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.
With the Platform Stability milestone in today’s release, Android 12 nears a public launch. Over the coming hours, we will dive into Android 12 Beta 4 to chronicle all the new features.
Expand Expanding Close
This year’s Android preview cycle sees two additional releases before wider consumer availability with the public launch. Android 12 Beta 4 is rolling out today for Pixel phones with “Platform Stability.”
Expand Expanding Close
Smart Displays are very useful for checking the weather at a glance and Google is now showing air quality index (AQI) on the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max directly in the Photo Frame/”Ambient screen.”
Expand Expanding Close
Ahead of the new school year, Assistant is gaining a handful of features to help families organize their day. Assistant’s popular Family Bell sees a pair of phone and visual updates, while Google Search is also adding study aids.
Expand Expanding Close
The Google Fi store is primarily filled with Samsung devices, and the latest one to be added is the Galaxy Z Flip 3. This reflects how foldables are becoming less niche, though the Fold 3 is absent and likely still too expensive.
Expand Expanding Close
Amid the flurry of other wearable announcements, Google today informed third-party developers that they can start releasing Tiles for their Wear OS apps.
Expand Expanding Close
Tomorrow will hopefully mark the beginning of the Apple Watch getting a serious competitor in the form of Samsung hardware running Google software. The wearable space is in serious need of competition, but it’s unfortunate how the two competing efforts are fundamentally the same. That similarity has deep ramifications for how we will experience technology for the foreseeable future.
Expand Expanding Close
With the launch of the Nest Cam line and Doorbell, Google is requiring the Home app and bringing over a slew of legacy features from the old companion client. Google Home 2.42 adds support for the new security cameras, and reveals works on two other efforts.
Expand Expanding Close
Over the weekend, the new Google Assistant on Pixel phone started losing its original translucent UI. The design that replaced it is now appearing on other (non-NGA) Android devices with minor tweaks – a shorter panel – and greater emphasis on Lens.
Expand Expanding Close
As of last month, YouTube Shorts is available in over 100 countries as Google’s TikTok and short-form viral video competitor. The company now wants to ramp up Shorts awareness with a global ad campaign “introducing the shorter side of YouTube.”
Expand Expanding Close
Google is debuting “Cursive” on the HP Chromebook x2 11 that gives Chrome OS a dedicated app for handwritten notes. It lets users — of stylus devices — create, edit, and organize their thoughts.
Expand Expanding Close
The HP Chromebook x2 11 is shaping up to be the next flagship Chrome OS device. Unveiled today alongside the HP Chromebook AiO, it’s officially a “detachable” (aka convertible) that’s in the mold of the Lenovo Duet and Asus CM3, but everything about it is significantly more premium.
Expand Expanding Close
Besides the Chromebook x2 11 convertible, HP today announced a surprising Chromebase All-In-One (AiO) Desktop that’s pitched as a family computer with a rather unique physical design and display.
Expand Expanding Close
Android 12 brings with it a big overhaul to notifications and Quick Settings. Many parts of the redesign launched with Android 12 Beta 1, but Google is now rolling out an “Ongoing call” chip for the Phone app.
Expand Expanding Close
Following iOS 14 last fall and Android 12 in the coming weeks, Google has a renewed focus on homescreen widgets, a UI element that it pioneered. One of the first revamped widgets to launch widely is “Your memories” for Google Photos.
Expand Expanding Close
Ahead of the broader Material You redesign, Google is rolling out a small tweak to one particular important and frequently used component in apps. The time picker UI across Google’s Android apps are getting updated to a new, more touch-friendly design.
Expand Expanding Close
Google today announced a new Titan Security Key with USB-C and NFC as part of a refresh to its 2FA hardware lineup.
Expand Expanding Close
Back in June, the Fossil Group said it was releasing a premium “Gen 6” Wear OS watch this fall. Fossil today sent out an email teasing that “Gen 6 is coming” and that it would be “way faster.”
Expand Expanding Close
At the start of 2021, Google opened a new hardware engineering hub in Taiwan that houses Pixel, Nest, and Chromecast teams. Google is now eyeing a so-called “hardware center” in San Jose.
Expand Expanding Close
After officially releasing new backgrounds to mark International Friendship Day last week, Google has released new Pixel wallpapers for August that celebrate Indigenous Peoples and specifically Australia’s nature.Â
Expand Expanding Close
Besides on-device processing for faster commands, a new interface was one hallmark of the new Assistant that first debuted on the Pixel 4. The look very much reflected how Google wanted Assistant to be in the background. That’s now changing, as the new Google Assistant’s original UI is disappearing this weekend.
Expand Expanding Close
With Meet getting Google’s full attention over the past year, Duo has not seen a meaningful update in quite some time. Google Duo is soon receiving a homescreen redesign that adds a “New Call” button that hopes to simplify the app.
Expand Expanding Close
In late 2021, classic Hangouts will stop working for enterprise Workspace customers and only Google Chat will be available. Google is now beginning that process of deprecating the Hangouts app and website for free personal accounts with a warning and sign out.
Expand Expanding Close
Last Saturday, Belarusian officials attempted to force sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya to leave Tokyo. The athlete revealed yesterday that she used Google Translate to reach out to Japanese authorities and avoid the flight from the Olympics.
Expand Expanding Close