The latest first-party app to get an Android tablet-optimized redesign is Google Clock with version 7.2 today. This follows Google Lens and Calculator, which widely rolled out earlier this week.

As planned, YouTube TV is now expanding availability of 5.1 surround sound to Android and Google TV, as well as Roku devices.

YouTube Music was one of the Android apps that Google said would get tablet optimizations at I/O 2022, and the redesigned playlist interface is now live. 

Google is continuing its work to speed up Chrome with version 99 released last week. The company touts a handful of speed improvements, including with the Speedometer benchmark, on both Chrome for Mac and Android.

Given the very large user base, Google is often hesitant to make major changes to Chrome. The Android browser has been experimenting with different New Tab Page designs, and the latest sees Chrome adopt a carousel to show your recently visited sites.

Continuing the trend of new and redesigned apps for Wear OS 3 in the past year, Google has released Contacts to the Play Store with a revamped look.

Back in September of 2020, Google’s internal Area 120 incubator introduced Orion Wifi to let public venues sell Wi-Fi capacity to cellular carriers. Google Fi is now using this approach to expand coverage and calling it the “W+ network.”

In addition to Gboard updates today, Google is updating two of its accessibility apps. Android’s Sound Amplifier gets a redesign and accuracy improvements, while Lookout now offers a new mode for analyzing images.

Beyond a dark theme in September, Assistant reminders are rarely updated and Google is now getting rid of the ability to “set reminders at locations.”

As teased by Sundar Pichai in April, the YouTube app on your phone will soon serve as a connected, second-screen experience for videos playing on your TV.

In August of 2020, 9to5Google reported that Google was planning to replace Duo with Meet. This development was finally made official today – and will see the app that the vast majority of Android users have installed on their devices get renamed to Google Meet later this year.

Following Lens last week, Google Calculator is the next first-party application to be updated for tablets and other large screen Android devices.

More than other streaming services, YouTube Music is defined by its algorithmic suggestions on what to listen to next. This feature is great in the Up Next queue but downright annoying in the Home feed. YouTube Music constantly juggles the order, if not the outright appearance, of carousels from one refresh to the next.

At the start of this year, YouTube Music updated its Home feed for tablets and promised that more UI optimizations are coming, especially for playlists. One smaller change sees YouTube Music offer an improved settings layout on Android.

Google traditionally marks Memorial Day in the US with a flag on its homepage and gray version of the company logo.

Later this year, YouTube Go will shut down after being deemed no longer necessary. In a possible sign of things to come, Google’s “Gallery Go” app this week lost its “Go” branding.

Google is rolling out Chrome OS 102 starting today with a handful of notable changes. This new version will be fully available over the coming weeks.

The University of Oregon’s Center for Digital Mental Health is launching a new digital wellbeing study that collects data using “passive and continuous sensing technology” on your Android and Fitbit via the Google Health Studies app. 

In addition to the web redesign becoming more widely available, Google Play is rolling out a rather granular “Compatibility for your active devices” section for app listings on Android.

As first tested in November, Google is rolling out a big redesign of the web Play Store that brings it inline with other services after many years of the same user interface.