Generate Stunning Visuals in Your Android Apps with Imagen 3 via Vertex AI in Firebase

Posted by Thomas Ezan Sr. – Android Developer Relation Engineer (@lethargicpanda)

Imagen 3, our most advanced image generation model, is now available through Vertex AI in Firebase, making it even easier to integrate it to your Android apps.

Designed to generate well-composed images with exceptional details, reduced artifacts, and rich lighting, Imagen 3 represents a significant leap forward in image generation capabilities.

Hot air balloons float over a scenic desert landscape with unique rock formations.
Image generated by Imagen 3 with prompt: “Shot in the style of DSLR camera with the polarizing filter. A photo of two hot air balloons over the unique rock formations in Cappadocia, Turkey. The colors and patterns on these balloons contrast beautifully against the earthy tones of the landscape below. This shot captures the sense of adventure that comes with enjoying such an experience.”

A wooden robot stands in a field of yellow flowers, holding a small blue bird on its outstretched hand.
Image generated by Imagen 3 with prompt: A weathered, wooden mech robot covered in flowering vines stands peacefully in a field of tall wildflowers, with a small blue bird resting on its outstretched hand. Digital cartoon, with warm colors and soft lines. A large cliff with a waterfall looms behind.

Imagen 3 unlocks exciting new possibilities for Android developers. Generated visuals can adapt to the content of your app, creating a more engaging user experience. For instance, your users can generate custom artwork to enhance their in-app profile. Imagen can also improve your app's storytelling by bringing its narratives to life with delightful personalized illustrations.

You can experiment with image prompts in Vertex AI Studio, and learn how to improve your prompts by reviewing the prompt and image attribute guide.

Get started with Imagen 3

The integration of Imagen 3 is similar to adding Gemini access via Vertex AI in Firebase. Start by adding the gradle dependencies to your Android project:

dependencies {
    implementation(platform("com.google.firebase:firebase-bom:33.10.0"))

    implementation("com.google.firebase:firebase-vertexai")
}

Then, in your Kotlin code, create an ImageModel instance by passing the model name and optionally, a model configuration and safety settings:

val imageModel = Firebase.vertexAI.imagenModel(
  modelName = "imagen-3.0-generate-001",
  generationConfig = ImagenGenerationConfig(
    imageFormat = ImagenImageFormat.jpeg(compresssionQuality = 75),
    addWatermark = true,
    numberOfImages = 1,
    aspectRatio = ImagenAspectRatio.SQUARE_1x1
  ),
  safetySettings = ImagenSafetySettings(
    safetyFilterLevel = ImagenSafetyFilterLevel.BLOCK_LOW_AND_ABOVE
    personFilterLevel = ImagenPersonFilterLevel.ALLOW_ADULT
  )
)

Finally generate the image by calling generateImages:

val imageResponse = imageModel.generateImages(
  prompt = "An astronaut riding a horse"
)

Retrieve the generated image from the imageResponse and display it as a bitmap as follow:

val image = imageResponse.images.first()
val uiImage = image.asBitmap()

Next steps

Explore the comprehensive Firebase documentation for detailed API information.

Access to Imagen 3 using Vertex AI in Firebase is currently in Public Preview, giving you an early opportunity to experiment and innovate. For pricing details, please refer to the Vertex AI in Firebase pricing page.

Start experimenting with Imagen 3 today! We're looking forward to seeing how you’ll leverage Imagen 3's capabilities to create truly unique, immersive and personalized Android experiences.

Beta Channel Update for ChromeOS / ChromeOS Flex

 The Beta channel is being updated to OS version 16181.30.0 (Browser version 134.0.6998.52) for most ChromeOS devices.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways:
  1. File a bug

  2. Visit our ChromeOS communities

    1. General: Chromebook Help Community

    2. Beta Specific: ChromeOS Beta Help Community

  3. Report an issue or send feedback on Chrome

  4. Interested in switching channels? Find out how.

Luis Menezes

Google ChromeOS

Chrome for Android Update

Hi, everyone! We've just released Chrome 134 (134.0.6998.39) 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.

Android releases contain the same security fixes as their corresponding Desktop (Windows:134.0.6998.35/.36, Mac:134.0.6998.44/.45 and Linux: 134.0.6998.35) unless otherwise noted.


