Posted by Wei Wang, Engineering Manager, Android BeTo

User privacy and transparency are core to the Android experience. To better align with these principles, we are updating the default behavior of the Nearby Connections API regarding how it interacts with device radios.

What is changing?

Previously, the Nearby Connections API could automatically toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios ON to facilitate connections without explicit user intervention. Moving forward, the API will no longer automatically enable these radios for 1P and 3P applications.

What this means for developers

If your app relies on Nearby Connections, you will need to update your implementation to account for these changes:

• Manual Radio Management: You must ensure that the necessary radios (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) are enabled before initiating Nearby Connections tasks.
• User Notification: If the required radios are disabled, your app must now inform the user and request that they enable them manually. The API will no longer programmatically turn them on for you.

Timing

These changes are scheduled to take effect in late 2026. We recommend reviewing your connection workflows now to ensure a seamless transition for your users.

Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW) now supports FIDO2-compliant physical security keys as a second factor for authentication

Google Credential Provider for Windows (GCPW) has been updated to support FIDO2-compliant physical security keys as a second factor for authentication. This update helps organizations improve their security posture by enabling administrators to enforce 2-Step Verification (2SV) using hardware security keys at the Windows login screen. | Learn more.

Improvement to in-room problem reporting for Google Meet hardware

Maintaining an enterprise-grade video conferencing environment requires visibility into the health of its devices. We're introducing new ways to see Google Meet hardware user-reported feedback directly in the Admin console. | Learn more.

New refinement capabilities allow custom editing with Help me write in Gmail

Users can now edit and revise their email drafts in Gmail via the prompt bar, using custom refine instructions in Help me write. Previously the refines were limited to preset options like Polish, Formalize, and Shorten. | Learn more.

Now available: group conversations with external collaborators in Google Chat

For many teams, it’s essential to be able to work in real-time with partners from outside your organization. We’re improving external collaboration in Google Chat by making it possible to create group conversations that include external users. | Learn more.

NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook

We’re renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. While it remains a standalone product focused on being your premier research tool, the new name reflects how it will evolve to do more across the Google ecosystem. | Learn more.

Easily control the emotions and pacing of AI avatars and AI voiceovers in Google Vids

Users can now easily steer voiceover and avatar speaking in Google Vids by typing content within brackets like “[excitedly]”. | Learn more.

Expanded language support for Gemini in Google Docs

We are now expanding support for these features to 11 more languages, including Mandarin, Dutch, Malay, Hebrew, Polish, Turkish, Czech, Indonesian, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. These new additions join our previously supported languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, French, Korean, German, and Italian. | Learn more.

Generate higher quality AI video clips and edit any video with Gemini Omni in Vids

Users now have access to Gemini Omni directly within Google Vids. Omni provides higher quality video generation with significant improvements over previous models. Additionally, Omni’s world understanding unlocks simple video edits so you can ask Omni to tweak the video you have to get the video you need. | Learn more.

Cast yourself in AI video clips using your personal avatar with Gemini Omni in Vids

Users now have access to Gemini Omni directly within Google Vids. With Gemini Omni, you can create videos using your personal avatar to scale your presence without the studio time. Use a secure verification process to capture your likeness and then select it as a character in Omni generations within Vids. | Learn more.

New Google Meet 'Take notes for me' settings for admins and end users

To help users remember to capture notes for meetings when it’s most valuable, we’re updating the admin and end user settings that let them pre-configure AI note-taking for Google Meet. | Learn more.

The announcements above were published on the Workspace Updates blog over the last week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.

When asked to describe the impact of gFiber’s partnership with the Boys & Girls Club of Pocatello and Chubbuck in one word, Executive Director Mona Mannan said: "opportunity."

"GFiber is not just funding programming for the kids, it’s actually giving the program the opportunity that these kids and these families wouldn't usually have. [It's] investing in the future of people in Pocatello... we're removing barriers." — Mona Mannan

For local families, this partnership is more than just a summertime activity; it is a dedicated educational space for skill building. Each summer, the Club has provided youth with a safe environment while their parents are at work but, instead of sitting with tablets these elementary students are diving into real-world concepts. From designing electricity boards, building miniature robotics, lava lamps, and planning pathways for toy cars - this STEM curriculum is designed to stimulate screen-free, hands-on critical thinking. 

