Live Activities are a super useful feature of Apple’s latest iPhones, but also one that goes underused. Google Maps has been overdue to support the feature for years now and while it’s still not live yet, Google is testing Live Activities with some iPhone users.

While it’s still yet to debut, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite is looking like a big deal for ARM-powered Windows machines and, now, it’s getting a more affordable cousin in the Snapdragon X Plus.

Some YouTube Music for iOS users today are facing a bug where the app opens to a black screen on certain Google Accounts with no ability to play songs.

Huawei this week revealed its super interesting new flagship smartphone, but around the corner still is the new “Watch Fit 3,” which does nothing to hide the fact that it’s a clear clone of the Apple Watch.

Google is going ahead with a redesign that changes how you access the Bookmarks, Reading List, and History columns that appear to the right of your browser. The side panel button is now gone from desktop Chrome.

It’s pretty clear that iMessage for Android is not going to be an easy task, but one of the apps that tried to do it (before we found out that it was a terrible security nightmare), Sunbird, is giving it another shot.

Samsung has been the top player in the global smartphone market for a while but, recently, the company briefly lost its crown to Apple. Now, though, it seems like things are back in Samsung’s favor.

Google Maps is perhaps one of the most widely used applications on the planet and, as such, even minor changes to its design are super important. But, on Apple’s CarPlay, Google Maps is in need of a massive overhaul, because it’s a bit of a dumpster fire.

The Android website has added a new landing page for Google Messages that talks about the first-party messaging experience, while also noting that RCS on the iPhone is coming in fall 2024.

Google has confirmed that YouTube TV is now rolling out support for Multiview on the iPhone and iPad, but the feature won’t arrive on Android for a while.

Besides using Gemini to power features in its apps and services, Google offers its LLM to third-party developers. Apple is reportedly in talks with Google to license Gemini for the iPhone.

Speedometer has long been Google’s preferred benchmark, previously noting how it’s the “most reflective of the real world” when comparing JavaScript performance. Speedometer 3.0 is now available.

Switching from one platform to another is never easy, but in some cases, it can be harder than it needs to be. But, in response to the EU’s DMA, Apple has confirmed it is working on a “user-friendly” way to transfer data from an iPhone to an Android device.

Google has updated its Calendar app on the iPhone and iPad with a trio of convenient lockscreen widgets. 

Last Week Tonight aired its Season 11 premiere last night, but the latest video from John Oliver is not yet available on YouTube.

Announced as Assistant with Bard alongside the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro last October, Google today is rolling out Gemini to provide an optimized mobile experience that integrates with Android, while it’s now part of the Google app on iOS.

The Google Maps UI has largely been unchanged for the past several years, but that’s now changing with pretty significant redesigns across key surfaces, including when searching for directions.

No* Google apps are available on the Apple Vision Pro at launch, but YouTube revealed today that a “Vision Pro app is on [its] roadmap.”

In response to the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple announced last week that it would allow “alternative” browser engines on the iPhone in Europe. Google’s head of Chrome today shared their thoughts on the upcoming iPhone browser engine change.

The Beeper saga continues, with the company now disabling the ability to connect to iMessage entirely after Apple banned some of its customers’ Macs for using the app.

Project IDX, Google’s all-in-one web-based, AI-enhanced app development suite, is delivering on some of its early promises. Among other improvements, developers can now access a full iOS simulator and Android emulator directly from the browser, enabling iOS development without a Mac.

Google is rolling out Chrome 121 today with “experimental” generative AI features like “Tab Organizer” and a theme maker.

Apple’s war on Beeper, an app that tried to bring iMessage to Android, is now seemingly causing some users to see their Macs blocked from using iMessage entirely.

Last week, Apple named some of the third-party apps that will be available for its spatial computing platform. No Google productivity or entertainment services were explicitly mentioned for Vision Pro. For the latter, we got “Disney+, Max, and other services,” while Microsoft 365 and Slack were the big work names. 

