5 Of The Coolest Things Google Announced At Google IO 2019

Michael Grothaus 07/05/2019 – 10:14pm

Android gets DARK and Assistant gets FASTER!

Apple has WWDC, Google Has IO. Oh, you have no idea what those acronyms stand for? Not to worry–we’re here to help! WWDC stands for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. IO stands for one of two things: “Input/Output”–in computer terminology the way a computer interacts with the user in the outside world–and also “Innovation in the Open”–just a tagline Google came up with.

Both WWDC and Google IO are developers conferences where devs can go to attend courses and seminars on all the latest software offerings that each company unveiled at their respective event. So basically Google’s IO is the company’s own WWDC.

It used to be that developers conferences were little reported on, but now they have become something of a mainstream event because what companies unveil there for developers will be used to make the next generation of great apps for their respective devices. This year’s Google IO is going on this week and Google unveiled a ton of new products and services we can expect to see from the company later this year. Here are the biggest reveals:

Google Maps Gets More Private

One of the things from Google you least expect is more privacy, but that’s just what the company is doing with its Google Maps product. Google announced today that Chrome's incognito mode will be coming to the Google Maps app.

Incognito mode in a browser works by not leaving traces of your internet activity on your machine. However, Google says Maps’ incognito mode will work differently. Google says “when you turn on Incognito mode in Maps, your activity—like the places you search or get directions to—won’t be saved to your Google Account.”

To activate Google Maps incognito mode just tap your profile picture in the app and then turn incognito on or off.

Google Lens Gets Smarter

Google Lens is Google’s image recognition tech. Today Google announced Lens is about to get much smarter…when you’re looking for what to eat. As Google explains, people who use the new Lens on a restaurant menu will see the most popular menu items highlighted in the app.

The popularity of menu items is based on data, like photos and reviews, that people upload to Google Maps.

Google Assistant Gets Faster

Google also showed off improvements to its Assistant software. Google says the new Assistant will be an astonishingly ten times faster than the current one. The bummer is it appears Assistant’s speed will require a Google Pixel phone.

Assistant is also coming to Waze later this year, Google announced, and Google will be implementing a new driving mode on Assistant later this year as well.

Android Q Gets Dark

Google unveiled a few more tidbits about its upcoming Android Q operating system. The thing most likely to cause excitement is Google announced a system-wide Dark Mode coming to Android Q.

Google also says it will be improving the privacy features of Android Q, updating and expanding parental controls, adding smart replies to the operating system.

Goodbye Google Home

No, Google isn’t doing away with its Home lineup of smart speakers. Instead, the company announced it will rebrand them as Nest products. With that in mind, Google debuted the new Nest Hub Max, a smart speaker with a 10in display that is intended to act as a central control room for your smart home.