The iconic 'Google Now' Launcher will shut down in April.

What is 'Google Now'? It's the launcher that Google used on Nexus devices before the Pixel with its Pixel Launcher. Google Now Launcher was available for anyone to install directly from Play Store.

All along, it was built into the Google Search app, and the separate app from Play Store essentially just brought up the settings page. In the latest Google Search update, v.14.14, there's a new page indicating that the Launcher will soon be deprecated.

Apparently, the company will simply cut everything about Google Now Launcher from the Search app by the end of April. Users, meanwhile, are suggested to install some other launcher.

In honor of this, we offer a look back at what the last version of the Google Now launcher looked like.

Google News | En

Google is finally rolling out the "app streaming" feature they first announced at CES 2022!

This won't be a Pixel-exclusive feature, either, though the update today is only available for Pixels. If you have a Pixel, check for an update to the "Cross-Device Services" app on Google Play. The "Cross-Device Services" app has been a stub APK for a while now, but an update brings it to version 1.0.285.1.

(This can't be installed over the app by the same name on OEM devices, though, because it's signed with a different certificate. At least, that's the case with my Zenfone 9.)

After downloading the update on my Pixel 6a and setting up Phone Hub on my Chromebook, I personally don't have the ability to stream apps. However, one user reports that it's working on their Pixel 7 and Chromebook, and that it works with any apps! (This is also reflected in the Play Store listing screenshots).

Full list of devices that are currently expected to support app streaming:

* Pixels
* ASUS Zenfone 9
* Nothing Phone 1
* OPPO A78 5G
* OPPO Find N2 Flip
* Redmi A2
* Redmi Note 12
* Xiaomi 12T
* Xiaomi 12T Pro

Want to know how this feature works and why it requires Android 13? This thread from January goes into detail?

Here are screenshots of the setup process:

Also, the Cross-Device Services update is rolling out now on my ZenFone 9 as well. So today's rollout may not be limited to Pixels after all!

EDIT:

Okay, so how do you know if the feature is *actually* available for you?

- You must update Cross-Device Services to version 1.0.285.1 from Google Play first. The update is only available on Pixels and the select Android devices I mentioned earlier.

- Your device/account must be opted-in to the feature; this part seems to be server-side controlled by Google. I don't know how Google's rolling this out.

- Open your Chromebook settings > Connected devices > tap your Android device to open Phone Hub settings. (If you haven't already set up Phone Hub, first do that.)

- If you see "Apps (Beta)" in the list and a "set up" button, then the feature is available for you. Tap "set up" and you'll see a pop-up on your phone to grant access.

- Once you've done that, you can open Phone Hub on your Chromebook to see your recently opened apps. Click any of them to launch it in a window on your Chromebook.

I wrote this tweet from a Chromebook that has Twitter for Android streamed to it from a Pixel 6 Pro running Android 13!

Manually enabled the new "app streaming" feature. There was a bug preventing it from working on Android 14 DP2, so I downgraded one of my Pixels to Android 13 and then got it to work 😁

The grid of icons in the "Recent apps" section is actually a shortcut to open an app drawer! That means you aren't only limited to picking from the 5 most recent apps to launch.

Audio is also streamed from your phone to your Chromebook, meaning you can watch videos (or maybe even play some games?) - surprisingly little latency, too!

You can *technically* launch multiple apps onto the virtual display if you have "force desktop mode" and "enable freeform windows" enabled in developer options, but it's not a good idea, obviously.

You can also launch apps directly onto the virtual display, with an app like Taskbar by Braden Farmer that uses the APIs to do so, or through the 'am' shell command (append --display <DISPLAY_ID>).

And thanks to the VirtualAudioDevice API in Android 13, the app streaming feature can inject audio from a remote source (in this case, the mic on my Chromebook) into an app running on the virtual display! This means your phone doesn't have to be next to you to send voice messages.

New leaked renders of the Google Pixel 7a. First look at the Arctic Blue.

OnLeaks (via mysmartprice) shared a new pack of images of Google's upcoming mid-budget device. There, we also see for the first time the appearance of the Artic Blue coloring, which has been rumored before.

Some of the expected specifications include:

• 64MP Sony IMX787 main module
• 12MP wide-angle module
• 10.8MP front camera
• 256GB of internal memory (previously, only 128GB was talked about)
• 8GB of RAM
• 6.1-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 90 Hz.
• 2nd generation Google Tensor processor
• 5W wireless charging

The device should be announced at Google I/O 2023, and it will go on sale in the middle of June.

Google News | En