What’s new in the Gemmaverse, Android & Chrome - Google Developer News May 2025 (Google IO Version)

Google I/O 2025: Key Announcements and Updates

Key Concepts: Gemma, AI Studio, Android 16, Privacy Sandbox, Material 3 Expressive, Jetpack Compose, Navigation 3, CameraX, Media3, Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP), Direct-to-Cloud AI, Chrome DevTools, Gemini, Prompt API, Summarizer API, Flutter, Impeller, Dart.

Gemma Updates

• Gemma 3: The latest open model with an upgraded context window of 128k tokens, a 1 billion parameter model, and added image and video modalities, supporting 140 languages.
• Gemma Model Variants: Over 70,000 variants published in less than a year, including Dolphin Gemma, Sign Gemma, and Shield Gemma 2, used to solve complicated problems.
• AI Studio Integration: New "Deploy to Cloud Run" feature allows creating an endpoint URL on Google Cloud Run in seconds.

Android Updates

• Android 16: Approaching release, with a minor API release planned for later this year.
• Privacy and Security:
  • Android Advanced Protection Mode API.
  • Theft protection with identity check.
  • Digital Credentials API for ID verification.
  • Restore Credentials API for credential restoration during device onboarding.
  • Privacy Sandbox for using third-party code in a dedicated SDK runtime process.
• Material 3 Expressive: An expansion pack for Material 3 that brings more usability and emotional connection to the UI.
• Jetpack Compose: Added support for autofill, autosizing text, balance animations, and performance improvements.
• Navigation 3: A flexible, customizable layered architecture that supports adaptive layouts, animations between screens, predictive back, and shared element transitions.
• CameraX and Media3: Added Compose support.
• Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP): Advancing support for business logic sharing with KMP support in Save State, ViewModel, Lifecycle, and Paging.
• Direct-to-Cloud AI: Androidify app example, allowing customization of an Android bot by taking a picture.
• Other Updates: AI models that push on-device capabilities, live updates and notifications, changes in Wear OS, medical records and Health Connect, and Glance 1.2 alpha for widget creation.

Chrome Updates

• Gemini Integration: Chrome is running Gemini on-device in DevTools.
  • No network latency, better privacy, and offline functionality.
  • Debugging assistance: Highlight code and ask questions like "Why isn't this button aligned?"
  • Gemini provides guidance using the actual code context.
• Prompt API: Simplifies integrating Gemini into products for content rewriting, page summarization, and question answering.
• Summarizer API: Provides real-time summaries of page content for research tools, reader modes, etc.
• Native Select Dropdowns: Fully customizable with styling options for fonts, colors, and hover states.

Flutter Updates

• Layout Editor in DevTools: Real-time UI updates in the editor with live property editing for padding, alignment, and colors.
• Impeller: Now available across all supported Android devices, resulting in smoother animations, fewer graphical bugs, and better frame pacing.
• Dart Code Formatting: Cleaner defaults, more consistent styling, and better handling of trailing commas and line breaks.

Conclusion

Google I/O 2025 showcased significant advancements across various platforms, including AI with Gemma and Gemini, Android with enhanced privacy and UI tools, Chrome with AI-powered developer tools, and Flutter with improved performance and developer experience. The focus is on empowering developers with tools and technologies to build more engaging, secure, and efficient applications.