Abner Li has worked at 9to5Google since 2015 and in late 2020 took on the role of editor-in-chief. He is keenly focused on tracking what happens at Google and is often the first to spot new features in Google’s ever-growing family of applications that are updated on a daily basis, including Search, Assistant, Maps, Workspace, Android, and Chrome/OS.
To him, what Google does greatly impacts the technology space and modern life. Inside the company, he is particularly interested in the key products mentioned above, as well as up-and-coming services like Google Podcasts and Google Lens. Each are massive platforms that can be unwieldy to grasp, with Abner keenly bent on understanding their philosophy and future direction. He is most excited about Google’s plans for augmented reality glasses.
Abner spearheads the APK Insight program at 9to5Google to chronicle all changes in the company’s Android apps, often finding new features before they are officially announced. This includes redesigns and revamps, launches, and new products.
Following the Thursday announcement, Google is widely rolling out the latest Gemini models, including 2.0 Flash Thinking (experimental), to the web, Android, and iOS apps.
As YouTube’s role in podcasting increases, Pocket Casts announced today that its web, Mac, and Windows apps are now free with a subscription no longer required.
Google today is announcing and beginning testing on an “AI Mode” for Search. This “early experiment” lets you ask more complex questions that will be answered by an AI-generated response that takes up the entire page.
Apple yesterday released the latest iOS 18.4 beta and it enables support for RCS on Google Fi. iPhone users on the Google MVNO have been waiting for this improvement to Android-iOS messaging since September.
Following last week’s homescreen redesign, the Google Gemini app on iPhone has been updated with lockscreen widgets and direct access in Control Center.
Google is more deeply integrating Lens visual search into Chrome for iOS with a new Screen Search capability that takes after Circle to Search on Android. Meanwhile, Google Lens can now recognize more unique images.
Compared to Android, only some of Google’s iOS apps use the latest version of Material Design. Gmail for iPhone and iPad was finally updated with a Material 3 redesign today.
It’s not the dream of a full bundle, but some Google One subscribers will soon get a discount on YouTube Premium in the US. Meanwhile, YouTube is starting to test a handful of new features that subscribers can opt-in to.
Chrome 132 started rolling out this week as Google’s first major browser update of 2025, and one new feature the company is finally making official is the ability to customize the toolbar on desktop.
Besides phones and tablets, Android is available on smartwatches, TVs, and even cars. Google today announced Android XR as the next form factor the operating system is coming to.
Like other first-party apps that lack Dynamic Color theming, Google Maps currently uses a blue accent for buttons and other UI elements, but that looks to be changing to teal.
Spotify Wrapped 2024 is here and features an AI Podcast that’s “Built with Google’s NotebookLM.” Two AI hosts from the viral note-taking/research tool “unwrap” your year in music.
As part of the redesigned incident reporting across all platforms, Google said Maps would show Waze reports for users to confirm while navigating. This is beginning to roll out.
Since launch, Gemini on iOS has been part of the Google (Search) app. That’s about to change with at least one iPhone user today spotting a standalone “Google Gemini” app on the App Store that also lets you access Gemini Live.
In addition to Gemini for search, summaries, and Q&A, Google Maps for Android and iOS are getting updates to improve the entire driving experience “from start to finish.”
After coming to Android earlier this year, Google Home now offers widgets that let you quickly control smart devices from your homescreen on iPhone and iPad.