Google I/O 2016 (in GIFs)

Google CEO Sundar Pichai kicked off I/O 2016 with a bang 💥 announcing that this year’s developer conference is being live streamed in virtual reality, a beautiful 360 view that’s just like you’re there.

(but it’s only available on Google Cardboard so immerse yourself in this 360 YouTube video instead)

And like the rest of us, you’ve been patiently waiting all morning to see what the world’s greatest keyboard maker has been working on in the Googleplex.

And it actually happened. Everyone’s favorite stay-at-home AI now has a competitor.

Google Home: The company has successfully met expectations. The difference between Google Home and Amazon Echo is that the former is built on top of a search engine.

Presenters on stage went on to demo the useful things Google Assistant can do, and they’re impressive. It takes conversational-based AI commands to a whole new level.

It has a sense of humor!

And soon our IRL conversations will take the form of “Ok Person: _____”

How Google Surpassed Expectations

By doing the unexpected. Android users get a new messaging app that’s nearly perfect. Google Allo is everything iMessage should be.

It makes you forget that the number one keyboard for the iPhone is made by Google but only available for iOS.

And it will make you rethink what it means to yell at someone over text.

Google Allo is a smart messaging app that learns. It recommends things like places to get food nearby and what to say next.

You can ask if your team won, and Allo will know which team and quickly retrieve the information.

And that’s not all.

Android users finally get a one-to-one video messaging app for those occasional human-t0-human conversations.

It’s not FaceTime, that sounds way too personal. Google’s messaging app is called Duo, and comes with a human privacy feature that’s pretty impressive.

Knock Knock, as the feature is called, lets you see a live video stream of the person calling before you answer. It’s like looking through the peephole before opening the door and makes conversations less intrusive and more natural to the person.

Your choice between letting it go to voicemail or pressing answer is so easy with Knock Knock it makes you wonder what other innovations have yet to be invented.

You’re gonna have so much fun FaceTiming on Duo that Allo will start recommending your friends to call you instead. ☎️ 🎉

What Else Is New? 🤔

Daydream: Google introduced a platform and set of standards for virtual reality on Android. And it makes perfect sense.

While Facebook & Samsung are collaborating on a sequel to The Matrix…

Google’s been turning Cardboard into an Amazon Best Seller.

When you think “Virtual Reality” you think of Oculus, and that’s owned by The Social Network. That means Google doesn’t control the next big platform and it’s built on top of it’s own mobile OS.

That’s why Google having it’s own virtual reality platform and baking it right in to future versions of Android (temporarily called Android N) makes perfect sense.

Oh, and Google’s working on it’s own Virtual Reality Headsets and Controllers that are not yet finalized but have multiple manufacturers lined up to start building them anyway.

Here’s what the Daydream home screen will look like from today’s event:

And the Daydream remote looks so slick in action you’d think Apple made it.

“One more thing…”

So you know how when you’re browsing the web you don’t have to download an app for each website… If you want to see what’s new in tech or feeling like trying a new podcast today you’ll just type in a URL or Google the name. You wouldn’t have to go all the way to the App Store and download the app, and this goes for any topic or website! The example above was picked at random.

With Android Instant Apps, the concept of downloading apps from a store will eventually go away. Imagine clicking a link for an app you don’t have installed and having the native app open instantly — like the web.

Here’s how clicking a link automatically launches the BuzzFeed Video app without having it installed beforehand:

That’s because Android Instant Apps only use the part of the app you need without downloading the rest. As a user you don’t have to go through an app store intermediary, no friction to try new things. As a developer, it means that a billion people are just a tap away.