About Manuel Vonau
Manuel Vonau is Android Police's Google Editor, with expertise in Android, Chrome, and other Google products — the very core of Android Police’s content. He has been covering tech news and reviewing devices since joining Android Police as a news writer in 2019. He lives in Berlin, Germany.
Manuel studied Media and Culture studies in Düsseldorf, finishing his university career with a master's thesis titled "The Aesthetics of Tech YouTube Channels: Production of Proximity and Authenticity." His background gives him a unique perspective on the ever-evolving world of technology and its implications on society. He isn't shy to dig into technical backgrounds and the nitty-gritty developer details, either.
Manuel's first steps into the Android world were plagued by issues. After his HTC One S refused to connect to mobile internet despite three warranty repairs, he quickly switched to a Nexus 4, which he considers his true first Android phone. Since then, he has mostly been faithful to the Google phone lineup, though these days, he is also carrying an iPhone in addition to his Pixel phone. This helps him gain perspective on the mobile industry at large and gives him multiple points of reference in his coverage.
Outside of work, Manuel enjoys a good film or TV show, loves to travel, and you will find him roaming one of Berlin's many museums, cafés, cinemas, and restaurants occasionally.
Latest Articles
What to expect at Google I/O 2024
Last year's I/O was all about AI, and we expect Google to double down on it this year
Google's annual developer conference is inching closer. The company has announced the dates for Google I/O 2024. While we don't know much about Google's plans for its big show, we have some expectations and educated guesses about what we will see. If last year is anything to judge by, Google will introduce more generative AI features powered by Gemini, and we may hear a word about Android 15. There could also be a hardware launch or two, with the Google Pixel 8a a hot candidate for a May reveal.
iPhones may get Google Gemini too
Apple could use Google's Gemini model for on-board generative Al
Samsung’s Galaxy AI features are already powered by Google’s Gemini models, but Google may have an even bigger partner on board soon. Reports claim that Google and Apple are talking about a partnership with Gemini at its core which could power some Apple-branded features.
Our favorite open-source 2FA app finally got the Material You redesign we've been waiting for
Aegis hits all the right marks with its new design
There are tons of great 2FA apps to choose from, but if you like an option that is both secure and stylish, Aegis may be the one to consider. The open-source project has started testing a new build in beta that comes with optional Material You theming, making it look more at home on Android than Google’s own Authenticator app.
Google silently fixed your Pixel’s notification history
Tapping recently dismissed notifications finally opens them again with the March Feature Drop
Sometimes, you inadvertently swipe away notifications you may want to get back to later, or that you haven’t even properly processed just yet. That’s where Android’s opt-in notification history comes in, giving you an overview of everything your apps sent you the past few days. On Pixels running Android 14, notification history has been having issues reliably opening apps when tapping recent notifications in it. It looks like this is now fixed with the March Feature Drop, which Google started rolling out earlier this month.
Google Chrome's phishing protection is now both faster and better
The browser now checks for threats in real time with Safe Browsing's Standard protection, promising up to 25% better phishing detection rates
Google Chrome wants to supercharge phishing protection with its latest update. The browser will check for new phishing and security threats in real-time as you visit new websites, rather than work with a downloaded list from Google servers. This makes it possible for sites to load faster all while blocking 25% more phishing attempts, as Google claims.
What’s new in Chrome 123: Android-style media player on desktop
Chrome 123 is working hard on feature parity across desktop and Android
Google’s incredibly fast browser release rhythm continues with Chrome 123, which is already going stable following Chrome 122's release last month. This week, it's poised to reach a small percentage of users while a wider rollout will only start a few days later. Chrome 123 is working on some interesting features and may offer a few new functionalities, so let’s dive in.
Spotify tackles YouTube Music head-on with music videos
It’s a limited release for now, but Spotify has big plans
For all its early flaws, there has always been one key feature YouTube Music stands for long before anyone else: access to all the music videos. With Spotify’s latest announcement, this advantage might soon fizzle out, though. The Swedish streaming giant has announced that it will start rolling out music videos in beta for select regions and titles.
Chrome for Android could get a (very limited) bottom bar again
A new flag for a bottom-based custom tab interface was spotted, but it will only be available with links opened from the Google app
A long time ago, Google experimented with moving some Chrome interface elements to the bottom on Android devices. The company has long scrapped these tests, and even though Chrome for iOS offers an optional bottom-based interface these days, we don’t see anything remotely like it on Android. This could finally change soon, but it looks like the bottom bar will only be used for some very specific activities.
Google paid out $10 million in vulnerability awards last year
The company held its first ever live-hacking event targeting LLM in 2023
The more complicated software gets, the more likely it is to have bugs or security loopholes. Google and many other companies recognize that, and they want to give hackers and security researchers an incentive to find and report problems. That’s where Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) comes in. Last year, the company paid out a total of $10 million to researchers reporting problems with Google software all around the world.
