Latest Articles
What’s new in Chrome 125: Testing a redesigned new tab page
Chrome 125 also tests some serious improvements for tabs on Android
Google Chrome releases come to our devices every month at their incredibly fast 4-week cadence. Following hot on the heels of Chrome 124, the latest version in line is Chrome 125, which has reached its beta stage just now. There are quite some quality-of-life features Google is preparing for this release, so read on to find out everything you need to know.
I reviewed phones for 5 years — here’s my pick right now
For all its flaws, the Google Pixel 8 is the phone I’d buy today
When I started at Android Police as a part-time news writer in 2019 while I was still studying, I would have never dreamed of becoming the publication’s Google Editor. Yet here we are, and I’m at the forefront of what Android Police is all about: Google products, Pixel phones, Android releases, and Chrome versions. I’ve also had the chance to look at the phone industry from many different angles and could test some unique phones from brands like Fairphone, Honor, Xiaomi, and Unihertz.
Google is constantly tweaking and refining its Android apps. While full feature updates are far and few between these days, the same can’t be said for design tweaks that aim to improve the consistency and the design here and there to match Material Design 3. It looks like a redesign like this is headed for the Google Meet section within the Gmail app, which is slated to receive a design element Gmail first introduced for the Chat section.
What do you love about Android, Myriam Joire?
We’re talking to an industry veteran to learn all about what makes Android special to her
Android has been with us for more than 15 years now, or even longer depending on how you count. What was once merely meant to be an OS for cameras has turned into the operating system powering some of the best smartphones around the world, and we're coming up to Android 15 later in 2024. Android has made its way to more devices, like tablets, but also more unlikely use cases like IoT devices and even point of sales terminals.
This Pixel Tablet feature shows what’s wrong with Google
There’s a new note shortcut on the lock screen taunting you with a ‘Coming soon’ banner
The Google Pixel Tablet is a strange device that wants to be a jack of all trades but is a master of none. It’s a serviceable tablet, but doesn’t feature any first-party productivity accessories like a stylus or a keyboard. It’s a good enough smart home display, but doesn’t support some key Nest Hub features like Continued Conversation. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fine, but it’s definitely not $500 fine.
How to easily install the Android 15 Beta on your Pixel
The Android 15 testing program is now in full swing, here's how to become part of it
While the Android 14 QPR beta program is still in full swing, Google has also started testing Android 15. Early developer previews are historically meant for, well, developers, which is why they are rather difficult to install. But that's different for the beta versions, which you can easily get onto your Pixel by joining the Android Beta Program. Here's what you need to know.
Android 15: Leaks, timeline, and everything new in Beta 1
Here's what we know about Android 15 now that the first beta has landed
New Android 14 releases may still be in testing as part of the Android 14 QPR beta, but Google has turned its attention to Android 15 with the launch of the full-scale beta program. The upcoming Android release promises security, performance, and camera enhancements for the latest and greatest Android phones across the board, but it's likely that Google is still keeping a few features under wrap. Read along to learn everything you need to know about Android 15, which devices are supported, and what features were spotted under development.
Android 15 Beta 1 is here, but many details are still under wraps
Google wants us to stay tuned for more user-facing changes at Google I/O
After two months of developer previews, Google has finally released Android 15 Beta 1. While the beta usually offers more user-facing changes, Google is still pretty light on details with this build, giving us only a few more details on what we can expect. Instead, the company is pointing to Google I/O for more details, which will take place on May 14 this year, basically confirming that this is when we will get the second beta with more features.
What’s new in Chrome 124: Changes to local password storage
The latest Chrome release could prep a Circle-to-Search-style feature for desktop
Hot on the heels of the stable Chrome 123 release last month, Google has already moved on to its next browser version, Chrome 124. The new Chrome release may not offer a lot of instantly visible changes, but there are some interesting developments happening under the hood. Let’s dive right in.
My favorite custom Android ROM is dead
The Pixel Experience ROM gave my aging Nexus 6P a new lease on life
The heydays of custom ROMs are long behind us, but there are still some great ROM options out there if you’re not happy with your phone’s software situation. As a big fan of the Pixel software design and features, there was one that stuck out over the years for me — the Pixel Experience ROM. It’s a custom ROM that aims to bring devices as close to the original Pixel experience as possible, and it’s the ROM that managed to breathe some more life into my aging Nexus 6P back in the day.
