monthly”Google System Release Notes” primarily details updates to Android phones/tablets, Wear OS, Google/Android TV, Auto and Play services on PC, Play Store and Play system update. Some features are aimed at end users and others at developers.
The following first-party applications involve the “Google System”:
To update, open Settings app > Google services (on Pixel) > All services tab > Privacy & security > Tap your name at the top for system services.
Just because a feature appears in the changelog doesn’t mean it’s widely available. Some features take months to fully activate.
Google Play Services v26.29 (2026-07-27)
Developer Services
- (Car, PC, Phone, TV, Wear) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Maps-related processes in their apps.
System Administration
- (Telephone) Bug fixes for System Management and Diagnostics related services.
Utilities
- (Apparel) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Utilities-related processes in their apps.
Wallet
- (Phone, Apparel) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Digital Wallet and Payments-related processes in their apps.
- (Phone) With this update, Pix users can now use Gboard within communication apps.
- (Phone) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Digital Wallet and Payments-related processes in their apps.
- (Apparel) Users can set up quick payment for their Pixel Watch right from their watch. It will also be more convenient for new watch users to activate the function.
- (Auto, PC, Phone, TV, Clothing) With this update, the “Connected apps” menu item is now called “Connected apps”.
Google Play Store v52.5 (2026-07-27)
- (Phone) With this update you will get improved stability and better user experience for Play Games Sidekick Dashboard.
- (Phone) With this update, popular comics are now available in your Play Shorts feed, where you can swipe through previews and skip to the full story when a comic piques your interest.
- (Phone) With updates to the Engage SDK content groups, you can now continue your travel searches from integrated third-party travel apps.
Google Play Services v26.28 (2026-07-20)
Account Management
- (Phone) This update adds support for audio permission in WebViews.
- (Phone) This update adds support for device manufacturers to enable memory management and subscription streaming.
Developer Services
- (TV) Add TV support for Android Credential Manager, making it easier to use saved passwords and passkeys, including the option to use your phone for passkey authentication.
Device Connection
- (Auto, Phone, TV) Extra quality input is now available with this update.
- (Telephone) Bug fixes for services related to Device Connections.
Security and Emergency
- (Phone) You can now find your device’s IMEI on the lock screen.
Wallet
- (Phone) Instead of the Wallet home screen, you will be returned to your previous screen after completing, canceling, or encountering an error My Account section.
Google Play Store v52.4 (2026-07-20)
- (Phone) With this update, we’re showing natural language queries.
- (Phone) This update expands the search suggestions and search input box to 2 lines.
- (Phone) Limited mobile data usage to restore apps in India, Nigeria and Indonesia.
- (Phone) You will now have the option to add an app widget to your home screen during app installation.
Android WebView v151 (2026-07-15)
- The HTTP Cache Quota API allows application developers to optimize and manually manage the WebView HTTP cache size.
- This is a migration that moves the Android WebView visited links infrastructure to a partitioned visited links infrastructure without behavior changes.
- Updates for security and privacy improvements and bug fixes.
- New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support web content rendering functionality in their apps.
Important: Some features may be experimental and may not be available to certain users.
Google Play Store v52.3 (2026-07-13)
- (Phone) You’ll now get improved content layout and higher content density on large screens.
- (Phone) You can now identify AI-generated images in the EU with an AI tag, although certain formats or older images may not yet support the tag.
- (Wear) With this update, the Wear details page now uses the Univision architecture instead of the old fragment architecture.
Android AICore
- (PC, Phone) Changes to the security filter for features with streaming output, improvements to model download and model management, and additional diagnostics for multimodal inference and API latencies.
Android System Intelligence V.76 (2026-07-13)
- (Phone) Bug fixes and maintenance changes.
Personal Computing Services B.27 / C.5 (2026-07-10)
- (Phone) Maintenance changes.
Google Play Services v26.26 (2026-07-06)
Account Management
- (Phone) With this update, you’ll now get a faster, more seamless in-app purchase experience with an improved native storefront for Google One.
- (Phone) This update adds a new API to improve the reliability of job profile installation.
Developer Services
- (Phone) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Maps-related processes in their apps.
Device Connection
- (Phone, Wear) You can now transfer your work profile account to your watch.
Place and Context
- (PC) You can now manage Google Location Sharing settings and compatibility for supported device types.
Utilities
- (Auto, PC, Phone, TV, Apparel) New developer features for Google and third-party app developers to support Utilities-related processes in their apps.
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