[Update: The new Gmail redesign has launched, with some features present and others yet to be seen. Details below.]
Google IO 2018 begins in less than three weeks, and the event will take place in early May, and will surely be used to reveal a lot of Android articles and possibly even some new ones.
We have seen the schedule for IO 2018, but that has mostly given us an idea of the topics that Google will analyze during the event. Fortunately, we have also received some clues about what we could see between May 8 and May 10.
We have also submitted a wish list for what we want from the annual Google developer conference, which you will find at the bottom of this page.
Cut to the hunt
- What is it? Google Developer Annual Conference
- When is it? May 8-10
Google News IO 2018 and rumors
Google took to Twitter in January to tease IO 2018, and that tweet took users to the google website .com / io, where a series of riddles revealed that the event was going to take place from May 8 to 10 at the Shoreline Amphitheater in California (where the last two IO conferences have been held).
Welp, the end of Google I / O is just the date: from May 8 to 10 pic.twitter. com / nHdem6fu3i January 24, 2018
That's not particularly surprising, since Google IO is generally celebrated in May, but this would be a little earlier in the month than you are. Since then, Google has published the official IO calendar.
The site also presents an image of an inverted pineapple cake, which is an obvious clue that the next version of Android could take that name, although it could easily make it a red-hot harangue.
Android Pineapple Upside-down Cake is a bit cumbersome, but Android Pineapple? That could work, although it does not follow the sweet topic that Google has used to date.
And let's not forget, Android Ice Cream Sandwich was not exactly concise.
What we want to see
Google IO will surely include some tasty Android news, but that's not all we want from it. Here are some of our main wishes.
1. A beta version of Android
We can learn some things about Android P before Google IO 2018, but there is likely to be a lot of additional information in that event and, hopefully, a beta update, so anyone brave enough to handle the errors can deeper into the software.
Google has already released the first Android P Developer Preview, for the truly daring (but in reality, mainly for developers). The developer's preview is not the only place to detect new features for Android P. Recently, a new set of user interface navigation buttons was detected, showing the normal backspace button and a new horizontal bar instead of the Typical start button, with the Description button absent. These changes put the Android P IU in line with the iPhone X, perhaps as Google tries to serve more phones with notches.
In any case, there is a good chance that we will get more in May, since Android Oreo went into beta during Google IO 2017.
2. Name of Android P
Could this be an obvious indication of the name of Android P? Credit: Google / The Verge
In addition to information and a beta version, we'd love to know what Android P will really be called. Our only clue so far is a picture of an inverted pineapple cake, found by The Verge on the Google IO website, and we suspect it could be a false trail.
But we probably will not discover it, since Google tends to reveal this information later in the year, so it could be a mystery for a long time yet.
3. Some important changes to Gmail
A new Gmail redesign launched on April 25, and available to non-commercial users. Although it was launched before Google IO, the conference seems a likely place for Google to go further in the features that have been updated and those that are still to come.
What we have seen so far is a redesigned user interface for Gmail, with larger and clearer buttons, which can be easier to use for those who like to click on the screen. There is also more color in the redesign, with different colors used to better distinguish between various types of email, such as staff, plans and trips. This is done by assigning a color to the labels.
The update also includes Googe's intelligent responses, as well as a sidebar with quick access to the calendar, Keep notes and tasks. The inbox view shows which attachments are included in each email and appear directly accessible from the inbox screen.
Beyond the visual review, a set of useful features are also incoming. One that has already been released is the ability to postpone emails, which will remove it from your inbox, and then reappear as a new email at a time specified by the user in the future. Advanced security features are also coming to Gmail in the form of Confidential Mode, which will allow expiration dates for emails, block forwarding, printing, copying and downloading, and will give users the option to password-lock their emails and send the password separately via SMS. So far, we have not seen this security feature implemented.
Hopefully, we'll see more in Google IO, for example, on May 10 during the G Suite event in the calendar.
4. Android Wear 3.0
Google has shown Android Wear in IO before, and the event has even been used to announce smart watches such as the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. When IO 2018 moves, Android Wear 2.0 will take more than a year, so it must be updated seriously.
Recently, Google changed the brand from Android Wear to Wear OS, but we still expect IO 2018 to bring more updates. beyond the name change. We hope that Wear 3.0 will introduce more applications, improve efficiency and support better iOS, among other things. If some new wearables land next to him, it will be even better.
Adding to your expectations that a Wear OS update will appear in Google IO, there is a session in the official calendar entitled "What's New in Wear OS by Google". Google has already released new features in a preview of the developer of Wear OS. Features include a dark theme and a series of battery saving changes, such as disabling radios when the watch is not used and limiting background activity. How much more we will see in IO is uncertain, but it is possible that the preview of the developer will advance in beta during the event.
5. A VR boost
We probably will not get another Daydream View in IO, but you never know
Google became more involved in virtual reality with Daydream, announced in IO 2016, and we would like to see another big push of virtual reality in this year's event.
That could mean the announcement of new virtual reality games and experiences or even some new virtual reality hardware, although we would not. Count on that, as a new version of Google Daydream View landed in late 2017.
Hell, maybe Google will even backtrack to augmented reality after its patchy patch with Google Glass. Intel Vaunt has convincingly demonstrated that AR glasses can be manufactured without looking awful, so it may be a good time for Google to re-enter.
6. Improvements in the assistant
Google Assistant is undoubtedly the best artificial intelligence assistant, but there is still room for improvement and, hopefully, a new and better version will be announced in Google IO 2018.
We already know that this year the Google Assistant is becoming impressively multilingual, and the ability to respond to the assigned names instead of "OK, Google" is a welcome change.
There are many things we would like about him, but perhaps the most important thing is that we want him to be even better at listening and understanding what we are saying, and being able to respond in a useful way to our requests.
7. Google Home software updates
There is room for improvement in Google Home software
Google Home in its various forms is a decent smart speaker, and we would not expect see in particular any new Home hardware in Google IO 2018 (although the news that Home Max will reach more countries will be appreciated), but what we could obtain is improvements in the software.
Whether it's a more responsive application, compatibility with more devices and services, or something completely different, we want it.
8. Surprises
One thing we always like in events like these are the surprises, and with so little known about Google IO 2018 so far, we could even get some. That is if everything was not leaked in the weeks before it started.
