My first week with Google's new Fitbit Air
Plus: your texts just got more private, Instagram Instants explained, and the spam call fixes that might actually work
Greetings and welcome to another edition of the Rich on Tech newsletter.
Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend!
This week I found myself at one of the more unique product launches I’ve been to in a while. Google invited me to a Malibu mansion overlooking the ocean to celebrate the launch of the Fitbit Air. The event had healthy finger foods, a workout class, fitness influencers, and plenty of hydration.
The guest of honor was four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry, who serves as a performance advisor to Google. He was there to show off the new Fitbit Air, which I’ve now been wearing for about a week, and to talk about the the Google Health coach.
The coach is a new AI-powered feature inside the Google Health app (yes, they renamed the Fitbit app) that knows your health stats, tracks your fitness trends over time, and lets you actually chat with it like an assistant.
During the chat, they started talking about heart rate variability, something I wasn’t very familiar with. So I asked the virtual coach about mine. It said everything looked great except for one particular weekend. Then it asked if I had done anything special that weekend. I checked my calendar and sure enough, I had been in Las Vegas. I told the coach that, and it said that explains it.
That got me thinking about the bigger idea here. Imagine an AI that understands your health over your entire lifetime. It won’t replace your doctor, but it can offer something your doctor rarely has - the full picture. Last night I told it what I had for dinner. I figure the more you feed it, the smarter it gets.
As for the Fitbit Air itself, my first impression is that it’s incredibly lightweight. You forget it’s there. I’m looking forward to digging into all the stats it tracks. The one adjustment I’m still making is that I keep glancing at my wrist for the time and finding, well, nothing, since there is no screen. The upside is that you can wear it alongside a smartwatch, a regular watch, or on its own. Stay tuned for my full review.
Android 17 is here, and it's packed
Google held its annual Android Show this week - a live-streamed event where it previews what’s coming to Android before the bigger Google I/O announcements. And there’s a lot to cover.
Android 17 is already in beta if you want to try it on a Pixel phone or Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Fair warning: I’d hold off on installing it on your daily driver. These betas can be unstable, and one bad update once left me without cell service for 24 hours. Not fun.
Here are the highlights worth knowing about.
Rambler is a new AI-powered voice-to-text feature built directly into the Gboard keyboard. Instead of precise dictation, you can just talk naturally and it cleans up what you said. It even handles multiple languages mid-sentence. People are paying $15 a month for this kind of thing with third-party apps. Having it built in is a big deal.
Create My Widget lets you generate a custom home screen widget just by describing what you want. A countdown to your vacation. The UV index outside. Whatever. Android builds it in seconds. If you’ve ever searched the app store for a widget that almost does what you need, this solves that problem.
Instagram on Android is getting a serious upgrade. Google worked directly with Meta to improve how the app performs on flagship Android devices. Expect better photo and video quality, faster-loading Reels and Stories, and new Android-exclusive editing features including Smart Enhance and background sound separation. If you use Instagram on an Android flagship, this is long overdue.
Pause Point is a new wellness feature that makes you wait 10 seconds before opening an app. It can even suggest alternatives, like looking at your photos or taking a breath. You can also lock it so it can’t be disabled without a full phone restart. If you find yourself mindlessly tapping into apps, this will be a nice addition.
A few updates are coming to Android Auto as well. You can now watch YouTube while parked. If you start driving mid-video, it automatically switches to audio only, which will be handy for video podcasts. Google Maps is also getting lane guidance that uses your car’s front-facing camera - but this one requires a car with Google built in, not just Android Auto via your phone.
And finally, Google previewed a new laptop called the Googlebook - essentially Android and ChromeOS merged, with AI layered throughout. The signature feature is a “magic pointer” that offers context-aware suggestions based on whatever’s on your screen. Several major manufacturers are on board, including HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, and Asus. No pricing or release date yet.
Android 17 feels like things are moving forward, especially in how it uses AI to anticipate what you need rather than making you hunt for it. Apple has its own big event coming in a few weeks, so we’ll see how they respond.
Apple and Google are finally playing nice, and your texts are more private because of it
I have to say, Apple and Google have been playing quite well together lately.
Over the past year or so, these two companies have been actively making it easier for their platforms to work with each other. That is a win for consumers. Not everyone wants to switch platforms, and most people just want to send messages, videos, and files back and forth without any friction. Both companies are also making it easier to port your data if you ever do decide to switch, which I think is great.
