May 2018 Summaries

The 2018 China-U.S. Young Maker Competition invites makers, developers, and students aged 18-40 from the United States to participate by submitting innovative projects using any platform, with a strong encouragement to leverage Google technologies such as Android, TensorFlow, and Google Cloud Platform. With over a thousand participants already registered and a submission deadline of June 22, the competition offers an opportunity for participants to showcase their creativity and technical skills. The top ten projects will earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing, China, to compete in the finals alongside Chinese makers from August 13-17. Additional information, such as contest rules and submission processes, can be found on the contest's FAQ and the Hackster.io landing page.

In a blog post by Karin Levi from Google, the release of new features in ARCore, Google's augmented reality development platform, is discussed, highlighting the introduction of APIs like Cloud Anchors and Augmented Images that enhance multi-user and immersive AR experiences. The post details the creation and demonstration of various AR projects at Google I/O, including "Light Board," a multiplayer game developed using the Unity game engine, and "Just a Line," an app that allows simultaneous drawing on Android and iOS devices using Cloud Anchors. These projects showcase the potential of ARCore in creating engaging AR applications, with an emphasis on open-sourcing the code to encourage further development and experimentation. The post also describes "Illusive Images," an augmented gallery that merges 2D and 3D art, illustrating the versatility and creativity AR can bring to traditional art forms.

Google Data Studio is a free business intelligence and data visualization platform that allows users to create Community Connectors, which are tools built using Google Apps Script to connect to any internet-accessible data source. The Data Studio Community Connector Codelab offers a step-by-step tutorial for users with basic knowledge of JavaScript and web APIs to build their first connector within 30 minutes, enabling them to import data directly into Data Studio and create customized dashboards. This can be particularly useful for developing user-friendly and scalable reporting solutions for personal, public, enterprise, or commercial data, and for providing explanatory visualizations. Community Connectors allow for the aggregation of metrics across various platforms with drill-down capabilities and facilitate the sharing of data without requiring additional coding. The Community Connector gallery features over 90 Partner Connectors linking to more than 450 data sources, enhancing accessibility and analysis for a wide range of datasets.

Google Developers Community organized a roadshow in the summer of 2018, touring 10 countries and 14 cities across Europe to engage with local developers and start-ups. The tour aimed to promote various Google initiatives such as Google Developer Groups, Women Techmakers, and other community support programs. The roadshow included stops at university campuses and technology parks in cities like Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Gdańsk, Poznań, Kraków, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Sofia, offering opportunities for networking, workshops on Google products like Actions on Google and Google Cloud, and fun activities including live music and games. Interested developers and community organizers were encouraged to participate in events and explore joining the global Google Community Program.

Firebase Cloud Messaging's (FCM) v1 REST API has integrated with the Web Notifications API, enabling web developers to enrich notifications with features like icons, images, and actions directly from their servers without needing frequent updates as the Web Notifications API evolves. This integration is particularly beneficial for web applications, such as those supporting image posting, by engaging users with interactive notifications. Developers can leverage these features by setting parameters like actions in their payloads, offering users options to interact with notifications, such as liking or unsubscribing. Handling these actions requires adding an event listener in the service worker file to manage specific user interactions. For comprehensive guidance, developers are encouraged to refer to the FCM Send API and Web Notifications API documentation.

On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Google launched a suite of resources aimed at helping designers, developers, marketers, and small business owners create more inclusive products and designs. Recognizing that over one billion people globally have some form of disability, the initiative emphasizes the business and ethical importance of accessibility. The resources include lessons available through the Google Primer app, which offer practical tips and design principles for improving accessibility, such as making websites more inclusive and implementing features like closed captions. Additionally, the Google Accessibility page and the Android Developers site provide free tools and suggestions to further enhance the accessibility of digital platforms. By addressing accessibility, businesses can improve user experiences for everyone, ultimately benefiting both individuals and the business sector.

