Google Photos for Android recently received a slight redesign in the form of a bottom bar that signified a change in the Material Design guidelines. A smaller app update today changes the behavior of how edited photos are saved.
Last year, Google added a Pinterest-like photo saving and tagging feature to Image search. It was first available on the mobile web for Android and iOS, but starting today Google is rolling out the feature to desktop search.
Update: It’s confirmed. Google is now sending the below email to users who have a card.
A new app teardown from Android Police today reveals that the Google Wallet card — which was first announced in November 2013 after many rumors of the troubled project being scrapped — is now finally getting the boot effective June 30th. The card assumably never really took off, and it seems that I’m one of the rare few that still has one of these little now-souvenirs…
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Mobile first is a frequent buzz phrase for newly minted startups and for the most part it is easy for them to achieve. However, for legacy companies with products designed for the web, it is often harder to cram functionality and information on a smaller screen. With that in mind, the Google for Work Admin app for Android has been updated with mobile device management features previously restricted to the full web app.
Early last month, Samsung updated their built-in browser with private browsing, a picture-in-picture video player, and third-party ad blockers on devices running Marshmallow. While Android 6.0 is rolling out to newer devices, those still on the Galaxy S4, S5, and other older devices will get these new features via an update starting today.
According to a report from SlashGear, Google is looking to combine the technologies used in its Goggles app and visual search tool with the standard Google Camera app. In doing so, the default stock Android camera will be able to recognize products and objects, then search for them.
In 2012, Google purchased Nik Software and made their excellent mobile photo editor Snapseed free on Android and iOS. Since then, many of Snapseed’s features have been integrated into Google’s various photo products. Besides mobile, though, Nik also developed plugins for desktop photo editors — and starting today they are also free.
Gmail introduced a feature last month that warns users before sending and receiving emails from insecure addresses. Today, it’s announcing a bevy of new features and standards that improve email security.
Google has published a new tool to help Android developers improve the user interface and experience of their apps. Accessibility Scanner can analyze any app with an eye towards accessibility issues that might not be a problem for most users but may cause user experience problems for some.
Google is updating its Google Sheets and Slides apps for iOS today with new features that allow changing themes, filters and layouts on the fly from within the mobile apps.
For Google Sheets, the update brings the ability to view and change existing filters applied to a spreadsheet.
After announcing a deal in September to produce a Pokémon Go games with Nintendo and Alphabet-owned Niantic, the Pokémon people are today showing a little more about how gameplay will work and giving us a first look at the title coming to both Android and iOS devices.
The game uses augmented reality features to blend real world objects and locations with the gameplay, and the company today gave the run down and a look at how exactly that will work:
Todoist, one of the best productivity apps released for any platform, has been updated to bring more smarts to its Android app. Unlike the last major update, this version doesn’t include a massive visual overhaul. Instead, the team focussed on bringing more intuitive and productive methods of adding, searching and filtering your projects.
According to a report from The Verge, Google is building its own third-party keyboard for iOS and has been doing so for “months.” While it’s unclear when or if the keyboard will be released, the report notes of several features Google has been working to implement as employees test it.
Following the removal of the notification center last year, Chrome is now getting rid of the app launcher in Mac, Windows, and Linux. It will be a slow process, but the rarely used launcher for Chrome and web apps will be fully removed for all users in July.
From adding regional accents to multiple male and female voices, Google has made great strides in making computers sound more natural. According to a video posted today on YouTube, a new voice rolling out to Google Now takes that a step further…
Google Photos launched last year with numerous smart features, like face and object detection, that make sorting and finding your photos much easier. While the Assistant feature can already create photo collages and animations from burst shots, albums are about to get smarter with more features in an update rolling out today…
An update rolling out to Google Drive for Android will allow you to more easily edit documents and images uploaded to Drive using edit apps like Google Photos and Google Docs. The update also adds more options to sort files.
An update rolling out to Google Maps on Android allows users to label any location with a nickname for easier search and lets users add a whimsical sticker icon to represent their home and work addresses.
Popular song identification app Shazam has announced (via The Verge) deeper Google Play Music integration on Android, as well as a promotion for 3 months of Play Music (which includes YouTube Red) for only $1.
Starting with Android 5.0 Lollipop, Chrome tabs could exist individually in the app switcher. While it made websites feel more like apps, it was an annoyance that made it hard to keep track of open tabs. Google is now reversing that decision (as spotted by Android Central) and making merged tab the new default starting in version 49 of Chrome.
With Chrome 49 fully rolled out to desktops, Android, and Chrome OS, version 50 is now in the beta channel. It is expected to bring Material Design to the browser and introduce improved push notifications and other developer focused features.
T-Mobile is expanding its Binge On initiative that allows users to stream content in certain apps without using up their data allowance, and with today’s update YouTube and Google Play Movies are now officially supported.
Google is adding the ability to set expiration dates for access to documents across Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides apps. The idea is that you can limit a contributor’s access to a document for a specific time period, which Google points out will come in handy for companies and organizations that often share files with third-parties temporarily:
Google Maps is adding new ride options on mobile devices today as it turns the former Uber-only feature into a section dedicated to several car services. It’s launching today for Android users and coming soon to other platforms.
