Hi, everyone! We've released Chrome Beta 88 (88.0.4324.69) for iOS: it'll become available on App Store in next few days.
You can see a partial list of the changes in the Git log. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.
Bindu Suvarna
Google Chrome
Hi everyone! We've just released Chrome Beta 88 (88.0.4324.68) for Android: it's now available on Google Play.
You can see a partial list of the changes in the Git log. For details on new features, check out the Chromium blog, and for details on web platform updates, check here.
If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.
Krishna Govind
Google Chrome
Without a doubt, 2020 was the year of video calling. And for us, that meant making sure every student, team, and family could jump on a call from any device and have a reliable, safe experience. Google Duo and Google Meet hosted over one trillion minutes of video calls globally. For perspective, that’s equal to more than 18 billion hour-long virtual workouts in a single year!
Here’s a recap of what we’ve done so far.
In 2020, Meet was put to the test. Our team had to really think through how virtual meetings could bring the key part of what in-person meetings provide: human connection. We launched new features like 49-tile layout, noise cancellation, background blur, and low-light mode plus live captions in five languages to help everyone follow along on the call.
Earlier this year, we made Meet free for everyone. We also announced that with your Gmail account, Meet calls are unlimited through March 31, 2021 so that families can enjoy their holiday traditions without interruptions. Speaking of Gmail, we added a Meet tab in Gmail, so that with one tap, people can jump from an email to a video call. We also brought Meet to Nest Hub Max and Chromecast to help people get up, move around, and have hands-free calls at home.
In large group settings like team all-hands or a classroom, it gets harder for people to speak up and to engage everyone on the call. With Meet, participants can use Q&A and hand raising tools, polls and breakout rooms. Organizations and moderators have more control too, keeping their meetings and participants safe, including advanced anti-abuse features, that allow for an enjoyable, safe experience for all. And in 2021, as many companies evaluate a flexible working model, we’ve designed Meet to work with our Series One hardware kits, created to deliver inclusive audio and video clarity that makes you feel like you're all together. So whether you're a Google Workspace subscriber relying on Meet's enterprise-grade functionality, or using Meet’s free version to safely connect with others near and far, Meet has you covered.
Being helpful means being there for the moments big and small. Though the pandemic kept me physically apart from many family members, I felt like they were with me and my family through virtual dinners, holidays like Thanksgiving, and even school band practices with Google Duo. At the end of the day, Google Duo makes it simple to go from texting each other to getting right on a video call. In a year of virtual get-togethers, Google Duo was there to help make video calls more fun: doodle on video calls, magically transform into an astronaut or a cat, and spread laughs and cheer this holiday season with our wide portfolio of AR effects that change based on your facial expressions and move with you around the screen. And with Moments, you can capture the fun (and the embarrassing moments!) to relive the memory afterwards.
With so many families having to work on the frontlines, our team was focused on ensuring calls could be connected with the highest quality even in low bandwidth connections. Google Duo is available on Android, iOS, tablets, computers, Android TV, smart speakers and smart displays.
Google Meet and Google Duo were built with an emphasis on privacy and security, to keep your calls and meetings safe and your information private.
We hope that our work so far continues to help people stay in touch during this holiday season, and we’re looking forward to connecting more families, friends, students, teachers and teams in 2021 and beyond.
Keiko Lynn has only ever had what she calls a “real job” once in her life. She did a short stint at a pretzel parlor as a teenager and kept a blog as a personal diary the whole time. After that, it was full-force creator mode as she launched a clothing line to help pay for college.
Today, Keiko (pronounced “cake oh”) is a successful lifestyle blogger, fashion influencer and Web Creator based in Brooklyn, where she lives with her boyfriend, dog and three cats. Her website, keikolynn.com, serves as her online hub for beauty and style tutorials, lifestyle guides and links to shop Keiko’s favorite fashions.