X, the platform better known as Twitter, removed headlines from posts with links a few months ago, but is now bringing them back in a new format.

Beeper brought back phone number registration for its iMessage on Android solution that involves having a jailbroken iPhone or access to a Mac. This workaround might be the last for Beeper Mini and Cloud, with the situation ultimately described as “unsustainable.”

As of Sunday, 60% of Beeper users weren’t able to send or receive iMessage, and the company’s upcoming Android solution is to “have access to a Mac computer, or have a friend on Beeper with a Mac.” 

On Monday, Beeper Mini started working again but without phone number support. That workaround appears to be dead two days later, which is just in line with what Apple said to expect over the weekend.

Google is making a big change to how it stores Location History data on Android and iOS. Instead of that data being stored in the cloud, Google will be locally saving Location History to your device with end-to-end encrypted cloud backups for “Your Timeline” in Maps also offered. 

On Friday afternoon, Beeper Mini on Android stopped working and Apple confirmed today that it “took steps to protect our users by blocking techniques that exploit fake credentials in order to gain access to iMessage.” 

Beeper Mini launched on Tuesday with the promise of bringing secure iMessage to Android, and indeed it worked wonderfully. However, less than a week later, the app seems to be broken.

iMessage for Android. Even in this new reality where Apple intends to adopt RCS, it’s still something that people want because, after all, iMessage is very popular. And while Apple will probably never do it, the folks at Beeper are launching a new app, “Beeper Mini,” which brings iMessage support to Android that closely mimics the experience on iPhone, and does so in a way that’s “native.”

Meta is beginning the process of disconnecting the ability to have “cross-app chats” with your Instagram contacts via Facebook Messenger and vice-versa.

Google Drive is bringing the document scanner that was just redesigned on Android to the iPhone and iPad for the first time.

Google has announced a slew of new features for Maps in recent weeks, including Immersive View for routes, more detailed navigation, and transit filters. Google Maps is now rolling out a new color palette. 

Following the news that Apple is adding RCS support to the iPhone, Google is out with a statement this afternoon. 

Back in September, Google announced a Material You redesign of desktop Chrome that’s now more widely rolling out.

After years of teasing, Humane today fully unveiled its Ai Pin, a wearable camera with laser projector, for $699 and a $24 per month subscription to access cellular connectivity and other services.

The European Commission is currently investigating whether iMessage should fall under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and therefore be subject to interoperability rules. Google and local carriers have sent a letter to regulators in Europe arguing that iMessage should be considered a “core” service.

After adding a Memory Saver earlier this year, Chrome on desktop platforms (Mac, Windows, ChromeOS, etc.) will now report “Memory usage” when you hover over a tab.

Apple was working on making the Apple Watch, along with various health features, compatible with Android before the project was canceled.

It’s not hard to find out what search queries are trending on Google, but it’s rare we get a peek into what searches drive the most ad dollars. Coming out from the ongoing antitrust trial, new documents have unveiled some of the highest-revenue search queries on Google, and a lot of them are about the iPhone.

Visually, Chrome on iOS is pretty different from the Android version. That disparity continues to grow today with the new ability to move the Chrome address bar on iPhone to the bottom of your screen.

After being teased at WWDC this June, Google today announced support for YouTube Music on the HomePod.

Following the big redesign last year that introduced a black dark theme and Ambient Mode, YouTube is rolling out “three dozen new features and design updates,” like a You tab and stable volume, “over the coming weeks.”

In addition to the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro, Google announced “Assistant with Bard” today. This is a preview of what’s to come, with the two phones picking up other voice improvements in the short term.

A big update to Apple Music that’s currently in beta adds new Android homescreen widgets from iOS 17, as well as other features from the latest iPhone and iPad release.

Apple ditched leather accessories with its latest lineup and instead moved to a new “FineWoven” fabric material for iPhone 15. But, after some time using it, FineWoven just reminds me how good Google’s old fabric cases for Pixel were.

With the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro launching today, Google Fi has instructions on eSIM activation for those being told that Apple’s new devices are not supported.