While night modes are pervasive on Android and iOS, they are less common on large screen form factors. Google is now A/B testing a dark mode for Search on desktop web.
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Google’s interest-based stories field is to the left of even more Android homescreens following the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 and continued One UI 3.1 rollout. Google Discover is now interestingly testing applying hashtags to every article that appears.
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It’s standard practice for developers to pause app updates over the December holidays and resume in early January. That was the case for Google this year, but the lack of new iOS releases oddly continued for almost the entire month until app updates resumed yesterday and today.
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Today, Google Play announced an upcoming policy change that will allow gambling and betting Android apps in more countries. These applications are currently only available in four stores around the world.
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The two cars that Android Automotive currently powers are both electric. Ahead of Google’s dashboard experience coming to more vehicles, the built-in Google Maps app is improving how you find EV charging stations.
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Following the desktop update last week, Chrome OS 88 is beginning to roll out today. There are a handful of usability enhancements in this release, which will be available over the coming days.
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Since last year, Google has been working on letting you perform translations in its visual search tool without an internet connection. Google Lens is now rolling out offline translate on Android.
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Almost a month into the new year, YouTube Music has yet to see any major changes. There have been a handful of tweaks, and the latest today involves YouTube Music switching to grid views when displaying albums and singles on artist profiles.
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The rise of remote work has also led to an uptick in screen sharing during video calls. One occupational hazard involved with this is having web notifications — often with private information — appear for anyone on the call to read as you present. Chrome is now addressing this by hiding notifications when you’re screen sharing.
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On Friday, Google announced a big redesign of the mobile Search experience. Some of those tweaks, like expanded use of the Google Sans font, are now being tested on the desktop Search results page.
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A handful of Google services today are available as Progressive Web Apps. Following Music and TV, the main YouTube site can now be installed as a PWA for quick dedicated access.
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Back in June, Google thoroughly redesigned Photos with simpler navigation and a long-awaited map view. The revamp was most apparent on phones, but the website also saw some tweaks. Google Photos has now been optimized for Android tablets with an interface that takes better advantage of large screens.
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Lens closed out last year with a Pixel Camera-inspired redesign and more shortcuts in other apps to launch the visual search tool. Google is now testing a new Lens icon that better communicates its functionality.
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As the company’s flagship product, major changes to Google Search take some time to develop and are heavily tested. Google today announced a significant redesign of how Search looks on mobile that is focused on simplicity.
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Chrome Custom Tabs are a widely adopted — with one notable exception — staple on Android that allows third-party apps to use the default Google browser when opening links. With Chrome 88 released earlier this week, Custom Tabs are gaining an experimental share button.
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Google is updating Calendar on the web with basic offline viewing functionality. This joins Gmail, Drive, and Docs/Sheets/Slides, though the new feature is currently only for Google Workspace accounts.
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On the first of this year, Google Cloud Print shut down after 10 years. An associated capability that lets users print a PDF copy of a web page and have that file automatically upload to Google Drive was also supposed to be deprecated. However, the feature is now living on in the ‘Save to Google Drive’ Chrome extension.
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A minor update to YouTube TV for Android today sees Google change the app name to “YT TV.” Additionally, the Android/Google TV app icon has also been ever so slightly tweaked.
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Following version 87’s release on Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, the next release of Google’s browser is rolling out. Chrome 88 kicks off the new year with a flurry of changes.
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One way to boost the adoption of Google Chat is by making it available directly in the email tab that users likely already have open. The Gmail web client now lets you resize the Google Chat and Rooms side widgets.
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When searching, Google lets you categorize web results by Images, News, Shopping, etc. and offers two “Tools.” Google Search’s ability to filter by precise time, specifically setting your own “Custom range,” is currently broken in a rare bug.
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YouTube Music is now Google’s only song streaming service after Play Music was deprecated last year, though transfers are still available. A small tweak sees YouTube Music being prominently advertised on the YouTube.com sidebar.
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Google told Fi subscribers last year that classic Hangouts would no longer support texting or calling in January. A week before the deadline, Google has pushed back that deadline for MVNO subscribers to March.
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The last big update to YouTube on the web saw autoplay controls move inside the video player. YouTube.com is now gaining voice search for fast lookup and hands-free navigation commands.
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