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...

Google today introduced a few stability and performance improvements into its Chrome for iOS app, mainly centering around the company's switch from in-process rendering with UIWebView to out-of-process rendering thanks to WKWebView. Tests by Google proved the new update reduces the app's crash rate by 70 percent, letting users pick up where they left off on a page from any device without a crash...

It's common knowledge that Apple and Google have a monetary agreement that ensures Google's position as the default search engine on Apple's iOS devices, but the details of that deal have been kept under wraps, until now. A recent court transcript from Oracle's copyright lawsuit against Google was obtained by Bloomberg and sheds some light on the agreement, suggesting Google pays out a lot of...

Google today released its annual "Year in Search" results, highlighting popular and trending searches in 2015. Apple-related search terms continued to rank highly in the consumer tech category, with iPhone 6s taking the top spot and Samsung Galaxy S6, Apple Watch, iPad Pro and LG G4 rounding off the top five globally. Samsung's Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy J5, HTC's One M9, Huawei's Nexus 6P and ...

Google today acknowledged an ongoing issue causing a number of iPhone, iPad and Mac apps to display incorrect one-star ratings in its search results on the web, and confirmed that a fix should be implemented by early next week. "I'm happy to share that we've been working hard on providing a solution, and a new fix has been scheduled for the next release, which should be rolling out early...

Google has announced that the latest version of Google Maps for Android has an improved offline mode, providing access to turn-by-turn directions and several other features in areas without a reliable cellular data or internet connection. It also confirmed these features will be coming soon to iOS, but did not provide a specific release timeframe. Google Maps was previously limited to viewing...

A handful of technology giants -- including Apple, Amazon, Google, PayPal, and Intuit -- have announced a partnership in the formation of the Financial Innovation Now coalition (via Re/code). The group aims to promote tech-friendly policies and changes within the financial services sector in Washington, D.C. Those behind the group will work to alter the political debate on relevant issues like...

Google today announced YouTube Red, a new subscription service that provides unlimited ad-free access to YouTube videos for $9.99 per month on Android, desktop and the mobile web, and $12.99 per month on iOS due to Apple's in-app purchase tax (via TechCrunch). The membership also includes several other benefits. YouTube Red features the option to save videos for offline playback and to play...

Earlier this week, Google released Chrome 46 with a long list of bug fixes and feature improvements to improve memory and power usage, but unmentioned was the removal of "OK Google" voice-based search activation. As noted by VentureBeat, it's no longer possible to use the "OK Google" phrase to trigger a voice search, which has been a feature built into the Chrome browser since May of 2014. "OK ...

Google today announced that its app indexing feature is now compatible with the HTTP deep link standards for iOS 9, which will allow iOS users to open mobile app content directly from the Google Search results page in Safari for iOS. To use the feature, developers need to add Universal Links to their iOS apps and then integrate with Google's SDK. For end users, this change will result in...

Google today updated its Google Maps app for iOS to version 4.11.0, adding support for the Apple Watch. As of today, there's a Google Maps app that delivers directions on Apple's wrist-worn device. Along with a new Apple Watch app, today's update also includes a tool for comparing estimated travel times across driving, transit, walking and biking directions, and it adds a feature for calling...

Google announced today that Android Wear is now compatible with the iPhone 5 or later running at least iOS 8.2. An official Android Wear for iOS [Direct Link] companion app is rolling out on the App Store today worldwide. Android Wear for iPhone has several features familiar to Android users, including third-party watch faces, fitness tracking, notifications, Google Now and voice searches....

Apple has stopped selling the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Nest Smoke Alarm in its stores and has confirmed to Mashable that it will no longer be carrying Nest products. The Nest thermostat was still available online earlier this month, but a search for the Nest thermostat or smoke alarm now redirects customers to other HomeKit products. Apple's decision to stop offering Google's Nest...

Irish software development studio Probendi is suing Apple in a Milan court for using its "iWatch" trademark in Europe as part of a Google AdWords campaign, reports Bloomberg. Apple has been paying for sponsored links on Google in an attempt to redirect users that search for "iWatch" to the Apple Watch website, in order to avoid missing out on customers that search for the wrong product name.“App...

Google today announced that it's adding a free tier to its Google Music subscription service, just a week ahead of the launch of Apple Music. Apple Music doesn't include a free listening tier, but it is accompanied by a free ad-supported radio service that provides users with a way to access music without shelling out cash. Google's free listening tier is built around Songza, the radio-based...

Google senior software engineer Peter Kasting this week announced that his team has been working to address Chrome for OS X battery hog complaints by improving the performance of the browser on Mac, especially in areas where Safari appears to do better (via iPhoneHacks). Chrome for OS X has received multiple under the hood improvements that should result in faster performance and longer...

At its I/O developer event this morning, Google announced a new Google Photos platform that's designed to compete with both photo sharing sites like Flickr and cloud services like iCloud Photo Library. Google Photos is cross platform and available on iOS, Android, and the web. Both the iOS app and the web service are now live, letting those in Apple's ecosystem make full use of Google Photos....

Google has announced that Inbox by Gmail can now be used by everyone with no invitation required, and the search company has also updated the email app with Trip Bundles, Undo Send functionality on mobile, the option to select "Delete" as the default swiping action, custom signatures, suggested reminders and more. Trip Bundles combine all of your emails about a trip, such as flight times and...

Google last year debuted Google Cardboard, an inexpensive virtual reality platform that combined a cardboard mount and lens with a smartphone to create a virtual reality headset. Up until today, Google Cardboard has only been available for Android users, but at its Google I/O event, Google announced a new Google Cardboard app for iOS. The new app lets the Cardboard system work with Apple's...

Google today previewed Android "M," the next major version of its mobile operating system featuring Android Pay for mobile payments, app permissions, an improved web experience with Chrome Custom Tabs, app linking, Doze power management, USB-C support, direct sharing, simplified volume controls and a handful of other incremental improvements and bug fixes. Google also announced free unlimited...

Google has announced that it will begin indexing content from iOS apps in search results in the near future, enabling iPhone users to open mobile app content straight from Google Search. The company says that indexed links from an initial group of apps will begin appearing on iOS in search results in both the Google app and Chrome for signed-in users in the coming weeks. Google first...