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- As a follow-up, now that the official announcement has been made, Google has posted some of the important details for the new platform. To begin with, the Preview page is up with an assortment of guides detailing some of the new features relevant to developers. It's also critical to point out that the current version of the Android P SDK reflects an unfinished API, so you should expect to see breaking changes in the future.
If you've been curious about the next version of Android, there's a hint that something special may be coming soon. Check the Android SDK Manager on this morning and you'll spot packages for a new API level: Android P. There are packages for the SDK itself, plus Android TV, Google APIs, and Google Play variants of emulator images for x86.
A new version of Google+ is rolling out, but unlike many recent releases, this one has at least one immediately visible change after updating. The UI is taking on a whiter look for some of its key UI elements. A teardown also reveals that a Highlights section is coming back and will optionally make an appearance in notifications.
Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.
Friday morning is starting off with a fresh update to Google Duo. The v29 release doesn't change much on the surface, but there is a new notification channel that happens to tease one feature we've been expecting. A teardown also turns up new activity for two more features many people have been anxiously awaiting: screen sharing and google sign-in. If you'd like to grab the latest update, hit the link at the bottom to get a headstart.
A fresh round of updates to the Google Photos app began rolling out this week. Aside from a few small tweaks to wording, you're probably not going to see any noticeable changes as a result of installing the latest version, but as is often the case, there are at least several topics to cover in a teardown. We can look forward to counting up Likes on our shared photos, easier sharing of Motion Stills, and of course, the wider rollout of Google Lens. Also making a return appearance is Austin's infamous mysteryer feature.
When an update to Play Games v5.3 came out with a redesigned look back in November, it was missing one big element: Discovery. Users could check out their achievements, browse games they own, and even play some brand new mini-games, but there was barely anything in the app to help you find new games. With the release of v5.5, there's a brand new "Arcade" tab dedicated to just that.
It's no mystery that YouTube will be absorbing Google Play Music – that much we've known since July – but it's seven months later and we still don't really know any details outside of some rumors about a rebranding to YouTube Remix. The latest update to the YouTube Music app might shed a little bit of light on what we can expect regarding the apps we'll actually be using.
If there was any one common statement to be made about the subjects of music and smartphones, it's that they're both very personal to each of us. In the same way that some people prefer listening to metal, there are also those that insist on a very sparse homescreen. We might listen to EDM just like we might set up our wallpaper to cycle every hour. If you've taken the time to tailor your phone experience, you might not be happy about a common feature of music players that allows them to temporarily replace your lock screen background with album art. Google Play Music has always done this, but with the latest update to v8.7, you can now turn it off.
Google has begun rolling out the latest update to its signature search app to the beta channel. Version 7.22 appears to be a bit less ambitious than most recent updates, as existing features don't seem to be changing and most of the upcoming features aren't getting any major changes. Actually, most of the teardown is about follow-ups to things we've already known about. Nevertheless, there are new topics to discuss, so let's get right into it.
The Gmail team is rolling out a new update today, bringing the current version up to 8.2. There aren't any visible changes turning up right away, but there are hints of a couple new and potentially interesting features. We may be getting a new intelligent label that collects trip-related emails so it's easier to find them in a pinch. There is also a new feature in development that will make it easy to transfer your non-Google accounts from one device to another.
If you were around for yesterday's activities, you've already seen that Android Pay has been switched over to the new Google Pay branding, along with some upgrades to both the look and function. As part of the announcement, we were told that the Google Wallet app would be undergoing a short term rebranding of its own, taking on the name Google Pay Send. That version is now here, and unsurprisingly, it has been given some minor visual touch-ups. But not only that, it actually also got the reminders feature that was recently spotted in a teardown.
Gboard almost never fails to add an assortment of new, and sometimes unusual features with each update. The latest version bump doesn't disappoint. In this release, Gboard can now auto-complete email addresses from your contact list, adds support for Chinese and Korean keyboards, and launches a new universal media search feature that brings together emoji, stickers, and GIFs. There are also some other smaller improvements that will make it easier to set up multiple keyboards within a language and perhaps get suggestions and autocorrections for languages you've never even set up.
Google announced earlier today that it's taking the plunge with the Google Pay branding, meaning the Android Pay and Google Wallet names and branding are officially canned. To go along with the shift, a new version of the Android Pay...err, Google Pay app is rolling out with an updated look. It's going to take a little while to get used to that name. There are also some clues about what's to come, but we'll get to that in the teardown.
The latest Google Home update is rolling out with a handful of small-ish changes. Some of them are mostly cosmetic, and a few others are convenient links to matching features normally found in the Google app. A teardown also turned up some vague teases for new devices. There is also a new setting for devices that have reversible controls, but it's not clear if that's live for anything yet.
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A new version of Google Maps slipped out late last night, just in time for the weekend. While there are a couple of small cosmetic changes showing up, we haven't spotted any big additions yet. A teardown tells a bit of a different story. The Google Maps team is getting ready to add a new form for reporting road closures, and another for creating new accounts with Uber. There will also be a new notification for confirming your mode of transportations during commutes, and best of all, you'll soon be able to tell how full busses and subways are likely to be.
Since the launch of Android Auto, drivers have been disappointed by the requirement to have their phones tethered to a cable. Not only was it inconvenient to plug in each time you got in the car, especially if you had a lot of quick stops to make, but it was also problematic when most cars didn't feed enough power through the designated port to keep phones from draining. Google finally let it slip that Wi-Fi support would be launched for Auto, and with the latest version, it looks like Google is just about ready to make it a reality.
There's a new update to the Google Phone app rolling out to Google-supported devices (e.g. Pixel, Android One, etc.), and this one brings a long-awaited feature: Chat heads. More specifically, this is the floating widget with the contact photo of the person you're talking to. Also coming in the future, or possibly already live for some, is support for the new Real-Time Text protocol.
Version 3.14 of Google Photos just started rolling out a little earlier today. This one doesn't appear to have any new features or major changes, but it might possibly be leaving behind some older versions of Android. This update could also be preparing to launch the Favorites feature spotted in a previous teardown. Looking further into the APK's resources, there are also signs of more options related to Shared Libraries. And finally, Austin's Mysteryer feature takes yet another turn.
Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.
There's a new beta update to the Google app making the rounds. Like so many others, this one doesn't bring a lot of changes when it is first installed, but there are plenty of bigger things under the surface waiting to break out. While you can begin donating images to Google Lens today, the future also promises to have smart displays with shopping and YouTube suggestions, more places to set your default output devices for Assistant, and more.