The experience of Casting YouTube to a Chromecast-connected TV has remained mostly unchanged for the past several years. Google now looks to be making a pseudo-YouTube app for Chromecast that takes after the Android TV version.
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Last week, Google announced “Smart Canvas” as a set of features to boost the interconnectedness of Docs and other Workspace apps. Google Docs is now getting a low-hanging capability to “position an image in front of or behind text.”
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While I/O 2021 is over, Google today released a pair of interesting talks about “Getting your app ready for Google TV” focused on integrations. One highlight was a comparison between Android and Google TV.
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Google’s $1 billion licensing program to support publishers and surface new card-based content is now coming to the desktop web. News Showcase will be available on the Google News website after previously being limited to Android and iOS.
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Back in 2018, YouTube TV became the official live television and video partner of LAFC in a deal that saw Google’s cord-cutting service becoming how you watch the Los Angeles soccer team. That initial three-year deal is over, and the channel is now going away.
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Kicked off by I/O 2021, Google has been making a big privacy and security push this week. The Google My Activity page is now adding extra password verification before it shows all your account usage and interactions.
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After the Now Playing screen got updated earlier this year, the rest of the Google Podcasts is getting a revamp. The changes aren’t major, but there are a number of great usability upgrades for longtime users.
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Designed specifically for low-end hardware as an alternative gallery app, Gallery Go leverages some of the best Google Photos, and it’s proving popular, having surged to the 100 million download milestone over on the Play Store.
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At I/O 2021 on Tuesday, Google spent part of the keynote talking about privacy and security. It’s following that up with a prominent “We protect your privacy” message in Gmail and Google Photos.
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Web browsers used to feature feed aggregators, but those built-in capabilities have since been phased out. Google is now looking to reverse the trend with Chrome trialing a “Follow” feature that more or less brings an RSS reader to the New Tab page.
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From AR navigation to business messaging and reviews, Google Maps is a big platform. The latest update today is focused on improving the visual quality of the default Google Maps layer — especially for nature — and adding more street detail.
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Google at I/O 2021 touted that it’s the only mapping platform with AR navigation. Building on that lead, Google Live View can soon be accessed without needing to get directions and just be used to explore the world with augmented reality.
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With Duplex, Google wants to handle tedious, multi-step tasks on your behalf. The most famous example is making a phone reservation, but the Assistant-adjacent technology is also used for walking through online forms. Google Assistant and Duplex can now help you change stolen passwords step-by-step in Chrome.
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In unveiling “Smart canvas” at I/O 2021, Google called it the “next big step” in the future of work. The goal is to create a more integrated and interactive Workspace experience, especially in Google Docs.
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Last year, Google announced a $1 billion licensing program to support publishers and surface new card-based content across services. Google News Showcase is now coming to India.
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Over the past year, Google has leveraged its large platforms to display useful, pandemic-related information. The latest is a simple encouragement in Google Maps about finding COVID-19 vaccines near you.
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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 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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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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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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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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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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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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