March 2021 Summaries

Google App Engine, a serverless app-hosting platform initially launched in 2008, has evolved significantly, offering developers more flexibility and options by supporting new languages and enabling containerized applications. In response to the deprecation of older language versions, Google Cloud continues to support legacy runtimes while encouraging modernizations to newer versions through comprehensive migration guides and resources. These resources include "migration modules," which provide hands-on tutorials and code examples, such as transitioning from webapp2 to Flask or updating Datastore access methods, designed to assist developers in adapting their applications to the next-generation platform without simultaneously changing programming languages. The migration modules, complemented by online codelabs and community-sourced samples, aim to simplify the transition to unbundled services, thereby enhancing app portability and user choice.

Young developers from Google Developer Student Clubs at Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia initiated workshops to aid local small businesses in transitioning to an online presence. Observing that many beloved local stores lacked websites, these students aimed to equip store owners with essential front-end skills, inspired by Google’s digital marketing fundamentals. The workshops focused on teaching HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics, along with using Chrome DevTools for optimizing user experience. Participants were encouraged to create demo websites, testing them on various devices, and were introduced to toolkits like Bootstrap for workflow templating, Codepen for feature testing, and Figma for mockup development. Through these efforts, local business owners gained the skills and resources needed to launch their websites, demonstrating the impact of student-led community initiatives.

In March 2021, ten Google Developer Groups in India collaborated to host the second edition of Google Cloud Community Days, a virtual event aimed at preparing developers for Google Cloud Certification exams. The event, which attracted over 63,000 participants, offered expert guidance and mentorship to help developers pursue certifications across four areas: Associate Cloud Engineer, Professional Data Engineer, Professional Cloud Machine Learning Engineer, and Professional Cloud Architect. Tailored sessions were designed to meet the needs of developers at varying career stages, from beginners to seasoned professionals, with the goal of enhancing their job prospects and skills in deploying applications on the Google Cloud Platform. Participants expressed positive feedback, appreciating the learning opportunities and community engagement, which empowered them with the confidence and credentials needed to advance their careers.

Google Workspace Add-ons have evolved to include Alternate Runtimes, providing developers with more flexibility by allowing them to use their own development environments instead of relying solely on Google Apps Script. This advancement introduces the Google Workspace Add-ons Cloud API, enabling developers to manage add-on deployments through command-line instructions, thus simplifying the development and deployment processes. The Alternate Runtimes offer benefits such as increased productivity, better integration with existing tools, and a streamlined user interface design process through the GWAO Card Builder tool. This update has been embraced by developers, including Google Cloud partners like Zzapps, who find the flexibility and efficiency improvements valuable for creating and managing add-ons.

Google has announced the enhancement of the People API with new endpoints for batch operations and search functionalities, as part of the transition from the deprecated Google Contacts API, which will be discontinued on June 15, 2021. The updated People API now includes new write endpoints that support the creation, deletion, and updating of multiple contacts simultaneously, alongside new read endpoints that enable developers to search through a user's contacts using prefix queries. To use the People API, applications must be authorized through the Google Developers Console, and developers can leverage the Google APIs Client Library for Java to perform these operations. The expansion of these capabilities aims to facilitate the development of innovative web and mobile applications, with detailed documentation available to assist developers in implementing these new features.

In an interview with Jose Ugia, Steve Klebe, who has extensive experience in the payment processing industry and works on Google Pay partnerships, provides an in-depth explanation of how online payments function, emphasizing the intricate sequence of events that occur when a consumer makes a credit card payment online. He explains the roles of various entities involved, such as payment service providers (PSPs) and how they ensure transactions are secure and legitimate while offering options for merchants to choose PSPs based on their specific needs, such as handling subscriptions or global sales. Klebe also discusses the concept of digital wallets like Google Pay, highlighting their convenience for consumers by storing payment credentials, and the evolving landscape of tokenization which enhances security in online transactions by replacing card numbers with tokens. He touches on the future of payments, suggesting that the industry is moving towards a more integrated, contactless, and cloud-based system, requiring merchants to adapt their payment processing capabilities accordingly.

Google has updated its Smart Home Actions policy to streamline the certification process for developers, enhancing user experience and ensuring device reliability and security. These updates introduce minimum latency and reliability metrics for device quality, mandate persistent connections for cloud-controlled devices, and require secondary user verification for actions that could compromise safety, such as unlocking doors. Developers must provide certifications like UL for high-risk devices before releasing actions. The "Works With Hey Google" badge is now limited to specific Smart Home Direct Actions, requiring updates to digital assets by the end of 2021. A one-month grace period is granted for compliance with these new requirements, after which all actions must be recertified annually or upon the addition of new devices or functionalities. Developers are encouraged to share feedback via the issue tracker and engage with the community for continued improvements.