Hangouts Chat, a messaging platform introduced by Google for G Suite users, offers enhanced collaboration features such as threaded chat rooms and integration with G Suite, alongside a bot framework and API for developers. This framework enables the automation of tasks and information retrieval, with bots capable of interacting via rich user interfaces called cards that can display structured data, images, and more. Developers can create bots to respond to various event types, such as being added or removed from a space, receiving messages, or user interactions with cards, allowing for both synchronous and asynchronous operations. The platform supports multiple programming languages and environments, offering flexibility in bot deployment and integration with existing systems. A comprehensive overview of the framework, including live demos and development guides, was presented at Google I/O 2018, highlighting the potential for innovative bot development within organizations.

The .app top-level domain (TLD) by Google Registry is now available for general registration, allowing users to secure their desired .app names. Highlighting its global appeal, several early adopters have already launched applications using the .app domain. Examples include sitata.app, which offers real-time travel information, thelocal.app for exploring destinations, picnic.app for grocery delivery in the Netherlands, myra.app for ordering essential products in India, lola.app for simplifying business travel logistics, and ov.app for online shopping. These diverse applications showcase the potential of the .app domain for various purposes, encouraging others to create their unique online presence. Interested users can visit get.app to register their domains through a partner registrar.

In May 2018, Google introduced ML Kit, a new software development kit (SDK) in beta, at the Google I/O conference, designed to bring Google's machine learning capabilities to mobile app developers through Firebase. This SDK is meant to simplify the process of integrating machine learning into mobile apps for developers of all skill levels by providing five ready-to-use APIs for common tasks such as text recognition, face detection, barcode scanning, image labeling, and landmark recognition. Developers can also upload custom TensorFlow Lite models via the Firebase console, allowing them to update these models dynamically without republishing their apps. ML Kit supports both on-device and cloud-based processing, accommodating various needs regarding speed and accuracy while also offering model compression to reduce app size. Additionally, ML Kit integrates seamlessly with other Firebase products, enabling features like Remote Config, A/B testing, and Google Analytics, which help developers fine-tune their apps and understand user engagement.

Google Assistant is expanding its capabilities to become more conversational and visually engaging, with developers playing a crucial role in this evolution by building over 1 million Actions across various devices. Recent enhancements include support for more languages, customizable visual experiences, and seamless integration of digital subscriptions, allowing users to access content they have purchased on Google Play through the Assistant. The introduction of App Actions aims to increase the visibility of Android apps by integrating them with the Assistant, while built-in intents and Action Links help users discover and engage with these Actions more easily. Developers can also leverage Routine Suggestions to become part of users' daily habits, and new testing and deployment features facilitate the creation of high-quality Actions. Additionally, voice transactions and account linking improvements are being rolled out, and the redesigned Actions console offers a streamlined development experience. With these updates, Google encourages more developers to explore building conversational experiences for the Assistant, offering guides and community support to assist in the transition.

Google announced the introduction of the Google Photos partner program to enhance photo and video experiences across various apps and devices by providing developers with tools and APIs. The Google Photos Library API allows developers to integrate features such as seamless photo access, uploading, organizing, and sharing within their apps without the need for maintaining their own storage infrastructure. This API also leverages machine intelligence with tools like smart filters to enhance user experiences, while features like thumbnailing and deep-links simplify development. The program is currently in a developer preview phase with early partners such as HP and TimeHop already utilizing it, and Google invites more developers to join through their documentation and at the Google I/O session.

Flutter Beta 3, announced at Google I/O 2018, marks a significant milestone in the development of Google's mobile app SDK, aimed at creating high-quality, native experiences on both iOS and Android platforms. Over the past year, Flutter has undergone substantial enhancements, including engine rewrites for improved performance, integration with Dart 2, support for Windows development, and expanded tooling for IDEs like Android Studio and Visual Studio Code. The SDK's unique features, such as stateful hot reload and a hardware-accelerated Skia engine, facilitate high-velocity development and expressive, flexible designs, allowing developers to seamlessly build applications with rich, customizable UI components and real-time animations. Major companies like Alibaba, Groupon, and Google Ads have adopted Flutter for its consistent cross-platform performance, rapid prototyping capabilities, and productivity boosts. The beta release introduces new features like improved localization, accessibility support, a widget inspector, and Firebase ad integration, positioning Flutter as a first-class toolkit for Material Design. As the project approaches its 1.0 release, the Flutter team is committed to refining performance and compatibility while expanding its ecosystem through community collaboration, with the goal of revolutionizing mobile development.

