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Chrome OS 76 released to stable with Android-style media controls, virtual desktop support, and more
Following a bit of a hiccup when it came to the previous Chrome OS 75 release, Chrome OS 76 has been pushed to the Stable Channel and is rolling out to some devices. As well as picking up features from Chrome 76, the latest release includes Android-style notification media controls, support for virtual desktops, some accessibility improvements, and GPU acceleration for some Chromebooks in Crostini/Linux containers, among a whole pile of other changes — and you'll get to hear about most of them via the new "What's new with your Chromebook?" release notes notification when you upgrade.
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- Google's changelog page for Chromebook updates is now live. You can find it here and see the most important changes included in the latest release of Chrome OS.
Google's Chrome OS usually sees a "major" Stable Channel update about every six weeks, but if you don't follow the news at places like our site, you might have trouble knowing what is new or changed in the latest version when it hits. That gives new features in Chrome OS like the upcoming Virtual Desks a bit of a discoverability problem, but according to a recently spotted commit on the Chromium Gerrit, new "Release Notes" may appear following future updates to Chrome OS, illuminating the changes delivered with new versions.
Today Google has announced that Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have access to a small pile of new "Lexend" family of fonts meant to make reading a bit easier. Based on a bit of research which claims that character size, spacing, and stretch can enhance understanding if customized to reading speed, the new fonts come in eight different widths from "Zetta" to "Deca."
Starting today, you'll be able to log into some Google services from your phone with nothing more than your fingerprint (or another screen unlock method). Although Android got support for FIDO2 earlier this year, Google is now allowing some of its services to take advantage of the protocol's password-less authentication, starting today with Pixel devices, and rolling out over the next few days more widely to other devices running Android 7 Nougat and later.
Over the last week or so, the popular SMS to Gmail backup application SMS Backup+ has finally stopped working as a result of Google's Gmail API changes. When messages regarding the app's impending loss of functionality were sent out a few months back, our readers were understandably upset. After all, over five million people use SMS Backup+, and not just for backups, but for moving messages between devices and the convenience of Gmail-based threaded conversation view. Thankfully, SMS Backup+ has an IMAP-based workaround which still works.
Samsung's reservation page for the "next generation of Galaxy" (i.e., the Galaxy Note10) just went live, and with it comes a table of trade-in values. Parties interested in swapping their old phone for Samsung's upcoming hardware can get up to $600 in value if they send in a Galaxy S10-series phone, iPhone X variant, or Pixel 3. Note that at the time of writing, that's full credit for a Pixel 3's as-new price.
Samsung's latest Galaxy Note10 was released just earlier this week, and this year the Note is a whole series of devices in two different sizes, with a 5G variant. The company's vision for the Note series has definitely changed, and it remains to be seen if public opinion has changed with it. But as the latest major Android phone to land, and with pre-orders formally open, we have to ask: Are you going to buy a Note10?
It seems like almost every hour, some new small-town bank in the US backwoods picks up support for Google Pay. Well over two thousand financial institutions already work with Google's payment platform, including all the big names you expect, but a few more of smaller stature have been recently added. For those with an account at one of the banks listed below, it's time to celebrate.
Samsung's Galaxy Note10, Note10+, and Note10+ 5G are all official. Following that long and leaky wait, you can now pre-order the latest stylus-equipped Note series flagship. And whether you're already locked into a specific carrier, or hoping to shop around for a deal, you can save quite a bit of cash taking advantage of the right pre-order promotions.
Samsung's phones always have a little something for everyone. If you need extra storage for niche workflows or huge offline music collections, you could always pick up a Galaxy S or Note phone with microSD support, and even enjoy the anachronism of a headphone jack. That's Samsung's M.O.: build phones with everything. But over the years, that approach slowly began to change, and with the Note10, I think it's fair to say the Samsung "kitchen sink" smartphone is now firmly a thing of the past.
