Google announced a slew of new Assistant, Lens, and Search features this week at I/O 2019. Most are coming over the next few months, with Google app 9.84 laying the groundwork for many of them. New functionality includes Personal References and Assistant driving mode.
Last week’s Google app beta revealed a host of new features, including an upcoming Lens redesign with “filters” and a new icon. Google app 9.78 today is a quieter update that primarily fixes the broken Weather app.
At I/O 2018, Google revamped Lens with real-time recognition, smart text selection, and native camera app integration. A year later, another redesign for Google Lens that adds specific recognition “filters” is in development.
While last week’s beta revealed a number of exciting in-progress features, Google app 9.72 is a quieter release that actually obscures some features, like Reminders and Intelligent Tips for At A Glance. There are also some additions and bugs with this update.
Google makes it easy to access common data with cards in popular searches. Now, the company is redesigning the search cards for Weather and Movie showtimes.
Google has been experimenting with adding some new functionality to the At A Glance widget on its Pixel smartphones. In the current beta, the company is testing out new Intelligent Tips and Reminders for the At A Glance widget on Pixel Launcher.
The latest Google app beta is rolling out this evening with several notable features in development. Google app 9.66 reveals a dark mode for the notoriously white app and Face Match training, as well as “Intelligent tips” for the At A Glance widget.
The latest Google app beta rolled out this morning following yesterday’s launch of more visual Assistant search results on Android. Google app 9.61 shows that Reminders are coming to the At A Glance widget, while there is development on an improved translation feature for Google Lens. There is also interesting work on “filters.”
After missing its usual Friday release schedule, the latest Google app beta is rolling out this morning. Google app 9.58 most notably reveals a sleep timer feature, likely for Google Podcasts, and a handful of other tweaks and upcoming changes.
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.
Just a few days after Google started showing Doodles in the Discover feed, the Pixel Launcher is picking up that look in another spot. Today, we’re seeing a Spring animation from the Google Doodle appearing on the Pixel Launcher’s search bar.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
The latest beta version of the Google app notably reverses the Assistant dark mode introduced last week. Meanwhile, Google app 9.10 reveals “Avocado” as Face Match for Assistant, targets Android Q, and more.
The Google app already features the Material Theme, but a revamp more widely rolling out this week tweaks additional elements. Settings and the “More” tab have been completely redesigned with menus and options reorganized for easier access.
As a more compact Google Assistant is rolling out, the latest Google app beta suggests that more features are in development. Version 9.5 reveals that a dark mode is in the works for Assistant, as well as additional functionality for the Updates feed.
As a leak of Android Q confirmed earlier this week, dark modes will play an important role in the next version of the mobile operating system. Google has been revamping apps in recent weeks to feature the other theme, with more updates planned. Now, Google Assistant appears to be the latest service due for a dark mode.
In recent weeks, the latest version of Google Discover has widely rolled out, while the Google app is testing more Material Theme and redesigned Assistant controls. The Google app now jumps from version 8.x to 9.x, with work underway in Google app 9.0 on the new Assistant for the car form factor, Interpreter mode on Smart Displays, and Podcasts.
To coincide with the company’s 20th anniversary, Google in September announced big updates to Discover — previously known as the Google Feed. Besides the rebrand and other visual tweaks, it is more interest-based and will feature other types of content. This is beginning to more widely roll out today, along with a proper dark theme for Discover on the Pixel Launcher.
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After a few weeks break due to the winter holidays, the Google app is returning to its usual cadence of weekly beta releases. Google app 8.91 reveals work on applying the Material Theme to even more parts of Google Assistant settings. We’ve also managed to enable auto downloading in Google Podcasts, among other in-development features.
