With Android 10, Google’s parental tools for managing children’s devices were integrated right into the Settings app on every phone. Family Link is now adding app-specific time limits and the ability to grant bonus screen time.
While Assistant in the U.S. has 11 different voices, Google users in other parts of the world only have one. Google Assistant on Android, Home, and Smart Displays is now adding a second voice in nine different languages.
The podcasting industry is booming with heavy investment from large players like Google, Apple, and Spotify. NPR and a public radio consortium last year acquired Pocket Casts to offer its own experience and already released a major update in March with version 7.0. Today, Pocket Casts is going free and adding a “Plus” subscription.
As seen with podcasts, Google in recent years has been working to make Search be more than just for text results. Video has long been surfaced in the search engine, but Google will now mark YouTube “key moments” for fast scrubbing and watching.
Amid a slew of Android TV developments over the weekend, Google is announcing one more. In India, Android-powered set-top devices are adding a Data Saver to reduce usage and extend watch time, as well as a handful of related features.
Unlike Chat, the transition to Hangouts Meet has been less controversial for Google. The Android client is now adding support for live captions, while it’s easier to enable the feature on the web client.
The “Make Google do it” tagline first emerged last year to advertise Assistant on billboards, brand activations, and ads. It’s now coming to Android as part of Assistant’s initial walkthrough experience.
One type of rich Search result that appears as one of Google’s 10 blue links includes “scores and/or stars.” Star ratings provide a convenient, inline experience in Google Search when looking for products and services, with the company making “algorithmic updates” today.
Views on YouTube are a huge pop culture metric that define popularity and success. Google today is launching YouTube Music Charts in India, thus “closing a critical gap.”
Android 10 last week already included a new version of Google Camera that elevated Night Sight into the main interface. The Pixel 4 will introduce a more significant redesign that’s likely also coming to older Pixel phones, but you can download an early version of Google Camera 7.0 now.
One thing Pixel 4 leaks from the past week have consistently shown off is a new camera UI. We’ve gotten access to Google Camera 7.0 with all these changes, and overall they make for a good usability and simplicity upgrade.
Earlier this week, Google detailed how Express would soon be replaced by Shopping. This transition is now underway with “Google Express” for Android becoming “Google Shopping” with the latest Play Store update.
Since launch, Google One has provided additional cloud storage, family sharing, expert support, and occasional promos. The subscription service is now adding automatic Android phone backups.
Google’s latest news initiative has Search “elevating original reporting.” This will see articles that broke a story — instead of reblogs — be prominently featured to people searching and stay visible longer.
Inline with what we’ve been tracking for the past several weeks, Google Photos today announced a slew of updates. Inside the app, there is a new stories-esque Memories feature that lives above the gallery, and message-esque sharing in the coming months.
Over the past several months, Google has slowly revamped the look of individual pages in Assistant Settings. The latest Material Theme redesign is for Google Assistant Routines, and it’s already rolling out to some users.
Most YouTube Premium users are primarily interested in ad-free video playback. However, the top subscription tier also includes Music Premium, and Google is now advertising that fact in the primary YouTube app and offering to open YouTube Music.
While most people are only aware of Jamboard as a 55-inch 4K touchscreen for enterprise, there are also Android, iOS, and web apps. The mobile clients today are getting a revamp that brings Jamboard closer to other G Suite apps.
Following the Mac, Windows, and Linux release, Chrome 77 for Android is now rolling out. There are tweaks to the Downloads page and wider availability of “Send this page” sharing.
In addition to Google Photos soon gaining support for ordering in-store canvas and 4×6 prints, the Android client is testing a redesigned photo viewer. The big change is a combined menu and info sheet.
Google is rolling out the latest version of Chrome for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Chrome 77 more widely introduces the “Send this page” cross-device sharing functionality. It also features a new favicon loading animation and welcome experience, as well as security improvements.
In late July, Google Play Pass was spotted in testing as a subscription service that provides “access to hundreds of premium apps.” Google today teased the Android offering as “coming soon” and unveiled the official icon.
Google Docs has long featured a pretty straightforward word count tool. The G Suite editing app is soon gaining an always-visible counter in the bottom-left corner of your screen on the web.
For the past several weeks, we’ve been tracking an “Ambient Mode” in the Google app. At IFA 2019, Google officially introduced the new Assistant Ambient Mode for Android phones and tablets.