Krishna Govind
Google Chrome

Stable Channel Update for Desktop

 The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 134 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

Chrome 134.0.6998.35 (Linux)  134.0.6998.35/36 ( Windows)  134.0.6998.44/45 (Mac) contains a number of fixes and improvements -- a list of changes is available in the log. Watch out for upcoming Chrome and Chromium blog posts about new features and big efforts delivered in 134.

Extended stable channel has been updated to 134.0.6998.36 ( Windows) and 134.0.6998.45 ( Mac).

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 14 security fixes. Below, we highlight fixes that were contributed by external researchers. Please see the Chrome Security Page for more information.




[$7000][397731718] High CVE-2025-1914: Out of bounds read in V8. Reported by Zhenghang Xiao (@Kipreyyy) and Nan Wang (@eternalsakura13) on 2025-02-20

[$4000][391114799] Medium CVE-2025-1915: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory in DevTools. Reported by Topi Lassila on 2025-01-20

[$3000][376493203] Medium CVE-2025-1916: Use after free in Profiles. Reported by parkminchan, SSD Labs Korea on 2024-10-31

[$2000][329476341] Medium CVE-2025-1917: Inappropriate Implementation in Browser UI. Reported by Khalil Zhani on 2024-03-14

[$2000][388557904] Medium CVE-2025-1918: Out of bounds read in PDFium. Reported by asnine on 2025-01-09

[$2000][392375312] Medium CVE-2025-1919: Out of bounds read in Media. Reported by @Bl1nnnk and @Pisanbao on 2025-01-26

[$1000][387583503] Medium CVE-2025-1921: Inappropriate Implementation in Media Stream. Reported by Kaiido on 2025-01-04

[$5000][384033062] Low CVE-2025-1922: Inappropriate Implementation in Selection. Reported by Alesandro Ortiz on 2024-12-14

[$1000][382540635] Low CVE-2025-1923: Inappropriate Implementation in Permission Prompts. Reported by Khalil Zhani on 2024-12-06




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.

As usual, our ongoing internal security work was responsible for a wide range of fixes:

[400559715] Various fixes from internal audits, fuzzing and other initiatives




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.




Srinivas Sista

Google Chrome

Stable Channel Update for ChromeOS / ChromeOS Flex

M-133,  ChromeOS version 16151.53.0 (Browser version 133.0.6943.146), has rolled out to ChromeOS devices on the Stable channel.

If you find new issues, please let us know one of the following ways:

  1. File a bug

  2. Visit our ChromeOS communities

    1. General: Chromebook Help Community

    2. Beta Specific: ChromeOS Beta Help Community

  3. Report an issue or send feedback on Chrome

  4. Interested in switching channels? Find out how.


Andy Wu

Google ChromeOS

New devices at MWC, gaming news, XR & Gemini in Android Studio: Tune in for our winter episode of #TheAndroidShow on March 13!

Posted by Anirudh Dewani, Director – Android Developer Relations

In just a few days, on Thursday, March 13 at 10AM PT, we’ll be dropping our winter episode of #TheAndroidShow, on YouTube and on developer.android.com!

Mobile World Congress - the annual event in Barcelona where Android device makers show off their latest devices, kicked off yesterday. In our winter episode we’ll take a look at these foldables, tablets and wearables and tell you what you need to get building.

Plus we’ve got some news to share, like a new update for Gemini in Android Studio and some new goodies for games developers ahead of the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco later this month. And of course, with the launch of Android XR in December, we’ll also be taking a look at how to get building there. It’s a packed show, and you don’t want to miss it!

Some new Android foldables and tablets, at Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress is a big moment for Android, with partners from around the world showing off their latest devices. And if you’re already building adaptive apps, we wanted to share some of the cool new foldable and tablets that our partners released in Barcelona:

    • OPPO: OPPO launched their Find N5, their slim 8.93mm foldable with a 8.12” large screen - making it as compact or expansive as needed.
    • Xiaomi: Xiaomi debuted the Xiaomi Pad 7 series. Xiaomi Pad 7 provides a crystal-clear display and, with the productivity accessories, users get a desktop-like experience with the convenience of a tablet.
    • Lenovo: Lenovo showcased their Yoga Tab Plus, the latest powerful tablet from their lineup designed to empower creativity and productivity.

