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’s long-term goal for its hardware is having technology that’s always available in the background to help. The latest work towards Ambient Computing from Google is about “hidden interfaces” where the display is invisible unless being used. This is similar to the 2020 Nest Thermostat with its mirror-finish screen.
Expand Expanding Close
In addition to offering user-facing apps, Google Workspace gives companies the ability to manage their employees’ devices. Google Workspace admins now have more control over Android app updates on work devices that use managed Google Play.
Expand Expanding Close
Following last week’s spotlight and initial discount, the Google Store is running a number of Nest smart home deals for Earth Day.
Expand Expanding Close
After widget tweaks last year, Google Fi has now redesigned its Android app with Material You. It’s a straightforward modernization as the company is nearly finished visually revamping its biggest apps.
Expand Expanding Close
Google’s annual Webspam Report is here to highlight progress in keeping “spam and malicious content away from Search” over the course of 2021.
Expand Expanding Close
Following regulatory fines this year, Google has announced new consent choice banners for cookies in Europe that most notably feature a “Reject all” button.
Expand Expanding Close
In addition to introducing a new logo last year, Google Fonts added support for open source icons. Google’s Material Symbols are now available leveraging variable font technology.
Expand Expanding Close
For the most part, smartwatches have overtaken band-style wearables that feature screens. Fitbit is the notable holdout, while Garmin today released the Vivosmart 5.
Expand Expanding Close
Just over four weeks ago, Google announced that Photos for Android and iOS would get pretty significant updates to two core parts of the app. That Google Photos redesign of the Library tab has now been delayed.
Expand Expanding Close
Google Assistant for the Galaxy Watch 4 should be coming, or at least supported, with the next Samsung system update.
Expand Expanding Close
Last year, Google started prominently showing air quality (AQI) data to Nest Hub and other Smart Display users. You can now also search for air quality on Google to get detailed information.
Expand Expanding Close
For the past several years, Google has been making a big push to get developers to optimize their apps for large screens, including Chrome OS. The latest example sees Evernote update its Android app for Chromebooks.
Expand Expanding Close
At the end of last month, Google started requiring Android apps distributed via the Play Store to use its payment service rather than letting developers continue to collect billing details directly. To follow those latest guidelines, YouTube Premium and YouTube TV now use Google Play Billing.
Expand Expanding Close
YouTube Music has long been able to automatically download songs “based on your previous listening history” so that you always have a fresh collection of things to listen to when offline. A small YouTube Music tweak sees smart downloads get a new sparkle icon.
Expand Expanding Close
The first near-final image of the Pixel Watch leaked today, and it provides our first look at what should be the final design of Google’s upcoming wearable.
Expand Expanding Close
Over the past few years, Google has worked to clean up, boost privacy, and increase security on the Chrome Web Store. The latest effort introduces badges in the Chrome Web Store to better highlight high-quality extensions.
Expand Expanding Close
The security industry, as organized by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, has been working to replace passwords given people’s tendency to use weak ones or reuse them. Two-factor authentication (2FA) has helped to remedy that but the future is “passkeys,” with Android and Google readying support.
Expand Expanding Close
Almost two years after the last revamp, the Google Store is getting a redesign that simplifies navigation and lays the groundwork for future products, most notably the Pixel Watch.
Expand Expanding Close
While Google Chat does a great deal to modernize Hangouts, some similarities do remain. One of the more fun overlaps is easter eggs — appropriately — with all of the classic slash commands continuing to work in Google Chat.
Expand Expanding Close
The latest Google One perk is a free Titan Security Key that lets you enable two-factor authentication (a.k.a. 2-Step Verification) on your online accounts.
Expand Expanding Close
Google started rolling out Nearby Share in August of 2020 to Android devices as part of Play services. The native OS integration somewhat eclipsed a key aspect of the Files by Google, but Share is now prominently being highlighted again on Pixel devices.
Expand Expanding Close
Back in October, Google Pixel became the “Official Fan Phone” of the NBA as part of a multi-year partnership. Ahead of the NBA Playoffs, Google this morning announced the “Pixel Arena” as an elaborate virtual game.
Expand Expanding Close
For the privacy-conscious, the Camera and Mic access toggles that Google introduced with Android 12 can provide peace of mind, and are generally more convenient than disabling those permissions outright for an app. By design, they’re quite strict and can be overly so, with there being upsides to future versions of Android introducing more granularity.
Expand Expanding Close
Branding is always remarkably revealing. When you open Gmail, the splash screen shows that it’s part of “Google Workspace.” That brand was introduced in 2020 and compared to G Suite makes very clear that Gmail, Meet, Chat, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Keep, and Voice help you be productive. People obviously utilize Gmail for work, but many more are using it in their personal lives, and that use case, as of late, has been somewhat ignored by Google. One way to address that lack of new innovation can be found in Gmail’s past: Inbox.
Expand Expanding Close