May 2021 Summaries

The Google I/O photo booth, showcased at the event, was an innovative project that utilized a combination of Google Developer products, primarily Flutter and Firebase, to create an interactive web app experience for attendees. The app allowed participants to take selfies with Google Developer mascots such as Flutter’s Dash, Android Jetpack, Chrome’s Dino, and Firebase’s Sparky, and share them on social media. The collaboration between the Flutter and Firebase teams resulted in a highly functional example of Flutter on the web, leveraging Firebase for essential services like hosting, authentication, performance monitoring, and social sharing. This project not only highlighted the capabilities of these technologies but also offered an open-source code on GitHub for developers interested in exploring the application further.

Tech Camp, an initiative spearheaded by Tamta Kapanadze with support from Google Developer Student Clubs and Google Developer Groups, was designed to introduce high school students in Georgia to careers in technology, addressing the country's relatively small tech industry. Despite the challenges of organizing a new event amid global circumstances, Kapanadze and her team successfully planned and executed the virtual event, which covered a broad range of topics including web development, game development, artificial intelligence, and machine learning over a seven-day period. Originally aiming for 30 participants, the camp attracted 500 applications, with 300 students attending speaker sessions and 50 participating in coding workshops. The event was deemed successful as it inspired many attendees to pursue tech careers, contributing to the growth of Georgia's tech industry.

The Mirru app, developed by Violeta López and Vladimir Hermand in collaboration with Tweag, is an open-source Android application designed to control robotic prosthetic hands using MediaPipe's hand tracking technology. By allowing users to mirror movements from their sound hand onto a prosthetic hand, Mirru provides a cost-effective and accessible alternative to traditional myoelectric muscle sensors, which are often expensive and cumbersome. The app is compatible with open-source prosthetic models like the Brunel Hand and relies on a Bluetooth-enabled Arduino board for control. The MediaPipe framework facilitates real-time hand movement translation without the need for custom machine learning models, making it a practical solution for those with limited resources. This innovative approach not only reduces the financial barriers associated with prosthesis customization but also empowers users to program and save an unlimited number of grip patterns. As the team continues to explore the integration of hand tracking with myoelectric sensors, they are eager to see how the open-source community will further develop and expand the application.

The Google for Games Developer Summit 2021 is set to take place online on July 12th-13th, providing game developers with the opportunity to learn about new solutions from Google's game teams aimed at enhancing game creation, player engagement, and business scaling. Announced by Greg Hartrell, Head of Product Management for Games on Android & Google Play, the summit comes at a time when gaming has seen a significant increase in new players and playtime. Registration for the event is free and open to all game developers, with more details to be released in the coming weeks.

Hebe He is the organizer of the Google Developer Group (GDG) in Guangzhou, China, and an ambassador for Women Techmakers, playing a crucial role in fostering the local developer community's growth and engagement. Her journey began in 2014 when she attended GDG Guangzhou DevFest and subsequently became deeply involved with the group, officially taking on the organizer role in 2017. The GDG Guangzhou community is vibrant and enthusiastic, with members keenly interested in Google's technological innovations, particularly Android, Kotlin, and Flutter. Hebe and her team aim to enhance their events by incorporating diverse topics, including non-technical ones, and continuously improving the quality of guest speakers and event logistics. A memorable highlight for Hebe is the expansion of Women Techmakers Guangzhou, which has grown significantly in attendance, showcasing the community's dedication and support. Looking ahead, she aspires to further develop GDG Guangzhou, capturing valuable experiences and insights from community interactions to optimize future events.

At Google I/O 2021, significant updates were announced to aid Android developers in enhancing app experiences across various devices, emphasizing Android 12's major design overhaul, Jetpack Compose's upcoming stable release, and the capabilities of Android Studio Arctic Fox. Android 12 introduces enhanced performance and user safety features, while Jetpack Compose, set for a July 1.0 release, simplifies UI creation with its modern toolkit. Android Studio Arctic Fox Beta boosts developer productivity and app quality through improved tools for UI design and testing. Kotlin continues its rise as the preferred language among Android developers, with new enhancements for annotation processing. Android Jetpack updates, including Macrobenchmark and new Kotlin Coroutines APIs, further streamline app development. Wear OS sees a major step forward with a unified platform combining Wear and Tizen, enriched Google app experiences, and a Fitbit health service, alongside new APIs for optimized wearable app development. The emphasis on large-screen devices is highlighted by updates supporting tablets, Chrome OS, and foldables, with new tools for responsive app design. These developments aim to strengthen app creation across diverse platforms, offering developers a range of resources to leverage Android's expansive ecosystem.

Google has launched the Developer Library, an open-source content platform designed to centralize and highlight top projects related to Google technologies, which are often scattered across various sites. This library showcases blog posts, open-source tools, and tutorials categorized by areas such as Machine Learning, Flutter, Firebase, Angular, Cloud, and Android. Each featured piece undergoes a detailed review by Google experts to ensure accuracy and relevance, offering users a reliable source of quality content. The platform also includes video interviews with developers and examples of innovative projects like TensorFlow's Object Detection API code samples and efficient API call techniques in Flutter. Google encourages contributions from developers and welcomes feedback to expand and refine the library, inviting users to submit content for review or provide suggestions for improvement.

