Google has increasingly made Search a resource for students and others wanting to learn about various topics. The latest additions see Google Search surface practice problems, while expanding other capabilities.
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In addition to a web revamp, Google Chat is rolling out more notification settings over the coming weeks. These new options are “based on your level of engagement or involvement in specific conversations.”
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While Google Drive does offer a GUI lookup interface, power users often take advantage of search operators to save time. A change is in the process of rolling out to “make finding shared files easier.”
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Google Lens has long been part of Google Photos to help you visually search images. On Android, Google Lens is now a more prominent part of Photos by identifying what pictures would benefit from the analysis and search tool.
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After we first spotted in August, Gboard is now rolling out an “enhanced voice typing” experience that features the new Google Assistant found on the latest Pixel phones.
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Since it was announced in 2017, Google’s visual search tool has seen two (live) logos. Google Lens is now getting a third logo that better reflects how it’s a camera for looking up things in the real world.
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Since 2019, Google has been rolling out night modes to all of its apps. The last major holdout is Google Maps, but that’s fortunately coming to an end as its dark theme is set to soon launch globally on Android.
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Besides music and relaxing sounds, Google’s Assistant devices are frequently used for podcasts. However, a bug has emerged in the past few days that sees Google Home and Nest speakers play the wrong podcast.
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With the Pixel 4 in 2019, Google introduced the ability to automatically subtitle playing audio and video. After expanding on Android, Live Caption is now coming to Google Chrome and later Chrome OS.
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After a preview in India, YouTube Shorts is rolling out in the US with a beta launch. Alongside the expanded availability, Google is making a number of updates to the short-form platform.
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Last month, Google announced that an upcoming YouTube TV add-on will let you watch available shows in 4K and download them for offline playback, as well as have unlimited concurrent home streams. Ahead of that, YouTube TV is getting a new “Store” on televisions to highlight all the additional channels you can subscribe to.
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At the start of December, the Google Play Music website and mobile apps officially stopped working for all users worldwide. It marked the biggest milestone in the transition to YouTube Music, but there is one last step. Before February 24th, transfer your Play Music library to the replacement YouTube service, or download using Google Takeout.
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The Google Lens app today is geared towards analyzing live images in real-time, but a new gallery view makes it easier to sift through screenshots and other pictures already in your camera roll.
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In announcing that new Viacom channels are available in YouTube TV, Google last year raised the subscription by $15 to $64.99. Following the initial additions last June, YouTube TV is picking up seven more channels.
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Google is adding a small but highly useful feature to the Calendar website that lets you snooze notifications. This was a “top user request” that’s long overdue for the web client.
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The latest update to Google’s Home companion app is rolling out on Android and iOS this morning. Besides Home 2.34 adding support for the 2nd-gen Nest Hub, the Google/Nest Wifi experience gets a big update with network usage graphs.
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Google announced today that it will be reducing the commission it takes from Android developers that distribute paid applications and offer in-app purchases through the Play Store. The service fee on the first $1 million (USD) in revenue every year will be lowered from 30% to 15%.
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With screen usage increasing in the past year due to distance learning and the need for alternative entertainment, Google is updating Family Link with more tools that tell parents “how kids use devices.”
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Google is introducing a “new way to view and manage notifications” related to your Drive files. The hope is that users with this new notifications feed will spend less time switching between Google Drive for Android and an email app.
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The presenter bar in Google Slides is getting redesigned to offer a “less intrusive experience” for presenters and viewers alike. Overall, the new toolbar is more hidden and not as distracting.
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Last year, Google’s video calling app gained an improved desktop layout to help you see everyone in large meetings. The Google Meet tile view is now coming to the mobile apps, starting with iOS.
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Alongside web articles, YouTube videos, and Web Stories, advertising frequently appears in the Google feed available to the left of most Android homescreens. Google Discover is now getting a new ads slideshow format that automatically moves you to the next image.
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Chrome is perennially criticized for its memory usage, and Google has been working to address those complaints in recent browser releases for Mac, Windows, and Android.
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Despite being the dominant streaming platform on the entire internet, YouTube is taking on TikTok directly with its own Shorts videos.
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