Keiko’s blog is the heart of her business and where her community thrives. It’s where she shares her view of the world and love for all things whimsical, vintage, pink and fuzzy, with a dash of fantasy. Keiko is also active on social media platforms, serving daily doses of inspiration via her Instagram stories, Pinterest boards, etc. But it’s her blog she can’t do without. “I could lose my Instagram tomorrow,” she says. But you can’t take her blog.
Keiko chatted with us recently about growing up on the web, and what it takes to be a full-time fashion and lifestyle blogger and social media influencer.
You’ve been blogging full time since college. How did you get started? And what has changed since then?
Keiko: I fell into this career at such an early time. But before that, I started on Open Diary, and then I transitioned to LiveJournal because that was the hot new thing. LiveJournal was more about the community and making connections. And it really started off as a personal outlet—like a diary—and evolved as time went on. I helped put myself through college promoting my clothing line. And then as I moved to New York, it became more about my personal life, my personal style, beauty, and it evolved as I grew up. The only "real job" that I ever had was when I worked at a pretzel parlor as a teenager.
You’re on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. How do you have time for all that plus your blog?
Keiko: I've always said that you should have your own space. The thing about your blog is that you own it. My Instagram could be shut down tomorrow, but people will always still be able to find me on my blog. So I think of it partially as a safety net, and partially as a nostalgic thing that I hold on to and could never give up.
What is your favorite kind of post?
Keiko’s witch hat was a hit with her followers (and their feline friends).
You've done a lot of work with brands. What is your approach?
Keiko: I've been with Digital Brand Architects, the very first influencer agency before we were called influencers, since 2009. They helped me deal with the business side of things because I am possibly the worst person to champion myself. In the early days, when money started to become a thing with blogging, it made me so uncomfortable. I would just be like, "Oh, don't worry about it. I'll just do it for free." It made me so uncomfortable. So, they are the middleman between me and the brands and take out all the awkwardness so that I can just have a relationship with the brand, be the creative behind it, and not have to talk about numbers.
How do you select the brands that you work with?
Keiko: I have lists of dream brands that I want to work with, and we will actively go after those sometimes. I make tailor-made decks to show them what I can bring to them. But most of the time a lot of brands will approach me and I'll see if it makes sense, or I may have a really good idea of how to make something more interesting than just holding up a product.
That mirrors what you would do at a digital ad agency, which is build a brief and then present that.
Keiko: Honestly, I didn't do it for so long, but I started to think about certain things that I really wanted and realized that I need to be more of a champion for myself. And I saw a tremendous amount of success with that because sometimes brands don't know you exist because there's so many people [out there]. But once they see what you do, they might want to work with you. And the worst that can happen is they say no. That's not so bad.
You really just have to be persistent and consistent, which is one of the hardest things, especially if you're working a normal job. But I always say that you should treat this as your second full-time job instead of just quitting your job and starting this from scratch, because it's going to take a long time before you get there.
Justin took Keiko's advice and made a pink witch hat for his dog, Foxy.
With AppSheet from Google Cloud, anyone can build custom applications without having to write code. Whether you’re part of a large organization seeking digital transformation or a small team in need of creative solutions to organize events during a pandemic, there’s no limit to what you can create.
Our biggest piece of advice for those getting started? Just start. The best way to learn how to build applications without code is to get into the platform and start experimenting. The more time you spend creating and troubleshooting, the better both your skills and applications will become.
In this post, we’ve compiled a list of some of our most popular how-tos to help you get started. No matter your industry or use case, you’ll discover helpful tips, template apps and troubleshooting suggestions to take your development skills to the next level.
1. Create a mobile app with geolocation and Google Maps in five minutes
By incorporating Google Maps into your AppSheet application, you can create a simple geolocation app in just a few minutes, or spend a little more time to suggest what you’d like your users to do based on task updates to keep projects on track or ensure deliveries are taking place on schedule.
2. Six automation apps you can build today
Ready to see some of the real no-code magic? Each template app referenced in this piece allows you to remove manual processes and free up valuable resources. Whether it’s the Sequential Tasks app or one of the other selections, try copying and adding one or two of these to your portfolio to customize and make your own. The best part? Workflow functionality is built in for you to test and review before you really dig in to the customization of your application.