In response to the increased adoption of voice technology spurred by the pandemic, Google Assistant has amplified its engagement with the voice technology community through various initiatives. These efforts include launching VOICE Talks, a monthly digital event series in partnership with Modev, which connects Google leaders with the voice-tech ecosystem and allows companies like Sony and Nike to share best practices. The series has garnered significant attention, with over 110,000 subscribers and 40,000 hours of content consumed. Additionally, Google Assistant introduced VOICE Talks India to cater to regional interests and plans to expand its reach by collaborating with influencers through podcasts and livestreams. The initiative also includes a corporate sponsorship of Women In Voice, a global non-profit supporting diversity in the voice technology field, underlining Google's commitment to fostering community and innovation in this space.

ML Kit has reached general availability, marking a significant milestone since its initial launch in 2018, with enhancements to its machine learning capabilities on both Android and iOS platforms. Among the new features is the Selfie Segmentation API, which allows developers to separate backgrounds from users in images and videos, facilitating the addition of creative effects in apps. The Pose Detection API has also been updated to include more poses, a 50% reduction in model size, and a new Z coordinate for depth analysis, enhancing its utility for fitness and yoga applications. Additionally, ML Kit now supports pose classification, developed in collaboration with the MediaPipe team, to help developers classify specific poses and count repetitions in exercises. These updates reflect ML Kit's commitment to providing cutting-edge tools for app developers, emphasizing the importance of community feedback in shaping its development.

In celebration of International Women's Day, the Google Developers team highlighted 21 influential women making significant contributions to the tech community. These trailblazers, who are involved with initiatives such as Google Developer Groups and Women Techmakers, share a common goal of fostering inclusivity in the developer world for future generations. Each woman's journey into tech is unique, but their collective emphasis is on empowerment, mentorship, and the importance of building professional networks. Through diverse paths, from software development to machine learning and product management, these women have overcome challenges and barriers to become leaders and advocates in their fields, encouraging others to pursue their passions relentlessly. The stories underscore the importance of community support, continuous learning, and the courage to create opportunities and drive systemic change in the tech industry.

On International Women’s Day, Google Registry celebrated female leadership by featuring eight inspiring women who have made significant strides in their respective fields using .app and .dev domains, part of the #MyDomain series. These women include Alice Truswell, co-founder of the money-saving app Snoop.app, who encourages embracing individuality; Annie Hwang of Jemi.app, who advises against succumbing to imposter syndrome; Elena Czubiak, who left her job to co-found imaginarie.app; and Ifrah Khan of Clubba.app, who highlights the importance of networking among entrepreneurial women. Other notable leaders are Rita Kozlov, a product manager at Cloudflare Workers who emphasizes the strength of inquisitiveness; Romina Arrigoni Samsó, founder of ADDSKIN.app, who advocates for taking risks in technology; Soraya Jaber of Minsar.app, promoting inclusivity in entrepreneurship; and Stefania Olafsdóttir, CEO of Avo.app, who values bravery over perfection. The initiative aims to elevate these women's stories to inspire future generations and foster diversity and inclusion in technology and entrepreneurship.

In a collaborative effort to support COVID-19 researchers, Google and Debian have worked together to make essential software tools more accessible by packaging Bazel for easy installation on Debian and Ubuntu systems. This initiative, led by Debian Developer Olek Wojnar and Google's Yun Peng, aims to deliver Tensorflow Machine Learning functionality to the medical community, addressing the urgent need for better research tools amid the pandemic. The Bazel team and Debian volunteers successfully packaged the Bazel bootstrap variant within six months, with its availability coinciding with the releases of Debian 11 and Ubuntu 21.04. The ongoing collaboration also focuses on advancing the packaging and distribution of Tensorflow for Debian and other Linux distributions, with contributions from several team members including Michael R. Crusoe, Joe Hicks, John Field, Philipp Wollermann, and Tobias Werth.

Flutter 2 represents a significant upgrade to the Flutter framework, enabling developers to create apps for various platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web, using a single codebase. This version emphasizes Flutter's versatility, allowing it to be used in cars, TVs, and smart home devices, and includes production-quality web support with enhanced performance through a new CanvasKit-powered rendering engine. Notable collaborations have been formed with companies like Canonical for Linux desktop support, Microsoft for foldable devices, and Toyota for in-vehicle systems, demonstrating Flutter's expanding reach. The release also highlights partnerships with major tech companies like Google, where Flutter is used in apps like Stadia and Google Pay, which achieved increased productivity and reduced code complexity by unifying the codebase across platforms. The introduction of new tools such as Google Mobile Ads SDK and updates to Firebase plugins further enrich the Flutter ecosystem, while the use of Dart, the programming language behind Flutter, ensures seamless multiplatform development with features like sound null safety.