Tag: Google

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google Photos update causes crash when using Pixel 6 Magic Eraser tool

Headline Pixel 6/6 Pro feature ‘Magic Eraser’ is the cause behind crashes following a recent update to the Google Photos app.

A new bug reported by Android Police and spotted by users on Reddit and Twitter causes the Google Photos app to crash when launching the Magic Eraser tool. Specifically, the bug appears to impact Google Photos ‘version 5.76.0.425427310’ on Pixel 6 devices.

I tried recreating the bug on my Pixel 6, which is running Photos version 5.75.0.424739917, but opening Magic Eraser didn’t cause a crash. At the time of writing, the 5.76 version update wasn’t available to my device.

Android Police notes that the typical quick fixes aren’t working. For example, rebooting the phone, clearing the app’s cache, and restoring the Photos app to factory settings all don’t fix the problem. As it stands, it seems like once you’ve updated the Photo app, you’re stuck with the problem. If you’re still on an older version of Google Photos, you may want to hold off on any updates until there’s a fix.

This isn’t the first time Google has had problems with the Pixel 6 and Magic Eraser. Back in November, a Google Photo update removed Magic Eraser from Pixel 6 devices, but the search giant quickly fixed the error. Hopefully, there’s a similar quick fix with this problem.

Frustratingly for some, this is yet another bug in a rapidly-growing list of problems with Google’s latest flagship devices. Despite the numerous problems some have experienced with the phones, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro also apparently helped set a quarterly sales record for Google.

Source: Twitter, Reddit Via: Android Police

Categories
Mobile Syrup

New update to revamp YouTube mobile full-screen viewing experience

After revamping the YouTube Music experience by testing a new ‘Add to Playlist’ interface, Google is now redesigning the way the YouTube video player looks on Android and iOS.

When you’re watching a full-screen YouTube video on your smartphone, you normally need to swipe up to gain access to the Like/Dislike, Share, Save and Subscribe buttons. With the update, however, all these buttons have been brought forward and can be used while viewing a video in full-screen mode.

The app looks the same in portrait, but the portrait mode never really needs work anyway as all the interactable buttons were available front and center, even while watching a video. The update makes the landscape mode more usable for mobile users as it eliminates the need to pull up the ‘more videos’ tab by swiping up, and relocates the section to a small floating button on the bottom right.

Comments are also viewable directly from the full-screen mode, unlike when users would previously have to exit full-screen mode, open the comments and then go full-screen again to be able to read the comments while viewing the video in landscape.

According to a statement given to The Verge, the new user interface started rolling out on Monday, January 31st for both iOS and Android devices. While the update hasn’t widely released yet, it likely should in the coming days.

Via: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Pixel 6 helped Google set an ‘all-time quarterly sales record’

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, dropped its Q4 2021 earnings Tuesday evening. The numbers were impressive as usual, with 41 percent year-over-year growth. You can read all that here if you want. What’s more impressive, however, is that the Pixel 6 apparently set an all-time quarterly sales record.

Now, there are a few caveats here before we dig in. First, Google doesn’t break out specific numbers for hardware. Instead, as Android Police notes, the hardware is included in ‘Google Services,’ which covers Android, Chrome, Google Maps, Search, Google Play, and YouTube. In other words, there are a lot of big money makers in there for Google and no real way to estimate how much of that was from the Pixel line, or even the Pixel 6 specifically.

With that in mind, let’s look at what Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in the Q4 2021 earnings call:

“In Q4, we set all all-time quarterly sales record for Pixel. This came in spite of an extremely challenging supply-chain environment. The response from Pixel 6 from our customers and carrier partners was incredibly positive.”

Pichai also attributed some of the Pixel 6’s success to new artificial intelligence (AI) features, such as the new real-time translation tool. You can listen to the whole earnings call here.

While we can’t necessarily back up that statement with numbers (yet), Android Police did note that the Google Services segment is up, reporting over $69 (heh, nice) billion USD (about $87.5 billion CAD) in revenue in Q4. In 2020, the same segment reported $52.8 billion (roughly $66.99 billion CAD (heh, double nice)).

Considering Google launches Pixel flagships in the fall, usually around October or November, the company’s Q4 results usually include Pixel launch sales (even if we don’t get the exact numbers). And while I doubt that all of the difference between Q4 2021 and Q4 2020 came from Pixel 6 sales, we can likely attribute some of that increase to sales.

With all that in mind, it seems the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are proving popular with customers. Considering the various supply issues, software problems, and myriad other concerns with the phones, the sales record is even more impressive. Hopefully this marks a change for Google, which has previously struggled with its smartphone line.

Source: Android Police

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google’s parent company Alphabet earned $200 billion in annual revenue in 2021

Like most tech giants, Google’s parent company Alphabet seems to have faired very well amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The tech giant experienced 41 percent year-over-year growth to $257 billion USD (roughly $325 billion CAD), marking the first time Alphabet has surpassed the $200 billion USD mark (about $253 billion CAD). For context, Google earned $183 billion USD (roughly $232 billion CAD) in 2020.

