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.
Like in previous years, Made by Google is providing a “sneak peek” of holiday deals. The Google Store’s 2021 Black Friday sale will start a week before Thanksgiving, and the highlight is $50 off the Pixel 5a with 5G.
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It was established in Avengers: Endgame that Hawkeye, a.k.a. Clint Barton, has a Pixel 3. As revealed in the trailer last month, that usage continues in Hawkeye, with the Disney+ show seeing the main characters use a Google Pixel.
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Google, in partnership with American Express, is marking Small Business Saturday this weekend with “shoppable murals” in four US cities that promote both local shops and Google Lens.
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To the left of most Android homescreens is a feed that “actively tunes itself to a user’s interests and displays content that aligns with those interests.” This is Google Discover and something that people have many varying opinions about that are rooted in what it replaced: Google Now.
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NBC is giving away six free months of Peacock Premium to new owners of Android and Google TV devices in a long-running offer that will be available all of next year.
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While not explicitly a Black Friday deal on the level of the Google Store or Fi, YouTube TV is offering a slew of add-on discounts at $.99 per month for the first two billing periods.
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As teased with the launch of Android 12 last month, Gmail is rolling out a new Material You widget that’s quite powerful.
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With the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, Now Playing gained a manual lookup capability that appears as a search button on the homescreen. The next Pixel update to Now Playing will introduce the ability to favorite songs and a bottom bar redesign.
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In late 2018, Google stopped monthly reporting on the adoption of various Android releases, but the company sparingly provides updated figures in Android Studio. Distribution numbers for 2021 today have Android 11 – instead of 12 – as the latest version.
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Qualcomm is set to announce its next chip that will power the flagship devices of 2022 in two weeks. Ahead of that, Qualcomm announced a rebrand of “Snapdragon” that includes a new naming scheme and visual system.
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The Google Store kicked off its Black Friday sales uncharacteristically early this year, and Fi is now following with a $349 Pixel 5a deal.
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With the Pixel 6, Google announced a big upgrade for At a Glance that it’s been teasing since the Material You reel shared at I/O in May. At a Glance is now set to get even more features that justify the new design that spans the entire width of the Pixel Launcher.
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While the latest Google app beta introduced some nice updates to the Weather widgets, it also hampered At a Glance in the Pixel Launcher. Namely, it launches the original Google Weather experience instead of the redesign.
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Google this afternoon alerted Chromium developers about the possibility that they were exposed to malware used for testing due to an internal “oversight.”
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The “Sleep Score” is one of Fitbit’s most alluring metrics that people like to compare and improve on. Fitbit is now testing “Sleep Animals” as a friendly but surprisingly smart way to encourage “better sleep health.”
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Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory detailed a project to build “Everyday Robots” two years ago. Today it gave an update on how it has progressed towards building autonomous machines and real-world office testing.
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Google is making a change to Chrome settings that lets users more easily delete the data stored by sites. At the same time, the Google browser is moving the ability to delete individual cookies into DevTools.
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Last year, Google announced that Search’s Top Stories carousel will no longer require a website to adopt Accelerated Mobile Pages in order to appear. The move away from AMP continues as Twitter for Android and iOS now just open the regular version of mobile webpages.
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With a new initiative, Google is working to “expand the information about food banks and pantries in Google Search and Maps” heading into the holidays and as challenges are “compounded by the COVID-19 crisis.”
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With the launch of the Pixel 6, Google only had phone cases and the 30W charger available as day one accessories. You can now pre-order the Pixel Stand (2nd gen) with delivery scheduled for mid-December.
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At the start of this month, testing revealed that the Pixel 6 Pro’s peak power draw was not that of the 30W charger that Google sold. The company has now gone ahead and detailed “how charging works on Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.”
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One way of making the endless torrent of personal and work video calls more palatable is by setting unique backgrounds. Google Meet on the web is introducing new “immersive backgrounds” that attempt to give your surroundings some life.
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Compared to Meta, Microsoft, Niantic, and a slew of other metaverse announcements, Google has been very quiet about its augmented reality plans in general. In a recent interview, Sundar Pichai gave his thoughts on the metaverse, but positioned Google’s future as a continuation of the core Search mission.
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An update with the November security patch arrived for the majority of Pixel 6 and 6 Pro owners at the end of October. Google is now releasing updated builds for both phones, with global and Verizon variants.
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