3. Manage sales: Three free sales tracker Excel templates
Sales professionals often struggle to find the right application to address their business needs. Some reps need access to their data on the go, some need their applications to present well on a desktop, and some need a combination of all this and more. The necessary versatility of this type of work requires a solution that’s as agile as your team. With these three templates, you’ll find foundational elements to help you track leads, create reports, and add field data no matter the work environment or company size.
4. Create an inventory management app from Google Sheets with AppSheet
Inventory management is one of the most popular ways in which app creators not only use AppSheet, but get started with the platform. Whether you’re managing inventory for an online store or want to update your home inventory process, the steps provided in this in-depth tutorial offer a step-by-step walkthrough of critical concepts to help improve your skills in no-code development
5. How to build a customer experience app with Google Docs
There are two important things to remember: First, you can build apps from your Google Docs. Second, try not to limit yourself to a narrow view of your use case when reviewing sample apps. Why, you ask? In this example, you’ll see how our popular field survey template application can be repurposed into a customer experience application.
6. How AppSheet employees use AppSheet
Let’s be honest, it’s always fun to know how the people who build something use it behind the scenes. In this post, we provide samples and overviews of what helps our team stay organized, keep plans on track, and better manage our time.
Now that you’ve had a chance to see some of what’s possible, it’s time to build a few of your own from scratch to put your newfound skills to the test. And if you’re ever in need of additional inspiration, visit the AppSheet Community to see what fellow app creators are building.
Ready to use AppSheet? Get started now.
The year 2020 felt particularly sluggish—and simultaneously much, much too fast. With so many things happening in the world (and far fewer things happening in my day-to-day quarantine life), it’d be easy to forget what exactly occurred and when.
So humor us while we—gasp!—revisit the past year a bit, and take a look at some of what we worked on here at Google. Because as slow as the year may have felt at times, what didn’t happen in 2020?
1. As COVID-19 began to spread, we made sure that Google products were supporting people during the pandemic—and especially what Search and News could do to surface relevant, accurate information. More than once, we turned to Dr. Karen DeSalvo, our Chief Health Officer, for her insights on the pandemic, including information about the coming vaccines. In April, we partnered with Apple to use Bluetooth technology to create Exposure Notifications System, which is now being used by public health authorities in more than 50 countries, states and regions around the world to anonymously inform people if they’ve come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
2. Part of fighting COVID-19 means supporting businesses and communities. Our $800 million commitment to small and medium-sized businesses was one of these initial efforts. We made it easier for businesses to update their profiles using Search and Maps, and gave them new ways to communicate with customers. For people who needed to find work or forge new careers, we launched a new suite of Google Career Certificate programs. We also found ways to support Black-owned businesses, with new funding for Black founders and the launch of the Black-owned business attribute for Business Profiles.
3. Finding jobs and helping businesses succeed was only one part of the transition: How people worked hugely changed. As more people worldwide began working from home, we shared resources to make the transition easier. Our experts offered tips on how to make your home work environment more efficient, and about their methods for fighting screen fatigue. We also investigated the “why?” behind some of the WFH feelings people everywhere were having—like why remote meetings just aren’t the same as the real thing.
4. Remote teaching isn’t the same, either. My sister, who lives with me, teaches third-grade online, and I’m completely in awe of how hard she works. This year, we offered resources on how to keep learning even without internet access. The Anywhere School introduced more than 50 new features, like a Tech ToolKit for families who need help troubleshooting, and ways for instructors to introduce polls into Meet. And we launched new tools for parents who became teachers. We also heard personal distance learning stories, and did our best to tell educators how thankful we are for their work. (Thanks, Vicki!)
5. The passage of time can be marked by eras of emoji. World Emoji Day coincided with the introduction of critters like ? and ?❄️. And it really just wouldn’t be 2020 if new emoji mashups didn’t include the ? emoji and a few new ways to get in our feelings. Oh, my top emoji of 2020? Thanks for asking! Obviously, they were ?, ?, ?, ? and ?.