Being an early adopter means accepting the inevitable bugs and issues that accompany the experience. For those that jumped on the Android Q Developer Previews, that meant a whole pile of app issues and incompatibilities as developers worked out the kinks associated with the updated platform. But Pokémon Go users can breathe a sigh of relief, as the latest update of the augmented reality game works with Android Q.
Following a recent update to the Zenfone 6, some owners have been reporting system stability problems including frequent crashes/restarts, network connectivity problems, and bootloops. According to a recent statement issued by an ASUS representative on the company's ZenTalk forums (spotted by PiunikaWeb), the issue is a hardware fault in affected devices which is triggered by the update.
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- A pre-IFA leak suggests that LG may be about to introduce a handset dubbed the V50s. Even if we're not quite moving into V60 territory just yet, this still feels like the device the manufacturer may have been referring to with its latest dual-screen teaser.
A month ahead of the event, LG has just pushed out a teaser video, telling folks to "save the date" on Friday, September 6th during IFA. In the video, LG shows off what looks like a folding, dual-screen device, though it's probably another dual-screen case for an upcoming phone, similar to the one made for the V50 ThinQ 5G. Given the timing and the dual-screen connection, LG is probably going to show off the V60 (ThinQ?) at IFA.
Demand for expensive phones might be slowing, but consumerism as a whole continues. In the wake of our collective and unceasing desire for more, better, cheaper, Google is the latest company to stand up on a sustainability soapbox, announcing its intention to better the environmental impact of its "Made by Google" products. In a series of vague and easily met goals, the company wants to ensure that 100% of its hardware include recycled materials by 2022, with 100% of shipments being carbon neutral by next year.
Over the weekend, OnePlus appears to have silently (accidentally?) rolled out its next Android Q Developer Preview for the OnePlus 7 Pro. Among the included features are new "super macro" and focus tracking settings for the camera, Digital Wellbeing, configurable Zen Mode duration, and new options for gesture navigation. Although the previous Developer Preview 3 landed for the OnePlus 7, 7 Pro, 6, and 6T all at once, for now only the 7 Pro appears to have Developer Preview 4 early.
Over the last six months or so, reports regarding a shaking/stuttering/vibrating issue with the smaller Pixel 3's camera have been building up, with hundreds of replies accumulating among threads discussing the issue at Google's Pixel Help forums, as well as other venues. By all appearances, this is a hardware problem, and for whatever reason, the smaller Pixel 3 is more likely to experience it.
Earlier this week, Google pushed out a big new update for Android Auto, marking the first really substantial change since the in-dash software platform landed in cars all the way back in 2015. Between the standalone app and the fact that most car makers now support Android Auto in their high-end infotainment systems, odds are that many of you have at least tried it out over the last few years. Do you use Android Auto now?
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- The Verizon version of the S10+ is also getting Night mode in this update according to some user reports. The build numbers were the same, but the changelog published by Verizon made no mention of the feature, so we weren't sure if it would also be receiving it. Our coverage has been updated to express that both carrier's phones will be getting Night mode.
Samsung's new "Night" photo setting is rumored to finally compete with Google's excellent Night Sight, but there's just one hitch: When the feature first rolled out, it was limited to Exynos-powered Galaxy S10s, which aren't available in the US. However, the folks at XDA Developers have spotted the feature as live on the most recent AT&T and Verizon update for the Galaxy S10+.
Pixels may take great photos, but both Android and the platform's applications have otherwise lagged behind iOS when it comes to color management, to the displeasure of photographers and designers alike. However, the latest version of Google Photos (v4.21) finally delivers wide color gamut support, though it does cause a few issues on some devices like the OnePlus 7 Pro.
Google has announced a handful of changes to Google Fit today. In addition to the formal announcement that the dark theme is now fully rolled out (though it started happening last month), Google Fit is picking up some snazzy new charts for sleep tracking integrations which returned to the app earlier this year.