Google I/O 2016 Recap: Everything You Need to Know
Google I/O is underway currently, but the big opening keynote has come and gone and, since it’s where Google announces all the cool things they’ve been working on, I figured I’d put together a quick list of all the big announcements for your scanning pleasure so you don’t have to scour the internet for this stuff.
VIDEO COMING ASAP!
Android N New Features and Name Suggestion
Even though we already got a good look at Android N (and I even showed you how to install Android N on your Nexus device), Google showed off some new features for the latest beta of the new Android version. Some of new features include:
- Control over notification size
- Picture-in-Picture mode
- Vulkan added (new API to allow developers to control the GPU better = better graphics)
- Full new feature list here
Google also decided to not name this new version of Android but to allow everyone to suggest names using this site here. My vote is for either Nougat, Nutter Butter, or Nutella (to which Nutella would be so freakin’ excited to co-brand it like they did with KitKat, amirite?!).
Android Wear 2.0
Android Wear, Google’s smartwatch OS, has received a major update, too. The major features added are:
- Ability to add data from any app to the watch faces (think complications on Apple Watch)
- Added better app data syncing to allow you to leave the phone behind in some special cases (Who leaves their phone behind? Ever?!)
- Automatic Exercise Recognition to allow it to figure out if you’re riding a bike or running, etc.
- New swipe-enabled keyboard on the watch (everyone online is knocking this but, if it works well, I would totally be that idiot swiping his wrist for short answers to people)
Google Assistant
What do you get when you combine the conversational voice aspect of Siri, Google Now, and an API that allows it to order tickets, book dinner, and other tasks? Google Assistant.
In a play against Facebook’s and Microsoft’s new bots, Google has their own Google Assistant that will work in a similar fashion. Using a conversational tone, it’ll be able to help book you reservations to a restaurant if you ask it what’s playing and go through the motions, for example.
It can also suggest replies to your contacts conversations (think Google’s Inbox Smart Replies) via their new messaging app, which will get to… now.
Allo and Duo
Allo (pronounced like aloe the plant) is a new messaging app (in addition to Google’s Messenger, Hangouts, etc.) that Google has integrated it’s Google Assistant to make it a “smart messaging app”). Some other features include:
- Whisper/Shout – You can control the size of the font by sliding the send button up and down to make something larger or smaller.
- Ink – Allows quick drawing on photos you send to people in the conversations from directly in the app.
- Smart Replies – Quick replies based on, not only the text you are receiving from your contact, but the context of the photo as well (the data from analyzing all our Google Photos images hard at work).
- Games – Developers will be able to make games that allow the Google Assistant to play a game with you through text.
- Incognito Mode – Allows you to enable end to end encryption, private notifications, timers for the expiration of chats, and they all disappear after you close it.
Besides the new smart messaging app, Google also announce a video chat app called Duo.
Duo is basically FaceTime for Android. Only added feature is that it can show a preview of what the person calling’s camera is seeing before you pick up (god, I hope that can be disabled or I see horrible accidents in people’s future).
Google Home
Available later this year, Google made an Amazon Echo competitor.
The small, white bluetooth speaker has a customizable bottom half with different colors and finishes to “match your home”. You can summon the voice assistant by saying “OK, Google” and then ask it any number of questions to find info through Google or give it commands to have it play music, etc.
It can also connect to your smart home devices, manage your calendar, set timers, and even search Google and grab info directly from it (i.e. “how much fat is in an avocado?”), etc.
Instant Apps
Next up, Google announced a pretty innovative feature for Android called Instant Apps.
When someone sends you a link to a site that has an associated app, it can open the app for you to that specific page, without needing to download the app. So, for example, if you are sent a link to a B&H product, Android will download the parts of the app needed to show that product page from the app directly on your phone. You can navigate through that as if you had the app and get a much better experience than a mobile website and when you’re done, don’t have the app taking up space on your phone’s internal storage.
Kinda clever, no?
Daydream VR
Lastly, Google announced their foray into VR.
Called Daydream VR, it isn’t quite a competitor to the Oculus or Vive, but it is more of a set of guidelines and code that governs how Android phones can be used for VR.
Essentially it gives a Daydream-Ready certification to phones that meet the higher standard VR specs (in case you didn’t know it takes a lot to run VR), it’ll include a VR mode for Android N that’ll help with latency and performance, and a headset & controller standard (along with their own model below).
I’m definitely going to go into more detail on the Daydream VR program and why it’s so important in a separate video, subscribe to my social networks for more on that as it happens, if you are interested.
And there you go a quick-ish recap of all the coolest things announced at Google I/O 2016. Let me know what you guys think of all of all this, would love to hear your thoughts.
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