Google

When Apple Music first launched in 2015, playing it on anything other than an Apple device was impossible. Thankfully though, over the years Apple has made its streaming service available to access through third-party devices and speakers, including Amazon Echo and Google-owned speakers. This article focuses on Google devices. If you have a Google Home mini or a newer Nest-branded smart...

Google includes a Live Captions transcription feature in version 89 of its Chrome browser for desktop. Live Captions uses machine learning to create a real-time transcription for videos or audio played through the browser, which can make online media more accessible for members of the Deaf community and other people with hearing loss. Once enabled, Live Captions appear in a box in the bottom ...

If you buy a new iPhone to replace your existing one and you use the Google Authenticator app to access online accounts protected by two-factor authentication (2FA), you should transfer those accounts to your new phone as soon as possible, because without the 2FA codes close at hand, you could find yourself locked out of your online accounts. 2FA adds an extra layer of security to your...

Google Lens can now recognize over a billion items in the world around us, the search engine giant announced this week. That's four times as many things that the AI-powered feature could identify when it was first launched last year, thanks partly to a huge number of Google Shopping products which have been added to its knowledge base. While its optical character recognition engine has...

In Chrome 66, rolling out now for Mac and iOS, Google has added a password export option to the web browser so that you can easily migrate your login details to another browser via a third-party password manager app. In this article, we'll show you how to export your passwords from Chrome on Mac and iOS. At the end of the process, you'll be left with a CSV file containing all your login...

Apple recently released the HomePod mini, a new $99 version of the original HomePod that's smaller, cuter, and, most importantly, competitively priced. At $99, the ‌HomePod mini‌ can better compete with affordable smart speakers from companies like Google and Amazon. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The ‌HomePod mini‌ has been praised for its high-quality sound at...

Google today announced that Stadia, its cloud gaming service, will be coming to iPhone and iPad in the near future through an upcoming web app. Since launch, Google has not been able to bring Stadia to iOS devices because of Apple's restrictions on cloud gaming services. Apple in August said that cloud gaming services were allowed on the App Store, but that each individual game must be...

Google today announced a total overhaul of its Google Pay apps designed for iOS and Android devices, with a new emphasis on keeping track of finances and managing financial relationships with people and businesses. The updated Google Pay app will display the friends and businesses you interact with most often rather than a simple list of all transactions. Built-in tools allow for splitting...

Google today updated its Gmail app designed for the iPhone and the iPad, introducing a new widget that can be added to the Today center alongside other widgets or to the Home Screen on an ‌iPhone‌. After updating, the Gmail widget can be added to the ‌Home Screen‌ by pressing and holding to enter jiggle mode and then tapping the "+" button. From there, scroll down and tap on Gmail to add the ...

Google today updated its Chrome browser for macOS to version 87.0.4280.66, introducing an icon change that's meant to make the Chrome browser better fit in with the new macOS Big Sur design. The Chrome browser's icon now features a white background behind it, which is the only change that Google has made. In the prior version of Chrome, it had no white background and was just the standard...

Google is overhauling the YouTube app for iOS to add more intuitive gestures and control options, according to a new blog post on the YouTube site. The AutoPlay button is being moved from below a video to the top of a video, so it's easier to turn off autoplay content if desired. Captions are also easier to get to right above the video screen, and YouTube said there are "snappier" controls...

The United States Justice Department is targeting a lucrative deal between Apple and Google as part of one of the U.S. government's largest antitrust cases, reports The New York Times. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the Mountain View-based company used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and advertising markets to ...

The United States Justice Department today filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, claiming the Mountain View-based company has used anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and advertising markets to maintain an unlawful monopoly. "Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online platforms for their daily lives. Competition in this industry is vitally...

Google has added a new feature to its Search app that allows you to hum a song that's stuck in your head, and then use the company's machine learning algorithm to try and identify it. In the Google app or using the Google Search widget, tap the mic icon and say "what's this song?" or click the "Search a song" button. Then start humming the tune for 10-15 seconds. When you're done, the...

The Gmail app is set to get a new icon as part of a broader rebrand of Google's G Suite software, which includes Gmail, Docs, Meet, Sheets, and Calendar. Replacing the classic Gmail envelope logo is an M made out of Google's blue, red, yellow, and green brand colors. The new design aligns Gmail with Google's core brand as well as Google Maps, Google Photos, Google Chrome, and other Google...

Ahead of Apple's rumored October event that will see the unveiling of the new iPhone 12 lineup, Google today held a virtual event to unveil its latest flagship smartphones, the 5G-enabled Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a with 5G. Priced starting at $699, the Pixel 5 features a 6-inch OLED display, 8GB RAM, 128GB of storage, a 4080mAh battery, an aluminum body, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G chip with 5G ...

Google plans to introduce updated Play Store guidelines that emphasize the requirement for most apps to use the company's billing system for in-app purchases as early as next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. While this requirement has existed for years, the report notes that some major developers like Netflix, Spotify, and Tinder have circumvented the rule by prompting customers...

Australia is now investigating app store policies as part of yet another antitrust inquiry into Apple and Google (via Gizmodo). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will investigate the competition between the Google Play store and Apple's App Store, access to platforms and consumers, fee structures, data collection, and price transparency. The...

Multiple startup companies in Korea are calling for an investigation into Apple and Google's in-app purchase practices, reports The Korea Herald. An alliance of app developers and small companies submitted a petition to the Korea Communications Commission earlier today, asking for an investigation into whether Apple and Google may be violating Korean laws on in-app purchases and...

Google plans to release a foldable Pixel phone in the fourth quarter of next year, according to leaked internal documents (via 9to5Google). Codenamed "Passport," the device is explicitly referred to as "foldable," and appears alongside a list of past and future Pixel devices. MacRumors concept Google confirmed last year that it is developing technology that could be used in foldable...

Google has announced a handful of mobile enhancements for its Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps that are active now or will be rolling out on iOS soon. First up, Google has completed the rollout of dynamic email in the Gmail iOS app. Google says dynamic email brings the richness and interactivity of AMP to mobile devices, allowing users to take action directly within a message. So instead of...

Google today announced the launch of its latest smartphone, the Pixel 4a, which has a $349 price tag and is designed to compete with lower-cost devices like Apple's $399 iPhone SE. The Pixel 4a features a 5.81-inch display that's all screen, with a small front-facing pinhole camera at the top left, a square-shaped camera bump at the rear, and fingerprint biometrics on the back. Design...

Google today announced the launch of a new Google One app for iOS, which is designed to let users store photos, video, contacts, and calendar events for backup purposes. Content can be backed up to Google One using the 15GB of free storage that comes with a Google Account. A Storage Manager in the app provides access to storage space used by Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos to make it...

Australia's competition regulator has today accused Google of misleading users to get permission for use of their personal data for targeted advertising, reports Reuters. In Australian Federal Court, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) accused Google of not explicitly getting consent or properly informing consumers of a 2016 move to combine personal information in...

Google pays Apple to be the default search engine on Apple's Safari web browser on iPhones and Macs, which causes a "significant barrier to entry and expansion" for rivals in the search engine market, said the UK Competition and Markets Authority in a report released today (via Reuters). The relationship between Apple and Google impacts Microsoft's Bing, Verizon's Yahoo, and independent...