Google goes straight for Steam and Epic with native PC games
Meanwhile, in-game ads will look more immersive on Android, and other news from the Google for Games Developer Summit 2024
Google may have left the game streaming market with its big Stadia exit, but the company still seems committed to gaming as a whole. In 2022, it launched Google Play Games for PC, its biggest push yet towards gaming on desktop computers. Roughly two years later, at its annual Games Developer Summit, the company announced that it’s now expanding its catalog with more native PC games.
Google Chrome's custom tabs get a serious multitasking upgrade
The browser is rolling out support for picture-in-picture mode in custom tabs
Google’s custom tabs are an ingenious way to handle in-app links on Android, giving you access to your cookies and preferences on websites all without kicking you straight to Chrome. The concept of custom tabs has been largely unchanged over the past few years, with nothing but some minor improvements. The latest tweak is more fundamental, though. Using Android’s picture-in-picture mode, custom tabs can now stay active in the background.
Your Google Contacts could look a lot less messy soon
Messaging and calling options now take up only one line per service by default for some
The Google Contacts app can serve as your hub to message and call your friends and co-workers without first having to find them in WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, and Co. The interface can get a little overwhelming, though, with each contact page listing every possible action for every app (message, call, video call). This is now changing, with a new top-level menu only showing each service you and a given contact are connected on.
YouTube stops showing recommendations when you’re not logged in
A blank homepage is all that greets you when you first go to the entertainment platform
YouTube’s homepage is usually filled with recommendations when you first visit the website. If you’re logged in or if you’ve built a local history, these videos can often be genuinely interesting to you. That’s usually not the case when you first visit the entertainment website without being logged in. It looks like Google finally understands that, as YouTube has stopped showing any video recommendations at all for new, logged out users.
Here's the behind-the-scenes story on Fairphone's big camera update
The 2021 Fairphone 4 got a huge camera update, and we talked to the team about it
Fairphone is known for its sustainable and repairable phones that are built to last, long before Google and Samsung started offering seven years of software upgrades on their flagship phones. But a long software update cycle means nothing if you don’t keep adding new features during the lifespan of a device. Fairphone proved how it’s done with a big upgrade for the Fairphone 4’s camera. I sat down with Fairphone’s Technical Product Manager, Javier Manique, to find out how the company achieved this.
Your Pixel makes moving from voice to video call a one-tap action
The Google phone app now puts a seamless switch to Meet front and center
Sometimes, it’s much nicer to actually see who you’re talking to when you’re on the phone with someone. You may also just want to show the other party something that you see right now. That’s where a new chip in the Google Phone app comes in, which lets you seamlessly switch to a Google Meet call — if the other party has Meet, that is.
Google Files' document scanner is finally rolling out more widely
Not everyone uses Drive, so having the scanner in more Google apps is great
Google recently introduced a new document scanner to Drive on Android that takes a lot of hassle out of the scanning process. It then turned out that this scanning feature is actually a part of Google’s ML kit, available for use for any Android app. That’s exactly what Google Files now taps into, with the local file organization app now widely rolling out the familiar document scanner.
I tested Apple’s EU-only iOS 17.4, and it doesn't feel any closer to Android (yet)
The EU forced Apple to open up its platform, but there isn’t much to see right now
Last year, the EU introduced new rules for big tech companies deemed gatekeepers as part of its Digital Markets Act (DMA). Among the targeted companies are Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, but also Apple. While Google only had to change a few details about the way it handles Android with some small Android 14 upgrades, Apple was forced to drastically change its iPhone app store model, opening up its platform for third-party app markets and allowing more types of previously forbidden apps.
Chrome could simplify exiting full screen mode on desktops
Just press and hold the Esc key rather than a convoluted key combination
Google Chrome has offered a fullscreen mode on desktops for ages, but it’s never been particularly standardized how to access and exit it across platforms. That may be changing, as Google introduced a flag that gives you an easy-to-use keyboard shortcut to exit full screen. It's far more intuitive than the disparate options currently available.
This popular Android screen-mirroring tool gets better keyboard support and more
Scrcpy v2.4 adds some much-needed refinements
With tools like Link to Windows or ChromeOS’s Phone Hub long available, scrcpy may not be the star of the show anymore. The ADB-based command-line tool allows you to remotely view and control your Android phone from your computer, but ever since Google nerfed its ability to view and record secure apps, it’s not as vital for many people as it used to be. The open-source program is nevertheless still actively developed and used by many people, and the latest update to version 2.4 adds some much-needed refinements.
Google and Samsung are holding my favorite new feature hostage
Why is Circle to Search still only available on a handful of phones?
At the Samsung launch event earlier this year, we didn’t just see the Galaxy S24 series. There was also a surprise Google announcement, showing off its new “Circle to Search” feature on the newly released phone lineup. Like the name implies, you can circle anything on your screen to search, but the feature has a few more neat tricks up its sleeve. Almost two months after Galaxy Unpacked 2024, this wonderful feature still hasn’t made it to more than three phone series. As it stands, Samsung and Google are holding my favorite new Android feature hostage.