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Google rolls out redesigned, reorganized Assistant updates tab (Updated)
A new 'Snapshot' of your day and what's ahead for you
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Google's new, less intrusive Assistant is already available on the Pixel 4, but the redesign it received has mostly affected the voice command interface. The updates tab, Google Now's spiritual successor, kept the same look. Now, Google appears to be testing an overhauled dashboard with more gradients and chronological organization.
Android Pie is ready to look after your digital health, but only if you let it. The suite of features that were announced as part of Digital Wellbeing at I/O 2018 finally came to life when Pie 9.0 was released earlier this week, but you had to sign up for them, wait for an email, and then join the beta to get them on your device. Now, the process is much faster.
As they say, "If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." Most of us probably don't realize that there's more to the subject than just diet and exercise, and how we use our phones can have an impact, too. Once upon a time, our work/life balance was separated by real, physical distance, but thanks to the magic of mobile phones, we can all carry our work home with us in the form of life-interrupting notifications. That's not to mention social media's constant dopamine drip, which keeps us all scrolling like zombies and wasting away the best years of our life envying the lives of Instagram "influencers," or learning random, pointless facts from Reddit.
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Today is P-Day, ground zero for the Android 9 phone invasion, but Google has an extra health-related surprise waiting with Pie's release. The Digital Wellbeing features shown off by Google at I/O didn't make an appearance during the Android P developer previews, but a test for the health-related tools has just launched. Interested Pixel-equipped parties can enroll in the beta starting today.
You would think that Google wants you on your phone as much as possible. That's where it can sell you ads and services in order to make money — that's its bread and butter. Yet Google CEO Sundar Pichai made a surprising announcement at Google I/O today. Upcoming new features in Android are going to help you get away from your phone and spend more time by yourself or with your family.
Google offers so many products and services, it can be hard to keep track of them all. Google tries to address this problem with Dashboard, a place to view all of your account's data in one place. But the page has never had a mobile layout, so trying to use it on phones has been somewhat of a pain.
For months a small subset of Android users have been seeing a new dual-tabbed interface in the official Google search app's UI. The second tab, initially labelled "Dashboard" and then changed to an icon-only "Upcoming," is now official. Google announced the big change on its Keyword search blog, revealing that the feature should roll out to all Android users starting now, with the iOS version of the Search app following suit later.
There are tiles with more detailed information for each measured metric, better information density on the screen, an option to customize the tile order, a new bottom row to quickly jump to the challenges, friends, and account tabs, a FAB to manually log anything in the app, a new account page, and an option in the settings to revert between the new and old dashboard.
Back in August, Google started testing out a second tab in the Google app and Google Now (RIP), dividing content between the main feed and a secondary one called Dashboard.
Mankind loves to obsess over numbers, statistics, and data. Ok, maybe not everybody is stuck on tracking every last thing that happens; but if you're reading this site, there's a good chance you're already checking your monthly activity reports each time Google fires off an email reminder. That addiction to numbers is about to get much more interesting. Google is merging the monthly activity report with Dashboard to produce a super-sized page full of facts and stats about how you're using Google's services.
With the number of options that are out there, our smartphones have gradually become more useful for in-car navigation than dedicated GPS units. Unfortunately, holding a phone in your hand isn't the safest (or most legal) driving habit, and mounting your device to the dashboard doesn't work as gracefully as many accessories out there claim. Yet Scosche might be on to something with its latest products, the magicMOUNT magnetic mounts.
I drive a 2003 Ford Ranger. It's reliable, sturdy, and I'll keep it till the wheels fall off, but it is not what you'd call "advanced." The digital displays and integrated electronics of today's cars and trucks put mine to shame, even with a decent aftermarket stereo. Dash, the first app from the eponymous developer and startup, aims to change that. This free app connects to an onboard diagnostics tool (OBD, compatible with most cars from the 90s onward) via Bluetooth to report statistics and other information in real time.
Amid all the gadgets and gizmos at CES, Sony has quietly announced a new in-car entertainment system, the XSP-N1BT. It was announced so quietly, in fact, that everyone seemed to miss it until @evleaks pointed it out. It seems like Sony should have made a bigger deal, because it looks neat.
Google Updates Platform Distribution Numbers – Gingerbread Down To 38.5%, Jelly Bean Up To 28.4%
As usual Google has updated monthly platform distribution numbers for Android in its developer dashboard. The numbers, based on devices accessing the
As usual Google has updated monthly platform distribution numbers for Android in its developer dashboard. The numbers, based on devices accessing the Play Store over the last 14 days (ending May 1st), tell developers which versions of Android are most prevalent, and which are on the decline.
Yesterday, Android Police was in San Jose checking out some nifty things at NVIDIA's 2013 GPU Technology Conference. At one of the events, the Tegra team showed off a few prototypes of automotive dashboards they're hoping to put into cars of the future.
Google has once again updated the Android platform distribution numbers. The numbers, released right on schedule today, show Gingerbread still leading the pack at 56% of devices (down from 57.5% last month), with Jelly Bean crawling up the ladder to 1.8%, up from 1.2% last time.
PSA: Your Android Devices Appear In Google Dashboard, Find Out Which Apps Have Backups Available
The Google Dashboard is a handy tool for keeping up with what information Google has stored for you in its various different products. One piece of the
The Google Dashboard is a handy tool for keeping up with what information Google has stored for you in its various different products. One piece of the handy information, though, has taken a while to become available but it's there now: your Android devices. It's unclear if this feature has been around for a while, but either way, it's useful. If you'd like to see which devices are registered with Google, and more interestingly, which apps on those devices have backups stored on Google's servers, you can do so from your dashboard.