This is Google Apps updates roundup number 123. In this episode, I will show you more than 30 new features in 15 different Google apps. So, make sure all your apps are up to date and let me show you what's new. Let's start with the YouTube app which you got two new changes. The first change is related to the search filters. So for example, when I search for anything like this and then tap on the ellipses, then search filters, you will see that the type is now at the top instead of being in the middle. And when you tap on it, you will see a brand new filter for shorts. So you can only view the shorts in your search results.
The second change is related to the duration. And we no longer have the under four minutes option, but but now it's under 3 minutes. And the next one is 3 to 20 minutes. Under the upload date, we no longer have the last hour option, but now we have any time today, this week, this month, and this year. The sort by is now called periodize, and it includes relevance and popularity, and we no longer have the option to sort by the rating. The second change is under the app settings. When you go to time management, now you have the option to set a timer for the shorts. And when you turn on the switch, it will ask you for the duration. Now, let's talk about Gboard. And here, I'm going to show you two new changes. The first change is the redesigned toolbox. First, all the shortcuts we have at the top are no longer using containers around them, but you can see the actual buttons right away.
And when you tap on the grid, now we have an X button instead of the back button. And here you will see all the items are in bigger size. This design is inspired by the quick setting styles we have on Pixel phones. Plus, if any of these options will take you to a separate page, you see an arrow next to the option. And if the text doesn't fit in the space, it automatically scrolls. So, everything looks exactly the same as the quick settings. And at the bottom right corner, you have the edit button that will allow you to move things around. Now, you have a border around the two sections. You can hold and drag items like this and then put it back. You can put up to five shortcuts in this bar and you can also replace the voice typing with anything else you want. Once you are happy with the changes, you can tap on the tick button. The only thing that doesn't match the quick settings is the inability to resize the items.
You only get one size for everything. And lastly, when you scroll between pages, you get a little haptic feedback. And the last change I'm going to show you in Gboard is the smaller emoji kitchen carousel. As you see, all the items are now smaller, which will allow you to see more emojis without scrolling. Before jumping to the next chapter, if you like my wallpapers, you can find them in the wallpapers by in-depth tech reviews app, which will give you access to hundreds of exclusive wallpapers that will make your smartphone look impressive. And throughout the video, I will show you a lot of examples to give you an idea about how they look in real life. Plus, you have the ability to download any of these wallpapers locally on the device. So, you can apply your operating system wallpaper effects on them. And here is how you can download it. You will find Google Play Store download link in the description. And now, let's get back to Google Apps.
The next app we have is Gemini. And here, I'm going to show you two new changes. Gemini got a really cool feature when it comes to photo editing. So let me show you how it works. So let's say you want to attach a photo from your gallery. I will use this one as an example. Once it finishes uploading, when you tap on the photo one more time, it will take you to this markup screen. Here you can annotate on the image and instruct Gemini what exactly you want to do. Once you start annotating, you will see the undo and redo buttons at the top right corner. Then you can use the text option to give it some instructions. So I will say remove the mouse and I will put it next to the highlight. Then tap on done.
I don't need to give any instructions in the text prompt. I can just send it right away and wait for the results. As you see, it did exactly what I asked for without the need to type anything in the text box. The second change is the ability to ask Gemini if a video is generated using AI or not. We already have this feature for photos, but now you can also do it for videos.
You can upload up to 100 mgabytes file with a duration of 90 seconds. So I will use this one as an example and ask Gemini is this video generated using AI and then put a question mark and hit the send button. As you see it says send ID here while analyzing the video and it says the video provided was not made with Google AI according to the sent ID. However, we are unable to determine if it was generated with the other AI tools. Next, we have Find Hub, which got three new changes. The first change is the ability to choose the map layers. And here you have three options, which is exactly the same as Google Maps. In addition to the ability to add the traffic layer, the second change is under the app settings, which you can access from the profile menu. You will find a new menu item here called distance units.
