The holidays are a time for giving to those in need, especially following recent natural disasters. Google has long made it easy to give from Search, but is now simplifying the process even further with donations on Android right from the Google Play Store.
Just last week, a Play Store listing leaked that Google was planning a revamp of the ringtone, notification, and alarm sound experience on Made by Google devices. Including visualizations and downloadable ringtones, Sounds 2.0 is rolling out today to the Pixel 3.
Google Keep is a great tool for keeping track of notes of all sorts, and this week it’s adding a handy new option for those who like to write by hand. Google Keep now supports a larger drawing canvas which scrolls.
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The OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T are finally getting an Android Pie beta build thanks to the open beta program. This news comes from a post on the official OnePlus forums and includes all the juicy details of what is coming the way of OnePlus 5 and 5T owners.
Launched in 2009 under Google Labs, Fusion Tables is a tool used by data scientists and other researches to visualize large datasets. Google today announced that its web-based visualization service is shutting down next December.
The second update to the Android Pie beta for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is now rolling out across the globe. This update includes a series of bug fixes and stability improvements to the One UI beta on the device which has only been made available in recent weeks.
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I wasn’t massively impressed with the Moto Z3 Play, it wasn’t exactly a fully realized device in my opinion. That said, it had some great camera controls and a nice clean camera experience. The most recent Motorola camera updates have added a slew of new features including a brand new selfie portrait mode — which is available for all Moto devices — AR Stickers for the Moto Z3 and Moto Z3 Play alongside new image watermarking features.
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Google Lens began widely rolling out to Android in March and got a big update at I/O 2018 with real-time results and smart text selection. The visual search feature is now rolling out to the Google app for iOS.
Just before Made by Google 2018, the company announced that it was shutting down Google+ for consumers after discovering a privacy bug. Google today uncovered a second issue with its social network and is expediting the deprecation as a result.
Back in August, Google unveiled a major revamp to Google Fit ahead of a similarly large redesign to Wear OS. The Android fitness app this week is adding homescreen widgets, as well as breathing exercises on Wear OS.
Since I/O 2018, Google Maps has received a number of major updates from the Google Material Theme to “Explore” and “For you.” The latter is now widely rolling out to over 40 countries on iOS and 130 new countries on Android.
The Samsung Galaxy S9+ is getting the latest December 2018 security patch, which is rolling out currently to Nordic Galaxy users according to SamMobile. Of course, this update is for Android Oreo, so don’t get your hopes up for an Android 9.0 Pie update for non-beta users.
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Roughly a month after it picked up its new branding, Files by Google has gotten an update with some much-appreciated features added. In its latest version, Files by Google has added USB OTG support, as well as better folder support
Since ARCore 1.2 at I/O 2018, Google has released a number of updates to its platform for mobile augmented reality. ARCore 1.6 today allows for more realistic lighting and screen capture, with the company also sharing that it’s supported on a quarter of a billion devices.
Google this week clarified its future messaging plans following our twin reports about classic Hangouts and Allo. After development on the latter was paused in April, the company on Wednesday announced that it would be sunset next year. Ahead of that, Google today released what is likely one of the last updates for the smart messaging app to help users export chats.
Since Google Earth launched in the early 2000s, its ability to fly to various places and show parts of the world in 3D has been widely used, especially on TV broadcasts. Instead of just capturing a screen recording of the Earth app for these flyovers, Google is releasing a specialized animation tool with extensive customizability and export.
Last month, it emerged that Verizon was planning to launch Universal Profile RCS early next year. The Google-backed messaging standard is now set to officially begin rolling out on December 6th for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.
As smart speakers proliferate and enter people’s homes, voice as a platform continues to develop and mature. Google is now exploring the “future of audio news” on Assistant with Google News and publications around the world. Asking for news on phones or Google Home will become more personalized and better at delivering updates throughout the day.
With the year coming to an end, Google’s various services often take the time to recap what happened. The Google Play Best of 2018 already did this with the top apps, movies, and books, and now Google’s video site is following suit with YouTube Rewind 2018.
Yesterday, Google confirmed that it was sunsetting Allo, while focusing on Hangouts Chat and Meet for the enterprise rather than the “classic” iteration. To reaffirm that commitment, the Slack competitor today is adding Smart Reply.
Last month, Google Translate received the Google Material Theme on the web along with a responsive design. In line with other company-wide efforts to “promote fairness and reduce bias in machine learning,” Google Translate will now provide feminine and masculine translations for some gender-neutral words.
Over the past several days, 9to5Google reported that Google was planning to move away from “classic Hangouts” and sunset Google Allo. Amid the discussion about the company’s messaging future, Google today clarified its strategy, and published a definite blog post confirming our two reports.
In our APK Insight of Google Duo 44, we revealed that the service was planning a faster way to send video messages to contacts. Google today officially announced this quicker sharing method, starting with a swipe down on Duo’s homescreen.
Following the Mac, Windows, and Linux release, Chrome 71 is now rolling out to Android. On the security front, the browser will block ads on persistently offending sites. There are also other user protections against malicious web experiences, while developers can customize the fullscreen appearance of web apps.