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.
Immediately after I/O 2023 last month, Google started more widely rolling out Workspace Labs, and “Help me write” is now seeing wide availability in Gmail for Android and iOS for enrolled testers.
The most full-featured YouTube Music experience today is found on Android and iOS followed by the web. Google is now planning to release more YouTube Music apps and integrations for third-party devices.
As previewed last September, Google Tasks is replacing Reminders and getting Assistant integration. Google is now more widely rolling out the ability to switch over and complete the migration.
In 2020, Google said it would remove content stored in an inactive account (but not the account itself) to preserve storage space. Google is now updating its inactivity policy so that old, unused accounts will be deleted starting later this year.
Google has spent the past several years working to replace passwords because of frequent reuse, vulnerability to data breaches, and phishing. Passkeys are the industry solution, and the ability to log in to your Google Account with them is starting to roll out.
Google has long wanted to replace the lock icon in Chrome’s address bar, and it’s finally proceeding with those plans in September as part of a broader browser redesign.
Google is finally addressing a big gap of its 2FA (two-factor authentication) code app by adding sync capabilities, with Google Authenticator also getting a new icon on Android and iOS today. This will make “one time codes more durable by storing them safely in users’ Google Account.”
After various teasers, Humane today finally revealed its product. Ex-Apple designer Imran Chaudhri demoed the combadge-like (in Star Trek parlance) device at the TED 2023 conference.
For years, YouTube Premium has centered around removing ads, background playback (Picture-in-Picture), and offline downloads. YouTube is now expanding what perks are offered with a Premium subscription.
At BETT 2023, Google previewed a handful of education features coming to Chromebooks this year. Notably, ChromeOS and the Chrome desktop browser are getting a Reading Mode.
After widely rolling out an Energy Saver mode, Google has made four optimizations to Chrome for Mac that allows the browser to match the battery life you get when using Safari.
In a rather surprising move, Magic Eraser, one of the Pixel’s best features, is coming to any user of Google Photos for Android or iOS if they’re subscribed to Google One.
The Memory and Energy Saver modes that Google announced for Chrome on Mac, Windows, Linux, as well as Chromebooks, in December are now widely rolling out.
After leaving Apple, Matt Rogers founded Nest with Tony Fadell and stayed at Google for several years following the acquisition. Mill is a new company from Rogers that offers a “kitchen bin” with a monthly subscription that can “de-stink your kitchen, stop wasting food, and make a positive impact.”
On Thursday evening, third-party Twitter clients stopped working in a move that many have come to conclude was intentional. A report now confirms that this was the case.
Speedometer is a browser benchmark that measures responsiveness by simulating user interactions on demo web applications. Introduced by Apple’s WebKit team, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are now partnering on the development of Speedometer 3.