And here you have four options. use default metric US and UK and lastly find the hub is now available on where OS which you can download from Google Play Store. It's not available by default. You have to download it manually. So let me give you a quick tour in the app. When you open it for the first time, it will ask you which Google account to use if you have multiple ones on your phone and also a permission for the nearby devices access. After that, you will see the full list of devices signed into the same Google account. When you scroll all the way down, you get access to the app settings, which has here the allow device to be located and the app info. Then you have your Google account, which you can change if you want, and a refresh button. When you tap on any of the devices, it will show you the last scene info, the map, and when you scroll down, you can play sound, mark as lost, get directions, factory reset, and refresh.
And when you tap on the map, it will take you to Google Maps to start navigating if you want. Now, let's talk about the Gmail app. And here I'm going to show you five new changes. I started to see some changes to the order tracking feature. The first one is the new track package chip that takes you right away to the order tracking page without the need to open the message. And here is how it works. Plus, it will show you the order status right away on the message banner without the need to open it as well. The second change is this new feedback area here. It will ask you if the shipping information or the order tracking information is correct or not.
Plus, it will tell you it's based on two emails. When you expand this message, it will show you the two emails it got the information from, which is also a handy feature. The third change is not related to the order tracking feature, but I'm just using this email as an example. You'll notice here that at the top I have a banner saying one deleted message in this conversation, which is a really nice feature to remind you about any deleted messages with the ability to jump to it right away from here. Change number four, Google started to roll out some of the AI features that were exclusive to the AI Pro and the Ultra subscriptions to free users, which are help me write, AI summaries, and suggested replies. I didn't get any of them on my free accounts just yet, but this should be happening very soon. Last but not least, Google is also rolling out the ability to change your Gmail account email address in case you want to make it more professional or you changed your actual name.
And the steps are showing here on the support page either on Android computer or iPhone. And as you see, it says go to myac.google.com then personal info, email, and then Google account email. It says if you can't open this setting, it might not be possible to change your email or username. And as you see, the feature is not yet available for everyone, but you can follow these steps to check it out. Next, Google app. And here I'm going to show you three new changes. The first change is related to the your space area at the top of your discover feed. Now, it can show up to two rows of information instead of only one, but it depends on the number of updates available.
The second change is related to Pixel users. Now when you tap on the Google search widget on your home screen, it takes you to the Google app search instead of your devices systemwide search. And this new change is intentional as per Google. Last but not least, the app icon is now slightly bigger than before. Next, Google Play Store. And here I'm going to show you four new changes.
The first change is the Material 3 expressive loading animation that you will see throughout the app. So for example when I start scrolling you will see this material U shape instead of the circular design that we used to have and the same applies to all other pages. The second change is related to the other devices tab. Now we have a new filter for the XR headset. The third change is the full screen profile menu which took a very long time to arrive to Google Play Store and here is how it looks. Plus we got a brand new page for gift cards. From here, you can purchase any gift card with filters here at the top and then share these gift cards with others if you want to. Now, let's end this video by talking about the apps that only got one new change. And I will start with Gc Cam. If you are using a Pixel 8, now you should see the redesigned panorama mode that we first got with the Pixel 9 models. It gives you the same exact interface and functionality.
At the top, you will see the snapped photos before processing. And when you tap on the gear button, you have the ability to activate night sight and change the direction. And under the controls, you get access to the exposure, white balance, and focus. The next app is Google Chrome. We got a brand new design for the reading mode. When you open any web page, then tap on the ellipses, you will see the new reading mode under the listen to this page. Tapping on it will take you right away to the new interface. First, here in the toolbar, you will see the reading mode toggle that you can immediately deactivate. And then at the bottom, you have an expandable card that will allow you to change the font. You have three fonts to choose from. And then you have the ability to make the font bigger and also change the background color. You have three colors, either white, beige, and finally we have the black color. The next app is Google News and it got a really cool feature that leverages AI.
You will notice here that I have a brand new button at the bottom right corner called listen that creates audio overviews for what's going on in the world and it does it in a very natural way as if you are listening to the radio. So let's take a listen. A place of mourning became a scene of violence this week. The semnity of a funeral service was shattered by gunfire, leaving a community reeling. Good morning. It's Friday, January 9th. Welcome to the Google News audio briefing. As you heard, it sounds really natural, as if real people are talking.
