New this week: See how the new Pixel 6 uses machine learning for cool image, audio and video features,; post to Instagram on desktop, learn how hijackers take over YouTube accounts, and check out the new Google (Web) Creators portal.

Plus there is news and updates for productivity, social media, and more.

Read this week's updates on the web.

Pixel 6 Features

This week Google announced the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones. You can get all the specs here. It uses Google’s own Tensor chip that allows state-of-the-art machine learning and AI that drives some of the unique Pixel 6 features. Will it convince Apple users to switch?

Here are some of the tools I’m excited about:

• Google Recorder (one of my favorite Pixel apps) now supports German, French and Japanese transcription, in addition to English, on the Pixel 6.

• New Live Translate feature with messaging apps (WhatsApp, Messages, etc) offering in-app translations and captioning on video and audio content.

• “Magic Eraser” in Google Photos lets you easily remove people in the background, objects like power lines and more from your photos with just a few taps. This (or a feature similar to this) was demonstrated at Google I/O in 2017, but was deprioritized.

• “Motion Mode” in the Camera app, which lets you take Long Exposure and Action Pan shots, with creative blurring.

• HDRNet image adjustment now works in all video recording modes, including 4k 60 frames per second, providing “more accurate and vivid colors”.

• The camera also more accurately renders darker skin tones (why did this take until 2021?)

• “Quick Tap to Snap” adds the Snapchat camera to the lockscreen, so all you need to do is tap the back of the phone twice to snap a Snapchat Snap. I don’t use Snapchat, but the Quick Tap gesture can be configured to quickly open other apps.

• If you are all-in on Google (and are in the US), you can get the Pixel Pass, which finances the phone over 2 years and includes YouTube Premium (with YouTube Music Premium), Google One 200GB storage, Google Play Pass (games and apps), and more.

Top News

Google has launched a new Google for (Web) Creators portal. Among the features are guides for creating content and building an audience, upcoming events, and Google’s tools. Check it out!

Google’s Threat Analysis Group has published an overview of recent phishing campaigns targeting YouTube creators. Scammers offer fake collaboration opportunities that require a software download (such as a VPN). That malware steals web browser session cookies, which gives the hijacker access to the account without having to actually sign in. The stolen YouTube channels are often used for cryptocurrency scams. Read the article to see the lengths the hijackers go to to be undetected and appear legitimate.

Google Meet is rolling out new host control features: Audio Lock and Video Lock. This lets the host turn off the microphone and camera of other participants, who will not be able to turn them back on unless the host unlocks them. This will be available to G Suite Basic and Business and all Google Workspace customers. On mobile devices participants must have Android M (6) or higher or iOS 12 or higher, and participants with unsupported devices will be kicked out of the meeting when audio or video locks are enabled.

There are also exciting new features from Instagram this week.

• The most exciting: you can now post to Instagram on desktop! Note that you will still need to use the mobile app to edit your posts.

• They are testing co-authorship of Feed Posts and Reels. Collaborative content appears on both profiles.

• There are new tools to help connect creators and brands. Creators can add a preferred list of brands they want to work with, and communicate using “partnership messages” DMs.

• There are new analytics for creators and small businesses that show insights into engagement and audience reach.

More news and updates

Android

If you have a Pixel 3 or higher phone Android 12 is rolling out. It has a new “Material You” look, plus new security settings and useful tools like scrolling screenshots (to capture the full page) and wi-fi credential sharing with Nearby Share.

Android Developers can design a custom Team Jetpack Superhero to get ready for the Android Developers Summit on October 27-28.

YouTube

YouTube is using video Chapters as a source of metadata in search, including automatically added Chapters. That may surface your videos in more search results. It’s probably worth reviewing any automatically added Chapters on your videos to make sure they accurately reflect the content. Learn more about Chapters.

Live shopping is coming to YouTube. They are testing “shoppable” livestreams that let viewers shop without leaving the video they are watching.

Is your YouTube channel in a fall slump? That may be normal seasonal variation, not an algorithm change. Watch the linked video for more about YouTube’s recommendation system, and why you should share your videos on social media, but not worry about tags.

A new creator guide by Leo Wattenberg in the YouTube Gaming subreddit explains what to do if you get a strike. Don’t panic! Then read the guide.

Web Creators

Google has published an overview of how their search quality rater guidelines are used. Google wants to help define high-quality content that demonstrates expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-A-T) on a topic. Quality raters help confirm that search results are meeting the guidelines. You can read the guidelines yourself here (pdf) and check the changelog at the end to see what’s changed over time.

Photos

Google Photos “Memories” are now available on the web. If you take mostly landscape photos it is nicer viewing than Memories on mobile.

Flickr is offering grants to members of the Black Women Photographers community.

Social Media

The Vienna Tourist Board is promoting museums on Only Fans, sharing art that could be removed from social media sites due to nudity.

Twitter is rolling out the ability for everyone on iOS and Android to host a Space. Spaces is Twitter’s social audio feature. Up until now it was limited to Twitterers with at least 600 followers.

Twitter’s Revue (which I use) now lets people sign up for your newsletter right in their Twitter timeline. And readers who have an email linked to their Twitter account can subscribe with one click.

Pinterest announced “Takes”, a way for people to respond to a creator’s idea with their own Idea Pin. They are touting it as a way for creators to build community around “shared passions”.

Pinterest also announced a new Creator Hub and a new option for US creators to earn money with “Creator Rewards”.

Spotify now lets artists sell merch to fans from their profile with Shopify integration.

Facebook announced it will take steps to demote Groups content from members who have violated the Community Standards anywhere on facebook.

Donald Trump’s surprising new social media company and platform (“Truth”) is off to a rough start (but it may make someone money anyway).

Vox takes a look at fictional social media influencers. That TikToker you just watched may be performing from a script.

Messaging

Now you can mark Google Chat direct messages and Spaces as “unread”.

Microsoft Teams is rolling out end-to-end-encryption for 1:1 calls.

Facebook Messenger has new group AR effects, for being silly with your friends, plus new Halloween features.

Productivity

You can now easily insert people, content and events into your Google Docs by typing @ to access the new universal insertion menu. Quickly mention a person or group, insert another file, or add a date, template or event.

A small update to Google Docs lets you easily add a page break before paragraphs. This will be rolling out over the next few weeks.

Gmail is making it easier to view and edit recipient details in the “To”, “Cc” and “Bcc” fields. One of the neat features is that you can change how a contact name is displayed to recipients without having to change the Google Contacts entry.

Google Calendar will let you add “Focus Time” entries, so that colleagues know you will not be available during that time. You can also automatically decline conflicting events. This is only available to Google Workspace for Education, Enterprise and Business Starter and Plus accounts.

JR Raphael offers 13 tricks for Google Maps on Android. My favorite: mark your parking location.

Image: “Buzzwords” by Aimee Baldwin, Logan Austeja and John Daniel. The colorful lanterns are inspired by wasp galls. Photo by me, all rights reserved.