6. Masks weren’t required to welcome new augmented-reality friends into our homes. From dinosaurs to kangaroos to the Cambropachycope (I know, I know, your favorite), there was no shortage of AR-created creatures at our disposal. (A popular fictional paleven made the cut.)
7. We said goodbye to earworms with the launch of Hum to Search, a new feature where anyone can hum or sing a tune and find out what song is stuck in their head. The tool was introduced during Google’s live (streamed) Search event and talked about advancements in AI that are making Search more accessible and useful. And this year, Search became more visually friendly, allowing us to do things like use Google Lens to shop or turn to AR for help with homework.
8. Search isn’t the only Google tool that’s improved leaps and bounds since its inception: Google Maps turned 15! To mark this milestone, we rolled out a fresh look and helpful new features and also looked back on the journey. The work hardly ended there: Maps and Search also debuted real-time wildfire maps and information. And as the spread of COVID-19 affected how people moved around this year, Maps released multiple new features focused on helping people stay informed and safe and make decisions around travel, and My Maps was an incredibly important resource for communities everywhere, helping people find food banks and testing sites, among so many other things.
9. “The world must act now if we’re going to avert the worst consequences of climate change,” CEO Sundar Pichai wrote in September, announcing our latest efforts at achieving a carbon-free future, and eliminating our carbon legacy entirely. More good news: data centers are more energy efficient than ever. But small changes can make a difference, too: We shared tips on how everyone could become more sustainable at home. Other projects included hitting our hardware sustainability goals—and creating news ones—and making sure our own construction principles go above and beyond.
10. One thing we all relied on in 2020 was video calling. In May, we made Google Meet free for all—andthrough March 2021 all free Meet users can enjoy unlimited meetings without having to worry about the 60-minute time limit. Plus, a handful of new features specifically geared to help teachers with video schooling were added, and we shared tips on how to make sure video conferences are accessible to everyone. And I set my grandma up with a Nest Hub Max so we can video chat, and Google partnered with senior care centers so their residents could do the same with their families.
11. The world has been intensely focused on health during the pandemic—including mental health. We took an in-depth look at Blue Dot, an employee resource group at Google that works to normalize conversations about mental health. The Digital Wellbeing team worked on giving you more control and transparency over selfies, and Search launched an anxiety self-assessment tool. On a more personal level, Googler Carly Schwartz shared her journey to sobriety, and how Google tools can help others who are looking for help.
12. Despite the challenges of 2020, Googlers continued doing amazing things. We met Fabiana Fregonesi, a scuba diver who photographs and advocates for sharks, and Sarah Torney, who used old family photos to take us to turn-of-the-century San Francisco. And of course, in true 2020 fashion, more than a few Googlers came up with creative new hobbies for their time spent at home. Speaking of fashion: AI Engineer Dale Markowitz showed us how to use machine learning to create your own stylist.
All this just skims the surface: We also talked about what it’s like to work at home with our dogs and offered mobile photography tips—and yes, while time became more and more of a construct, it really was just this year that we introduced new Pixel phones and Nest devices.
But with all that said, I think it’s time to say goodbye to this year. Farewell, 2020, and thanks for giving us plenty to write about. Here’s to ending the year on a grateful note, and looking forward to the next one with hope.
Over the last few years, improved connectivity and more affordable data have paved the way for India’s startup ecosystem to scale and solve for the needs of the country’s growing number of internet users. And now, in a matter of a few months, the pandemic has not only accelerated internet adoption, it has also expanded how people use the internet to get things done in their daily lives. All over the country, people are embracing new ways of doing things like virtual learning, making online payments and buying groceries online.
In the last two years alone, 100 million new internet users have come online from rural India. Data shows that rural consumption now accounts for roughly 45 percent of overall mobile data usage in the country, and is primarily focused on online video. But many of these internet users continue to have trouble finding content to read or services they can use confidently, in their own language. And this significantly limits the value of the internet for them, particularly at a time like this when the internet is the lifeline of so many people.