As Google I/O 2018 approaches, attendees are encouraged to download the event's mobile app or use the Action for the Assistant to customize their schedules, reserve seats, and explore over 150 sessions, office hours, app reviews, and codelabs. The app is available on Android, iOS, and web, allowing users to browse sessions across 18 product areas, check their waitlist status, and ensure their events are synced across devices. Attendees can also engage with Google engineers in the Sandbox space and participate in interactive experiences like magic shows and concerts during the After Hours events. The app provides an interactive map for navigating the festival, along with essential information on WiFi, travel tips, and shuttle schedules. The mobile app and Action for the Assistant will be open-sourced post-event, enhancing accessibility and user convenience.

Open sourcing Seurat offers developers a powerful tool to bring high-fidelity graphics to mobile virtual reality (VR) by simplifying complex 3D scenes for efficient rendering on hardware like the Lenovo Mirage Solo. Developed by Google, Seurat optimizes geometry and textures by using RGBD images to create a textured mesh, significantly reducing the number of triangles and texture size without compromising visual quality, as demonstrated by its use in creating a detailed scene for "Blade Runner: Revelations." The technology, showcased last year at I/O, allows developers and creators to enhance VR experiences with visually stunning scenes by taking advantage of limited viewing regions to optimize performance. Now available to the developer community as an open-source tool, Seurat offers flexibility for customization and integration into individual workflows, with further resources and documentation accessible on its GitHub page.

Google Maps Platform, introduced by the Google Maps Platform Team, marks the evolution of the Google Maps business into a more streamlined and accessible service with updates designed to enhance location-based features and products. The platform consolidates 18 APIs into three core products—Maps, Routes, and Places—allowing for easier integration into apps and sites without altering existing code. It introduces industry-specific solutions, such as those for game studios, ridesharing, and asset tracking companies, promising more future innovations. A new pay-as-you-go pricing plan replaces previous plans, providing developers with $200 of free monthly usage and eliminating upfront commitments, termination fees, or usage limits, while also integrating with the Google Cloud Platform Console for simplified project management. From June 11, access requires a valid API key and billing account, enabling businesses to scale effortlessly with Google's global infrastructure. Google remains committed to supporting nonprofits, startups, and media organizations through expanded programs worldwide, urging existing users to consult the transition guide for seamless adaptation to the new system.

Google has launched a new conversation design site aimed at helping developers create Actions for the Google Assistant using principles refined by Google's teams. This site offers resources on a range of design expertise, including voice user interface design, interaction design, and UX writing, all consolidated into the discipline of conversation design. It provides guidance on crafting natural and intuitive conversations that can scale across devices, understanding the basics of the conversation design process, and creating system and user personas. The site also offers practical tips for gathering requirements, writing sample dialogs, drawing high-level flows, and designing for both voice-only and multimodal interactions. By following these principles, developers can build more effective Actions that align with users' natural communication styles.

Google Registry has introduced .app, a new top-level domain (TLD) specifically designed for apps and app developers, emphasizing enhanced security features. This TLD is intended to provide a dedicated and memorable web presence for apps, enabling developers to create landing pages that offer trustworthy download links, updates, and deep links to in-app content. A notable feature of the .app domain is its mandatory HTTPS requirement, ensuring protection against ad malware, ISP tracking injection, and spying on open WiFi networks, contributing to a more secure web environment. The .app TLD is the first of its kind to enforce such security measures and is part of a broader movement towards HTTPS-everywhere. Available initially through an Early Access Program with an additional fee, .app domains became accessible to the general public starting May 8, 2018, allowing developers to register their desired domains through various registrars by visiting get.app.