latest
Chromebook users can look forward to Android apps and games that work better, and soon
Freeform windows may no longer be the bane of your Android app UX
Over the years, Google has taken baby steps to adapt Android towards bigger screens. With Android 10 came the advent of a generic desktop mode while Android 12L contained a full suite of optimizations for tablets and foldable devices. But with Chromebook owners seem keen on seeking utility from Android apps, no matter how broken they can be with malformed UIs in freeform windows, this just-announced addition to Android Studio sounds well overdue.
Chrome for desktop's latest interface tweak will make it easier to hop between search results
Available as an experiment in Chrome Canary for now
Chrome for Android recently added an experiment that allows you to move Google search results right below the address bar, making it easy to switch between found websites without having to return to the results overview itself. The company has now shared that it’s testing a similar option in Chrome for desktop, where it’s putting search results in a sidebar.
YouTube gets official video downloads on the web, saving you from using some very sketchy sites
For Premium members only, of course, and only for a limited time
Downloading content for playback later is most useful on mobile, where your connection quality is determined by your location. But there are plenty of us whose home connection isn't so great either, or who prefer to play back media on laptops that are likewise limited by location. To that end, YouTube is now testing downloaded video on the desktop for Premium subscribers.
Google's upgrading Chrome Tab Groups with the ability to save them for later
It's live in Canary for desktop, but doesn't seem to be fully working yet
Chrome's Tab Groups feature is an excellent way to stay organized if, like me, you tend to let your tabs multiply faster than rabbits on a diet of Spanish fly. While Tab Groups can be renamed, collapsed, expanded, and even marked with a color for easy visibility, none of those changes stay with you into a new browser session. Until now, that is: a new flag option in the latest version of Chrome Canary lets users save tab groups.
Chrome is about to be more forgiving with accidentally closing your tabs
An upcoming Chrome change instantly loads recently closed tabs
We've all made that annoying mistake of accidentally closing our Chrome browser tabs and windows. It's especially a hassle to wait for Chrome to reload them — it takes even longer depending on your network and how heavy the webpages are. Accidental closers won't have to grieve much longer, as Google is working on a nifty "magic trick" to remove the time spent waiting for Chrome to reload your tabs.
There's been a lot of buzz this year about Apple's fancy new M1-powered iPads and iMacs, but the chip isn't actually new. It debuted in a handful of devices last year, including the delightfully compact Mac Mini. That means Apple's li'lest desktop packs quite a punch for its size — and you can scoop one up for $70 off its normal going price on Amazon right now.This particular model comes with the aforementioned M1 chip, plus eight gigabytes of RAM and 256 gigs of storage, which should be plenty of headroom for regular computing. It's also small enough to attach to the backside of your monitor, which is just delightful.
Google Workspace users are finally getting the handy Maps shortcut in Calendar
Don't worry, you can get rid of it if you don't want it
Read update
About two years ago, Google added sidebars to its web apps, enhancing its services with miniature versions of Calendar, Tasks, or Keep, and you can even integrate third-party applets. For the first time in ages, a web app has now received a new standard integration — you can now access an almost full-blown version of Maps right inside Google Calendar.
Chrome 90 gets a speed and security boost with an overdue policy change
HTTPS coming to the fast lane
After years of propping up widespread adoption of the protocol, Google will release Chrome 90 as the first version of the web browser to transmit data to and from sites using HTTPS instead of HTTP by default.
Chrome to get improved payment and password management across devices
Seamless autofill will be available whether you sync Chrome or not
Saving payment information and passwords to Chrome can be super handy, but it currently works only if you choose to sync your settings on each device. Over the coming months, Google will make changes to the payment and password manager so that you can use it seamlessly even when Chrome sync is switched off.
Join app will soon have a new desktop client with clipboard sync and keyboard shortcuts
It's in beta, for now
Join is the Pushbullet clone created by João Dias (also known as 'joaomgcd'), the same developer behind Tasker and many of its popular add-ons. It allows notifications from your Android device to appear on your computer, complete with the ability to respond to text messages, take screenshots, and more. Join is now testing a new desktop application, with multi-platform support and the ability to sync clipboard data.
Google has apparently taken the criticism regarding last week's favicon changes to heart, promising to "experiment" with different layouts that offend our collective sensibilities just a little less. Even now, the company has apparently rolled back the favicon change for at least some of us as it mulls over how to better implement the change.
Google Search has grown from being a dull list of color-changing links to a more interactive tool with a modern design. Over the past few weeks, Search stepped up to become your how-to guide, watchlist manager, and even a widget to track your packages. To maintain that flow and make the results page visually appealing, Google is now adding website favicons against each result for desktop searches.
YouTube has been testing a bunch of new features for its desktop client in recent months. It now feels confident enough to debut two of them to the public: viewers can now assemble a queue of videos and will be able to manually tailor their channel recommendations.
Google has been working quite a bit on its news offerings over the past year. An overhauled Google News app launched a year ago, and has continued to get updates since, but the News tab in desktop Google Search has has had the same design for ages. That will soon change though, as Google has announced a redesign for the tab.
One of the little known secrets of Google's online labyrinth of sites is passwords.google.com, a destination where you can view, copy, and delete all the passwords you've agreed to save with Google and/or Chrome. For a while, the site didn't let you edit saved passwords, but now it does. And that same functionality can be accessed inside Chrome on Android and desktop (and possibly other platforms too), but it requires a trick now. Soon though, it'll be implemented natively.
Read update
Google began a Material Theme refresh of its desktop search UI last fall comprising tweaks all users see now, including a search "box" with rounded corners, more white, and a persistent search bar. The next step may be nigh, as the search engine is testing the addition of Material Theme icons that sit beside each search menu filter (e.g., News, Maps, Images, etc.) and are colorized when their corresponding filter is active.
It has always been the dream to reliably control one's smartphone from a computer — through syncing notifications, texting from the PC, and screen mirroring. Several apps have targetted different aspects of this — Microsoft's Your Phone being one of the more high-profile ones. With the recent v.3.8.4 update, the Your Phone app now supports MMS and using mobile data to sync notifications, photos, and messages.
A lot of planning for a trip typically takes place while a person is sat down with a PC — there's room to cross-reference prices, blow up the fine print, and open up a ton of tabs there. But until today, Google didn't really have a convenient hub for all of that information as well as things like weather forecasts and suggested guides on the desktop — sure, Google Trips might be a wonderful app, but it doesn't scratch that itch. Now, we finally have another option: google.com/travel
Read update
- We got reports this week from our commenters saying that web-based reminders are back again. Lo and behold:
Google may need a reminder on how reminders are supposed to work. Multiple users have complained about not being able to set reminders with Google search — it's a feature that has gone missing time and again over the past couple of years.
Read update
- Never mind. For some reason, Facebook's own blog post neglected to mention that this is only for the iOS app — we had to learn that from The Verge. Facebook says that it has no plans for an Android redesign because Messenger Lite already exists, so us Android users will have to keep dealing with a slow, bloated app.
Facebook's Messenger app has gotten pretty hefty over the years, now weighing in at over 100MB. Some phones can't even run it properly, hence the need for a Lite version. Today at its F8 conference, Facebook announced a bunch of improvements coming Messenger's way, including a much lighter [iOS] mobile app and a desktop client.