Google I/O 2024: all the news from the developer conference

Google is making a new “Add to Chromebook” badge that’s designed to make it easier for ChromeOS users to find and install progressive web apps (PWAs) and Android apps. The badge links directly to the web app you’re looking to install or to the Google Play Store (if it’s an Android app), 9to5Google reports.

In a Google I/O session video about ChromeOS, the presenter says many people looking for apps start with a Google search and end up on developers’ websites — a great place to display an Add to Chromebook badge and get ChromeOS users to the app. There isn’t much of a barrier when it comes to finding and installing Android apps on a Chromebook, as most people go straight to the Play Store to install those.

Today, I’m talking to Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who joined the show the day after the Google I/O developer conference last week. Google’s focus during the conference was AI, of course — Google is building AI into virtually all of its products. My personal favorite is the new AI search in Google Photos that lets you ask things like, “What’s my license plate number?” and get an answer back from your entire photo library. All in all, Google executives said “AI” more than 120 times during the keynote — we counted.

But there was one particular announcement at I/O that’s sending shockwaves around the web: Google is rolling out what it calls AI Overviews in Search to everyone in the United States by this week and around the world to more than a billion users by the end of the year. That means when you search for something on Google, you’ll get AI-powered results at the top of the page for a number of queries. The company literally describes this as “letting Google do the Googling for you.” Google has been testing this for a year now, in what it called the Search Generative Experience, so you may have already seen a version of this — but now it’s here, and it will change the web as we know it. 

AI was the main focus of the Google I/O keynote this year, but there are still a bunch of new feature updates hidden in the various developer sessions. Case in point, 9to5Google spotted that Android 15 and Wear OS 5 are going to get some convenient passkey updates.

In its “Passkeys and identity best practices” dev session, Google announced that Android 15 is going to get a single-tap sign-in process. Instead of having two separate screens — one to select an account and another for a biometric prompt — Google will merge them into a single screen.

AI. AI? AI! AI... A. I. This has been a week filled with AI announcements from some of the biggest and most important companies in tech, all of whom seem totally convinced that we’re due for a revolution in virtual assistants. If Silicon Valley gets its way, you might never have to write an email, a line of code, or a joke ever again. All you’ll do is ask your all-knowing, ultra-helpful, maybe slightly too flirty virtual assistant, and it’ll get everything done for you.

On this episode of The Vergecast, we discuss all the AI assistant stuff OpenAI announced at its Spring Update event and the very similar stuff Google announced at its I/O developer conference the next day. Since the early days of Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa, the tech industry has been moving toward the same goal. Are flirty AI assistants really the future of computing?

Google will soon offer schools access to Gemini AI — specifically for educators and students over the age of 18 — and promises not to use their data for AI model training or share it with anyone.

Google will include the extra Gemini data privacy protections on Workspace for Education accounts at no additional charge. However, it does mean relying on the older Gemini 1.0 Pro model instead of newer, more updated models like Gemini 1.5 Pro or Flash, which is designed to provide more accurate answers.

Coinciding with Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is highlighting a number of new accessibility features across its software and enhancements to others that were already part of Android. First is a significant upgrade to Android’s Lookout tool, which helps people who are blind or have low vision find out more information about their surroundings. Google is leveraging AI and adding the ability for Lookout to search for specific objects, including seating, bathrooms, and more, making up seven total categories.

“As you move your camera around the room, Lookout will notify you of the direction and distance to the item,” Eve Andersson, Google’s senior director of product inclusion, equity, and accessibility, wrote in the blog post.

Alongside Google’s ongoing developer-focused I/O conference comes the latest release of Android 15, which is now in its second beta. It’s got some cool new features, like the ability to now hide a collection of apps inside a “private space,” customizable vibrations so you can notice different types of notifications just by feeling, and also richer widget previews.

The new private space function is the most interesting of the bunch: it can hide apps you don’t want others seeing into a biometric or PIN-protected container in the app drawer. It’s one of several new security features coming to Android.

Google is adding several new apps to its in-car infotainment platforms, while also making it easier for developers to get their apps approved faster and with fewer complications.

Google said that two new streaming services, Max and Peacock, are coming to cars with Google built-in. These include models from companies like Renault, Polestar, and Volvo. (Other brands with Google built-in, like Ford, Acura, and Honda, do not support video streaming while parked yet.)

Google is lowering the barriers for new apps to be added to Android Auto and cars with Google software built-in, making it easier for developers of gaming and streaming apps to get them added to those platforms. It is also releasing new guidelines for developing apps for various screen sizes and shapes.

Google is launching a new program for car-ready apps, essentially expediting the process for developers to get their apps approved for in-car platforms. As part of this program, Google says it will “proactively” review mobile apps that are already compatible with the increasingly large-sized screens found in more modern vehicles.

Wear OS 5 is on its way, and with it, Google says Android smartwatch users ought to see even better battery life. Running a marathon, for example, will purportedly consume 20 percent less battery than on Wear OS 4.