Google Pay has introduced an open-source Flutter plugin designed to simplify the integration of payment functionalities into Flutter apps on both iOS and Android platforms. This plugin allows developers to maintain a single codebase written in Dart while seamlessly incorporating Google Pay's secure and efficient checkout experience, which is known to enhance user conversion rates. Developers can configure payment profiles using JSON files and add a Google Pay button to their apps, facilitating user transactions without the need to handle credit card information directly. The plugin is readily available for use, and developers are encouraged to explore further resources, contribute feedback, and access support through Google Pay's developer documentation, business console, and social media channels.

ARCore has introduced significant updates with version 1.24, enhancing developer tools for augmented reality (AR) experiences on Android devices without the need for specialized sensors. The introduction of the Raw Depth API allows developers to create more realistic and precise depth maps, improving spatial awareness and accuracy in AR applications, as seen in apps like ARConnect and AR Doodads. The new Recording and Playback API addresses challenges in testing AR experiences by enabling developers to record and playback video footage along with depth and sensor data, facilitating consistent testing environments and reducing development costs, as demonstrated by DiDi-Rider. These updates also unlock new possibilities for post-capture AR experiences, such as asynchronous AR interactions and spatial video co-creation, exemplified by Jump AR and VoxPlop!. ARCore's updates are designed to increase developer velocity and make AR technology more accessible to a broader audience, leveraging over a billion installs and 850 million compatible devices.

The updated Google Pay app aims to enhance user engagement with businesses by providing a branded space where consumers can interact with their favorite companies, sign up for loyalty programs, redeem offers, and view transaction histories. Available in the US, India, and Singapore, with more markets to follow, the app focuses on helping users manage their financial relationships by sending and saving money, and gaining spending insights. Google Pay's APIs for Web and Android enable businesses to offer a seamless checkout experience and allow users to track transactions across different channels. Additionally, the Loyalty Enrollment and Sign-in API simplifies the process for users to join loyalty programs, further increasing touchpoints for businesses to reengage with their customers.

Google I/O 2021 introduced several new features aimed at enhancing the integration of Google Assistant with Android apps and smart displays. These updates include App Actions, which allow developers to incorporate voice commands into Android apps, enhancing user engagement by enabling voice-driven tasks like booking rides or sending messages. The Capabilities API, now in beta, lets developers declare support for built-in intents, offering users direct navigation to app-specific activities via voice. Android 12 introduces improved user discoverability with Shortcuts, enabling personalized voice commands and proactive suggestions. Widgets in Android 12 will support quick interactions and updates linked to specific intents, with potential applications in Android Auto. For smart displays, enhanced Conversational Actions are facilitated by Interactive Canvas, which supports game and storytelling experiences using web technologies. Developers can manage action releases more flexibly, and improvements in visual and media handling are designed to enrich user experiences on smart displays. Google also aims to streamline transactions on these devices by adding on-device credit card entry, enhancing the business potential for developers by reducing reliance on mobile devices for transactions.

Gilt, MTS, Panera Bread, and SpotHero, despite being diverse businesses, have successfully adopted Google Pay integration patterns that enhance conversions on Android apps. These patterns include setting Google Pay as the default payment option, enabling express and guest checkouts, and utilizing payment notifications, each contributing to a more seamless payment experience and increased conversion rates. For instance, Gilt saw a significant increase in new member conversions and reactivations, Panera Bread observed a 7% rise in order value, and SpotHero experienced a 20-fold increase in their sales funnel. MTS used payment notifications to achieve an 80% increase in conversions. Furthermore, developers are advised to use SSL connections and avoid storing sensitive information directly in apps to ensure secure payment processes. Additional resources, such as developer documentation and Google Pay's Business Console, are available for those interested in integrating Google Pay into their Android applications.

Google has introduced a new personal dashboard feature for users of Google Developer Profiles, providing a tailored view of their activities and learning content across platforms such as Google Developers, Firebase, and Android. This dashboard allows users to track their progress in ongoing codelabs or pathways, view a history of their earned badges and achievements, and manage a personalized list of frequently accessed developer pages through the Saved Pages feature. This initiative is part of Google's broader effort to foster a dynamic developer ecosystem and enhance user experience by offering more customized tools and resources. Users can also earn and share badges on social media platforms by completing assessments, showcasing their expertise in current technologies.

Google Pay has introduced an updated button that enhances click-through rates and improves the checkout experience by displaying a user's card type and the last four digits of their saved payment card, making users 30% more likely to utilize it and increasing conversions by 3.6%. This update aims to remind users of their saved card details in their Google Account, facilitating a quicker and more convenient checkout process. To implement this feature, developers can use the createButton API with default options, which automatically integrates the card information display, or adjust the buttonType to "buy" for customized setups to show the user's card details. Developers are encouraged to explore these updates through the Google Pay Business Console and can seek further assistance via Google Pay's developer support channels.