Back in November, Google completely revamped its mobile payments service to be more personal and helpful. The new Google Pay for Android launched in “early access” stateside, but it’s gone stable in recent days.
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The Analytics tool in YouTube Studio is adding new and returning viewer metrics to help creators better “understand different trends in your audience over time.”
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To mark National Read Across America Day, Google Play Books is getting a pair of tools to make the Android and iOS apps more friendly for kids and young readers.
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Following version 88’s release on Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, the next release of Google’s browser is rolling out. Several user-facing enhancements will start rolling out with Chrome 89.
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Google has been working to make Assistant compatible with enterprise G Suite accounts since 2019. It started with a beta, and Google Assistant will now be generally available to all Workspace customers on Android over the coming weeks.
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In October, G Suite became Workspace and last month rolled out to education customers. A new “Workspace Frontline” tier is coming as Google lays out how it wants to help users adapt to the new hybrid working environment.
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Last week, we spotted how the Google Chat website was getting some tweaks and Hangouts-style chat windows. This redesign of Google Chat is now rolled out for free accounts and is interestingly directly part of Gmail.
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Back in August, Google Discover started surfacing “Short videos” to join webpages, regular videos, and later, AMP-based Web Stories. Ahead of the beta coming to the US next month, Google is testing YouTube Shorts and other short-form content in Discover.
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Last year, Gboard introduced clipboard suggestions so that users don’t have to long-press when pasting text. A beta update to Google’s Android keyboard today lets you disable that option.
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Classic Hangouts has long had a “Call Phones” feature, but it’s officially shutting down next month with refunds available now. Google last year announced it was removing the capability ahead of new US and EU telecommunication regulations, as well as the service’s broader deprecation.
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A free version of Google Chat is officially set to arrive in the first half of 2021. As we spotted earlier this month, Google is starting the Hangouts migration with a “preview of the new Chat” for free, personal accounts.
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The YouTube Kids app is geared for young children, but there’s long been demand from parents for a supervised experience dedicated at tweens and teens. What’s essentially YouTube for older kids has just been announced and will be coming soon.
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Commenting in Docs can get especially unwieldy when there are several participants working on a multi-part file. Google Docs is making a pair of changes to the comments experience, starting with a filter.
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A year ago, Google’s Area 120 incubator launched an HTML5 gaming platform to “test whether lightweight, casual games would resonate with people who use the internet via low memory devices on 2G and 3G networks.” Proving popular, these HTML5 games are now being coming to Discover, Assistant, and Chrome for Next Billion Users (NBU).
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Back in 2019, Google introduced an extension that warned about compromised credentials, and it later became a native Chrome feature. Password Checkup is now being integrated into Android’s “Autofill with Google” system when signing into third-party apps.
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Google is optimizing the experience of using voice commands on phones by taking better advantage of the available screen. On Android, Google Assistant voice commands from the lockscreen will feature new glanceable cards.
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Google Weather in Search for Android was last redesigned in 2019, and the desktop experience is now seeing a handful of tweaks that help modernize the old UI.
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Back in 2019, Google made the “Working Hours” feature in Calendar much more prominent to aid Digital Wellbeing efforts. Google Calendar is now adding support for split working hours, as well as creating repeat out of office (OOO) entries.
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For the past two years, it seemed that Google was on track to replace “Voice Search” on Android with Assistant. That might not be the case anymore as a more modern UI for Google Voice Search is now being tested.
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February is Black History Month, and YouTube is marking the occasion in a prominent way. The YouTube logo that appears on the mobile apps and website will be reimagined for BHM by Black artists this month.
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Google wants to make Gmail your new “home for work” by consolidating email, Chat, and Meet into one browser window, as well as mobile app. That said, the company will maintain standalone applications for messaging and video calling, with Google Chat testing a web client redesign.
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Back in September of 2019, Google announced that its browser was adding a convenient way to organize open pages. Tab Groups fully rolled out on desktops a year later, and is now beginning to come to Chrome for Android with a new grid layout.
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The Mandalorian remains a big hit half-way through its sophomore season. Google has partnered with Lucasfilm on a free Android app to bring iconic and realistic moments to life using AR and 5G.
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Following yesterday’s news that HDR and offline downloads are coming as add-ons, YouTube TV announced a new Entertainment Plus bundle today that gives you access to three cable networks for $29.99 with some savings.
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