The end goal isn’t to have zero passwords, says Bitwarden’s passkey expert
In our interview, passwordless.dev lead Anders Åberg explains how passkeys will change the future of authentication
Bitwarden may not offer passkey logins on all platforms just yet, like some of its competitors, but the password manager is definitely in it for the long run. The company approaches the novel login method from a holistic perspective. It's looking into making it easy for both its users and websites that still need to implement passkeys. To that end, the company purchased Passwordless (often written as passwordless.dev), which provides an API framework that allows developers to add passkey logins to their projects within hours.
Here's how to prompt Gemini, according to Google
Google published a cheat sheet to get the most out of its AI tool
Generative AI tools like Google Gemini promise to take a lot of work from our shoulders. While these models still need to prove their true value in the long run, a lot of businesses and individuals are already trying to integrate them into their workflows and lives as much as possible. Gemini and other chat-based tools like it aren’t exactly easy to use, though, given the sheer infinite number of questions or prompts you can ask them. That’s where a 45-page handbook from Google itself comes in, which the company introduced at its business-focused Cloud Next 2024 event.
The Google Search widget will get a Material You overhaul
The overdue design update is still hidden but looks ready to go
Google has updated countless apps and widgets to match its Material Design 3 guidelines, which the company introduced all the way back in Android 12. Fast forward to Android 14, and the Google Search widget is still one of the few outliers that has been largely ignored by the company’s designers. That might finally be bound to change, as a new settings page was spotted under development that reveals a look at a Material You theme option.
Google finally launches its Find My Device network
The company cites privacy and security concerns as the cause of the delay
Apple’s Find My network is incredibly powerful. Leveraging the crowd, the network is capable of finding devices that aren’t even actively connected to the internet, and it even works when your iPhone is turned off. After months of rumors and preparations, Google is finally launching its answer for all the best Android phones and its own trackers today. Google’s Find My Device network is rolling out now.
Google thinks it just solved JPEG's biggest problems
A new compression algorithm is supposed fix those annoying artifacts and save some serious storage space
Let’s face it: as ubiquitous as JPEGs are, they don't always offer the best image quality. They can be compressed much further than lossless formats like PNG, and the nature of the file format can introduce ugly compression artifacts that often get worse with every subsequent copy. While problems with copying aren’t something that Google can fix, the company is tackling just how well JPEG can compress images with its new open-source Jpegli, a new coding library for JPEG that promises a 35% compression rate improvement over competing methods.
Google Search tests a small but overdue design tweak on Android
Could this be further preparation for a Material You redesign?
Even with the big Material You redesign a few years ago with Android 12, the Google Search app has largely remained the same. Google updated smaller bits and pieces to make the search experience slightly more modern, but it never introduced signature elements like wallpaper-based theming or Material Design 3 icons and interface elements. It looks like the company is finally taking baby steps to change this, with an update to search filters arriving on a few phones.
Google may charge you for generative AI search in the future
This would mark the first time for a search feature to be behind a paywall
Google’s core product, Search, has always been free to use. That much remained true when the company started adding AI-generated content to its search engine, with fully fleshed out answers showing up on the fly whether you want them or not. It looks like the company is now considering charging users for this feature, all while leaving the rest of the search experience untouched, ads and all.
Google Podcasts is dead but Google’s own podcast isn't on YouTube Music
You can’t make this stuff up
Google Podcasts is the latest service to join the ever-growing Google Graveyard. The company is asking dedicated podcast listeners using the service to switch over to YouTube Music. Half a year after announcing the shutdown, the music-focused service is still a worse alternative than Google Podcasts, and there is one way that becomes strikingly obvious: Google’s own Made by Google podcast isn’t available on YouTube Music.
Google's status bar icons could look a lot more like Samsung's in Android 15
Your Pixel phone might get segmented status bar icons again
Google’s last big Android redesign took place when it switched to its wallpaper-based Material You color scheme with Android 12. While Android 15 doesn’t seem to have an equally big update in store for us, it could be one of the biggest design changes to Android on Pixel phones we’ve seen in a while. According to evidence found in Android 15 Developer Preview 2, Google could significantly redesign its status bar icons, making them look more like the ones Samsung has been using for a long time.
Google wants to stop cookie theft once and for all
As logins become more and more secure, authentication cookies are a lucrative target for hackers
With two-factor authentication and passkeys making logins ever more secure, hackers have started to turn to the next best option to steal credentials: authentication cookies. These valuable datasets are what makes it possible for you to stay logged in on your devices for weeks and months without entering a password, but they can also be stolen and extracted, often far too easily. Google has announced that it’s working on changing that, detailing an open-source project which it hopes will become a web standard some day.