This emphasis on battery life is similar to last year’s Wear OS 4 announcement — and for good reason. Wear OS 4 helped the Pixel Watch 2 last an entire day, something the original struggled to do. That improved battery life has seemingly bought some goodwill. Google says that, in the last year, the Wear OS user base grew by an impressive 40 percent across 160 countries and regions.

Google is announcing an array of new security features as it releases its second Android 15 beta, including a feature that can detect the moment your phone is swiped from your hands. Some of these updates will be included with Android 15 when it arrives this fall, but theft detection and a number of other features will be available to phones with much older OS versions, too — bringing them to many more people.

Theft Detection Lock works by recognizing the unusual motions that would indicate someone has yanked your phone out of your hand or a table in front of you. To prevent a thief from being able to access information on your device, the screen automatically locks. The system looks for other signals that indicate foul play, too, and will be able to lock the screen for protection if someone tries to take it off the network to prevent remote access.

ADT has confirmed to The Verge that it’s rolling out a big upgrade to its ADT Plus home security system. The all-new hardware and software platform for ADT Plus features new ADT hardware, deeper integration with Google Nest hardware, and the ability to automatically disarm using facial recognition to let trusted neighbors into your home when you’re away. 

I first reported on the new system last October, but until now, ADT had declined to comment despite publishing multiple support pages about it on its site. This week, ADT spokesperson Ben Tamblyn confirmed to The Verge the new ADT Plus system has started rolling out to some states and will be available nationwide in the coming months. The system can be self-installed or professionally installed and can work with ADT’s professional monitoring service.

After announcing that it would be bringing an app to Android way back in 2022, Eve is finally close to launching its Android app, possibly by this fall. Android users will be able to control Eve’s smart home products natively — including smart plugs, smart lights, and smart shades. They will be able to access features such as energy management that are not yet available in the Matter platforms they work with (including Google Home and Samsung SmartThings). Prior to Matter, Eve devices only worked with Apple HomeKit and were only controllable on iOS devices.

“The highly anticipated app will allow Matter devices to be added, controlled and automated directly and without any proprietary connection mechanism or fragile cloud-to-cloud integrations,” the company said in a press release. “For the growing range of Matter-enabled Eve devices, Eve for Android will provide advanced functionality, such as measurement of energy consumption and generation for Eve Energy solutions, autonomous heating schedules for the smart thermostat Eve Thermo or Adaptive Shading for roller blinds in the Eve Blinds Collection.”

Why can’t you just plug a USB cable between two PCs, drag your mouse cursor between their screens, and drop files between them, as if they were a single machine? Well, you can and have for years — but Intel may be about to turbocharge that idea with Thunderbolt Share.

It’s a proprietary app that Intel will be licensing to laptop, desktop, and accessory manufacturers to bundle with new hardware. Install it on two Thunderbolt 4 or 5 computers, connect them with a Thunderbolt cable, and you should be able to share your mouse, keyboard, screens, storage, and other USB peripherals; drag and drop files at Thunderbolt speeds; and sync data between them. It won’t let you share an internet connection, though.

Google has announced that it’s opening up API access to its Google Home smart home platform. This means that any app maker — smart home-related or not — can access the over 600 million devices connected to Google Home and tap into the Google Home automation engine to create smart solutions for their users inside their own app.

The Home APIs can access any Matter device or Works with Google Home device and allows developers to build their own experiences using Google Home devices and automations into their apps on both iOS and Android. This is a significant move for Google in opening up its smart home platform, following shutting down its Works with Nest program back in 2019.

Google I/O introduced an AI assistant that can see and hear the world, while OpenAI put its version of a Her-like chatbot into an iPhone. Next week, Microsoft will be hosting Build, where it’s sure to have some version of Copilot or Cortana that understands pivot tables. Then, a few weeks after that, Apple will host its own developer conference, and if the buzz is anything to go by, it’ll be talking about artificial intelligence, too. (Unclear if Siri will be mentioned.)

AI is here! It’s no longer conceptual. It’s taking jobs, making a few new ones, and helping millions of students avoid doing their homework. According to most of the major tech companies investing in AI, we appear to be at the start of experiencing one of those rare monumental shifts in technology. Think the Industrial Revolution or the creation of the internet or personal computer. All of Silicon Valley — of Big Tech — is focused on taking large language models and other forms of artificial intelligence and moving them from the laptops of researchers into the phones and computers of average people. Ideally, they will make a lot of money in the process.

This is not a joke: Google will now let you perform a “web” search. It’s rolling out “web” searches now, and in my early tests on desktop, it’s looking like it could be an incredibly popular change to Google’s search engine.

The optional setting filters out almost all the other blocks of content that Google crams into a search results page, leaving you with links and text — and Google confirms to The Verge that it will block the company’s new AI Overviews as well.

Google has announced that the code for Project Gameface, its hands-free gaming “mouse” that you control by making faces, is now available open-source to Android developers on Tuesday.

Developers can now integrate the accessibility feature into their apps, allowing users to control the cursor with facial gestures or by moving their heads. For example, they can open their mouth to move the cursor or raise their eyebrows to click and drag.