Google I/O 2019: What’s new for the Developer World?

Google I/O is a developer conference, conducted by the tech giant annually, to announce the latest on its software, hardware, applications, and services. Google I/O 2019 was kicked off at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on May 7th and ended on May 9th with some spectacular announcements.

So, let us dive into some of the major announcements that were made in Google I/O 2019.

Major Google I/O 2019 announcements

“Our goal is to build a more helpful Google for everyone to increase knowledge, success, health, and happiness.” — Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google

Beginning with the use of Augmented Reality (AR) for navigation inside the venue, the 3-day long event has proven how Google uses technology for the betterment of our lives. They indeed showed us ‘how to get things done’ with technology in action. This year applications focus majorly on user trust and privacy. There have been more additions to powerful privacy and security features.

Android Q Beta 3

Android Q is the tenth operating system released by Google. Innovation, security & privacy, and digital well-being are the four core factors driving the new operating system. The third beta for Android Q has been released in Google I/O 2019. Unlike the previous two versions, the new beta can be installed on 21 different smartphones from 12 Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Google has specifically highlighted the following features for Android Q Beta 3:

• Native support for foldable devices like Samsung Galaxy Fold and 5G network
• Live caption, also available offline, for audio and videos
• Smart reply and suggestions
• Native dark theme
• Revamped privacy settings with complete user control
• Application of security patches without any reboot
• Focus mode to silence unwanted notifications
• Family Link to control kids’ screen time
• Option to manually push updates to installed apps
• Improved security on entry-level devices

Flutter for Web

As promised, Google has extended Flutter SDK for the web and desktop along with its support for mobile and other embedded devices. The first technical preview of Flutter 1.5 was released in Google I/O. It aims at building highly interactive and graphically rich content, now on the web too. The early instructions to experiment with Flutter 1.5 are available here. It is supported on prominent operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Google Firebase

Firebase is another popular Google mobile and web application development platform. It was first released in the year 2011. Seeing its quick adoption and widespread usage, Google has rolled out some major updates to improve Firebase.

• New APIs for On-device Translation, Object Detection & Tracking, and AutoML Vision Edge.
• A feature-rich audience builder in Firebase Google Analytics
• Support for collection group queries in the NoSQL database Cloud Firestore
• Brand new Cloud Functions emulator
• Configurable velocity alert settings in Firebase Crashlytics

Kotlin-first Development

Google has decided to go Kotlin-first for Android mobile app development. What does this mean? Well, many of the new Jetpack APIs and features will be extended to Kotlin first prior to appearing on other programming languages. They are determined to make Kotlin a more productive language by investing in training, tooling, and documentation.

Conclusion

Starting with Google Search and Gmail, the keynote covered interesting new features such as full coverage, camera and AR capabilities in Search. Some phenomenal Google lens updates were also announced helping the common people with the power to read. The updates to Google Assistant will ensure zero latency.

Stay tuned as we bring more news from the Biztech world!

Google I/O 2019: What’s new for the Developer World? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.