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A teardown of Google Photos for Android (v7.95) by Android Authority uncovered a hidden 'Delete all' button for the Remember List, a feature tied to Ask Photos that stores information users share to improve search and editing. Currently the Remember List only allows deleting entries one at a time, and the new option would include a confirmation prompt before wiping everything at once.
An Android Authority writer tested three storage-cleaning tools — Samsung's built-in Device Care, Google's Files app, and the power-user tool SD Maid SE — after nearly filling a 256GB Galaxy phone. The cleanup recovered 15GB, less than hoped, largely because the reviewer chose to keep many large personal files rather than delete them.
Google Photos is developing a 'Regenerate image' feature that lets users redo AI-generated pictures of clothing and accessories in their digital wardrobe. Android Authority found the option in version 7.95 by enabling it manually; it appears via a three-dot menu on an item's details page and runs in the background once started.
An American software engineer and researcher at Google has completed a PhD in Computer Science at the Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology), funded by Japan's MEXT Scholarship. He pursued the degree while continuing full-time work at Google, having previously studied automata theory during an earlier, uncompleted PhD attempt in Korea before joining Google. He now works on on-device language models for keyboards.
The Unicode Consortium approved nine new emoji on Sept. 16, including a pickle, a cracking face, left and right thumb gestures, a monarch butterfly, a lighthouse, a meteor, an eraser and a net with a handle. The cracking face replaces an originally proposed squinty face after a recommendation from the Unicode Emoji Standard & Research Working Group in January.
Google's Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1 update lets the Pixel 11 Pro's HiLight LED flash twice when a favorite contact sends a message, a feature previously limited to calls and Gemini activity. The option can be toggled under Settings > System > HiLight or set per-contact, though no new LED colors are included in this beta. A stable version of Android 17 QPR2 is expected in December.
Google DeepMind researchers in London have built a watermarking system, described in Nature, that embeds a hidden statistical signal into both the amino-acid sequence and 3D structure of AI-designed proteins. The tag, called SynthIDBio, is meant to mark proteins as machine-generated without impairing their biological function, allowing them to be identified later in databases.
A June preprint by Samsung AI Center Warsaw researchers Neo Christopher Chung and Michał Brzozowski found that chatbots including Claude, Gemini and GPT repeatedly invent the same fictional 'expert' personas, such as Elena Vasquez and Marcus Chen, when asked to generate expert profiles. The researchers traced hundreds of these AI-fabricated identities to manuscripts on repositories like Zenodo and ResearchGate, some of which carry real DOIs.
CAD renders posted by Android Headlines and OnLeaks show Google's upcoming Pixel 11A budget phone in a new purple finish, keeping the flat, camera-bump-free design of the Pixel 10A. The leak also suggests the device will use the Tensor G6 chip, the same processor found in the pricier Pixel 11, rather than repeating the older chip used in last year's A-series model.
Google confirmed it has resolved a bug that caused the Google Photos app to freeze after users interacted with its editing tools. The company says the fix is included in the latest app update, version 7.94.0.988717361, available now on the Play Store.
Google released Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1, adding builds for the Pixel 11 lineup after last week's Beta 6 release omitted them. Pixel 6a through Pixel 10 devices receive build CP41.260831.007.A3, while all Pixel 11 models get build CP41.260831.011. Google notes Pixel 11 Pro Fold users may need to re-enroll Face Unlock for it to work properly.
Google announced a partnership with actor Henry Cavill, who has been using one of the company's new Googlebook laptops for personal projects ahead of their public launch. Starting this November, Google says it will work with Cavill to develop a video game built using the device, and has set up a landing page for updates on the project.