But the big news is excellent for your privacy. End-to-end encryption has finally come to iPhone and Android texting.
To back up a little, these are not the classic green bubble SMS texts you grew up with. Those are very much out of style. The new standard is called RCS, which stands for Rich Communication Services. That is the upgrade that iPhone and Android texting got last year. It brought typing indicators, high-quality photo and video sharing, and a much better overall texting experience between the two platforms.
Now it has one more big feature. End-to-end encryption.
What does that mean in plain English? It means that when you send a text from an iPhone to an Android or vice versa, nobody can read it while it is in transit. Not Apple. Not Google. Not the government. Not Verizon. Not T-Mobile. Just you and the person you are texting.
Previously, iPhone to iPhone messages were already encrypted through iMessage, and Android to Android messages got encryption more recently. But iPhone to Android was the missing piece, and that gap is now finally closed.
The good news is you do not have to do anything to make this happen. It is on by default for new messages and will roll out to existing conversations over time. If you want to confirm it is working, just look for a small lock icon near your messages when you send them. That means encryption is active.
One thing to keep in mind. To get any of these benefits on Android, you need to be using Google Messages. On iPhone, you need to be running the latest version of iOS. If you want to double check that RCS is enabled, go into your messages settings and look for RCS and make sure it is toggled on.
🔗 Learn more about encrypted texting
Sponsored: How to stop getting ambushed by ads every time you go online
In the past, I wasn’t using a VPN all the time. I mostly saw it as something for when I traveled to foreign countries or when I was on a public Wi-Fi hotspot and wanted to protect my data. But my thinking has changed, and now I consider them essential. I have mine running on my phone 24/7.
Here’s why. We are up against so many things when we surf the web these days. Trackers, malicious advertising, phishing links, pop-ups, and malware. Having a VPN running with features that block all of that just makes me feel safer online. And that’s where Surfshark comes in.
One of my favorite features is called CleanWeb. You know that feeling when you just want to look up a quick recipe for dinner and suddenly you’re ambushed by ads that clearly know your entire search history, autoplay videos, and pop-ups coming at you from every direction? Most websites today are packed with third-party code that tracks your every click and scroll, often without your knowledge or consent.
CleanWeb blocks all of that before it even loads. Ads, trackers, malware, gone. Pages load faster, browsing feels cleaner, and you’re not constantly playing whack-a-mole with pop-ups.
It is easy to set up and as low as $1.89 a month, plus four extra months free.
MagSafe has become an ecosystem of its own, and some of these accessories are pretty wild
MagSafe is one of those features that has become essential on the back of a phone.
Apple introduced it years ago, and what started as a simple way to keep a wireless charger in place has grown into an entire ecosystem of accessories. Android has been slower to adopt it. Right now the only mainstream Android models that have it are the latest Pixels, though hopefully Samsung will finally put some magnets on the back of their phones this year.
But the accessories are where things get really fun. This week on TV I took a look at some of the more unique MagSafe accessories out there, including a tiny backpack, earbuds, and yes, even a koozie.
🔗 See more on these MagSafe accessories
Instagram just launched its own version of Snapchat, and it’s called Instants
Instagram has a new feature that will feel very familiar if you have ever used Snapchat. It is called Instants, and it is a faster, more casual way to share disappearing photos with friends.
To find it, open your Instagram direct messages and look for a small stack of photos in the lower right corner. Tap it to see what your friends are posting. Once you look, you cannot look again. To add your own, tap the camera icon in the upper right corner. Just be warned: the moment you take a picture, it posts instantly. You do have a brief window to hit undo, and you can limit who sees your Instants by switching to close friends only.
Now about that word “disappearing.” A few things worth keeping in mind, especially if you have kids or grandkids using this. Screenshots are blocked, but anyone can just point another phone at their screen and record a video. Your Instants also go into a private archive you can access anytime. And since everything passes through Meta’s servers, this content is likely retained for some period of time for legal reasons.
If you want to turn Instants off completely, go into your Instagram settings, scroll down to Content Preferences, and toggle the option to hide Instants in your inbox. You can also sort of swipe the little stack away to the right to snooze it for a while.
I like the idea of quick fun sharing, but between feed posts, stories, Instants, channels, direct messages, and status updates, Instagram is starting to require a lot of thinking just to share a moment. Did I mention there’s also a standalone Instants App?
