Besides other performance issues, Wear OS lacks a good third-party app ecosystem. The most notable launch in recent months was the company’s own revamped Fit app, which just added breathing exercises. Today, the wearable platform is getting a big addition with Dark Sky for Wear OS.
Google announced one year ago that it would start mobile-first indexing, with the effort beginning in March. The company today shared that this method for improving mobile Search results is now used for “over half of the pages shown in search results globally.”
The CW has some of today’s most popular TV shows, but current episodes aren’t available on services like Hulu. Rather, the network has its own streaming app available, and now both The CW and CW Seed apps have arrived on Android TV.
Opening a new tab from the current one is a pretty common way to browse the web, even on mobile devices. Now, Google is adding a new feature to Chrome for Android called Sneak Peek which opens those tabs in an overlay while keeping you on the current page.
Months and months later, Fortnite is still the game that is taking the world by storm. In its latest update, the Android version of Fortnite has added support for the Snapdragon 710 and Snapdragon 670 processors.
With the latest stable release rolled out to Chrome OS, Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android, Chrome 72 is now in the beta channel. This version is a notable update for Chrome OS that begins upgrading Chromebooks to Android 9 Pie and features a native Google Assistant.
Back in October, YouTube TV added support for NBA League Pass to watch all live, out-of-market games ad-free. The Google cord-cutting service on Friday discounted the season-long basketball plan, while also adding a new Local Now channel.
Last week, Google posted its annual Year in Search video to highlights 2018’s top search terms. To accompany that list of popular queries, Google today released the “Game of the Year” to test your knowledge of this year’s trends.
Business and enterprise users often work with outside partners that occasionally do not use Google Accounts. In the past, this prohibited them from working on shared Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google is now allowing non-G Suite users to collaborate as visitors with Drive Pincode Sharing.
One of the first places that the Google Material Theme widely rolled out to was the Google Account settings on Android. A similar revamp is now available on the web, with the new design sharing many similarities to mobile, but better optimized to take advantage of the bigger screen real estate.
One area where Google applied machine learning is flight delay predictions in Search. After launching earlier this year on the web, Google Assistant will now show predicted flight delays and soon provide proactive notification alerts on your phone.
Android’s share sheet is notoriously slow and clunky, with Google promising a redesign that is “much faster.” The backend architecture needs a revamp, but the interface itself contributes to the problem. Google Maps is now rolling out a new sharing menu design that does a great deal to address the problem.
Google Lens rolled out to the Google app for iOS at the beginning of this week. As part of that availability, the visual search experience for Android also received a number of tweaks to optimize the interface in both Google Assistant and Google Photos.
After rolling out late last month to Google Search on the desktop web, the Google Material Theme is beginning to appear on the mobile counterpart. This similar redesign features modern elements like a pill-shaped search field that is available on both the results page and homepage.
Earlier today, Google Discover began rolling out a dark theme to the Pixel Launcher feed. Google Play Games is now the latest app to get an alternative to the stark white appearance of the Google Material Theme. Version 5.14 also adds app shortcuts and other visual tweaks.
Following a Google Material Theme update in September and a complete launcher redesign aimed at tablets and other touchscreen devices, Chrome OS 71 is rolling out today. A big focus of this update is improving the experience of owning a Chromebook and an Android device.
If you’re enrolled in the Gboard beta, then with the release of version 7.8.8 you’ll see some brand new light and dark gradient themes rolling out over the next few days.
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The Google Material Theme was announced at I/O 2018 alongside Material Theming. Google’s take on the new design language is characterized by stark white backgrounds, bolded icons, and Google Sans. One element new to the visual revamp is an outlined text field that is now available on the Google Sign-in screen.
Earlier this year, YouTube introduced revamped music Charts that reveal trending songs, artists, and other metrics by country. These local and global top lists are now being integrated into YouTube Music for quick browsing and instant listening.
Before Digital Wellbeing this year, Google was already investing in time management tools for devices used by kids. After adding Chromebook support in September, Family Link is getting more Chrome OS features like screen time limits to lock Chromebooks and customize Android app access.
At I/O 2018, Google introduced six new voices for Assistant based on DeepMind’s WaveNet. This allowed users to customize voice interaction on Android phones, Google Home, and now Smart Displays. Google Assistant today is gaining an Australian-accented and British-accented voice for even more customization.
Shopping is an important area for Google in light of major competition from Amazon. The company has worked to simplify voice shopping on Google Home, add style search to Lens, and expand its Express delivery service. Google Shopping today is getting a new home page, starting in India.
For the past several versions, the Google app has been working on a revamped settings page and “More” tab. Today, these new Material Theme interfaces are beginning to roll out via a server-side update.
Alongside other camera announcements at Made by Google 2018, the company also revamped AR Stickers introduced the year before. On the Pixel 3, Playground is the new name for fun augmented animations on photos and videos. It is now rolling out to older devices like the original Made by Google device and Pixel 2.