Apps

As spotted by 9to5Google, you can change the background to different colors and images, including uploading your own, and set the background to refresh everyday, like on the desktop version of Chrome. The new backgrounds are under “Customize new tab page” in Chrome’s three dots menu.

With the update, you can hold the Fn key in any window to interact with Gemini by talking aloud. You can also opt into a feature that allows Gemini to “see” what’s on your screen and perform tasks within your open windows. This update is rolling out in English to all Gemini app users on macOS.

Bitchat, the peer-to-peer encrypted messaging app that sends messages over Bluetooth LE, can now itself be sent from one Android device to another — no internet or Google Play Store required. This is a big deal, considering India’s recent attempts to ban the app from Github. If this isn’t cypherpunk, I don’t know what is.

Motorola started supporting a number of endangered languages on its phones in 2021, and now it’s launching a full-blown app to dive into indigenous languages and their communities. Motorola says its new “Indigenous Collections” app is the result of a year-long collaboration with the Rainy Lake Ojibwe community, and contains “key vocabulary and cultural context” from the Anishinaabemowin language.

You can read more about it in a Yelp blog post, and the company put together a video demo you can watch below. Could be useful, but let’s hope it works better than some AI drive-thru chatbots.

The smart wearables company has a new feature for its companion app called “UltraSphere,” which provides over 60 suggested actions to improve rest, wellness, and recovery. The actions are location- and weather-aware, and tailored to the user. Suggestions can include things like “get light,” “cut caffeine,” and “wind down.”

It’s a sizeable jump from the 750 million Gemini users Google reported in February. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, shared the stat as part of its Q2 2026 earnings report (pdf), which also revealed a 24 percent increase in revenue to $119.8 billion.

The Moment Pro Camera II app was already my go-to app for RAW phone snaps, but Moment’s new Action Plates feature lets you configure your UI exactly how you want. Plus, who doesn’t love a little skeuomorphism?

It used to be easy to tell which photos you took on a certain day in Google Photos. I didn’t realize how much I appreciated those little visual gaps breaking up time until a new update removed them, smashburgering my photos and videos, in favor of a persistent bar hovering at the top of the screen. Thankfully, you can reinsert them by clicking the three vertical dots to the right of that floating bar, then select “Show dates in grid.”

San Francisco city attorney David Chiu sent cease-and-desist letters to both companies, demanding that they remove 13 apps that can be used to generate nude images of someone without their consent, according to a report from Wired. The letters ask Google and Apple to stop “aiding and abetting” the sale of sexualized AI deepfakes, which is prohibited under California law.

The notifications will show up for teens who spend “extended time” on ChatGPT, OpenAI says. The company will also notify parents if their teen’s account is banned for violating policies on “violent threats or acts of violence online.”

Bloomberg reports on Phia, the price comparison app launched by Bill Gates’ daughter:

A few months ago The Weather Channel launched a website recreating the channel as it appeared during the heyday of cable TV in the ‘80s and ‘90s with simple graphics and a smooth jazz soundtrack. That same nostalgic experience is now available in The Weather Channel’s iOS and Android mobile apps.

Until now, the Android version of Chrome has relied on the swipe gesture to go back a page. But Chrome 150 ditches the info button from the top-right menu and adds an actual back button in its place. The update is rolling out now through the Play Store.

The step tracking app WeWard has a new way to cut back on screen time — its “Walking Mode” feature can lock selected apps until you hit your step goal, TechCrunch reports. If you leave Walking Mode turned on, it will re-lock your apps when your step goal resets each day.

In an update on Tuesday, Google says it will block users from downloading its Google Earth Pro desktop app starting June 25th, 2027. People can continue to use the app after that date, which offers access to more advanced mapping tools, but Google suggests sticking to Google Earth on the web to get access to the latest updates.

Unlike Notion’s main notetaking app, the new Notion Agents app on iOS is specifically for chatting with your custom AI agents or connected AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, 9to5Mac reports. Notion says you can use it to ask your agents questions or capture text, photos, and voice notes.

The app, which allows you to track the shows and movies you’re watching, will no longer be available starting July 15th. In an update on its support page, TV Time’s developers say operating the free app “was no longer sustainable,” and that “there was not enough demand for a paid app.”

With the VR app, you can still chat with friends on Discord using other platforms. Check the app out on the Meta Store.

Users can pair the app with the “gateway” that powers the open-source AI assistant, according to its description on the Google Play Store and App Store. Once connected, users can chat with OpenClaw using real-time voice conversations, approve an agent’s actions, and control access to features like their device’s camera or location.

It’s time for a new series on The Vergecast! (It still needs a name. Please help.) We’re going to give Verge staffers a challenge, and regroup a few weeks later to see who did it best. We’re starting with some vibe coding. The Verge’s Jake Kastrenakes and Hayden Field share what they’ve made with AI that has actually stuck in their lives, before David gives the challenge: build a website to solve a problem in your life. We’ll be back with the results soon, and in the meantime, send us ideas for more challenges! (Also, names for the series. PLEASE.)

Cursor, which SpaceX recently announced plans to acquire, says its new app can help users launch and track AI agents, as well as show updates about an agent’s progress via the iPhone’s Live Activities feature.

The Play design tool for Mac and iPhone won an Apple Design Award for innovation last year, and could be used to prototype iPhone app interfaces before it was pulled from the App Store. Apple doesn’t specifically mention how it’ll use Play, but its IP could be used to improve Xcode developer tools.

It will be shut down on September 22nd, meaning it will have lasted for just over a year. Instead, Notion will focus on inbox agents.

The new Google Finance app is launching on Android first, with iOS coming later this year. Google is also launching its redesigned Finance dashboard out of beta, as well as adding new features like the ability to track portfolios and receive updates about topics related to your investments.

You can now use Google Wallet to create an ID pass with your passport, check in for your flight, and then enroll in TSA PreCheck Touchless ID at participating airports. That means instead of showing physical or digital ID at airport security, you can walk through with the TSA’s “facial comparison” technology.

The new iPhone and iPad app from Red Games is launching alongside a line of alcohol-based and acrylic markers aimed at adults, although I doubt they’ll be replacing my Copic or Posca markers. Coloring apps were all the rage a decade ago — let us know if you’re still deep in the virtual pages, or if you’ve swapped the apps for AI-generated designs.