Think With Google, the company’s arm that provides marketers with insights, has released a tool that tests how well a site works across mobile and desktop devices. The free service even provides an in-depth report on how to fix encountered problems.
Introduced in Android N, Direct Reply allows users to respond to messaging apps right from the notification shade without needing to first jump into an app. Following Google Messenger and Hangouts, Facebook is testing the convenient feature in a beta version of Messenger.
Hangouts is always quite slow to adopt the latest Android features. Eight months after Marshmallow’s release, Hangouts 10.0 is finally adding support for a Direct Share feature that provides quick access to frequent contacts.
The last major update to Google Keep in April added a Chrome extension to easily save and add notes to links. An update today adds link previews, duplication prevention, and autocomplete when adding list items. The Keep site is also getting a significant refresh that matches Google’s other web apps.
Those lucky enough to live in a city with Google Fiber will soon receive an update that essentially turns their current TV Box into a Chromecast. As the TV Box is already hooked up to a television, users will be able to stream music, video, and apps without making changes to their current setup.
Update: In a blog post, Google details new features currently available in English and rolling out soon to other languages. Now on Tap now officially works in the camera app and for images. For instance, users can open the camera app and initiate Now on Tap to identify landmarks. It can also be used in apps like Pinterest to identify artwork.
Rolled out last night to all users, Now on Tap has a new interface and the ability to manually select text from anything in a screenshot to perform a search. Due to a number of factors, Now on Tap has yet to become a hit feature and today’s update is a meaningful change to the product.
A year ago Google simplified security and privacy settings with a redesigned My Account page. On its one year anniversary, Google has announced that over a billion people have used the site and that several new features, like how to find a lost phone including Android and iOS, are being added.
Faster load and search times are the highlight feature of an update to the Google app on iOS. Like on the mobile web and Android, AMP articles will now show up in search results. Other improvements include sport video highlights on Now cards and more keyboard shortcuts for iPad users.
A major update to Skype last year introduced a Material redesign for phones and made the app feel more native to Android. Rolling out now, version 7.0 brings Material Design to Android tablets with a redesigned interface for devices with larger screens. Besides a FAB, the update also brings a multi-pane view, powerful search, and more to what’s usually an under developed area on Android.
Chrome 51 is rolling out now to Mac, Windows, and soon Linux. The latest version of Google’s browser contains the usual bug and security fixes, but also features a new Credential Management API that improves the website login experience.
After opening sign-ups two weeks ago, the US Field Test of Pokémon GO begins today. The Pokémon Company and Niantic Labs revealed more information about the mechanics of the real world game. Pokémon GO will have in-app purchases and sell a Bluetooth wearable that notifies users of in-game events.
After a lengthy A/B test, YouTube for Android is rolling out a new video settings menu and a slight tweak to the player window. Settings are no longer overlaid on a video, but rather slide up from the bottom of the screen.
Especially geared towards pictures taken by a regular camera that did not have the correct time zone set, the latest Google Photos web update adds a very useful feature that allows users to easily adjust the date and time of multiple images…
The last update to Google Text-to-speech on Android added male and female voices for multiple languages. With version 3.9.6 from the Android N Developer Preview 3 (via Android Police), users on Marshmallow and above can highlight any piece of text and have it read aloud to them.
While the Android N Developer Preview 3 removed a system-level dark mode, apps can still automatically switch between day and night modes. Introduced as part of the Android Support Library 23.2 in February, developers can now easily add a night mode that switches based on the time of day and location. Twitter appears to be A/B testing a night mode in the alpha version of its app.
In this week’s top stories we round up all of our coverage from Google I/O, the company’s annual developer conference where it also took the wraps off a number of upcoming hardware and software products. Android N Developer Preview 3, the Play Store comes to Chrome, Google Assistant, the new Daydream VR platform and much, much more.
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At an I/O session this evening, the inaugural winners of the Google Play Awards were announced. With 10 categories, winners were selected by the Google Play team based on launching or having a major update in the past 12 months, app quality, and innovation.
The Play Store is adding a few features for both developers and users. Betas are now easier to find and join from the Play Store with Google even highlighting beta apps in a new Early Access section. The store also has new smart collections for tasks that require a combination of apps.
At yesterday’s I/O keynote, Firebase received the most enthusiastic applaud from the crowd of developers. Purchased two years ago, Firebase is a cloud backend service that does the heavy lifting of managing an app’s data. Firebase is now a complete solution for building and maintaining an app on multiple platforms.
Back in April at Microsoft’s Build conference it was revealed that Cortana for Android users would soon be able to have their smartphone notifications show up on a Windows 10 PC. Now it seems that feature is rolling out, at least to some beta testers/Insiders.
Following the announcement of Allo this morning, many assumed that Hangouts would be replaced. However, Google has confirmed to numerous publications that Hangouts will remain a separate product and continue to live — for now at least.
Earlier today, Android Pay finally launched in the UK. At an I/O session this afternoon, Google announced new features for its contactless payment solution and the ability to use a phone to withdraw money from Bank of America ATMs.
Alongside all of the Google I/O announcements today, Google announced a new resource for app developers in the form of the new ‘Playbook by Google Play’ app available in beta now.
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