This week's top stories: Pixel 6 ad campaign, Google Weather redesign, Android 12 Beta 5, more

By Kyle Bradshaw

September 11, 2021

9to5Google

Ahead of the iPhone 13 launch event next week, Google has begun its advertising campaign for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. The first ad gives us our first look at the real Pixel 6 rather than renders.

This first ad ends on “Coming Fall 2021” and a “For All You Are” tagline. The company is appealing to the idea of a smart, personalized device that adapts to you.

After much anticipation and a few false-start rollouts, the Google Weather redesign is finally rolled out widely on Android. The new style ditches the navigation drawer and adds more rounded corners.

This latest Google Weather rollout includes some requested fixes, such as ditching the stark white status bar for one that matches the current weather. To get the redesign, update your Google app.

Google has released the final Android 12 Beta for Pixel phones this week, ahead of its formal launch later this year. The hallmark changes of Beta 5 are Material You redesigns for core Pixel apps.

As always, our team has carefully located and cataloged all of the changes of Android 12 Beta 5, including Material You redesigns for Clock and Calculator, as well as an expanded easter egg.

For Pixel owners who aren't testing Android 12, this week marked the release of September's security patch. As it's not yet time for a Pixel Feature Drop, this month's patch is fairly minor.

Notably, this September update is actually the first security patch to release for the Pixel 5a, which had up to this point been stuck on the June patch.

Ahead of Android 12's launch later this year, Google has unveiled a suite of Material You redesigns for their "Workspace" apps. Surprisingly, these designs will also become available on Android 11.

None of the redesigns are particularly radical, with hallmarks being less shadows and the use of Android 12 dynamic colors. The redesigns are coming to Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and more.