Google has added a new iOS 14 widget for iPhone users, and it could be enough to make Android fans glance over at their Apple brethren jealously. Taking advantage of iOS 14's new home screen widget support - that has, it's fair to say, been a long time coming - the Google widget promises swifter access to the search giant's services than has been possible on iPhone before.
As if it weren't bad enough with the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens on the US West Coast, especially in California, now also have to brave the wildfires blazing across many states. Dealing with this calamity is just as unpredictable as the virus and people's best bet is getting the right information at the right time. As the company that practically has all the information available on the Internet, Google is moving fast to equip both Google Search and Google Maps with emergency information related to these wildfires that will alert users to the danger and the extent that the fires cover.
We've become more dependent these days on the Internet to search for information, especially about places or businesses whose hours and policies may have changed in the past months. Unfortunately, those very same businesses may be experiencing difficulties in keeping up-to-date from lack of manpower or for being unable to even go to the office. The need for quick access to information begets the need to quickly update that information and, thankfully, Google is rolling out easier tools to help Business Profile owners keep on top of things.
School is starting soon for many kids in the US and some countries around the world but it won't be the same kind of school they've been used to for years. For many, school will be synonymous to home as educational institutions try to grapple with the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. School will now be dependent on technology and the Internet more than ever and Google is more than ready to meet the growing needs of learning with its suite of products and features geared towards education.
Let's face it, Google knows a lot about us, sometimes even more than our family and friends do. Just searching for yourself on the Internet can be an eye-opening experience, not always in a good way, making you wish you had one of those helpful search results cards that will highlight the things you do want others to know about you first. Those cards are unfortunately available only for important people, both alive and dead, but you can now make your own "virtual visiting card", at least if you're in India.
Microsoft Edge web browser had a bit of an issue with its primary URL bar system that caused the application to crash. Every time you tried to start entering a URL into the address bar, the web browser would crash. Now, it would seem, enough users have complained about the issue that Microsoft's dev team on Edge have taken care of said issue.
Google and Samsung have a rather unique relationship that borders on being described as "frenemies". Samsung has on more than one occasion expressed its desire to eventually be free of Google's influence while it continues to be one of if not the biggest Android device maker in the world for years. Things have been less turbulent recently, with Samsung playing the role of a better Android partner. Now it seems that the two are ready to take their relationship to the next level that could see Samsung yield more ground to Google Search as well as Google Assistant.
Website owners can now probably breathe a sigh of relief now that Google is holding off on another one of its web-breaking changes. The search giant has been aggressively pushing for new systems and standards to make the Web safe and more accessible on any device, but those changes don't happen just by magic. They require site owners and developers to put in some extra work, work that they may not be able to afford right now, which is why Google is staying its hand in fully implementing its mobile-first indexing until March next year.
Anyone who has experienced the Wikipedia Rabbit Hole will know first hand how dangerous it can be to have quick access to interconnected information. Even worse if such information is related to or contains visual representation in the form of photos and graphs. And yet that is exactly what Google will soon be offering to anyone searching for images on their mobile phones, giving them the information they never knew they wanted right at their fingertips, literally.
Google pretty much wants Search to be pretty much the one place you get all your Internet-related and sometimes even app-related needs. Want to search for a restaurant? Search. Want to reserve a car? Search. Want to ask what's in stock at Walmart? In the past, you'd have to call the store or at the very least strike up a conversation in Google Maps. Well, now you can do that right from Google Search, too, at least on Android, that is.
The COVID-19 coronavirus has definitely changed the world in more ways than one. Until cures or even at least a vaccine has been discovered, the way we interact with each other and do businesses will have to change and adapt to what is being called the "new normal". For some businesses, that means a change in operations and hours and Google My Business is now giving them more flexibility in how they want to show those changes to customers via Google Search and Google Maps.
Faced with a new reality, the world seems to have gone into a development and creation spree to make new experiences that could be safely done inside the house. Many of those involved the passive consumption of content but a few have also been crafted to foster creativity and learning. Naturally, kids are one of the biggest audiences of these new experiences and, fortunately, Google is finally putting its previously dormant AR chops to good news to let kids learn new things without them even noticing they're actually studying rather than playing.