Last month, YouTube started streaming 99 “Free with Ads” Hollywood movies reflecting how the service wants to garner an even larger, conventional audience. The Google video site on Black Friday will be streaming “The Lego Movie” for free as part of a promotion with Warner Bros. Picture for the sequel.
Find My Device is the Google Play Protect service responsible for locating lost Android phones, tablets, smartwatches, and more. Version 2.3 is widely rolling out this week and features some minor visual tweaks and support for indoor maps.
Last week, Digital Wellbeing 1.0 began rolling out to the beta channel of users who have been testing the features since the August launch of Android 9 Pie. Google’s take on “time well spent” is now available for all Google Pixel phones and Android One devices.
A brand new update for the Oxygen OS beta program is rolling out. The OnePlus 6 Open beta 7 adds tons of new features for an incremental update including UI improvements, telephony extras and two major inclusions: OnePlus Roaming and Video Enhancer.
In recent weeks, the European Union’s Copyright Directive has come under immense online scrutiny, with Article 13 possibly resulting in YouTube blocking some videos in the continent. However, Article 11 — dubbed a “link tax” — has potentially equal ramifications, with Google News possibly shutting down as a result.
With the launch of Pixel Buds last year, Google announced “Fast Pair” as Android’s solution for seamless Bluetooth accessory pairing to phones. Headphones released in the past year that include Assistant often feature the solution, with Google last week releasing a “Fast Pair Validator” app for manufacturers implementing the functionality.
Back in June, Google renamed TalkBack to the Android Accessibility Suite. It’s a collection of the company’s assistive services for phones and tablets to help with eyes-free usage. Version 7.2 is widely rolling out today with a number of updates.
LG doesn’t have the best track record with Android updates, but with the LG G7 One being part of the Android One program, this is set to change. The program does wonders for hardware that would otherwise chug under the weight of a heavy third-party OS skin. With this update, the G7 One becomes the company’s first device to run Android 9.0 Pie.
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Anyone who has already bought or is planning on picking up the OnePlus 6T from T-Mobile will be pleased to hear that the first carrier OnePlus 6T Oxygen OS update is rolling out to users right now. Initially being available on launch day for those with unlocked devices, this release improves a few of the core features on the OnePlus 6T.
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On Thursday, Google announced the “System Version: H Update” for Wear OS, with a handful of features focused on battery life. What the company failed to mention is that the new naming scheme coincides with the release of Android 9 Pie for wearables, and that it’s already rolling out for some devices.
While YouTube has recently been pushing users to music and video subscriptions, as well as supporting favorite channels, the Google company is still introducing new ad-supported options. The video site in October started streaming movies like the “Terminator” and “Rocky” for free, but with occasional advertising.
While many people today watch videos on mobile phones and tablets, the web is still an exceedingly important screen. YouTube is improving the fullscreen web player with the ability to scroll down to see recommendations, descriptions, and more.
The first wave of Google Material Theme redesigns was for Android clients, with web apps in recent weeks following. After Google Keep Notes last month, Google Photos on the web is now the next major site to be revamped with various Material Theme tweaks.
As promised in August, the Google Phone dark theme is now rolling out with the latest beta update. Google Phone 26 follows Google Contacts earlier this week and the company’s advice to developers that dark themes help conserve battery life.
Security and passwords are paramount in this day and age, especially in corporate environments. New G Suite password options allow admins to enforce policies like stronger logins that have to be changed every so often and cannot be reused.
After the death of Google Reader (RIP), many users flocked to Feedly as an alternative RSS client. Over the years, the service has gotten better and better and today, Feedly for Android is getting an overhaul (at least in beta).
Since I/O 2018, Google Maps has seen a slew of updates from the Google Material Theme to focus on personalized location suggestions. Last month, it added a “Follow” button on listings to get store updates, with Google Maps for Android and iOS now adding a business messaging feature.
Back in May, NPR and a consortium of public radio channels acquired Pocket Casts. It comes amid the “golden age of podcasts,” with Google this year entering the field and detailing ambitious audio plans of its own. Pocket Casts 7.0 is entering public beta on Android today with a major overhaul and new features on all platforms.
Amid a series of hardware unveils at 10/9, Google announced several new features for Assistant. The Home View dashboard launched on the Google Home Hub and made its way to other Smart Displays, along with Digital Wellbeing. Google Assistant is now adding Broadcast replies, cooking cards, and more.
Routines in Google Assistant allow users to string together various Actions that are naturally invoked together over the course of a day. Useful for controlling smart home gadgets, these custom macros now integrate with Google Clock to invoke after an alarm is dismissed. Meanwhile, Assistant will soon be able to invoke Do Not Disturb on your phone.
One of the biggest reasons to buy a Google Pixel device of any generation is for software updates. Oddly, though, the original Pixel and Pixel XL are a bit behind in that department as the Pixel November update and its associated security enhancements have yet to arrive. According to Google, though, they’re on the way.
Earlier this month, Project Fi was rumored to be dropping the “project” status from its branding and logo. That has yet to happen, but the Google MVNO is announcing today an “enhanced network” that improves switching between Wi-Fi and cellular, with the latter connection now routed through a VPN.
Following last week’s encouragement that apps adopt dark themes to conserve battery life, Google Contacts is the latest Android client to gain one. In recent weeks, the company has been updating its communication apps, with Google Phone’s dark look already announced and in-development.
For the past several months, Gboard has been working on a “smarter” search feature that analyzes what you type to surface relevant expressive content. Gboard AI suggestions is rolling out starting today to suggest GIFs, stickers, and emoji.