In our teardown of the Google Phone app last month, we spotted several in-development features. With version 15 now rolling out, functionality like “Clean up” and “Assisted Dialing” are now live, along with a light navigation bar on Pixel devices.
Inspired by the success of Motion Stills, Google is releasing more photography apps built on experimental technology. Today, Google is launching three new “appsperimentals” for Android and iOS that take advantage of recent phone and computer vision advancements.
Chrome 63 began rolling out to Android and desktop browsers last week with the usual security fixes and new developer features. On the latter platform, this update introduces Material Design to the Bookmark Manager.
Following the launch of Android 8.1, Google also released Android Oreo for Android Wear after a brief beta program for the wearable platform. A mostly technical upgrade, there are a handful of convenient new features. On Friday, Google announced a list of smartwatches getting upgraded to Oreo, as well as which devices are now receiving the update.
Shortly after the launch of the Google Home Mini, a hardware bug resulted in Google removing the ability to play/pause media. An inconvenience for a speaker, this feature has now returned, but not necessarily in an intuitive manner.
For many, the best use of Google Assistant on Android and Home is to control smart appliances, ask questions, and issue commands. However, the company has also been hard at work building an app ecosystem — just like the Play Store — through Actions on Google. At I/O 2017, Google announced a Developer Challenge and the winners are now in.
Back in September, a Googler noted that the “Check for update” button on Pixel and Nexus devices would work to offer any available OTAs for download. This has clearly not been the case in recent months, but it will finally work again in 2018.
For the past year, Google has been rumored to be working on a new music streaming service. In February, the Play Music and YouTube teams were combined, with the merger of the two products actually confirmed in July. A new report today shares more details, including a possible launch date.
Besides addressing various bugs and issues, Android 8.1 adds a highly requested feature for Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL devices on AT&T. This update, which is rolling out now, adds HD Voice Calling support for customers on the network.
As we’ve found, Google’s consumer video/audio messaging service is working on features like Google account linking and screen sharing. The latest version of the app is now rolling out with progress on those features underway, as well as the ability to delete your Duo account in settings.
Earlier this week, Google announced that Featured Snippets in Search results would gain relevant images to aid in answering questions. Today, the search engine is going a step further by adding in-line video answers to certain questions. Specifically, queries about celebrities that have been answered by the stars themselves.
Rolling out today, version 63 of Google Chrome includes a number security enhancements for enterprise users. Site Isolation allows pages to be rendered in a separate process, while TLS 1.3 is now enabled on Gmail. Google also announced other upcoming security features for the year ahead.
Chrome 63 is rolling out to Mac, Windows, and Linux today with an assortment of developer-focused features and security fixes. The biggest additions in this desktop release are a redesigned chrome://flags page and a tweaked permissions dropdown.
Google’s work with machine learning is impressive for a number of reasons, but its most practical uses often come in places you wouldn’t expect. Today, Google is revealing new tools in Sheets made possible by machine learning.
In a slightly unorthodox move, Chrome 63 for Android is rolling out before the Mac, Windows, and Linux variants. This version introduces a number of changes on mobile, including a new site permissions dialog, redesigned chrome://flags page, and a new introductory prompt for Chrome Home.
Back in November, YouTube finally returned to the Echo Show as a basic web wrapper of the desktop site. Today, tensions between Google and Amazon have escalated, resulting in the removal of YouTube from the screened Echo device and more critically the Fire TV line of streaming devices
Google is gaining a number of new features today that center on surfacing related suggestions and content to your search. Featured Snippets, Knowledge Panels, and select topics are all getting updated to surface these similar queries that users might find interesting.
Back in August, Google rolled out a Knowledge Panel in Search that featured a clinically validated screening quiz for depression. Today, Google is adding a similar questionnaire for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
At I/O 2017, Google announced Android Go — a version of the operating system optimized on multiple fronts for low-end hardware. Replacing an increasingly upscaled Android One, Android Oreo (Go edition) is launching today with Android 8.1. The first devices from partners will arrive in the coming months.
For the past month, Google has been testing a smart storage manager with features like delete recommendations and wireless file transfer. Today, Files Go is out of beta with a tweaked design and global availability.
Google Drive has long featured a tab for Google Photos in its navigation drawer that provides users with another method to view their uploaded images and videos. Starting next month, this integration will get de-prioritized, but ultimately remain accessible.
Netflix is the latest app testing a bottom bar redesign for its Android client. Over the weekend, several users have spotted the new design as part of a server-side rollout that is testing several variants.
Back in 2012, Niantic Labs was a subsidiary of Google when it launched its first AR mobile game called Ingress. Since its inception, the game has gained a close-knit community, but its size pales in comparison to the company’s second AR experience, Pokémon GO. Going into 2018, Niantic Labs has decided to go back to the drawing boards and completely revamp the mobile application and call it Ingress Prime.
Android Auto has a great design which screams Material Design, but it hasn’t really changed much since its debut. That’s a bit unfortunate since there are some things that could be improved. Recently, though, Google seems to have quietly introduced some subtle changes to Android Auto’s interface, so let’s take a look at what’s new.