🔗 Learn more about Instagram Instants
Tech tidbits
Amazon is retiring its AI shopping assistant Rufus and replacing it with Alexa for Shopping. The functionality is similar but smarter, with the ability to remember your past searches, questions, and shopping history to give you more personalized recommendations.
FileFlan is a new free tool for sharing files privately between devices right in your browser. No login, no cookies, no account needed. Just open the site on both devices and transfer files up to 1 GB. It joins similar tools like Blip, PairDrop, and FilePizza.
Google’s popular free photo editing app Snapseed just got a major update. Version 4.0 is now out on both iPhone and Android, bringing new film-inspired camera tools. It had been years since a significant update, so this is a big deal for mobile photo editing fans.
The FCC has extended its deadline for foreign-made routers to receive security updates until at least January 2029. The agency had previously banned new imports of foreign-made routers over national security concerns, but recognized that cutting off security updates entirely would leave millions of devices vulnerable.
Q&A: How do I stop all these spam calls?
I got a flood of emails this week about spam calls, so let’s tackle this one together.
Cathy in Rancho Cucamonga is getting five to ten spam calls a day, all about a loan application, all from different numbers, and blocking them is not working. She suspects it started after signing up for a membership.
Meanwhile, GayLynn is looking for a free spam call blocker for her iPhone on Verizon and is feeling overwhelmed by all the options.
Here are my recommendations.
First, when you sign up for things, do not use your real phone number unless you absolutely have to. Your doctor’s office, sure. But a membership, a club card, a loyalty program? Use a secondary number instead. I use Google Voice for this. You can also ask your carrier about adding a virtual second line. A lot of carriers are offering those for around $10 a month these days. Newsletter sponsor Surfshark has a paid upgrade called Alternative ID that can generate an alternative number for you, and a service called Cloaked does something similar.
As for the calls themselves, spam tends to come in waves when spammers get their hands on a fresh batch of phone numbers. If you are suddenly getting a lot of calls about the same thing, the good news is it usually fades over time.
In the meantime, all the major carriers offer their own spam filtering tools. AT&T calls it Active Armor. T-Mobile calls it Scam Shield. Verizon has Call Filter. The basic versions are typically free, though they may try to get you to upgrade for more protection.
Your phone also has built-in tools you can turn on. On iPhone, go to Settings, then Apps, then Phone, and look for the option to screen unknown callers. I like to set mine to ask callers for the reason they are calling before it rings through. You can also turn on call filtering there.
On Samsung, open the Phone app, go to Settings, and look for Call Protection. Toggle on the option for caller ID and spam protection, and there should be a separate option to block spam and scam calls as well.
Do a few of those things and you should notice a difference. This is a real problem right now, but there are ways to fight back.
Eyelo and Bumpy
Feedbag: Mom’s Mother’s Day
David in Menifee, CA writes…
I wanted to thank you for the side-by-side photo idea you shared in the newsletter. I used it to make some really special pictures - one of me at about 6 or 7 years old next to a current black and white I’m planning to use as my profile picture soon. I even forwarded it to my younger brother, who made some with his own kids. Talk about that choked-up feeling.
But the best part was what I did for my mom for Mother’s Day. I cleaned up an old photo of her at around 14, another of her at about 20 with two young sons, and a more recent one of her sitting at a restaurant looking off into the distance.
Last November, my 78-year-old mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had surgery in February, won’t need chemo, and we just found out she only needs one week of radiation. Because of early detection, she’s doing great. We are so blessed to have her - and I’m not letting her go!
Thanks for making this a Mother’s Day to remember.
David, thank you so much for sharing this. I put a lot into these newsletters because it’s the kind of information I’d want to know myself. Hearing that it reaches people and makes their lives just a little bit better means the world to me. Wishing your mom a speedy recovery and many more Mother’s Days ahead.
That’s all, folks!
This newsletter is completely free every week. And if you ever want to dig into past issues, paid subscribers get access to the full archive on the web, plus a high-quality, ad-free version of my podcast.
That is going to do it for this week’s edition. Thanks so much for taking the time to read. I really do appreciate it.
And don’t forget to tune into my radio show this Saturday on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Catch the replay on 710 WOR out of New York City at 8 p.m. Eastern, or subscribe to the podcast and listen anytime.
Have a great rest of your weekend.
Rich