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.
Ahead of I/O 2021 next week, Google has updated Material Design to expand its “adaptive capabilities to help prepare your apps for all form factors,” namely large screens. Most developers today are focused on phones, but the company is specifically looking at tablets and desktops. This takes the form of new guidance and design documents, as well as updated components.
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Back in October, Google made a big push to integrate and let you control Android apps with Assistant. That drive should continue at I/O next week, and ahead of that, there’s a new Google Assistant “Your apps” settings menu.
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In working to expand availability around the world, Google, over the years, has brought Assistant to feature phones. Nokia is now launching the 2720 V Flip phone with Google Assistant in the US on Verizon’s 4G network.
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Elon Musk-founded SpaceX is in the process of rolling out Starlink as a satellite internet provider around the world. As part of a new partnership, Google Cloud data centers will be home to key Starlink infrastructure in order to let enterprise users better access key services.
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Google Search is chock-full of Easter eggs and the latest mimics the bouncing DVD screensaver that later generations most likely know from The Office (as they’ve primarily only ever used streaming devices).
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The latest phone available on Google Fi is the Samsung A32 5G as the MVNO, like all other carriers, continues its 5G adoption push.
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With Jetpack Compose entering beta today, the Android team is encouraging developers to learn about and “get ready to adopt” the modern toolkit for building native UI. To do so, Google is launching a monthlong Android Dev Challenge that includes Jetpack Compose-themed prizes.
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In pushing Meet adoption over the past year, Google made it possible to schedule a video call from nearly all of its main Workspace apps. The company today fully detailed when meeting codes for Google Meet expire.
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Over the past few months, Alphabet’s Google-branded ISP has been rolling out 2 Gigabit Internet in existing cities. Google Fiber now has a new logo for Fiber and Fiber Webpass after previously just using a wordmark.
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Last week, Google announced that Assistant Family Broadcasts from Smart Displays and speakers can now appear on phones. That feature is widely rolled out today along with a renamed “Communication” menu in Google Assistant settings.
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With Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), Google, Apple, Amazon, and many other companies two years ago set out to create a new standard for smart home devices. With the first products set for year’s end, this initiative is now named “Matter” with a mark to certify products.
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Over the next few months, Google Docs will update how it renders documents to improve performance and consistency across different platforms. In Docs migrating to canvas-based rendering and switching away from the current HTML approach, Google is warning of an impact to Chrome extensions.
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YouTube Shorts are aggressively being pushed to compete with TikTok. To drive content creation, Google is setting up a YouTube Shorts Fund to pay those that create the best short-form videos every month.
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As we spotted at the start of this year, Google is now starting to surface recently captured screenshots directly in the Gboard clipboard for convenient pasting.
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At the end of last month, Google’s payments app gained a new tool for saving on groceries and expanded transit usage. The new Google Pay now lets you send money internationally to India and Singapore, with more countries coming by the end of this year.
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Back in March, Google kicked off a “Get back to what you love” Search campaign. The latest iteration of that message to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine comes from Made by Google and was captured by a Nest Hello.
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First introduced with the Pixel 4 in 2019, Car Crash Detection can automatically call 911 if you’re in a vehicle accident. Google is now highlighting that safety feature, along with Live Caption, in a new True Pixel Story video series.
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Last month, Google started showing reviews for Pixel and Nest products on its retail site. The latest addition to the Google Store is a “Help” button that appears on every page and quickly launches a support chat.
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Last month, Google released the first Chrome for iOS update since November. However, that version just focused on delivering bug fixes as the company waited for the next major browser milestone to add new features. Chrome 90 for iPhone and iPad is now rolling out with widgets.
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While I/O is predominantly a developer conference, the kickoff keynote is Google’s biggest opportunity every year to show off new consumer services and products. After skipping a year, Google I/O is back for 2021. Here’s our preview of what we expect the company to show off next Tuesday.
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Over the past few months, Google has released a number of resources to encourage the adoption of Web Stories. The latest is a Google playbook and Figma design kit on how to integrate Web Stories into existing websites.
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Google opened its annual K-12 contest for creating a Doodle that gets featured on the US homepage back in January and accepted submissions until March, following a brief extension. Doodle for Google 2021 voting, with the “I am strong because… ” theme, is now open.
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Saturday Night Live is kicking off the final three episodes of this season with Elon Musk hosting and Miley Cyrus performing. For the first time, SNL will be available as a livestream on YouTube for international audiences wanting to see Elon Musk.
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This week, Google introduced Gboard to Wear OS in one of the first wearable app launches in quite some time. One related benefit of Gboard is a much better keypad for entering your PIN on the Wear OS screen lock.
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