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.
We spotted how the Nest Hub is getting deeper Google Fit and Fitbit integration to let you see step count and other activity stats at the start of this month, and you some users can now connect either service to Assistant settings.
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Google announced I/O 2022 with an SVD puzzle revealing the conference dates, and it’s now ending it with Playground, a “sound toy” that lets you “create your own Euclidean rhythms and melodies.”
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In addition to a slew of new developer features at I/O 2022, Google is testing a Play Store tweak on Android that lets users see more information about apps without having to open the full listing.
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A small tweak rolling out to Google Chat brings back the idle status (orange bubble) that was originally found in Google Talk, which was colloquially referred to as Gchat.
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On Wednesday, Google officially confirmed that it was making a Pixel Watch, but the provided preview was light on concrete specifications as availability is still some months away. 9to5Google has now learned that the Pixel Watch is powered by an Exynos chip that originally debuted with the Samsung Galaxy Watch from 2018.
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Since 2019, the main YouTube app has offered to open song videos in YouTube Music, but this integration is now getting much more prominent.
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As we previously spotted, YouTube Music’s ‘Recently Played’ Wear OS tile is now available to let you quickly start listening to a previous album/song on your watch.
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Since Wear OS 3 last year, more developers have released apps for the wearable platform. At I/O 2022, Google teased that Todoist is redesigning its Wear OS app to be more modern.
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For the Android team, “Better Together” has been a persistent theme in announcements at CES and now I/O 2022. Besides cross-device experiences in its own products, Google wants to make it easy for third-party Android developers to build similar Nearby Share experiences in their apps.
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On stage at I/O 2022, Google announced that over 20 of its first-party apps will soon be optimized for large screens. Some were already previewed yesterday, and there’s now a look at how Google Clock and Calculator are being updated for their Android tablet redesigns.
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Like with 12L earlier this year, the Lenovo P12 Pro is now the first tablet to get Android 13 as part of a Developer Preview Program. That device, in its keyboard case, was used on stage by Google at I/O 2022 yesterday to demo large screen devices.
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At Google I/O 2022, Android Auto is getting a split-screen mode that lets you always see navigation and media controls, while this redesign can adapt to any screen size and is particularly ideal for those with older cars that have smaller displays. It comes as Android Auto is now available on over 150 million cars worldwide.
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Google spent a portion of the Android 13 section at I/O 2022 talking about security and privacy, including how there will be a new consolidated settings page for just that.
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Google today previewed its first smartwatch ahead of a fall launch alongside the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. In doing so, Google made note of how the Pixel Watch “requires an Android 8.0 or newer phone,” while foregoing any mention of iPhone support.
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The next Android 13 preview is now available and we’re diving into today’s Beta 2 release to find what new features have been added.
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Google’s platform for mobile augmented reality is available on 1.2 billion Android devices today. At I/O 2022, ARCore is getting foundational improvements to make it work faster and more reliably on the Pixel 6 and in Google Maps Live View.
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With the wider consumer preview starting earlier than usual this year, Android 13 Beta 2 is now here at I/O 2022 just over two weeks after the last update for Pixel phones.
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To close out I/O 2022, Sundar Pichai very surprisingly previewed Google’s upcoming augmented reality efforts for glasses, starting with AR language translation.
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At I/O 2022, Google finally confirmed that it’s making the Pixel Watch. That said, we only got a teaser as it’s not coming until later this year with the Pixel 7.
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To push tablets, Google said at I/O 2022 that it’s going to update many of its first-party apps for large screens. This includes YouTube Music, the Play Store, and Google TV.
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After its previous payments push (which involved modernizing banking and making it mobile-friendly) ended, Google is back with something a bit more straightforward but equally ambitious. Google Wallet will replace the old Google Pay app installed on your phone, and — if the company gets its way — your physical wallet, too.
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Google wants to give you more control over the advertising that appears in Search, the Discover feed, and YouTube with its upcoming “My Ad Center.”
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One of Google’s big payments and privacy announcements at I/O 2022 is a very convenient feature that masks your physical credit card with a virtual one when shopping online with Chrome.
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At I/O 2022, Google is giving a surprising amount of attention to the Assistant Smart Display that it announced three years ago on the very same stage. “Look and Talk” will let you activate Assistant by just gazing at your Nest Hub Max, while Quick Phrases is also coming to give you another way to skip “Hey Google.”
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