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.
There was a genericness to the first wave of AI features in Google products. Absolutely everyone was doing straightforward text and image generation, and that contributed to the tacked-on nature. Fortunately, we’ve moved past that and Gemini integrations are starting to feel highly unique and play to Google’s strengths.
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NotebookLM is adding Video Overviews support and the ability to customize Infographics to the Android and iOS apps.
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Genie 3 is a “general-purpose world model capable of generating diverse, interactive environments.” Google is now letting AI Ultra subscribers in the US access it with Project Genie.
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Gemini today is rolling out a “major upgrade” to the Google Calendar “tool” that allows you to manage shared and secondary calendars.
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After debuting for driving directions in November, Gemini in Google Maps navigation is now officially available when walking and cycling.
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Google Fiber (which is increasingly going by “GFiber” these days) is upgrading its service to start at 3 Gig as part of its multi-gig future, beginning in Des Moines.
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For a small number of users, the Pixel Phone app’s “Take a Message” feature inadvertently sent audio to the caller. Google has now confirmed the issue and is disabling it on the Pixel 4 and 5 series.
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Alongside auto browse, Google today announced a number of additional updates to Gemini in Chrome, including the new side panel.
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Google today announced “Chrome auto browse” as a “powerful agentic experience that handles multi-step chores on your behalf.”
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Google brought AI Plus to the US yesterday, and here’s how it upgrades usage limits in the Gemini app.
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A post on the Android Developers Blog today highlights the “new” embedded photo picker and its use in Google Messages.
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A Google bug report on the Chromium Issue Tracker today has inadvertently leaked the Android desktop interface for the first time.
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Agentic Vision is a new capability for the Gemini 3 Flash model to make image-related tasks more accurate by “grounding answers in visual evidence.”
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After introducing the plan internationally in September, Google is bringing its AI Plus subscription to 35 new countries, including the US.
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Google today detailed the latest device theft protection features for Android across stronger authentication and enhanced recovery tools.
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Google is rolling out two notable updates to AI Overviews in Search, starting with Gemini 3.
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We have a great community of commenters at 9to5Google. The team appreciates everyone who takes the time to read and further the discussion. To build upon that, we’re introducing 9to5Google Forums.
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The monthly “Google System Release Notes” primarily detail what’s new in Play services, Play Store, and Play system update across Android phones/tablets, Wear OS, Google/Android TV, Auto, and PC. Some features apply to end users, while others are aimed at developers.
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The Android 17 leaks continue today with a preview of the upcoming blur effect for System UI, as well as functional changes and updates.
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Google today also announced a “new Google Photos picker in Gmail” for iOS.
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After last year’s introduction, “Photo to video” generation in Google Photos is getting two notable upgrades today.
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The web app launcher available in the vast majority of Google apps online is getting a redesign with Material 3 Expressive. It follows the last Material You update in 2023.
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The YouTube Music queue will now sync between your signed-in devices to let you seamlessly continue listening.
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Google is following last year’s Material 3 Expressive redesign on phones by introducing significantly more blur across Android 17.
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