#Gmail
Gmail on Android pushing new notification icons for Chat and Spaces
9to5Google

The Gmail mobile app isn't just an ordinary email application, it also has Google Chat & Meet built-in. When you received Google Chat notifications from the Gmail app, you used to just see a filled in message bubble with an empty one followed behind, but Google might soon differentiate Chat & Space notifications.

For Chat, you will just see an empty message bubble (2nd icon) while for Spaces, you see an icon of three people gathering together (3rd icon), which matches the icon in the bottom bar of the app. This change is currently rolling out via server side, so it will take quite a while till it reaches everyone.

#ChromeOS
Chrome OS is getting Steam support, available now
The Chromium Projects

Earlier Google has confirmed to the public that Steam is arriving on Chrome OS, but with no information on where to get or try it, and today, it's finally here.

Only seven Chromebooks are eligible to try out the alpha version of Steam for now:
• Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W)
• Acer Chromebook 515 (CB515-1W)
• Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W)
• ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)
• ASUS Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)
• HP Pro c640 G2 Chromebook
• Lenovo 5i-14 Chromebook

Note that you will need a configuration of Chromebooks with an 11th Intel Core i5 or i7 processors and a minimum amount of 8GB RAM. Otherwise, the device isn't eligible to try it out.

To give Steam a try on your Chromebooks:
1. You'll need to switch over to the Dev channel of Chrome OS
2. Next, enable chrome://flags#borealis-enabled flag then restart the device.
3. Open a crosh terminal with ctrl+alt+t
4. Type the command insert_coin volteer-JOlkth573FBLGa
5. After that, hit enter and follow the setup installer, you'll be able to install successfully and start using it.

As this is still an early alpha version of Steam for Chrome OS, only 48 game noscripts are confirmed to be working well on the platform. There are also some known issues which you can learn over at the website.

#PlayStore #GoogleTV
Play Store killing Movies & TV tab in favor of Google TV
Google Play Community

Earlier Google rebranded Google Play Movies & TV as Google TV, and now they are set to drop the Movies & TV tab from the Play Store.

Google has announced starting in May, the Movies & TV tab will no longer be available on the Play Store. Instead, the Google TV app is where you can continue to buy, rent and watch movies on your Android devices.

This change won't impact your existing library, wishlist, reviews and payment method. It's basically just migrating the service all over to the Google TV app.

#YouTube
YouTube made 100 TV shows available for free with ads
YouTube Blog

YouTube announced they are expanding their TV shows library with nearly 4,000 episodes from over 100 TV shows. Some of them include Hell’s Kitchen, Andromeda, Heartland, Kitchen Nightmares, Relic Hunter, and Silk Stalkings.

All these TV shows are only made available in the US though, joining over 1,500 movies from Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, Warner Bros, and more. If you have a YouTube Premium subnoscription, you can enjoy an ad-free experience. YouTube also said they will add “up to 100 new noscripts each week.”

#GooglePlay #PlayStore
Google might no longer force Play Store users to use its billing system
Android Developers Blog | Spotify

If you don't know yet, Google collects 15% to 30% of commissions from payments made through their billing system. For the first time ever, they have announced to bring "User Choice Billing," currently available with Spotify first.

Users who have downloaded Spotify from the Play Store will get the option to pay through Play Billing or Spotify's payment system. Google partnered up with Spotify to test this new payment system in several regions for now. Spotify mentioned that it will eventually be made available to "countries around the world."

Google also mentioned they will bring this payment system to more developers and make it available for more applications soon. This change is made in context of the South Korea law, which mandates app stores are required to accept third-party payment systems in addition to their own one.

#Google
Google Search optimisation update helps you find good product reviews easily
Google Blog

Google Search is about to get better with some updates, which will bring improvements to show product reviews.

The search engine will find reviews that have helpful in-depth details, for example the product's benefits and drawbacks, and how it works when compared to previous generations.