Teams at Google have been working over the years to solve this challenge in a number of ways. We’ve built new products and features that enable people to create, consume and communicate more effortlessly across more Indic languages, and through that, better serve not just the needs of over a billion people in India, but many more people around the world.
And we’re also eager to support the wider ecosystem in India, particularly local startups innovating in this space. When we shared details of the India Digitization Fund in July this year, we identified enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, whether it’s Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Gujarati, and more as a key pillar in order to drive forward India’s digitization.
This is why we’re pleased to announce investments in leading Indian startups Glance Inmobi and VerSe Innovation, enabling them to further scale the availability of relevant and engaging content in different formats across various Indic languages. Glance Inmobi delivers visual, immersive and localized content experiences across products like Glance and Roposo, while VerSe Innovation serves vernacular content in 14 languages through platforms like the Dailyhunt and Josh apps.
These investments underline our strong belief in partnering deeply with India’s innovative startups, and our commitment to working towards the shared goal of building a truly inclusive digital economy that will benefit everyone.
Posted by Caesar Sengupta, VP, Google
Olivia Lavin was overwhelmed with emotion as she reached the shore of Cap Blanc-Nez beach in France, greeted by a crowd of people clapping and cheering. She had just swam the English Channel, the body of water between the U.K. and France. It took her 13 and a half hours to swim 45 kilometers, 10 hours of which were done in darkness. She had trained for this moment for two years.
Olivia had always loved swimming as a child, and swam regularly until she was about 16. But when she joined Google Dublin in 2017, she reignited her passion for the sport. “I was so amazed that there was a swimming pool in the office,” she says. “I wanted to make full use of it.” Olivia signed up for coaching sessions and started competing. She challenged herself to swim longer and longer distances, seeing how far she could push her limits.
A year in, she set her sights on crossing the English Channel, an ultimate long-distance swimming challenge.
To start, Olivia found a boat captain certified to take swimmers across the channel and joined the two-year-long waitlist. Then, she completed a six-hour qualifying swim, with water temperature colder than 15°C (59°F). For the two years leading up to the event, she swam at least five days a week to build up speed and endurance, sometimes swimming for eight hours straight. A year into her training, she moved to Singapore, where the warm weather made it tough to replicate the chilly conditions of the English Channel; she took cold showers and ice baths to train her body to deal with the low temperatures.
Olivia arriving on the beach in France.
If that wasn’t tough enough, the COVID-19 pandemic made it even more challenging to train. She wasn’t able to swim for three months. Others who couldn’t train because of similar COVID restrictions only succeeded at the big swim about a third of the time. But if she delayed her swim, she’d have to wait until 2022 to take the plunge, and her intense training could have gone to waste. “I couldn’t afford to put another two years of my life on hold,” she says. So she pushed forward, and got approval from the Channel Swimming Association to swim across the Channel.
After years of work, Olivia became one of 680 women to accomplish the swim. “I felt a sense of euphoria,” she says. “I hope that sharing my story inspires others to not be afraid to pursue the most ambitious goals they can dream of!”
Echa un vistazo a la canción "Together", la pista de acompañamiento de "El año en búsquedas" ...
En un año como ningún otro, sabíamos que la campaña 2020 de Year in Search tendría que adoptar un enfoque único. Cada año, los datos de Google Trends reflejan no solo las consultas diarias, sino también los momentos, las personas y las ideas que definieron ese año. Inspirado por los datos de Tendencias del año, el productor musical Peter Cottontale creó la canción destacada en Year in Search.
Peter es un productor y músico ganador del GRAMMY por su trabajo con Chance the Rapper. Él mismo lanzó su primer solo álbum, CATCH, a principios de este año. También ha colaborado con artistas de todo el mundo durante la última década como compositor, productor y director musical, así como también como artista destacado principalmente en los teclados. El nativo de Chicago tiene un lugar especial en su corazón para trabajar con artistas de su ciudad natal.