These new devices are a great reason to build adaptive apps that scale across screen sizes and device types. Plus, Android 16 removes the ability for apps to restrict orientation and resizability at the platform level, so you’ll want to prepare. To help you get started, the Compose Material 3 adaptive library enables you to quickly and easily create layouts across all screen sizes while reducing the overall development cost.

Tune in to #TheAndroidShow: March 13 at 10AM PT

These new devices are just one of the many things we’ll cover in our winter episode, you don’t want to miss it! If you watch live on YouTube, we’ll have folks standing by to answer your questions in the comments. See you on March 13 on YouTube or at developer.android.com/events/show!

Design with Widget Canonical Layouts

Posted by Summers Pitman – Developer Relations Engineer, and Ivy Knight – Senior Design Advocate

Widgets can bring more productive, delightful and customized experiences to users' home screens, but they can be tricky to design to ensure a high quality focused experience. In this blog post, we’ll cover how easy Widget Canonical Layouts can make this process.

But, what is a Canonical Layout? It is a common layout pattern that works for various screen sizes. You can use them as a starting point, ready-to-use compositions that help layouts adapt for common use cases and screen sizes. Widgets also provide Canonical Layouts to get started crafting higher quality widgets.

Widget Canonical Layouts

The Widget Canonical Layouts Figma makes previewing your widget content in multiple breakpoints and layout types. Join me in our Figma design resource to explore how they can simplify designing a widget for one of our sample apps, JetNews.

Three side-by-side examples of Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma being used to design a widget for JetNews

1. Content to adapt

Jetnews is a sample news reading app, built with Jetpack Compose. With the experience in mind, the primary user journey is reading articles.

    • A widget should be glanceable, so displaying a full article would not be a good use case.
    • Since they are timely news articles, surfacing newer content could be more productive for users.
    • We’ll want to give a condensed version of each article similar to the app home feed.
    • The addition of a bookmark action would allow the user to save and read later in the full app experience.
Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

2. Choosing a Canonical Layout

With our content and user journey established, we’ll take a glance at which canonical layouts would make sense.

We want to show at least a few new articles with a headline, truncated description, and possible thumbnail. Which brings us to the Image + Text Grid layout and maybe the list layout.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Within our new Figma Widget Canonical Layout preview, we can add in some mock content to check out how these layouts will look in various sizes.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Moving example of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

3. Adapting to breakpoint sizes

Now that we’ve previewed our content in both the grid and list layouts, we don’t have to choose between just one!

The grid layout better displays our content for larger sizes, where we have some more room to take advantage of multiple columns and a larger thumbnail image. While the list is working nicely for smaller sizes, giving a one column layout with a smaller thumbnail.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

But we can adapt even further to allow the user to have more resizing flexibility and anticipate different OEM grid sizing. For JetNews, we decided on an additional extra small layout to accommodate a smaller grid size and vertical height while still using the List layout. For this size I decided to remove the thumbnail all together to give the title and action space.

Consider these in-between design tweaks as needed (between any of the breakpoints), that can be applied as general rules in your widget designs.

Here are a few guidelines to borrow:

    • Establish a content hierarchy on what to hide as the widget shrinks.
    • Use a type scale so the type scales consistently.
    • Create some parameters for image scaling with aspect ratios and cropping techniques.
    • Use component presentation changes. For example, the title bar’s FAB can be reduced to a standard icon.
Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

Last, I’ll swap the app icon, round up all the breakpoint sizes, and provide an option with brand colors.

Examples of using Widget Canonical Layouts in Figma to design a widget for JetNews

These are ready to send over to dev! Tune in for the code along to check out how to implement the final widget.

Go try it out and explore more widgets

You can find the Widget Canonical Layouts at our new Figma Community Page: figma.com/@androiddesign. Stay tuned for more Android Figma resources.

Check out the official Android documentation for detailed information and best practices Widgets on Android and more on Widget Quality Tiers, and join us for the rest of Widget Spotlight week!

