Following Google Contacts gaining a Material Theme earlier this week, Google Phone is now the latest Android app to get a redesign. The new look adopts a stark white background throughout and the Google Sans font, but organization and placement remains totally unchanged.
Earlier this month, Epic Games detailed that Fortnite would require a direct APK download and install. With the game officially launching yesterday on Samsung devices and a general Android beta opening this weekend, Google is acknowledging that the hit gaming sensation is not available through the Play Store.
Since launch, Google Assistant has answered “What’s the news” by playing what are essentially short podcasts from publications like CNN or surfacing a carousel of articles on phones. Moving forward, Assistant will now leverage the recently revamped Google News to keep you up-to-date.
The latest update for Google Contacts is rolling out today with a Material Theme for the Android client. The app’s underlying organization is unchanged with the redesign, but various new elements like Google Sans and white backgrounds are now in use.
For the most part, the redesigned Gmail that launched in April maintained feature parity with the previous iteration. However, one minor grievance did emerge over the lack of a Google Contacts shortcut. This was an intentional change with Google now removing the Contacts shortcut and experience from legacy Gmail.
After rolling out to Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, version 68 of Chrome OS is now available. Notable features include more “Material 2.0” elements across the UI, a range of accessibility improvements, and a Display Size setting. Security changes in this update mark HTTP sites as “Not secure” and enforce the Certificate Transparency policy.
Sad day for those of us who use and love CloudMagic’s Newton mail client. The client, which is currently available on Android, Windows, iOS, and macOS, announced today that it will be killing the app soon.
With the new school year almost underway, Google is launching a number of education features across its products. Many were announced earlier this year and are coming out of beta, including a big revamp to Google Classroom, formating updates for Google Docs, and a suite of new AR/VR features.
Launching exclusively on the Pixel last year, AR Stickers take advantage of ARCore to overlay interactive animations in photos and videos. Version 1.3 is rolling out today and unbundles the default Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Stranger Things sticker packs to make the app significantly smaller.
Android 9 Pie just went official and Google started to rollout the update to its Pixel devices. Right behind Google, though, is Andy Rubin’s Essential, which is already pushing out a final version of Pie for the PH-1.
After five developer previews over an equal number of months, Google announced today that Android 9 is officially out of beta. Named “Pie,” third-party manufacturers can begin preparing device updates following the final release to AOSP. In the meantime, Android Pie is rolling out now to the Google Pixel and Pixel 2.
The Google Material Theme is making its way to more and more apps, with the most recent one we spotted being Google Opinion Rewards last week. The latest example is now the voice input UI for transcribing speech across Android.
Google announced a flurry of Assistant news at I/O 2018 with the first part for phones rolling out last month. “Visual snapshot” is already very reminiscent of Google Now and about to get even closer with a swipe up gesture for quicker access beginning to roll out.
Google Opinion Rewards is a fast way for users to earn credits via Google Play or PayPal by answering quick surveys. This small app is now the latest to be testing a Google Material Theme, which we’ve managed to enable today. Meanwhile, in recent weeks, the app has updated and greatly improved the “Reward history” page.
This week has seen a flurry of developments about Google planning to return to the Chinese market with an AI-powered news app, followed by a self-censoring Search service. The company’s ambitions also reportedly extend to bringing G Suite to China via partnerships with local cloud companies.
In-app purchases (IAPs) — for better or worse — are how many developers today monetize games and applications. Google is now beginning to roll out a redesigned and more straightforward payment prompt for users.
Back in June, Google updated its previously Tango-only Measure to support all ARCore devices. This convenient utility is picking up some UI tweaks and a quick way to copy heights and lengths in the real-world with an update today.
At I/O 2018, Google announced Material Theming and what’s next for its design language. The company’s apps are in the process of being revamped, while third-parties have already begun to take advantage of the new framework. To recognize “best-in-class designs,” Google today opened nominations for the 2018 Material Design Awards.
Multiple publications have since confirmed that Google is planning to launch a Search app that would comply with China’s censorship laws. A new report today details that Google is also working on a news-aggregation app that would similarly self-censor content in a sign of grander ambitions for the country. Meanwhile, since details first came to light yesterday, Google employees have been fiercely arguing the issue.
Since 2012, Google has warned users being targeted by what the company suspects are government-based attackers. Coinciding with today’s climate, Google is now adding a feature to alert G Suite administrators when there has been such an attempt on an account they manage.
Google Pay received a big update last month that integrated Google Wallet’s old peer-to-peer sending features, while adding new “Sending” and “Passes” tabs to the Android app. Relaunched earlier this year, Google’s payment service is widely available and can now be used in the Starbucks for Android app.
After a bottom bar redesign in July and the announcement of an enterprise G Suite edition at Cloud Next 2018, the latest version of Google Voice is rolling out today. The update prepares for enterprise features, while also making a small tweak to Do not disturb.
With YouTube Music now several weeks old and rolling out internationally, Google is ready to improve and regularly update the streaming service with new features. The music offering will see functionality updates every two weeks, with a number already on the product roadmap.
Google Search features a number of built-in utilities, with some — like an internet speed test — more useful than others — random number generator. The latest is somewhere in the middle and guides you through a minute-long breathing exercise.