In the fourth quarter, specifically, Google earned $75.3 billion USD (roughly $95 billion CAD), a 32 percent increase over the same period last year.

“Q4 saw ongoing strong growth in our advertising business, which helped millions of businesses thrive and find new customers, a quarterly sales record for our Pixel phones despite supply constraints, and our Cloud business continuing to grow strongly,” said Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in a press release accompanying Alphabet’s earnings report. statement.

Google doesn’t break out its consumer devices like Pixel smartphones and Nest smart home devices into their own categories in its earnings reports, instead opting to lump them into its overall revenue.

However, YouTube earned $8.63 billion USD (about $10.9 billion CAD) and Cloud took home $5.54 billion USD (roughly $7 billion CAD). Alphabet’s ‘Other Bets’ division, which includes its automotive efforts under the Waymo brand, earned $181 million USD (about $229.6 million CAD) in revenue.

Source: Google 

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google to start rolling out new Gmail design for Workspace users in February

Starting in February, Google will finally start moving people over to a new Gmail layout featuring a subtle redesign and easier access to several of the company’s business-focused services like Chat, Spaces, and Meet.

The Gmail redesign has been a long time coming. Some of it was shown off alongside Google’s switch from G Suite to Workspace, although the final iteration appears to have leveraged some of the new Material You styling seen in the mobile Gmail app on Android. To be clear, it doesn’t appear that Gmail for desktop will change colours like Gmail on Android — just some of the design elements are present.

The biggest change is a new sidebar to the left of Gmail with several buttons for Compose, Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. There also appears to be some profile pictures in the bottom-left corner, perhaps easy access to contacts you frequently message in Chat.

The new sidebar layout replaces the current Gmail sidebar, which is a messy combination of mail folders, Chat, and Spaces. I hate the current Gmail sidebar since I have an ever-growing list of folders I sort my mail into and opening Chat or Spaces just gets in the way. Although I’m looking forward to the new layout, many people may prefer the current layout since it lets you view all these services in one spot instead of having to cycle through different tabs in the new style.

Beyond new sidebar, there doesn’t seem to be much else that’s different aside from the light-grey backdrop around the inbox.

In a Workplace Updates post, Google said that users can opt-in to try the new layout on February 8th. Come April, Google will start enabling the new layout for users who haven’t opted-in, but an option to use the classic Gmail will be settings. However, Google will remove that option by the end of Q2 2022 and the new layout will become standard.

Finally, Google notes that the new layout will be available “to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers.”

The Verge reported that the change won’t be available to Workspace Essentials customers “at the moment” and that a Google spokesperson said the change would only be available to the listed account types, indicating non-paying Gmail users won’t get the new update.

Source: Google Via: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

This exclusive launch team Stadia controller is listed on eBay until Feb. 7

Following the November 2019 release of Google Stadia, all launch development team members were gifted an exclusive clear Stadia controller. The controller wasn’t meant to be used for gaming, and even if you wanted to, you couldn’t, as it lacked crucial internal components and is meant to be used as decorative memorabilia only.

Now, over two years later, one of these clear controllers has made its way to eBay, as first shared by Twitter user @OriginaIPenguin.

What’s noteworthy, however, other than the gamepad’s scarcity, is that ‘delvalled_15‘ (the person who listed it) has taken apart the controller and added all internals from a Founder’s Edition Stadia controller, turning the memorabilia into a fully functioning controller that supports charging, vibrations and connectivity.

“This is a collectors item and will likely never be on the market again,” reads the listing’s description.

Stadia fans and collectors would likely love to get their hands on a clear controller, especially one that works and houses internals from the Founder’s Edition controller.

As of right now, the controller is bidding for $435 (roughly $552 CAD), though expect the bidding price to increase as the listing nears its end on Monday, February 7th, at 11:43am ET.

Image credit: eBay 

Source: eBay Via:@OriginaIPenguin

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google is testing a new Add to Playlist interface for YouTube Music

Google is testing a new ‘Add to Playlist‘ user interface for its YouTube Music Android app, as first spotted by Reddit user ‘Vishal_Kaul.’

While not a major update, it does spice up YouTube Music’s rather mundane playlist interface from simple black screen, to a bold, artwork-heavy page that shows the number of tracks in each playlist and features a new floating ‘add new playlist’ button.

The in-testing interface also features your recently played playlists right on top with its cover art in a carousel layout, making it easy for users to scroll through playlists they normally would play the most.

Check out these before and after images of the ‘Add to Playlist’ user interface, courtesy of 9to5Google:

While the new interface does look elegant, one user on Reddit has reported that they are having trouble scrolling through the new interface.

Google is likely to polish up the interface if and when it decides to officially roll the update out.

Source: Vishal_Kaul (Reddit)

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google shifts stance on tablets, thinks they’re ‘the future of computing’

Google may finally be giving Android tablets more attention.

