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Google has launched a stable version of an enhanced autofill feature in Chrome that uses Gemini and Personal Intelligence to pull relevant details from a user's Gmail account, such as order numbers, tracking information, and flight bookings. The feature is now available to eligible Gemini Personal Intelligence users in the US across desktop, Android, and iOS, after previously being tested only in Chrome Canary.
XREAL has unveiled the Aura, a lightweight pair of XR glasses built with Google and Qualcomm that run Android XR and integrate Google's Gemini assistant. The glasses let users run Android apps, arrange multiple virtual windows, and mirror a laptop screen via USB-C onto a large virtual display without extra software. Pricing starts at $1,099 under a limited-time discount, with shipments expected mid-November.
Google announced at its Android Dev Summit that the Play Store will begin evaluating how well apps and games perform on foldable devices starting next year, with better-adapted apps receiving increased visibility and prominent store placement. Detailed Play Store requirements for this evaluation will be released later this year. Alongside this, Google is rolling out updated developer tools, including Compose adaptive capabilities, to help apps adjust across foldables, laptops, and other form factors.
Xreal has begun selling its Aura smartglasses, which run Google and Samsung's Android XR software on Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip and weigh under 95g. The 12GB/256GB model is priced at $1,099 (down from $1,279) and the 16GB/512GB model at $1,299 (down from $1,499) for orders placed before year-end, with shipping expected mid-November.
Xreal announced the Aura smart glasses at Google's Android Developer Summit, built on the Android XR platform and Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip. The glasses connect via a wired puck device for processing rather than computing on-device, use a Sony Micro-OLED display at 1200p/120Hz with a 95-degree field of view, Bose audio, and support Gemini along with various Google Play apps and XR experiences at launch.
Google Photos' latest update lets users customize the Collections tab by pinning favorite destinations—such as Favorites, Screenshots, and Trash—to the top of the screen. A new Reorder button also allows users to rearrange or hide other collection strips, which get grouped into an 'Other Collections' section.
Android Authority's poll of 1,144 readers found the floating Gemini button in Google Messages to be the most unpopular feature, drawing 48.6% of votes among five options. Respondents cited its prominent placement near the 'Start a new chat' button, which makes it easy to tap by accident, and its redundancy given Google's standalone Gemini app.
DuckDuckGo publicly criticized Samsung for embedding a non-removable Google search bar on One UI 9 home screens, even for users who prefer other search engines. The bar, unlike a typical widget, cannot be long-pressed or dragged away, though Samsung does allow users to turn it off entirely through Home screen settings. The change builds on Android 17's revamped search widget system, which Motorola has also adopted.
Google has begun certifying registered app stores that distribute Android applications outside its own Play Store. The certification process is intended to let alternative app marketplaces meet a set of standards defined by Google before being recognized as approved distributors.
Google and Xreal have launched the Aura smart glasses in the US, Canada and South Korea at $1,099 for the 12GB/256GB model, down from the $1,279 preorder price announced last month. A 16GB/512GB version costs $1,299, with shipping expected mid-November and a Japan launch set for November 2nd; customers who already preordered at the higher price will get an automatic refund of the difference.
Android Authority released its latest Wallpaper Wednesday collection, featuring six reader-submitted images and three from its own team, available in landscape and portrait formats for phones, tablets and PCs. The free, watermark-free wallpapers can be downloaded in full resolution via a shared Google Drive link, with past weeks' images also archived there.
A new mobile word game called Wordeex has launched on iOS and Android, offered free to players. The game's distinguishing mechanic is that each correct answer alters the puzzle itself, rather than simply completing a static grid.