It will also try to find those who have hands-on reviews of the product and describing highlights of it other than the one mentioned by manufacturer. Covering comparable products and explaining how it stands out from the others will rank on top of the search results.

#Android #A12QPR3 #Pixel6
Android 12 QPR3 Beta 1.1 released for Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro
Android Developers

Release date: March 24, 2022
Build: S3B1.220218.006
Security patch level: March 2022

Google has just released QPR3 Beta 1.1 to their Pixel 6 series. They mentioned this update has fixed battery drain issue, high pitch noise in phone call. They also said they will further investigate the cause of phone call issues that they haven't managed to fix with this new update.

You still can download Android 12 QPR3 Beta 1 for other Pixel devices if you want to try it out.

Download for Google Pixel devices:
Pixel 6: Factory Images | OTA
Pixel 6 Pro: Factory Images | OTA

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Pixel #Pixel6a #PixelWatch
Pixel 6a will be announced on Google I/O, but you could only get it after the end of July
Jon Prosser

On the upcoming Google I/O event happening on May 11 & 12, Google could announce Pixel 6a and teasing the mystery Pixel Watch existence, according to Jon Prosser.

Pixel 6a won't be made available until July 28 for "most markets" though. Earlier Prosser had said the delay was due to the ongoing chip shortage issue. Besides, he mentioned the Pixel Watch will be announced and launched alongside the Pixel 7 in October.

#News #Pixel6
Pixel 6 March update appeared to have weaker haptic vibrations
Droid Life

Just a few days ago, Google has issued Android 12L stable build and Feature Drop update for their latest flagship Pixel 6 & Pixel 6 Pro. As time passed, some owners found out that the haptic vibration on their device are weaker than what it used to be.

Several users who faced the issue have reported it over at the Pixel Phone Support Forum and Reddit. They reported that the device vibration intensity is so weak that some of them even missed to pick up important calls, but some owners preferred this change though.

Droid Life also pointed out that in the March 2022 & Android 12L changelog that Google provided, it mentioned a “fix for issue causing weaker haptic feedback in certain conditions” and was intended for both devices. By the way, the April update is around the corner and it could possibly fix the issue, who knows.

#Android #Pixel
You can soon opt-out of Android Beta program to the stable release channel without wiping anything on your device
r/android_beta

As Google suddenly offered Android 12 QPR3 beta without notifying anyone, some Pixel owners that were still on Android 12L beta earlier are forced to continue staying on the beta channel if they don't want to wipe anything on their device.

With the release of QPR3 Beta 1.1 for the Pixel 6 series, Google has announced something new over at Reddit, and they mentioned users will be able to opt-out Android beta program at the end of the beta phase without wiping any data.

What this means is that the company will push the official stable release OTA update after the beta phase is complete, if users choose to install it at this time, they will be able to quit the beta program and return back to stable channel release, without wiping anything on the device.

This is only made available for a few days' time as Google will continue to push a new beta update at a later date, after that you will need to wait for the next round to get the chance to do the same thing again.

This is something similar to what Google has did with Android 12 release in October, but with this announcement, this will be a permanent change done to the Android Beta Program,

So for those who are on Android 12 QPR3 Beta and want to return back to the stable channel without wiping data on your device, June is the month when you can do this.

#Android #A13
Android 13 could let developers to throttle Internet speed
Esper Blog

App developers need to make sure their apps work well in various conditions, including Internet if required. There hasn't been a way to test slow connection properly, but Android 13 could bring the possibility to do so.

Mishaal Rahman spotted in Android 13 Developer Preview 2, Google has added new code to Android’s network connectivity APIs which will limit bandwidth of the device, developers will be able to set speed limit on any network. Besides, Rahman also mentioned this feature requires kernels that have certain config options built-in and enabled, for example CONFIG_NET_SCHED.

Currently, the feature isn't working but Google is planning to implement it into the developer options with Android 13 first beta build, which will be available in April.