Android Banner

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

Introducing Widget Quality Tiers

Posted by Ivy Knight – Senior Design Advocate

Level up your app Widgets with new quality tiers

Widgets can be a powerful tool for engaging users and increasing the visibility of your app. They can also help you to improve the user experience by providing users with a more convenient way to access your app's content and features.

To build a great Android widget, it should be helpful, adaptive, and visually cohesive with the overall aesthetic of the device home screen.

In order to help you achieve a great widget, we are pleased to introduce Android Widget Quality Tiers!

The new Widget quality tiers are here to help guide you towards a best practice implementation of widgets, that will look great and bring your user’s value across the ecosystem of Android Phone, Tablets and Foldables.

What does this mean for widget makers?

Whether you are planning a new widget, or investing in an update to an existing widget, the Widget Quality Tiers will help you evaluate and plan for a high quality widget.

Just like Large Screen quality tiers help optimize app experiences, these Widget tiers guide you in creating great widgets across all Android devices. Now, similar tiers are being introduced for widgets to ensure they're not just functional, but also visually appealing and user-friendly.

Two screenshots of a phone display different views in the Google Play app. The first shows a list of running apps with the Widget filter applied in a search for 'Running apps'; the second shows the Nike Run Club app page.
Widgets that meet quality tier guidelines will be discoverable under the new Widget filter in Google Play.

Consider using our Canonical Widget layouts, which are based on Jetpack Glance components, to make it easier for you to design and build a Tier 1 widget your users will love.

Let’s take a look at the Widget Quality Tiers

There are three tiers built with required system defaults and suggested guidance to create an enhanced widget experience:

Tier 1: Differentiated

Four mockups show examples of Material Design 3 dynamic color applied to an app called 'Radio Hour'.
Differentiated widgets go further by implementing theming and adapting to resizing.

Tier 1 widgets are exemplary widgets offering hero experiences that are personalized, and create unique and productive homescreens. These widgets meet Tier 2 standards plus enhancements for layout, color, discovery, and system coherence criteria.

A stylized cartoon figure holds their chin thoughtfully while a chat bubble icon is highlighted
For example, use the system provided corner radius, and don’t set a custom corner radius on Widgets.

Add more personalization with dynamic color and generated previews while ensuring your widgets look good across devices by not overriding system defaults.

Four mockups show examples of Material Design 3 components on Android: a contact card, a podcast player, a task list, and a news feed.
Tier 1 widgets that, from the top left, properly crop content, fill the layout bounds, have appropriately sized headers and touch targets, and make good use of colors and contrast.

Tier 2: Quality Standard

These widgets are helpful, usable, and provide a quality experience. They meet all criteria for layout, color, discovery, and content.

A simple to-do list app widget displays two tasks: 'Water plants' and 'Water more plants.' Both tasks have calendar icons next to them. The app is titled 'Plants' and has search and add buttons in the top right corner.
Make sure your widget has appropriate touch targets.

Tier 2 widgets are functional but simple, they meet the basic criteria for a usable app. But if you want to create a truly stellar experience for your users, tier 1 criteria introduce ways to make a more personal, interactive, and coherent widget.

Tier 3: Low Quality

These widgets don't meet the minimum quality bar and don't provide a great user experience, meaning they are not following or missing criteria from Tier 2.

Examples of Material Design 3 widgets are displayed on a light pink background with stylized X shapes. Widgets include a podcast player, a contact card, to-do lists, and a music player.
Clockwise from the top left not filling the bounds, poorly cropped content, low color contrast, mis-sized header, and small touch targets.

A stylized cartoon person with orange hair, a blue shirt, holds a pencil to their cheek. 'Kacie' is written above them, with a cut off chat bubble icon.
For example, ensure content is visible and not cropped

Build and elevate your Android widgets with Widget Quality Tiers

Dive deeper into the widget quality tiers and start building widgets that not only look great but also provide an amazing user experience! Check out the official Android documentation for detailed information and best practices.

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.

SoundCloud uses Jetpack Glance to build Liked Tracks widget in just 2 weeks

Posted by Summers Pittman – Developer Relations Engineer

To make it even easier for users to listen on Android, developers at SoundCloud — an artist-first music platform — turned to Jetpack Glance to create a Liked Tracks widget for their highly-rated app, which boasts 4.6 stars and over 100 million downloads. With a catalog of over 400 million tracks from more than 40 million creators, SoundCloud is dedicated to connecting artists and fans through music, and this latest update to its Android app offers listeners an even more convenient way to enjoy their favorite tracks. Propelled by Glance, the team was able to complete the project in just two weeks, saving precious development time and boosting engagement.

