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We've all been there: We ask Google Assistant a simple question and it decides to recite a 5-minute monologue for us. Brevity has been a long-standing request. It was first introduced for routines then for light controls on speakers, and now it'll be an option for all speech output on the new Assistant, which is available on the Pixel 4.
Nvidia is gearing up to launch two brand new Shield TV products, and in preparation, the company has now revamped its remote control phone app. If you have a Shield TV, you'll find a lot more here than what the standard Android TV Remote Control app provides.
Step by step, Google is improving its Messages experience. The last addition to the app in v5.0 was a dark theme that syncs with the system mode on Android 10, but a new version brings a more substantial feature: You can now set reminders for chats.
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- Google officially announced this experiments program as an open platform for designers and developers to submit ideas and try new things. Resources to get started are provided, plus the different apps are also open-source and available on GitHub.
Google isn't slowing down its Digital Wellbeing efforts. A little more than a year after its release, the app has matured with new features, parental control integration, Chrome browsing monitoring, and has become mandatory for all Android devices going forward. That isn't stopping Google from testing new angles that could help you curb your screen time and better manage your phone usage. To that end, the Google Creative Lab has released five new experimental wellbeing apps.
We know Hangouts isn't long for this world. Support for the service is winding down and being replaced by Meet and Chat, but the transition is slow and has only been initiated for G Suite users so far. Those with personal Gmail accounts can't migrate and many are still attached to Hangouts. Whether you're in that boat or you have some data in the app that you want to save, you probably hit a major issue when trying to download videos: you can't do it from the app.
Todoist is starting to roll out a major update to its task manager on all platforms. Dubbed "Foundations," the new version brings a lot of changes to project and task management, as well as a few interface improvements.
A lot of hubbub was caused by the discovery that the Pixel 3's wireless charging was limited to 5W on third-party pads. Even though the device was clearly able to fill up at 10W with the Pixel Stand, other brands of chargers weren't able to supply that much power unless they were accepted into the Made by Google program. The Pixel 4 eschews this ridiculous restriction and can charge wirelessly at up to 11W, even on third-party Qi pads.
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Consent. We've heard everyone talk a lot more about it these days, but it doesn't just apply to people, it should also be required in the tech world. Specifically, from our apps and the services we use. If I like a certain service but don't want to give it all the freedom to do everything it wants, I should be able to limit it. Take for example WhatsApp's groups. For years, anyone could add you to a group, without asking you or even knowing you, and WhatsApp let them do it. You just get a notification that you've been added to a group; you can leave it, sure, but you were already added. Not cool. But WhatsApp is finally remedying the situation.
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- Google has officially announced this feature and said it's aimed toward users in India. It also explained what you can do when your taxi deviates from its route, namely, you can easily share your trip with others so they keep a close eye on your movements and react if something is really wrong.
When you're traveling to a new country, region, or even an unfamiliar part of your own town, and hailing a ride, you may be suspicious of the driver taking advantage of your cluelessness to charge you more or for more nefarious reasons. That's why I often keep a tab on the drive in Google Maps when riding a cab while traveling, but I have to repeatedly glance at my phone to notice any awkward routing. Maps recognizes this use case and is now offering to do the work in the background and notify you when your driver goes off the logical path.
The music industry doesn't make things easy for any service in the business of distributing songs. Despite the tight laws and regulations, most music services have figured out a way to make your subscription valid across country borders. That, however, has never been Google's strongest suit, and YouTube Music is one of the biggest examples. When the service launched, subscribers noticed that if they traveled to an unsupported country, they lost all of their privileges. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
With Pixel 4 units in hundreds of hands, we've seen divisive reports about its new Soli radar technology and Motion Sense. Our own Ryne and Scott say it works more or less for them, but they fail to see its utility just yet, while Marques Brownlee showed how unreliable it is for him (YouTube). Here's an unexpected opinion though: Artem loves it and it works very well for him.
After the Pixel 4's announcement, we were surprised to discover it didn't offer free original quality backups on Google Photos like its predecessors. The next day, a Redditor made things even worse for Pixel users by explaining that the new iPhones do get unlimited original quality backups on Photos because they use the HEIC format. We've reached out to Google and got confirmation that this is indeed the case, but it's a "bug" that'll be fixed.
With smart locks becoming more readily available and more reliable, many customers have made the switch and streamlined entrance to their homes. If you're a house owner, that and a garage opener are likely all you need, but if you live in an apartment building, things become more complicated. What good is a smart lock if you can't get into the building or gate in the first place? Intercoms are the next obstacle to overcome.
Despite the Pixel 4's multitude of new camera chops, you can still reproach it for a few missing features. It lacks a wide-angle camera, it doesn't have autofocus on the front cam, and Google still limits 4K video capture to 30fps. The company has clarified the reasoning behind the latter.
After months and months of leaks, anyone excited about the Pixel 4 was finally able to pre-order it last week. Devices weren't supposed to ship until October 24, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Several users have reported that their Pixel 4 and 4 XL orders have shipped and should be reaching them a few days earlier than scheduled.
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- Google has officially announced Gmail's dark mode, saying the rollout begins today and will take 15 days (or potentially more) to show up for all users.
When Android 10 officially rolled out, dark mode aficionados were a bit miffed to see that several of the apps that were still white hadn't been updated yet. The Google app, Play Store, Maps, and Gmail were the biggest holdouts, but now the last one is finally getting its darkness on.
A few weeks ago, several Google apps added a nifty gesture that allows you to quickly switch between your accounts. It started with Maps, then Drive, Contacts, and Gmail followed suit. Now two other apps are bringing the same change: Keep and the Google app.
Google announced several enhancements to the photo-taking experience on the Pixel 4, including a more powerful zoom and new astrophotography abilities. As time passes, more details are emerging about other smaller improvements coming to the device, like Top Shot being available for short videos, and now we're learning about a new feature called Frequent Faces.
The new Pixelbook Go is leaving a lot of us confused. Instead of being a Pixelbook successor, the Go feels more like a cheaper, simpler option made to attract more users to the Chrome OS ecosystem. If you were already questioning whether it counts as an upgrade or not, we have one more clarification for you: The Pixelbook Pen doesn't work on the new Go.
Along a slew of announcements today, Google glanced over the fact that its Nest displays will be expanding their availability and launching in new countries. The Hub is coming to three new countries, for a total of 15, and the Hub Max is doubling its presence from three to six countries.