has disappeared.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is rolling out a pair of updates to Meet on the web that improve the accuracy and minimize the performance impact of background effects.
Expand Expanding Close
The stable version of Android 13 starts rolling out to Pixel phones today, and those on the Android Beta Program can unenroll their devices after installing that update.
Expand Expanding Close
To make up for the delay at the start of this month, Google is promptly — factory/OTA images are already available — rolling out Android 13 on Pixel phones, complete with a detailed changelog.
Expand Expanding Close
Besides visual and functional changes, Android 13 also brings the August security patch after a two-week delay that included a stopgap release. If you don’t want to wait, the official OTA and factory images are now available.
Expand Expanding Close
Compared to the massive redesign that arrived last year, Google is focused on refinement and just a few new features for Android 13, which is launching and rolling out today to supported Pixel phones.
Expand Expanding Close
Retail availability of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are coming to a close, and the US Google Store is discounting the latter to $649 while the former is now $499.
Expand Expanding Close
YouTube Music widely rolled out a redesign of its Now Playing screen on Android in June of 2020, brought it to the iPhone over a year later, and this UI is now appearing on the iPad.
Expand Expanding Close
Until the fall, the Pixel 6 Pro is still Google’s flagship phone, but Target (in the US) looks to already be aggressively discounting the device to $270 – if you’re lucky.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is reportedly following Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video in letting users subscribe to other streaming services through a YouTube “channel store.”
Expand Expanding Close
Last August, Google rolled out a handful of Material You flourishes to Gboard for Android, and a few more are now coming to the keyboard, including the shortcuts bar.
Expand Expanding Close
On Tuesday, Google kicked off its “Get The Message” RCS campaign online and will be continuing with digital billboards in NYC going after Apple.
Expand Expanding Close
In a small tweak, Google Photos is renaming the “Archive” ability that lets you hide images and videos from the main feed to be much more obvious.
Expand Expanding Close
At the start of this month, Google updated the Android distribution numbers to reveal that Android 12 is running on 13.3% of devices.
Expand Expanding Close
Earlier this year, Google revamped the two primary ways people interact with the Home app. The company is now teasing a “next generation design of the Google Home App” and is looking for testers.
Expand Expanding Close
In a sign of the times and following other tech companies, CEO Sundar Pichai told employees today that Google is “slowing the pace of hiring for the rest of the year.”
Expand Expanding Close
Back in June, it emerged that Google wanted to exempt political campaign emails in the United States from Gmail’s spam filter. This spurred a lot of backlash, but the company is proceeding with the pilot program after receiving approval today from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Expand Expanding Close
Following the Charge 5 and Luxe trackers last month, Fitbit is rolling out an update to the Sense and Versa 3 smartwatch.
Expand Expanding Close
Google might be bringing back an old At a Glance capability on Pixel phones that shows “Commute” times.
Expand Expanding Close