Maximize visibility with user-friendly touchpoints

By showcasing the artwork of their recently liked tracks, the new Liked Tracks widget allows users to to jump directly to a specific song or access their full track list right from their home screen. This keeps SoundCloud front and center for listeners, acting as a shortcut to their personal libraries and encouraging them to tune back in.

Liked Tracks isn’t SoundCloud’s first widget. Over a decade ago, SoundCloud developers used RemoteViews to create a Player widget that let users easily control playback and like tracks. After recently updating the Player widget based on design feedback, developers made sure to prioritize a personalized interface for Liked Tracks. The new widget features both light and dark modes, resizes freely to accommodate user preferences, and dynamically adapts its theme to complement the user's wallpaper. Backed by Glance, these design choices ensured the widget isn’t just seamless to use but also serves as an appealing and tailored gateway into the SoundCloud app.

A foldable smartphone is open, displaying various apps and widgets, including music controls and 'Liked tracks'
SoundCloud’s Liked Tracks widget in action.

Accelerate development cycles with Glance

Glance also played a crucial role in streamlining the development of Liked Tracks. For developers already proficient in Compose, Glance’s intuitive design felt familiar, minimizing the learning curve and accelerating the team's onboarding. The platform’s collection of code samples provided a useful starting point, too, helping developers quickly grasp its capabilities and best practices. “Using sample app repositories is a great way to learn. I can check out an entire repository and inspect how the code operates,” said Sigute Kateivaite, lead SoundCloud engineer on the Android team. “It sped up our widget development by a lot.”

Quote card reads: “Using sample app repositories is a great way to learn. It sped up our widget development.” — Sigute Kateivaite, Android Engineer at SoundCloud

The declarative nature of Glance’s UI was especially beneficial to developers. Because they didn’t have to use additional XML files when building, developers could create cleaner, more readable code with less boilerplate. Glance also allowed them to work with modules separately, meaning components could be written and integrated one at a time and reused for later iterations. By isolating components, developers could quickly test modules, identify and resolve issues, and build for different states without duplication, leading to more efficient workflows.

Glance’s design also improved the overall code quality. The ability to make changes using Android Studio’s support for Glance’s real-time preview enabled developers to build components in isolation without needing to integrate the UI component into the widget or deploy the full widget on the phone. They could represent various states, view all relevant cases, and review changes to components without having to compile the full app. Put simply, Glance made developers more productive because it allowed them to iterate faster, refining the widget for a more polished final product.

Elevate app widgets with the power of Glance

With effective new workflows and no major development issues, the SoundCloud team applauds Glance for streamlining a successful production. “With the new Liked Tracks widget, rollout has been really stable,” Sigute said. “Development and the testing process went really smoothly.” Early data also shows promising results — active users now interact with the widget to access the app multiple times a day on average.

Stat card reads:'2X average daily active user interaction with widget feature.'
2X average daily active user interaction with widget feature.

Looking ahead, the SoundCloud team is eager to employ more of Glance to improve existing widgets, like adopting canonical layouts, and even develop new ones. While the current Liked Tracks widget focuses primarily on image display, the team is interested in including other types of content to further enrich user experience. Developers also hope to migrate the Player widget over to Glance to access the framework’s robust theming options, simplify resizing processes, and address some long-standing bugs.

Beyond the Liked Tracks and Player features, the team is excited about the potential of using Glance to build a wider range of widgets. The modular, component-based architecture of the Liked Tracks widget, with reusable elements like UserAvatar and Logo, offers a solid foundation for future development, promising to simplify processes from the start.

Get started building custom app widgets with Jetpack Glance

Rapidly develop and deploy widgets that keep your app visible and engaging with Glance.

This blog post is part of our series: Spotlight Week on Widgets, where we provide resources—blog posts, videos, sample code, and more—all designed to help you design and create widgets. You can read more in the overview of Spotlight Week: Widgets, which will be updated throughout the week.