The Google app on Android has long made use of a Chrome Custom Tab and there’s now a new toolbar when opening Search results and Discover articles.

Some YouTube Premium subscribers are getting promo codes that discount the Pixel 9 series by $100. Notably, this can be combined with an existing Google Store sale.

Now that we have Circle to Search, Google Lens has been updated so that it immediately starts the camera viewfinder upon launch on Android and iOS.

Since launch last year, Google has tweaked the design of Circle to Search a bit, and the latest change aims to simplify the UI.

Following iOS, Google Photos for Android is simplifying the bottom bar by removing the “Memories” tab, though the auto-organizing feed — now called “Moments” — remains available.

Google Messages has been working on dual SIM RCS since the start of this year, and support is now more widely rolling out in beta.

After introducing in mid-December, Gemini Advanced subscribers can now access 2.0 Experimental Advanced in the Gemini app on Android and iOS. 

Late last year, Google widely rolled out “profile sharing” wherein you set what name and contact photo other people see in the Messages app. This resulted in people seeing different profile images, but Google Messages is now letting you override that with “Set as chat picture.”

With the first US Google Store discounts of 2025 focused on the Pixel Watch, Fitbit, and Pixel Buds, the next sale is for the Pixel 9 series.

In what should be the first rolled out change of 2025, artist pages on YouTube Music now feature a Top songs carousel.

Welcome to episode 36 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, we talk about the OnePlus 13, Gemini on Google TV at CES 2025, and more.

Subscribe

• YouTube Podcasts
• Pocket Casts
• Spotify
• Apple Podcasts
• Overcast

Google Drive for desktop on Mac and Windows has been updated with faster file sync thanks to differential uploads.

I like Google Discover and the feed — for the most part — surfaces interesting articles aligned with my interests. Reading, rather than listening, is how I usually consume information, but Google’s new Daily Listen is remarkably compelling and boosts Discover in a meaningful way.

Last year, Google released eight updates for its streaming dongles. The first Chromecast with Google TV update of 2025 is now rolling out, with Android 14 not yet here.

The first big redesign of the Gemini overlay on Android is beginning to roll out for some users.

Following the last update in December, Android 15 QPR2 Beta 2.1 is rolling out to Pixel devices. It addresses some of the bugs that testers have encountered.

Google today announced a “Supporters of Chromium-based Browsers” initiative in partnership with The Linux Foundation, while detailing its contributions to the open-source browser project.

As 2025 gets underway, CEO Sundar Pichai reiterated to Googlers how the next few months will see new AI products and features.

Google is rolling out a redesign of the Pixel Phone app’s in-call UI that gives more prominence to Call Notes and Audio Emoji.

Despite the big Material You redesign happening in 2022, the Google Home app did not adopt Dynamic Color, though that’s finally changing.