For years now, Google's keyboard - cleverly named "Gboard" - has remained pretty much unchanged. To be fair, it doesn't really need to be tweaked much. In fact, it's one of the absolute best keyboards on the Google Play Store, and it's baked into many Android devices out of the box now. After a … [Read more...] about Gboard’s extended toolbar options just received an appealing redesign
Support our independent tech coverage. Chrome Unboxed is written by real people, for real people—not search algorithms. Join Chrome Unboxed Plus for just $2 a month to get an ad-free experience, access to our private Discord, and more. Learn more about membership here.
START FREE TRIAL (MONTHLY)START FREE TRIAL (ANNUAL)
It’s Google Contacts’ turn to get a Material You widget redesign
Thanks to some excellent detective work done by 9to5Google via their APK Insights report, the latest Google Contacts app has been decompiled, and with it, the latest candidate for a Material You widget redesign has been chosen. In fact, this redesign has been known about for a few months now, but … [Read more...] about It’s Google Contacts’ turn to get a Material You widget redesign
You can finally sign PDFs with your finger or a stylus directly inside Google Drive
Are you tired of taking the clunky printer out of your closet just to spit out a handful of PDF sheets to sign for a highly specific circumstance once in a blue moon? Are you lacking a stylus or Chromebook tablet device with some form of written input to avoid the printer? I know that many users … [Read more...] about You can finally sign PDFs with your finger or a stylus directly inside Google Drive
It will soon be much quicker for your children to switch to YouTube Kids in the living room
In order to swap over to your child's Google TV profile, you have to use your remote to navigate to the top-right of the UI where the switcher exists. My son generally has to move over from my profile to his own and then open the YouTube Kids app to start watching something that interests him. This … [Read more...] about It will soon be much quicker for your children to switch to YouTube Kids in the living room
If you’re visiting YouTube TV via Search, don’t fall victim to this cleverly disguised scam
I'm not the biggest fan of YouTube TV and unsubscribed from its "modern" version of traditional programming about a year ago, but I do understand the value the service has as a sports-centric place to enjoy some downtime. In fact, the app and website have pretty much become the best place to watch … [Read more...] about If you’re visiting YouTube TV via Search, don’t fall victim to this cleverly disguised scam
Your Chromebook’s calendar widget will soon show you which event is coming up next
The awesome, new calendar widget for ChromeOS pops up from the bottom-right of your laptop's shelf in month view and shows which events you have scheduled for that day over on Google Calendar. At this time, it's fairly rudimentary, not allowing for event creation locally or anything. Despite … [Read more...] about Your Chromebook’s calendar widget will soon show you which event is coming up next
Google Fi customers experience temporary service downtime thanks to T-Mobile outage
As many Google Fi subscribers will know, the service operates on several different providers in order to give users the best possible connection as they move around or travel. The largest provider of service is T-Mobile, and not long ago, the company experienced a data breach that Fi members were … [Read more...] about Google Fi customers experience temporary service downtime thanks to T-Mobile outage
Google Photos may soon let you sync your Locked Folder to the cloud for convenience
Yes, I know it sounds contradictory, and perhaps it is, but that's not stopping Google. Pretty soon, you may be able to back your Locked Folder up to the Photos cloud for safekeeping. While anyone who values their privacy to the fullest extent may take issue with this update, those who use Google … [Read more...] about Google Photos may soon let you sync your Locked Folder to the cloud for convenience
‘Control Overlays’ for mouse and keyboard support in ChromeOS now appear for all games [Canary]
Previously only discussed near the end of last year, Google's 'control overlays' for Android games on Chromebooks were said to be coming first to a select few titles in alpha. The developer flag to enable it was added to ChromeOS this December, but I wanted to cover it today because it forces the … [Read more...] about ‘Control Overlays’ for mouse and keyboard support in ChromeOS now appear for all games [Canary]
In development: Bard AI could let you speak with your Chromebook as though it’s a person
I'm literally going to be talking today about how you could talk to your laptop like Tony Stark does to Jarvis - something I never thought I'd say because it just seems so far-fetched to say out loud. We've had Google Assistant baked into the ChromeOS launcher for years, but it's a far cry from the … [Read more...] about In development: Bard AI could let you speak with your Chromebook as though it’s a person
Google Tasks checks “Material You makeover” off of its To-Do list in latest update
You're probably tired of hearing about Google's gorgeous, new design language by now, but I'm not. A slew of Google products, services, and apps are now rocking the look that centers its theming elements around you (hence the name), and we see more join their ranks every day. In the latest update … [Read more...] about Google Tasks checks “Material You makeover” off of its To-Do list in latest update
You can now react to Google Messages with any emoji that your heart desires
Google Messages is vastly different from what it used to be back when it was first released. You can now star messages, set reminders to snooze texts, filter or categorize your messages between either personal or business, and more. Most notable, however, is the ability to react to messages sent to … [Read more...] about You can now react to Google Messages with any emoji that your heart desires
