Last month, our APK Insight spotted that Google was working on a new “precall” interface in Duo for Android. This change is now live for some and replaces the video/audio switcher on the homepage by giving users a traditional contact screen before placing a call. Drawing and adding text captions to video messages is also live, while favoriting contacts is available for other users.
Gboard for Android and iOS maintain relative feature parity on key functionality, but on occasion one app surpasses the other. Gboard 2.0 for iOS today adds a slew of customization options for the keyboard ranging from backgrounds, keys, and even the glide swipe trail.
At I/O 2018, Google Photos added suggested actions to automatically brighten, share, rotate, or archive an image. The Android app this week is adding a new “Crop & adjust” feature specifically for pictures of receipts and other documents.
In February, the Google Material Theme revamp began rolling out to Gmail for iOS. It brought the stark white design, new account switcher, and density preferences. However, it still lacked the ability to customize swipe actions, with that feature finally rolling out today.
Dark mode has been making itself available in a ton of Android apps and even the system itself in recent months, and now Twitter’s dark mode is getting an upgrade. Starting today, “Lights Out” is available for Twitter which is truly black and will be coming to Android… eventually.
Last year, the rebranded Google Pay added a slew of new features, including passes and transit cards. The payment app now supports Mobile myki in Australia with a number of smart features, while the app recently added a Material Theme account switcher.
Ahead of the Super Bowl in January, Google announced that YouTube TV was available in 98% of U.S. households. Two months later, users in every television market across the country can subscribe to YouTube’s cord-cutting service.
Drive File Stream is G Suite’s enterprise-focussed app for accessing Drive files on demand via Mac or PC. Google is now updating it with features from the Drive plug-in for Microsoft Office, which is being killed in June.
With the official launch of Google Podcasts last June, the company promised AI features like translation and automatic transcription. Earlier this year, we enabled the latter feature on Android so that users could read a podcast. While not entirely user-facing, this functionality is already working in the background for search.
Even though the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro were announced just yesterday with Android Pie in tow, there are two older Huawei-made handsets picking up the update in the form of the Huawei P10 and Honor 8X.
Two-factor authentication is increasingly recommended to stay safe on the internet and defend accounts from phishing attacks. Google is updating its 2-Step Verification workflow so that browsers are now responsible for walking users through using USB and Bluetooth security keys.
WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging services on the planet, and it’s looking like the Android client is about to pick up an official dark mode. Thanks to the latest beta update, we’re getting an early first look.
Early last year, Google announced AMP for email to allow for more interactive experiences when messaging. These “dynamic emails” will officially begin appearing today on Gmail for desktop with support from multiple senders and other clients.
After rolling out to Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, version 73 of Chrome OS is now available. Notable features include Linux support on Chromebooks managed by enterprise admins, settings changes, and improved out-of-memory management.
Last week, Google marked the one year anniversary of its Google News Initiative aimed at supporting publications with new technology and funding. The company today announced new analytics tools to help news organizations make better use of incoming data.
Feature-wise, Chrome for iOS is on par with its Android counterpart, but is more limited in terms of underlying capabilities compared to other platforms. To address how it’s harder to debug webpages, Chrome 73 adds a new Inspect tool for developers to view JavaScript logs.
Google Fit got a huge redesign a few months back, and now some features from the previous design are trickling back into the activity-tracking service. With its most recent update, Google Fit brings back elevation tracking as well as adding sleep tracking to the Journal.
Google Maps is currently rolling out the ability for users to create public events at a specific business or location.
Google Voice last month began rolling out the Google Material Theme redesign to Android, and expanded VoIP availability. The latest feature for Google’s telephony service is a setting to continuously mask your caller ID when making calls.
Back in 2017, Google introduced the Editors’ Choice section of the Play Store as part of an editorial push to help with curation and discovery. In addition to quarterly Android Excellence lists, Google Play added stories and collections about apps. Google is now promoting this editorial content with notifications from the Play Store.
With version 73 now available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android, the next beta release of Google’s browser is rolling out. Chrome 74 notably brings Dark Mode support to Windows, and can instruct websites to respect any OS-level user preference to reduce motion.
Late last year, Google announced a new Shopping experience and homepage that first launched in India. The Google Shopping site has now been spotted in France with its new icon, Material Theme design, and personalized focus.
Android Auto is supported by hundreds of different cars and head units, but it’s always had just once basic layout. With the latest update, Google has added widescreen support to Android Auto, and it introduces a pretty slick new layout for select vehicles.