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.
Since 2010, Google has published Transparency Reports to demonstrate “how the policies and actions of governments and corporations affect privacy, security, and access to information online.” One such report shows the impact the war in Ukraine is having on how people use Google products, including Maps.
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In a big win for Google, its Messages app is the default client for the Galaxy S22 in the US. However, Google’s RCS backend might not be powering your messaging experience and that might result in an extra step during the set-up process.
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Last year, Google Messages in India started automatically categorizing your texts into categories. This auto-group capability is now starting to appear for users in other parts of the world.
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YouTube Music’s subscriber base has been growing over the past year especially among youths. Google wants to keep that pace up by hiring a former Spotify executive to lead YouTube Music in Asia-Pacific (APAC).
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In 2020, Google started to deprioritize its Accelerated Mobile Pages format in favor of general site speed and a “page experience” metric. The biggest news publishers are now planning to move away from the Google-backed AMP format.
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With today’s launch of the Edge+, Motorola shared some thoughts on how smart glasses and phones will coexist in the future.
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Android 12L is scheduled to get its “final release” sometime next month, but it’s already quite a stable beta build. However, Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners that are fully updated cannot install it at the moment. Google, meanwhile, plans to release one more Android 12L build in March.
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Last May, Google announced that each app in the Play Store is getting a “Data safety” section. It serves a dual-purpose for developers and end users alike, but Google Play is now delaying the launch until later this year.
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Following Android, Google Home for iOS is now starting to roll out the ability to remote control your Chromecast with Google TV from your phone. Version 2.48 also makes tweaks to Google Wifi stats and graphs.
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Google released Android 12L Beta 3 two weeks ago and is now asking for feedback in what should be the last survey of this preview cycle.
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Google Workspace Migrate is the result of a 2017 acquisition that hit beta two years later. The tool is now generally available to let admins assess, plan, and conduct migration projects from third-party enterprise services.
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The latest tweak to YouTube Music sees the mobile apps get the new “Add to playlist” UI that was first introduced on the web app. It’s still in testing and not yet widely rolled out.
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Google was originally supposed to start the migration away from classic Hangouts to Chat in October 2019 for Workspace (previously G Suite) users. That switch was delayed, and the multi-stage plan did not start until June 2020. The final phase is now set for late March.
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Following the February security patch, some Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners encountered Wi-Fi issues. Google today confirmed the Pixel 6 problem and said it will be fixed with the upcoming March update.
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“Checks” is the latest project from Google’s Area 120 incubator to help developers of mobile apps “create a safer digital ecosystem by simplifying the path to privacy compliance.”
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Google for Games today announced its 2022 Developer Summit is set for March 15, which is a week before the Game Developers Conference. It covers how to build using the company’s various gaming platforms and cloud tools, as well as advertising.
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Qualcomm’s current flagship chip for wearables pales in comparison to what Samsung offers, but that could soon change. A new report today revealed details about the Snapdragon Wear 5100 and 5100+ that Qualcomm previously telegraphed was coming.
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To date, Google’s dark themes have been more gray than the pitch/AMOLED black preferred by some. Google is now testing a completely black dark theme for Search on desktop web.
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Messages picked up a navigation drawer redesign and Google Photos integration at the start of this month, but it has yet to become widely available even on the beta channel. Users that have it noticed today that image upload capability has disappeared.
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Google is a big proponent of the open AV1 video codec, especially on the YouTube and streaming device front. On Android, Qualcomm is a notable holdout and has so far not supported AV1 on its Snapdragon chips, but that might be changing this year.
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With the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, Google introduced a “Grammar check” capability in Gboard that “works entirely on-device to preserve privacy, detecting and suggesting corrections for grammatical errors while the user is typing.” It’s now appearing on other Pixel phones.
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Dynamic Color is the defining aspect of Google’s new Material You design language. It will be widely adopted on Android, and Google is also open sourcing the Material Color Utilities code library behind the wallpaper-driven dynamic theming for other platforms.
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Google this morning released a new version of the February security patch for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
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After widely rolling out iOS-style install indicators on the homescreen, Google now specifies what version of “Android OS” is required to install an app on the Play Store.
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