Android is Google’s open-source mobile operating system; think of it like a public park compared to Apple’s walled garden. It dates back to 2007, and though its dessert-inspired version names were retired in 2019 for a straightforward numbering system, there will always be a special place in our hearts for an OS called “Oreo” and “Ice Cream Sandwich.
Google brought its gradient “G” logo to iPhones and Pixel devices earlier this week, but now it’s showing up more broadly across Android devices, as spotted by 9to5Google. The company still hasn’t officially acknowledged the change, but maybe it will give it a mention during I/O next week.
Alongside a shiny rebrand and airline integration, Google is expanding the range of trackers in its Find Hub network. But not with boring practicalities like better battery or more accurate tracking — no, we get Baby Yoda, thanks to a new set of Disney-themed tags from Pixbee.
Android XR didn’t get a lot of screen time at today’s Android Show — apart from confirmation that it’s going to get Gemini AI support — but Google promises that there’s more to come at the full Google I/O event next week.
Android president Sameer Samat even broke out the company’s prototype XR shades to promise some “really cool Android demos” to come. And as you can see, this is a man who knows what’s cool.
You’ll be able to share the location of trackers in its Find Hub network (formerly Find My Device) with airline staff when you need to find lost luggage, just like you already can with Apple’s AirTags. Support won’t arrive until “early next year” though, and only on five airlines — while Apple supports over 15.
Google is celebrating another RCS milestone, and this one’s a doozy: one billion messages sent in the US every day. Considering RCS had just reached one billion total monthly users at the end of 2023, it’s a big jump. That’s no doubt thanks to Apple turning on RCS support in iOS 18 and making it the default protocol when you’re not on iMessage. Sure doesn’t hurt!
Announced during today’s pre-I/O event, it’s called Material 3 Expressive. It adds more customization options and lots of colors and animations. It’ll drop as part of the Android 16 beta, which will also support Live Updates.
Everyone pretend like we didn’t just see it all last week.
We’re expecting to see Google’s colorful new design language as part of the Android pre-I/O show. New colors are fun! Fun is good! But I’m not sure Google can show us something “cool” enough to win the hearts of iPhone-loving teenagers.
Google’s designers want to capture the youth demo with a vibrant new OS treatment, but there’s only so much they can do.
The company is teasing its next launch, presumably the Xperia 1 VII, which it will reveal on May 13th (well, in Japan — it’ll be the evening of May 12th in the US). The teaser shows off a familiar design and some Alpha camera features.
Last’s year’s Xperia 1 VI never launched in the US, and with no US time zones mentioned, a repeat of that looks likely too.
Only the albums’ owner can make changes, with the option to save the edits just to their own gallery as a copy or also to the shared album, Google writes in a help page. The feature is already live in Google Photos on the web and in iOS, and is now coming to the Android version of the app, as well, as Android Authority notes.
[androidauthority.com]
Android whisperer Mishaal Rahman has a thorough writeup for Android Authority detailing some of the potential UI changes he’s found under the hood in Android 16’s beta releases. One that caught my eye: the ability to resize quick settings tiles and a new tile editor organized by category, which is all very iOS 18. There are other visual changes afoot too, like more use of background blur on screens like the app drawer and the multitasking view. No doubt we’ll find out more soon.
Nearly one year ago, Google said it would upgrade its photo picker with a way to search your local or cloud library to find specific photos to share with an app. Now, Android Authority contributor Kamila Wojciechowska has spotted the feature on her device, hopefully saving you from digging through countless photos.
It’s still not clear when Google plans to widely roll this out, though Android Authority notes that it’s “enabled in recent Google Play System Updates” but not yet on Google Photos.
[androidauthority.com]
After the September Pixel Watch update to Wear OS 5 ran into issues, Google released a fix in November and said its wearables would have to wait until March for another update.
However, that March update and Google’s first attempt at an April update introduced some bugs of their own, and now it’s rolling out the April update again (version BP1A.250305.019.W8) to hopefully get Pixel Watch owners on Wear OS 5.1 without all of those problems.
[support.google.com]
