If you've been sad at how Allo manages your GIFs and emojis, a new upgrade for the mobile-only chat app is here on Android. Today's update brings an easier way to access GIFs, 10 new animated emoji and a shortcut to Google Assistant. GIFs have been a part of Allo since the start (as well as in Gboard, Google's smart keyboard), but the new changes make it easier to find the perfect moving image to express yourself. Simply tap on the smiley icon in your chat bar, then swipe left to see all the available GIFs for your chat. In our testing, it seems that this swipe to search feature is already available on iOS, but strangely enough, it's not on the Android device we tested yet.

Google I/O 2018 kicks off May 8, and we can't wait to hear what's cooking for developers and fans. We'll obviously get a whole lot of info about the next version of Android, but no doubt AI, AR, Assistant, and other Google products will have their moment as well. Here's everything we expect to see, plus a few things we're wishing hard for: Google has already released a developer's preview of Android P, but the company's likely holding back some features for the big show. Most notably, Google accidentally outed a gesture-based navigation system that could debut this week (unless it's being saved for the Pixel 3). Otherwise, we'll likely see some demos of the biggest features, such as camera cutout support and indoor location tracking, as well as what's new in the Android One and Android Go projects.

Google is rolling out its personal AI Google Assistant to users with phones running older versions of its Android OS, finally giving more people the voice-controlled smart features that are becoming a hallmark of the platform.

Google on Wednesday announced Google Assistant is now available for Android tablets running Android 7.0 Nougat and 6.0 Marshmallow. Assistant was previously only available on some Android phones, Android Wear, Google Home, and an iOS app.

Samsung's phones may be the among the most popular Android handsets, but they're also the furthest from Google's vision, with their own app store, UI, and digital assistant. But with the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 just a week away, a new report from Bloomberg suggests that Google is looking to rein in some of Samsung's freedom. According to correspondence between the two companies, Google is looking to take back search on Samsung's handsets, the foundation for everything Android does. The two companies are discussing a deal that would "promote Google's digital assistant and Play Store for apps" on Galaxy devices. That would be a major change over the current system.