And here you have multiple things to do. First, you can minimize the player like this. You can see the briefing name with the ellipses next to it to send feedback if you want. Then we have the progress bar that includes chapters. And you can also jump to the featured article directly from here or you can check all the articles by tapping on the other chip. Then we have the media controls. Here you can adjust the playback speed and here are the options you have.
Then we have the jump backward for 15 seconds or forward for 30 seconds, the play and pause button or you can also jump to the next article like this. Moving to Google Drive, it got minor visual tweaks. The first one is the highlight under the taps at the top is now matching the text size while previously it was bigger than the text. Plus the padding on the sides is now slightly bigger pushing everything towards the center. Google Translate also got an amazing feature that will allow you to learn more languages. If you have the feature available, you will see this new practice button and it says beta at the top right corner. Tapping on it will allow you to choose one of the supported languages. So, let me show you how it looks. It says here personalized conversation practice. And here, welcome to the beta experience. You can tap on get started. Here you have the display language. And you have plenty of options to choose from. And then you you have the uh four different languages that you can practice. Let's say you want to learn Spanish. Then tap on next.
Here you have the basic, intermediate or advanced. So let's start with the basic option and hit next. Here you can describe a goal. So let's say I want to travel to Spain and I want to be able to talk in Spanish. And here you have also the ability to choose from the following options. You have professional conversations, everyday interactions, and then start practicing. In this page, you have multiple things to do. Tapping on the settings button will allow you to add more languages or switch between them. You can also change the proficiency or delete the practice history.
Then we have the goal. From here, you can also switch between goals or add a new one if you want. We have the daily activities and the streak days. Here you have some examples to choose from or you can create your own practice scenario. And when you scroll down, you will see a lot more scenarios to choose from that you can expand like this. So let's say I want to learn in Spanish how to order a coffee. And I will choose this one. Here you have the ability to listen or speak. So let's tap on the speak option. Here it will show you the tasks that you need to complete to be able to order a coffee in Spanish. Then you can tap on start conversation. Here it will show you what you might hear from the waiter when you reach a cafe. And you can translate the words by tapping on this button and listen to it again if you want.
Then you have here all your tasks. Once you achieve a task, it will be highlighted with a tick. And then you have the hints. This one will give you an example of what you can say and you can listen to it like like this. So, you need to say the same words again. So, let's give it a try. And then tap the stop. You will see here that my words don't exactly match the example. So, I did a mistake. And then we have the reply that you can translate. It says here, "Yes, we have them. Alert, please. Small or large?" And I achieved one of the tasks which is say that you want a coffee please. So you can keep going and see how it works for you. And once you finish the practice and tap on done, it will show you your progress over here. It will suggest the next speaking activity or you can try a lesson activity instead. And this is how it works in a nutshell. The clock app also got some minor visual tweaks. The first one is related to the alarms.
Now the word Google Assistant has been removed and it only says routines. It still takes you to the Google Assistant page, but later down the road Google will replace Google Assistant with Gemini. And when you go to settings, you will see a different order. Now the alarms are on top followed by the world clock. While previously it was the other way around and now the order matches the order of the tabs at the navigation bar.
Lastly, when you set an alarm, you no longer see your wallpaper on the alarm screen, but it comes like this with a black background. Moving to Google Messages, we got a brand new design for the camera. You'll notice here that the viewfinder is pushed all the way up to the top and the status bar floats over it. In my opinion, it looks so much better when compared to the previous version.
Then the photo picker at the bottom now shows more items at a glance without the need to scroll. Plus, we have more rounded corners. The last app we have is Google Photos, which you got one more design for the memories thumbnails. I already showed you some of these designs in my previous videos, but I got this new one as well, which shows the year in a small font at the bottom, while the day and month are centered and in a much bigger font. So that's pretty much it for today. These are all the new changes I wanted to show you in Google Apps. Please reach me out on social media if you spotted any new feature to include in my future episodes.
But for now, thanks so much for watching and see you in the next.
