Android 12 brings with it a renewed focus on widgets as part of letting users better customize their devices to reflect them. As we first reported last night, Google Photos is working on a “Your memories” widget for Android. 

The latest update to Stadia for Android points to a promo for YouTube Premium members and includes more work toward using your phone as a controller for Stadia on your TV.

Yesterday, Google launched a new app in preparation for Stadia to be available on Android TV and Google TV devices. We’ve found that the new Android TV app is designed completely differently from how Stadia for Android works.

Android 12 this fall will introduce support for digital car keys. With our phones growing ever more capable, losing them will become a greater and greater inconvenience. As such, the Find My Device process will incorporate deleting and suspending car keys if you misplace your phone.

The latest beta version of Play services rolled out last evening to reveal that Google is working on a “Find My Device network” capability named “Spot” that leverages your Android phone to locate other devices. 

One of the key aspects of the Pixel Launcher experience is “At A Glance,” which has seen a handful of weather-related tweaks in recent months. Google is now planning to overhaul the capability into “Live Space” and better integrate it on with Assistant on Pixel phones running Android 12.

Android 12 Beta 2 launched yesterday with the wallpaper-based theming announced at Google I/O. We already provided a preview of the upcoming support in Google Messages, and now here’s an early look at the Material You “Dynamic Color” theme in the works for Gboard.

Just over three weeks ago, Google announced Material You as its hyper-personalized design system for creating apps that adapt to users, specifically their Android wallpapers. It will take some time for all apps to get updated, but here’s an early look at Material You theming for Google Messages.

The latest update to the Stadia app for Android includes work toward filters for the store, the ability to voice chat with friends, the much-anticipated Google TV app, and more.

The last visual revamp for Assistant in late 2020 saw the light bar come to all Android devices. Google is now working on what looks to be a new design that takes advantage of dropdown menus to show more information, while Assistant is getting new microphone sounds.

Google TV appears to be getting ready to support separate profiles on its home page, complete with tailored recommendations.

The latest update to the Fitbit app contains the beginnings of nighttime snoring and noise detection, along with a cute way to think about your sleeping habits.

After the Now Playing screen got updated earlier this year, the rest of the Google Podcasts is getting a revamp. The changes aren’t major, but there are a number of great usability upgrades for longtime users. 

Earlier this month, our colleagues at 9to5Mac reported that Apple Music would be gaining “HiFi” streaming options, possibly with iOS 14.6. Today, we find that the Apple Music app for Android is also working toward lossless audio streaming.

Stadia for Android is preparing a new “bridge mode” to use your phone and connected accessories as a controller to play games on your TV.

Google’s Android Auto just picked up another update, and this time around, it seems to be addressing a longstanding issue. Android Auto is about to added support for Android’s Work Profiles feature.

Google next month will stop providing unlimited free backup in Photos. Although existing Pixel phones are exempted, future devices — as of today — will miss out on a great perk that helps emphasize the camera. An update to Google Photos today reveals apparent work on a new “Storage saver” tier that will be “free and unlimited” for Pixel.

At the end of last year, Google One added a VPN on higher-tier plans to help build out the subscription offering. Still only available on Android, the Google One app is working on the ability to “block internet if VPN disconnects.”

The latest update to the Stadia app for Android, version 3.12, includes references to new referral bonuses, an exclusive avatar, and continued work on Google TV support.

Google’s Android Auto has become an important tool for many users and, soon, it may introduce a new “Connectivity Troubleshooter” which could make it easier to figure out problems with your connection.

Version 2.35 of the Google Home app is rolling out on Android and iOS with some user-facing tweaks. The Home companion client today also reveals the backside of a new Google Nest device, which could be a next-generation Hello doorbell.

The very first iteration of Assistant for phones was focused on voice commands until Google in 2018 added Smart Display-inspired visual elements like on-screen controls. Last year, a Snapshot feed to show personalized recommendations and upcoming events was added. Overall, Google wants Assistant to be better suited for and take advantage of the phone form factor, and an upcoming “Memory” feature — which we enabled — is the most significant example of that goal to date.

Since the start of this year, Google has been working on a revamped Now Playing screen for its Podcasts app on Android. Based on what we enabled, that modernization is to make way for more advanced recommendations.

Over the weekend, Google rolled out an update to their Pixel series’ Camera app, and in it our team has discovered some interesting tidbits about the likely Pixel 6 and Pixel 5a, particularly about the front-facing cameras used on the two phones.