Alchemy by Leban Hyde | UX + Branding

I hope you had a pleasant Mother’s Day weekend, whether you were the one who was being celebrated or the one doing the celebrating (or both!). Last week, we had some not-so-surprising announcements at the iPad Event. This week, we look ahead to Google I/O with some related mobile news sprinkled in for good measure.

Week 19 (05/05–05/11)

iPad Pro 1-sheet with spec and key features highlighted

Apple… launched new iPad models as predicted — no surprises. The M4 iPad Pro and iPad Air 6 were announced along with an updated Magic Keyboard and the new Apple Pencil Pro. For a hands on review, check out this post (complete with a video from renowned YouTuber iJustine!). I also agree it’s time for Apple to commit to making the iPad a 2-in-1.

In the meantime,

Google… soft-launched the Pixel 8a the same day(!?). They also made the Pixel Tablet available without the speaker dock. If you’re looking for a test device (or an EDC), I would recommend — they’re always the first to get new Android updates and exclusive feature drops.

Also, Google… will hold its annual I/O conference this week. Kicking off tomorrow with the keynote, we will most definitely hear about Android 15 and Gemini AI, as well as some likely updates on Wear OS and Pixel previews for the fall. The full program was made available last week and, if you haven’t already, you can register here.

WhatsApp… began rolling out a redesign for Android and iOS. The changes include a move to a bottom navigation bar (from a top tab bar) on Android, a refreshed color palette with a darker dark theme, and updated icons to a rounded outline style. This is also your periodic reminder that, for those who live outside the US or have family abroad, messaging apps like WhatsApp are the norm.

Shipments… for smartphones in the US declined 8%, year-over-year. The slightly bigger story is that Q1 2024 marks the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. The even bigger story is that Samsung’s market share actually grew 31% while Apple remained the same at 52%.


Bonus: Apple rolled out Pathways, a collection of design and development resources to help you get started in iOS and beyond. Having gone through this exercise myself, I didn’t want to just shove this one into the links down below without mention.

Events

Resources

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