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Google Photos is testing a new way of finding your best shots
A more visual way of showing recommendations
Top Shot is one of the most useful Google Photos features, as it allows you to choose a better photo from a selection of similar images you've taken. It's been around since the Pixel 3 launched, and there's also a little suggestion chip that pops up to remind you to use it. It looks like that chip could be replaced by a new row of image previews, or at least that's what Google is currently testing on some users.
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Audio conversations on social media are all the rage today, but Android users have been left out in some quarters — both Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces have been exclusive to iOS users. While this remains the case for the former (it has announced plans for an Android app, though), Spaces is now opening up its test for Android users.
Scheduling texts in Google Messages is officially rolling out for everyone
In case you don't want to wake friends with the latest meme in the middle of the night
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You can already schedule messages in Gmail and Telegram (among others), and now Google Messages is joining the club. The functionality showed up for a few people as part of an a/b test back in November 2020, and today, Google has announced that the feature will come to everyone using Messages on Android 7 and higher. The option replaces the long-press shortcut for sending an MMS with a subject.
Audio communication seems to be the next big focus for Twitter. Last year, the micro-blogging platform introduced audio tweets (on iOS, anyway) and began testing its answer to Clubhouse, Spaces (again, iOS only). Now, it's experimenting with voice messages in DMs — a feature that's been available on social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram for a while now.
Hashtags are prevalent on many social media platforms these days. With regards to Google's own services, Google+ had hashtag support before it was killed off, and YouTube has had them for nearly three years at this point. Discover is the latest Google service to experiment with hashtags, though it does seem a little unnecessary.
YouTube tests option to share short looping clips instead of full videos
Limited to a small selection of content from a few creators right now
YouTube is always testing new features, some more controversial than others. The latest experiment revolves around sharing short, looping clips from longer videos. Creators and fans have been asking for a way to easily highlight memorable moments in long-form content, particularly when it comes to livestreams. With the new test, YouTube is working on bringing just that to the platform.
YouTube briefly tested cross-device downloads
The UI is live, but the feature doesn't seem to be functional yet
It looks like YouTube wants to make video downloads easier to manage for Premium users. A cross device offline settings entry has popped up and subsequently disappeared in the most recent Android app versions for some. While the feature apparently wasn't fully functional yet, it looks like it might allow you to download videos on your phone and make them automatically appear on other devices someday.
Google compares similar apps head-to-head in new Play Store experiment
This could greatly improve discoverability for developers
As one of the most important apps on a smartphone, Google is always making tweaks to the Play Store to improve its usability and design. Earlier this month, a controversial test was spotted that took hamburgers off the menu. Now the Play Store is experimenting with a new change that shows direct comparisons between similar apps to let users decide which best fits their needs.
Twitter gives users new settings for who's allowed to reply to your tweets
Just a little more control in the chaotic Twittersphere
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People online can sometimes be a little less civil than they would be in person, which is probably why Twitter is now introducing settings to restrict who can reply to your tweets. Assuming your profile isn't set to private, people will still be able to see, like, and retweet (with and without comments).
Shortly after starting to test an all-in-one record-and-publish function in the YouTube app, its developers have added another experiment that'll be useful for those of us who'd rather only watch videos. They're working on a button that lets you switch voice search languages right on the input screen. If you're multilingual and like using voice search, this will finally make it possible to search for videos that aren't available in the language you've set up in your YouTube app settings.
YouTube testing new one-stop recording and uploading feature in its app
As with YouTube Stories, individual clips apparently can’t be longer than 15 seconds
YouTube is testing a new all-in-one shooting and uploading feature for its creators using the platform's mobile apps. It allows people to record multiple clips right in the YouTube app and upload them as a new video. However, there's a limitation that's odd at first glance: It looks like creators will only be able to record 15-second long clips or takes at a time.
Twitter is rolling out separate 'Retweets with comments' tabbed UI on Android
Not all retweets are created equal, and there could soon be an easy way to tell the difference
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Twitter is testing a new way of showing users how each tweet has been shared, according to app sleuth Jane Manchun Wong. Right now, if a post has been retweeted, there's a counter showing how many times. What Twitter appears to be toying with is adding a separate counter for retweets that have comments attached to them, as well as a tabbed UI for easily switching between counters once you've open them up. These changes are already live in the iOS version of the app, so it was a matter of time before Android caught up.
YouTube is testing a new Products in this Video feature to turn viewers into shoppers
No idea what it looks like yet, though
YouTube is experimenting with a new "Products in this Video" feature that, as its name suggests, shows viewers which products are mentioned or shown in a video. We don't really know what that will look like yet, but Google says it should appear "overlayed on the video and below the video."
Google has been working on a bottom bar interface for Chrome for what feels like forever and keeps changing the layout. Initially, the browser had its complete app bar moved to the bottom, while recent implementation left the bare address bar up top and put all buttons (new tab/tab switcher, home, share, overflow menu) in the new location. The latest iteration of the design, accessible on Chrome Beta and Dev, reduces the number of shortcuts on the bottom from five to three, and people aren't happy about it.
Over the last few years, the YouTube creator community has grown closer together and collaborations have become a regular occurrence. To make it easier for you to find out which YouTubers participate in a video, Google is A/B testing a new 'featured in this video' section on Android. In it, you'll find an overview of partaking creators complete with links to their channels and the option to subscribe.
Last year, Google introduced Smart Compose to Gmail, a feature that takes the words right out of your mouth and completes sentences for you. It seems that it's both popular and reliable, as the company wants to start a test of the service in Google Docs, helping you complete common phrases and sentences more easily.
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- The new layout is now rolling out to everyone as part of v2019.10.13833 (APK Mirror) of Play Games. Thanks, Toni Damiani!
The design of Google's Play apps is like a neverending story, although not a very interesting one. Play Games has seen less flux than the Play Store, at least, but Google still tweaks its interface more often that is probably necessary. The latest change to be tested moves some of the core navigation around.
Battery level readings for connected Bluetooth devices are something that many of us Android users wanted for a long time, and we finally got it with Android 8.1 Oreo back in 2017. Nearly two years later, the same feature is now hitting Chrome OS with a flag that those in Canary can enable.
As any Android enthusiast will know, Google loves testing new UIs and features on random users. Sometimes the changes are welcome, but other times... not so much. This latest addition to Google Photos falls into the latter category, because a dedicated Printing tab is something that nobody asked for.
Let me set the scene for you: You're hanging out with your friends, the night is winding down, someone wants to play some music. You've got a Chromecast hooked up to the stereo, but they don't have Spotify. It's alright, it's just one song, you think. "What do you wanna play?" Some Lady Gaga cover by a prolific jazz band. You queue it up on your phone to play. Whatever, right?