Peter escribió y produjo la canción "Together" en colaboración con Chance the Rapper, Cynthia Erivo, el Chicago Children’s Choir, Matt Jones (de Re-Collective Orchestra), Rachel Robinson y Jamila Woods. "Juntos" reconoce las angustias y los desafíos del 2020, así como la necesidad de que las comunidades se unan. Al final, la canción de Peter transmite un mensaje de esperanza.
Nos sentamos con Peter para aprender más sobre su proceso creativo, por qué esta canción significaba tanto para él y la importancia de elevar las voces negras.
¿Qué inspiró Together?
Después de escuchar sobre los planes para "El Año en Búsquedas", el contexto y la visión del proyecto realmente se destacaron. Desde problemas de salud hasta el foco en la lucha de la comunidad negra, se sintió como la forma correcta de ayudar a contextualizar, aumentar la representación y crear oportunidades para todos los involucrados a través de la campaña "El Año en Búsquedas" de Google. Mi esperanza es que mostrar oportunidades para artistas negros con Google genere más oportunidades y otros proyectos en el futuro.
Cuéntanos sobre tu proceso creativo.
Tuvimos reuniones iniciales para discutir lo que el 2020 ha significado para las personas. El elenco de personas involucradas en la creación de la música y la película eran, si no líderes, rodeados de líderes que, a su manera, están impulsando el cambio en la comunidad. También se trataba de dar esperanza a todos y un poco de celebración también. Queríamos mostrar que trabajando juntos, creciendo juntos, lo superaremos.
¿Cómo seleccionaste el talento que te ayudó a hacer realidad tu visión?
En un año en el que la atención se centró en las mujeres negras, quería mostrar y destacar a las increíbles artistas y escritoras negras. Trabajé con Jamila Woods y Young Chicago Authors para desarrollar algunos de los primeros conceptos para el disco. Cynthia Erivo, una artista increíble y mujer negra, fue la vocalista femenina destacada en la pista. También incluimos artistas negros de una variedad de géneros y experiencias diferentes. Para capturar realmente la esencia de este año, le pedimos al Coro de Niños de Chicago que se uniera al proyecto. La historia de justicia social de la organización y su esfuerzo por unir voces jóvenes de diferentes orígenes a través de canciones realmente me inspiraron.
¿Qué impacto ha tenido este año en ti, tanto a nivel personal como profesional?
Este año ha sido el año más loco de mi vida hasta ahora sin duda, y estoy seguro de que otros también sienten lo mismo. Aprendí a operar mi estudio de grabación en medio de cierres, con sesiones virtuales y otras herramientas. Tuve que ponerme realmente creativo sobre cómo lanzar mi propia música y marca. Estuve en las calles la mayor parte del verano junto a los líderes comunitarios, sirviendo y ampliando el trabajo de amigos a mi alrededor que pasaron el verano protestando y luchando por la comunidad negra. Y, por supuesto, tuve que navegar y solucionar los retrasos en la producción causados por COVID-19, así que encontré diferentes formas de hacer las cosas y crecí en paciencia. A pesar de lo duro que ha sido este año, ha estado lleno de bendiciones y de muchas lecciones maravillosas. Estoy muy emocionado por el futuro.
¿Cuál es tu deseo para el futuro de la diversidad y la representación en los campos creativos y en la industria de la música?
Vaya, ¿tengo que elegir solo un deseo? Siempre deseo la progresión de la diversidad y el avance de la representación auténtica en las salas de escritores, los medios y el desarrollo de entornos basados en la cultura. Muy a menudo, la equidad se pierde en alguna parte, tanto para los no creativos como para los creativos. Los negros son una minoría desfavorecida que se ven afectados por la tergiversación a diario a nivel macro y micro. No podría resolver [esto] con un solo deseo.
Ahora que el 2020 llega a su fin, estamos emocionados de compartir "Together" con el mundo. Gracias, Peter y todos los involucrados en la realización de esta pieza musical tan necesaria.
