For the past several releases, Gboard for Android has been working on “faster voice typing” that works offline. Google is today making it official on Pixel phones, and details the “end-to-end, all-neural, on-device speech recognizer” it created.
Developer Previews allow Google to get feedback at a point in the development cycle when meaningful changes are possible. For Android Q this year, users can send feedback through the recently launched subreddit, bug tracker, and new Android Beta Feedback app.
Web sites still have to contend with poor connectivity on mobile, while browsers like Chrome feature a “Data Saver.” Google is now bringing that mode to HTTPS and marking “Lite pages” as such in the Omnibar.
Since its initial offering back in 2015, Nvidia has been crushing it with software support for both generations of the Shield TV. Today, another software update is rolling out to Nvidia Shield owners which adds Xbox Elite Controller support and more.
Last year Microsoft added the “Your Phone” app to Windows 10 as a way to bring your text messages and notifications from a connected smartphone to your PC. Now, some updates are in testing for that app which enables users to Android apps from their phone onto a Windows 10 PC with screen mirroring.
Samsung has really ramped up the speed of their updates during the first quarter of 2019, but two notable absentees were the Verizon version of the Galaxy Note 9 and the unlocked US variants. Well, now the Verizon Galaxy Note 9 finally has Android Pie ready to download alongside the unlocked US model.
Area 120 is Google’s internal incubator and its latest project is called Kormo. Aimed at the Next Billion Users, it is specifically designed to new young job seekers without experience or resources.
After adding typing indicators in direct messages last month, Hangouts Chat now has the ability to delete 1:1 conversation history. This straightforward functionality for Google’s enterprise-focussed messaging solution is already live on Android, and coming to all platforms.
Following Ingress and Pokémon Go, formerly Google-owned Niantic’s next augmented reality experience is Wizards Unite. Leveraging Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, the premise of the game was fully detailed today, with pre-registration now available on Google Play for Android.
Spotify is one of the most used music services in the world right now, and it’s continually adding new features to its apps. One feature that many weren’t all that happy with, though, has been the addition of music videos that show up on the “Now Playing” screen. Now, Spotify is testing an option on Android which lets users disable “canvas” videos.
For anyone with a T-Mobile OnePlus 6T, the latest carrier locked device update is bringing with it RCS Messaging support and the January 2019 security patch alongside a few other extras.
Just a couple days after launching the long-awaited feature for its iOS app, Slack is officially testing out a built-in dark mode on Android. Here’s how to enable dark mode on Slack for Android.
Samsung makes some of the best wearables for Android, and they don’t even run Android. Today, the company is releasing an update for its Galaxy Wearable companion app that delivers a One UI redesign right as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active becomes available to buy.
Following Spotify and Samsung expanding their music partnership this morning, Google will give four months of YouTube Premium to Galaxy S10 owners. This deal will also be extended to the Galaxy Fold in April, while other Samsung devices will benefit from a similar offer until next year.
Google officially debuted a standalone Podcasts for Android app last April. Since launch, it has gained Chromecast support, silence trimming, better show notes, and Android Auto integration. The latest new feature is episode search.
Earlier this week, Google detailed a Chrome zero-day exploit after releasing patches for the Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android browsers, as well as Chrome OS. Today, the company is officially disclosing it, along with another zero-day that it discovered.
At the top-right corner of every Google web page is your profile icon, web app launcher, and notifications. Google is now planning to deprecate the oft-used Notifications Widget from the navigation bar next month.
Every mobile Google app on Android and iOS lets users quickly get help and send feedback about the service. Google is now testing a Material Theme revamp of these two pages to match the company’s latest design language.
In addition to the Material Theme redesign last April, Google announced a slew of new security and productivity features for Gmail. A confidential mode that allows senders to add an expiration date and limit sharing launched for consumers last year, and it is now coming to enterprise G Suite users via a beta program.
The biggest tournament in all of college basketball kicks off in just a couple of weeks. Just in time for the first tip-off, the NCAA March Madness Live app is adding official support for Android TV devices.
Travel is one category that Google in recent years has heavily invested in with new tools and machine learning-powered resources. Google Flights is both a Search tool and dedicated site, with the latter recently gaining a Material Theme redesign on the web.
Android TV is arguably one of the best streaming platforms, but in all honesty, doesn’t have quite enough hardware out there. And the inbuilt Google Assistant features are great, but until recently were only available to those who queried their device in English.
Late last year, Google Search began testing various Material Theme tweaks. Many elements have since been widely rolled out, with the latest being a slight revamp for Knowledge Panels on the mobile web and Android.
After releasing an incremental update for Chrome on Mac, Windows, and Linux last Friday, Google revealed yesterday that it addresses a zero-day exploit. The company’s security team advises users to update Chrome on all platforms immediately as there is evidence of a malicious party actively using the attack.