"There are hardly any screens, outside of movie day which happens every few weeks," Mannan explained. "It’s all hands-on learning. We want them working with their hands, building, working together in groups, and staying active daily so they don't experience summer learning loss." Summer learning loss refers to knowledge or skills that fade when children are not mentally engaged on a regular basis like they are while at school. At the Boys and Girls Club of Pocatello and Chubbuck, this screen-free intention around learning is to motivate students to build their ideas offline and take their learning into the real world to see what actually works to improve their favorite experiments. Through GFiber’s support the learning experiences happen outside of the Club too, with field trips to Zoo Idaho focusing on biology and the bowling alley for a fun lesson on mass and force.  

The enrichment doesn’t stop when summer ends either, The Boys and Girls Club transitions into an after-school program that follows the District 25 calendar. Students receive homework support during "Power Hour," participate in a brand new expanded music program, and connect with community mentors from the fire department, police department, and Idaho State University student volunteers. The Club also utilizes trauma-informed care training to ensure staff can deeply support children from all backgrounds. This is made possible through strong community alliances and gFiber’s $10,000 annual contribution to the Club. Every dollar donated goes straight back into local operation, programming, and scholarships.

There is an alignment between GFiber’s mission and the Club’s goal of helping youth reach their full potential, as both organizations are dedicated to building a brighter, more connected future. For Mannan, the relationship is built on mutual respect and shared energy, personified by GFiber’s area representative Alberto Garcia, who initiated the partnership. "This has been amazing support for us to grow our program," Mannan shared. "You guys are really an important part of this community."

The Dev channel has been updated to 152.0.7953.3 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

A partial list of changes is available in the Git log. Interested in switching release channels? Find out how. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug. The community help forum is also a great place to reach out for help or learn about common issues.

Chrome Release Team
Google Chrome

On World Emoji Day, go behind the scenes of Noto 3D to learn how we redesigned thousands of emoji for modern communication.

Conductor has evolved from a Gemini CLI extension into a portable plugin, bringing conversational Spec-Driven Development (SDD) to ecosystems like Antigravity CLI and Claude. Rather than relying on strict command sequences, developers can now chat naturally with their AI assistant while it dynamically manages persistent markdown artifacts (like spec.md and plan.md) in the background. This update eliminates workflow friction while ensuring your repository remains a version-controlled, single source of truth for your project's architecture and state across different AI tools.

    Hi, everyone! We've just released Chrome 150 (150.0.7871.128) for Android. It'll become available on Google Play over the next few days. 

This release includes stability and performance improvements. You can see a full list of the changes in the Git log. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.

The Stable channel has been updated to 150.0.7871.128/.129 for Windows and Mac and 150.0.7871.128 for Linux, which will roll out over the coming days/weeks. A full list of changes in this build is available in the Log

Security Fixes and Rewards

Note: Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.

This update includes 7 security fixes. Please see the Chrome Security Page for more information.

[N/A][516987782] Critical CVE-2026-15899: Use after free in CameraCapture. Reported by Google on 2026-05-27

[N/A][523750584] Critical CVE-2026-15900: Use after free in GPU. Reported by Google on 2026-06-14

[N/A][533446300] Critical CVE-2026-15901: Use after free in Network. Reported by Google on 2026-07-10

[N/A][522436154] High CVE-2026-15902: Use after free in Cast. Reported by Google on 2026-06-10

[TBD][531503216] High CVE-2026-15903: Out of bounds read and write in V8. Reported by OpenAI Codex Security (amyb) on 2026-07-06

[N/A][532925350] High CVE-2026-15904: Use after free in Ozone. Reported by Google on 2026-07-09

[N/A][532970574] High CVE-2026-15905: Use after free in Aura. Reported by Google on 2026-07-09

We would also like to thank all security researchers that worked with us during the development cycle to prevent security bugs from ever reaching the stable channel.

