New YouTube mobile features usually make their debut on iOS before coming to Google’s first-party operating system months later. The latest example sees the Android client finally getting the ability to filter videos in Subscriptions by channel.
At I/O 2018, Google unveiled celebrity voices for Assistant, starting with talented musician — and friend of the company — John Legend. Available since last April, the company announced today that it’s pulling Legend’s cameo voice on March 23.
Many users today primarily interact with the mobile web, given the worldwide proliferation of phones. Google Search set out on accounting for this change in 2016, and later this year will use mobile-first indexing for the whole web.
Google last month started fulfilling its Q1 2020 roadmap by rolling out its streaming service to Samsung, Asus, and Razer phones. Up next is 4K gaming for Stadia on the web, with that functionality beginning to appear for users this evening.
At CES in January, Google previewed what’s coming to Assistant in 2020. A screen reader built in to Assistant and activated by “Hey Google, read this page” is now rolling out on Android.
For years, the hamburger menu was a core part of Android app design, but Google has slowly been shifting away from that over the past couple of years with several bottom bar redesigns. Now it looks like Google Photos might be ditching the hamburger side menu, with a new “Library” tab taking its place.
In January, Google Search enabled an SOS Alert for all coronavirus-related queries to provide trustworthy information. Google Play now looks to have disabled searching for “coronavirus” Android apps.
Recording and sharing is a big part of gaming today, but Google’s first stab at the functionality is quite rudimentary. Stadia Captures are now beginning to roll out to the web with the ability to download.
As Play Music nears the end of its life, Google has been amping up development on YouTube Music to prepare for the influx of new users. In recent weeks, we’ve seen music uploads roll out on the web, as well as lyric support landing on Android. This week, Google has quietly rolled out a new set of backdrops for YouTube Music’s web app that accompany the homescreen carousels.
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After a delay of approximately three weeks, Chrome OS 80 is beginning to roll out. Google this morning detailed headlining features like Ambient EQ for Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook, but there are a slew of other changes.
With recent releases, Google has been better at covering major Chrome OS features. For March, the company detailed Ambient EQ introduced on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and confirmed that it’s coming to other Chromebooks, while Netflix for Android now supports picture-in-picture.
The latest update to Stadia for Android is rolling out with a handful of tweaks. There are no major changes in version 2.7, but game details are now easier to browse and there is a new cancellation survey for Stadia Pro.
YouTube TV this morning announced that a contract dispute with the Sinclair Broadcast Group will see the cord-cutting service lose the Fox Regional Sports Networks. Starting Sunday, those channels — along with the YES Network — will no longer be offered.
Like on the full video service, recommendations are at the heart of YouTube Music and its Home feed. The YouTube Music mobile apps now look to actually be sending out “New release for you” notifications.
Google last week very quietly detailed and began rolling out the ability to upload songs to its Play Music successor. This afternoon, YouTube Music’s cloud library looks to be more widely available.
Google Images saw a web revamp last August that added a side panel for results and bigger focus on shopping. After quietly getting rid of the ability to filter results by size, Google is now removing the ability to hover over images on the main results page to see dimensions.
Last February, the old Google Contacts was permanently disabled in favor of the current Material iteration. That was done as feature parity neared, with Google a year later restoring the ability to create multiple contacts.
With its Material Theme revamp, Google Translate on the web saw the built-in “History” feature get more prominent placement. An upcoming change will see translation history only appear and be saved when you’re signed in with your Google Account.
Last December, Google announced that its first-party Mirror apps for Google Glass will stop working in February 2020. Ahead of that deadline, the MyGlass for Android companion app has been removed from the Play Store.
Following a new icon and app redesign to coincide with its 15th anniversary, Google Maps is rolling out a new “Go” tab. It groups together the old “Commute” section and other transit-related shortcuts.
In 2018, Google announced Material Theming with the goal of letting developers better customize Material Design for their applications. One tool released to help designers was the Material Theme Editor, but Google is now shutting it down next month in lieu of upcoming products.
Hot off the news that user uploads to a cloud library are rolling out, YouTube Music is testing a redesigned Now Playing screen. Compared to the current version, it’s cleaner and has easier to reach key controls.
Search in Gmail can be quite powerful, but that functionality is hidden behind operators and awareness of more advanced techniques. Google today announced “search chips” for Gmail on the web to simplify filtering results.