Google I/O 2021 Schedule Revealed With Focus On What's New

Google released the schedule of events set for Google I/O 2021, including keynotes, sessions, and breakouts of several sorts. On the first day of Google I/O 2021, Google will deliver sessions and keynotes in three key areas: Android, Google Play, and "web platform." They also have Chrome in the title of events on the schedule – same for "Wear", but they're not part of the big three on day 1.

The first part of this extravaganza you'll want to watch for is the Google I/O Keynote – the main event, taking place at 12PM (noon) Pacific Time on May 18, 2021. After that there's a more developer-focused "Developer Keynote" that starts at 2:15PM, just 15 minutes after the scheduled end of the main Google I/O Keynote.

Then we see three events that take place one after the other: What's new in Android, What's new in Google Play, and What's new for the web platform. At that point we start to dive into sessions like "Create your first Tile in Wear" and AMA sessions like "AMA: Chrome and Web."

The next What's new session is at 11AM on May 19 – that's "What's new in Machine Learning." At 11:45 on May 19 is "What's new in Google Assistant." There's a 12:15 session on May 19 called "What's new in Material Design," then a "What's new in Chrome OS" at 12:45PM. At 1PM on May 19 is "What's new in Flutter", 2PM is "What's new in Android Accessibility", 2:30PM is "What's new in Firebase."

At 4:15 on the 19th is a "What's new in Google Pay" session – note: that's PAY, not Play. The 19th has a session at 6:15PM called "What's new in smart home."

If you're looking for Augmented Reality sessions, start with the 5:15PM "New capabilities in ARCore" on the 19th. THere's a 5:45 "Build an AR application using the WebXR API" immediately after that, and a 6:45PM event that same day called "AMA: ARCore."

The entire event takes place over three days, and the most basic access is free for everyone. You may still want to take a peek at the registration process regardless of what part of the Android / Google universe you're involved in. General Google I/O registration is free and can be accessed now.

If you're going to consumer and developer keynotes or technical sessions, you won't need to make reservations. If you're looking to take part in workshops, AMAs, or meetups, you'll need to do a little extra work. It all depends on how deep you'll wish to dive!