Newsletter - August 2020

Android / Google Play

• Watch the final week of #11WeeksOfAndroid. Stay up-to-date on the announcements for all of your favorite Android development tools, languages, the Android 11 beta, and more.
• Get the latest updates and developer previews for game developers from the Android 11 games week.
• Introducing Cast Connect . Learn a better way to integrate Google Cast directly into your Android TV apps to extend video or audio from your Android, iOS, Chrome app to a TV or sound system. 
• Leverage the new in-app review API so users can seamlessly leave ratings and reviews within your app.
• Learn about dynamic delivery improvements to the Android App Bundle and the adoption requirement for new apps in H2 2021. 
• Get to know the new Play Console with three webinars led by the product team. Tune in to get the latest on what's new, changed, and best practices for release management and acquisition reports.
• Protect your Google Play Console account with 2-Step Verification. Note this will be mandatory later this year.
• Check out how Wooga localized their mobile puzzle game ' June's Journey ' for Japan and South Korea. In a few months, it reached the top 5 markets globally with 96% of their local players using the new localized versions of the game.

Firebase / Google Cloud

• Register for Firebase Virtual Meetups. Hone your skills in an ongoing series of virtual events, ask your burning questions, and get answers directly from the Firebase team.  
• Improve your app quality with Firebase Crashlytics and learn about the essential tools that help you debug and get the most of your crash reports.
• Find out how to increase app quality and user experience with Firebase and Google Play together.
• Read about how to set up automatic deployment of Hugo sites on Firebase hosting and drafts on Cloud Run.
• Register by September 30 to prepare for Google Cloud certification with six weeks of learning paths covering DevOps, Cloud Network Engineering, Cloud Security Engineering, and more.
• Start earning your exclusive digital Google Cloud skill badges. Demonstrate your growing Google Cloud skillsets to employers and share your progress with your network.
• Check out the latest puzzle. Every month, work to solve data puzzles on BigQuery for a chance to win $500 in Cloud credits.

Google Maps Platform

• Celebrate Pac-Man's 40th birthday. Enjoy a modern twist on the original game with Google Maps Platform gaming services: Keep an eye on the Google Maps Platform blog for more details, and check out the gaming playlist on YouTube for new tutorials on building real-world games like Pac-Man Geo. "Waka Waka!"
• Introducing a new ARCore codelab for Android: Learn how to bring Places into augmented reality. Or, start with introductory codelabs for JavaScript , Android , and iOS to learn the basics of building your first map.
• Announcing new maps customization features for JavaScript, Android, and iOS, and for the Maps Static API . Custom styling has also expanded to distinguish retail and shopping districts as commercial corridors .
• Get a tour of the new Places KTX library. Clone new Swift samples for Maps and Places. If you’re using Xcode 12, check out the Swift Package Manager support for installing the Maps SDK for iOS Utility Library .
• Learn how to filter Place Search results to check whether a business is currently open according to its daily opening hours.

Web

• Read more about the SameSite cookies update: The new behavior is now rolled out to 100% of users for Chrome 80 and above, and will be applied on restart. Subscribe to the web.dev newsletter to stay up to date on web development best practices.
  
• Level up your web development skills by listening to podcasts by Google's Web Platform team.

Developer Community

• Watch on-demand talks from First Fridays by Google for Startups. Learn from founders, UI/UX design leads, design thinking, visual design, product, and product development teams.
• Watch Women’s Online Safety featuring Maryam Taher Lulu, a Women Techmaker Ambassador. Learn how a Palestinian woman has been impacted by online violence.
• Watch the Google Developers Experts Series presented virtually by MENA communities. Each week , discover new talks and workshops featuring technologies, leadership, and programs from GDE’s MENA Digital Days. 
• Read about the global winners from the Developer Student Clubs Solution Challenge solving local problems with code. 
• Get inspired by the 20 selected startups from Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, hailing from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe.

BIPOC Partner Highlights

• Get inspired by web developer Eustache Luckens Yadley. With Google Developer Groups Port-au-Prince, Yadley was able to bring his delivery app right into the developer community, run different demos, and get feedback from a wide array of developers with an intimate knowledge of the Haitian tech scene. 
• Watch the top DSC Solution Challenge winner, FreeSpeak, from Technical University of Munich, Germany. Their team leveraged modern machine learning, video, and audio analyzing tools to analyze presentations. “ We see that we can provide impact not only to our local neighborhood, but also around the world and help people. This motivates us to work a lot harder. ”
• Students from University of California Berkeley created CoronAI from TensorFlow based technology to build a device for doctors to examine patients’ lungs in real-time imaging without being near them.
• Learn about Worthy Walk , from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences, Pakistan. Users can use the app to address obesity, receive discounts and support local businesses in the community. “ Being a part of DSC means friendship - sharing knowledge and resources - all while developing a social infrastructure that gives people the power to build a global community that works for all of us .”
• Read about Stears in Nigeria, a trusted digital information company that provides cost-effective access to high-quality information about Africa. Stears seeks to improve decision making for B2C and B2B customers.
• Get to know Kenya-based Ilara Health ; Bringing essential, affordable, and accessible diagnostic support and impactful software products to patients and providers across peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa.
• Check out Kaoun from Tunisia. This identification, payment, and credit solutions-focused startup enables previously unbanked and underbanked individuals and businesses to access financial services to provide financial inclusion.
• Learn more about the Flying Labs network model. Focused on drones, data, and AI, the organization aims to accelerate impact on local aid, health, development, and environmental solutions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Open Source and Misc

• Introducing ChromeOS.dev, a blueprint to build world-class apps and games for ChromeOS. This new open-source, online destination for developers, designers, and product managers features the latest news, product announcements, technical resources, and code samples from popular apps.
  
• Go 1.15 was released earlier this month, bringing a slew of performance improvements. Users can attend the newly announced Go Day on Google Open Source Live in November for tips on installation and the ecosystem. 
• Announcing the Digital Ink Recognition API on both Android and iOS, enabling developers to create apps where stylus and touch act as first class inputs.