Even after Monday’s “show time” event, Apple Music is still the company’s only service available on Android. The client does feature tablet and Chromebook compatibility, with Chromecast support for playback on Google Home speakers now possibly in development.
Earlier this month, Google announced that the Play Store on Android and Chrome OS would adopt rounded square app icons for a cleaner and more consistent experience. We can now provide an early look at this push for uniform shapes that is set for later this year.
The latest beta release of the Google app is rolling out this evening, and details work on a number of minor features. Google app 9.51 reveals some possible new Bisto features, the ability for other users to add items to shared Collections, and more.
YouTube Music last week saw a wider international release to 14 countries including India and South Africa. The latest version of the app now lets users manually improve their music recommendations, while the iOS client adds animated thumbnails for videos.
The Material Theme revamp of Google Keep Notes last October was followed by complaints of the stark white background being too bright. A Googler at the time recognized the need for a dark mode, with version 5.19.111.06 today confirming development.
The latest Google app beta is rolling out this afternoon with some minor changes. Google app 9.46 continues work on Assistant Households and oddly rolls back the Material Theme in certain areas.
On the web, Gmail is its own platform with a variety of extensions that add missing functionality and other tools. Google is now making email scheduling a first-party capability, according to Gmail 2019.03.03 for Android.
Ahead of Google Allo shutting down tomorrow, the latest version of Messages is rolling out today by laying the groundwork for Google Assistant. Messages 4.1 prepares for the Assistant features first shown off at MWC last month. Meanwhile, “smart suggestions” are already live with this release.
Gboard 8.0 is now in the beta channel and continues work on the built-in Clipboard manager by refining the feature ahead of launch. The Google keyboard is also working on a sharing capability that includes the language you’re using, as well as exporting the personal dictionary.
Over the past week, Google announced wider availability for Duplex, while Podcasts finally gained episode search. We spotted the latter feature in an APK Insight last year, while Google app 9.41 today continues work on Assistant Households and makes other UI changes.
Just last week, Google officially rolled out Duo on the web, while adding audio calls to Home smart speakers. Google Duo 49 for Android reveals work on new messaging effects for Holi and video invites to attract new users.
Earlier this week, Google Clock added support for musical alarms from YouTube Music, while last month the streaming service gained Android Auto integration with version 3.03. That update also added rudimentary support for playing on-device audio files.
Last night, we spotted the Google app and Assistant settings begin to widely replace full ‘Voice Match’ device unlock on Android with Assistant-only lock screen access. Google announced that this new behavior was coming to all phones and tablet at CES 2019 in January, but we first got wind of this change in an APK Insight last October.
Google app 9.36 reveals that Assistant could be coming to Ambient Displays on phones, while there is also additional work on Assistant’s Notes and Lists integration with third-party services.
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The latest version of the Google Home client is rolling out this evening to Android with support for changing the color of smart lights right from the app. This feature was previously limited to Smart Displays, with this update also preparing support for Smart Clocks.
Last week’s Google app beta, which should soon be available in the stable channel, notably revamped settings and updated the bottom bar with the Google Material Theme. Google app 9.31 is a more quiet release that tweaks Assistant settings, makes it easier to browse Actions, and returns Android Auto integration for Podcasts.
After adding a fun effect for Valentine’s Day that leverages hardware-accelerated on-device inferencing, the latest version of Google’s consumer video calling service is rolling out. Google Duo 48 details work on a “precall” interface that’s essentially an improved contacts screen, and “Engagement Rewards.”
Earlier this month, Playmoji on the Pixel 3 was showcased in front of a wide audience at the Grammys. It served as a demo of augmented reality’s many fun use cases. Playground 2.2 now reveals work on AR Animals and the continued development of AR Shopping, as well as another promo with Marvel for International Women’s Day.
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Recent updates to YouTube Music have added major features like Sonos integration, and more minor tweaks from Queue changes to expanded “Add to playlist” availability. YouTube Music 3.03 adds Android Auto support, and continues work on letting users play “sideloaded” songs.
Betas of the Google app resumed on Monday after a two-week absence, but the release cadence has since increased. Google app 9.27 is rolling out this evening with what appears to be the wide availability of several Material Theme tweaks, Collection sharing, and continued work on Labs.
Starting in April, Google will begin winding down Hangouts classic for G Suite and eventually regular users. The latter transition is not set to begin until later this year, with Google working on porting over features to Hangouts Chat. In the meantime, Hangouts for Android was just updated with support for Oreo’s notification channels.
Last month, Google Maps rolled out speed limits and speed camera alerts, while making the Google Assistant feature official at CES 2019. Google Maps 10.10 is now in beta with a new “Personal events” setting, work on automatically deleting Location History, and more.
After an uncharacteristic two-week delay, the latest Google app beta is now available. Oddly, there are two distinct beta versions of the Google app this evening: 9.21 and 9.23. Both reveal a new Assistant device ID named “nexus” for an upcoming feature or hardware category, as well as a “Labs” feature.
Recent updates to Google Phone have focussed on expanding Call Screen in the U.S to older Pixel devices, and introduced a dark theme. Google Phone 29 — currently in beta — more widely rolls out the real-time text (RTT) feature that we’ve been tracking for the past several releases.