According to reports from ComputerWorld and 9to5Google (via The Verge), one of Android’s original founders, Rich Miner, is listed as “CTO Android Tablets” on LinkedIn. Google confirmed to The Verge that Miner is “leading software development for Android for large screens” on the Platforms and Ecosystems team.

Coupled with several job postings uncovered by 9to5 (which include the very bold statement that Google “believe[s] that the future of computing is shifting towards more powerful and capable tablets”), it really looks like Google’s starting to care about Android tablets again.

It’s worth noting that Google already has efforts underway to improve Android tablets, namely the upcoming Android 12L release. Currently in beta, Android 12L is set to improve the large-screen Android experience. While some changes seem to target foldable phones, many can also apply to tablets as well.

This marks a shift for Google, which said its hardware team was done working on tablets back in 2019 after the Chrome OS-powered, Surface-like Pixel Slate flopped. It’s worth noting that the Pixel Slate had nice hardware, but failed as a tablet and as a productivity device. Plus, it cost way too much for what it offered.

Still, it’s a bit strange to see Google about-face on Android tablets. Despite issues with Chrome OS (and the Pixel Slate), it still seems like the obvious choice for a productivity-oriented tablet or 2-in-1 device. Android-powered tablets could work well as media consumption devices, but I just don’t see them beating Chrome OS on the productivity front (even with changes coming in Android 12L). And that’s not for lack of trying.

All that being said, my hope is that improvements to Android as a tablet OS will help manufacturers make something that can better compete with Apple’s excellent iPads. Moreover, I’m already hyped for an incredibly unlikely Pixel tablet, perhaps a ‘Pixel 7’ that resurrects my favourite Android tablet ever.

Source: ComputerWorld, 9to5Google Via: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Google will offer an account migration tool before free G Suite shutdown in July

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada – September 30, 2019: Google sign in the Google Canada Kitchener-Waterloo office.

After announcing last week that legacy free G Suite accounts would need to start paying, Google is backing off some of the more drastic changes. The search giant plans to offer a data migration tool, allowing these users to switch to regular consumer accounts.

As detailed by Ars Technica, these accounts were for Google Apps (which has in recent years been renamed to G Suite and ultimately Google Workspace). The accounts allow users to have a Google account with a custom domain (for example, instead of ‘@gmail.com,’ you can have ‘@mobilesyrup.com’).

Although typically used for businesses, the base G Suite tier was free from 2006 to 2012, and anyone could sign up for a Google account with a custom domain. It seems a lot of people did just that, and Google wasn’t aware of just how many people would be affected by its move to make free accounts start paying.

The search giant initially gave these users two options: pay the per-user monthly fee by July 2022 or lose your account. For many, that choice felt incredibly harsh, especially since the only way to get data out of the G Suite account was through Google’s ‘Takeout’ service. As Ars explains, Takeout only lets you download your account data to a local device, and it’s not easy to then re-upload that data into a new account. Moreover, it doesn’t include things like purchases, so if you bought anything digital through your Google account — such as apps on your Android phone, movies, etc. — you’d lose those too.

Google issues survey to gather info about free G Suite users

Following the outcry from users, Google quietly updated the support page for the impending free G Suite shutdown. The search giant also said it would send a survey out to get more information from users (if you have a free G Suite account, you’ll see a link to this survey targeting G-Suite admins with 10 users or less that use G Suite for “non-business” purposes). Google says those who fill out the survey will receive “updates on more options for [their] non-business legacy account in the coming months.”

Google also plans to “provide an option for you to move your non-Google Workspace paid content and most of your data to a no-cost option” in the coming months. Specifically, Google says users will be “able to evaluate this option prior to July 1, 2022” but notes it won’t include premium features like custom email or multi-account management.

While not totally clear, that option sounds like it covers apps, games and other digital purchases made through your Google account. That will likely be the ideal option for anyone with one of these legacy G Suite accounts who want to migrate to a regular consumer account.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Source: Google Via: Ars Technica

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Official mention of Pixel 6a came from… a Google colouring book

Google has officially mentioned the unannounced Pixel 6a in, of all places, one of its colouring books.

As spotted by DroidLife, the colouring book was shared in the Pixel Superfans group, which receives Pixel-related insider access, freebies and more.

In the group, one Superfan shared that they got a Nest Audio and colouring book featuring various Google product illustrations. What’s interesting, however, is that Page 16 of the book mentions “the Pixel 6a” among the products listed on the pages. When you go through the actual book, though, the Pixel 6a isn’t actually anywhere to be seen.

Ultimately, while it doesn’t actually reveal anything about a phone that was already all but confirmed to be coming, it’s nonetheless an amusing gaffe on Google’s part. As it stands, the Pixel 6a is expected to be a more affordable entry in the Pixel 6 family that sports the company’s proprietary Tensor chip and an inferior camera to its counterparts. It’s also tipped to release in May.

Via: Android Police