Many of our security bugs are detected using AddressSanitizer, MemorySanitizer, UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer, Control Flow Integrity, libFuzzer, or AFL.

Interested in switching release channels? Find out how here. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug. The community help forum is also a great place to reach out for help or learn about common issues.

Daniel Yip

Google Chrome

To help users remember to capture notes for meetings when it’s most valuable, we’re updating the admin and end user settings that let them pre-configure AI note-taking for Google Meet.

Admin settings

Previously, admins could only enable or disable automatic note-taking for all meetings. Today, we’re starting to roll out a third option, which will allow admins to enable automatic note-taking only for meetings with three or more people.

Customers on Business Standard and Business Plus plans will soon see this setting turned ON by default; the setting will be OFF by default for customers on Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, and Frontline Plus plans, as well as those with the Google AI Pro for Education add-on. There will be no impact to the end user experience on any plan before September 21, 2026. If you want to change your settings, you can do so in the Admin console.

If you currently participate in the Gemini Alpha program, and previously tested this setting, it may already be ON. Please review the current state of the settings for your organization in the Admin console before September 21, 2026.

End user settings

We’re also introducing a way for end users to enable note-taking only for meetings with three or more participants. Once the “For all meetings I host with 3+ guests” option rolls out, users should revisit their settings to confirm they’re configured as desired. This option will become available no sooner than September 21; stay tuned to the Workspace Updates blog to be notified when that rollout starts.

Getting started

• Admins for Business Standard and Business Plus organizations: This new setting is ON by default. If you wish to change your settings, you should do so before September 21, 2026, to avoid any impact for end users. Visit the Help Center for more information on how to adjust these settings.
• Admins for Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Frontline Plus, and Google AI Pro for Education organizations: This new setting is OFF by default. You can adjust this setting in the Admin console once it appears, but it will not affect the end user experience before September 21, 2026. Visit the Help Center for more information on how to adjust these settings.
• Admins for organizations participating in Gemini Alpha program: Your settings may be impacted by previous configurations. Please review your settings before September 21, 2026, to ensure they’re configured correctly.
• End users on all plans: The default set by admins will go into effect for end users no sooner than September 21, 2026. Users can override this default in the Meet user settings after that date. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Meeting settings for “take notes for me”.

Rollout pace

Admin setting

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Rolling out now, with expected completion by August 3, 2026

End user setting

• Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting no sooner than September 21, 2026*

*We’ll post an update on the Workspace Updates blog when the end user setting rollout begins.

Availability

• Business: Business Standard and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Standard and Plus
• Other Editions: Frontline Plus
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education

Resources

• Google Meet Help: Take notes for me in Google Meet
• Google Workspace Updates  Blog: New user controls for Take notes for me

Users now have access to Gemini Omni directly within Google Vids. With Gemini Omni, you can create videos using your personal avatar to scale your presence without the studio time. Use a secure verification process to capture your likeness and then select it as a character in Omni generations within Vids.

Personal avatar user experience

• Secure verification: Verify and manage your personal avatar directly within your Google Account.
• Seamless integration: Easily add your personal avatar from the selector in Vids.
• Administrative oversight: Admins can manage or disable this feature through the Admin console.

A note on language and region availability

At launch, personal avatars are available in English only for users 18 years and older. They’re not available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom. Learn more about personal avatar privacy settings.

Getting started

• Admins: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled or enabled at the domain level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about managing personal avatars in Vids.
• End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using personal avatars in Vids.

Rollout pace

• Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 16, 2026 
• Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 5, 2026 

Availability

• Business: Business Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Enterprise: Enterprise Starter, Standard, and Plus
• Education: Education Plus
• Consumer: Google AI Pro and Ultra
• Other Editions: Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus; Nonprofits
• Education Add-ons: Google AI Pro for Education; Teaching and Learning
• Other Add-ons: AI Expanded Access*

*Users with AI Expanded Access add-on licenses have higher limits on usage of Omni in Vids.

Resources

• Google Docs Editors Help: Create, use & manage your personal avatar with Gemini in Google Vids
• Google Docs Editors Help: Use Omni in Google Vids