VP & GM, Google Play + Developer Ecosystem (PDX), Trustee @TIAA, x-@Upwork, @eBay, @forrester, @Smithsonian NPM Adv Cncl, All opinions are solely my own
Bay Area, CA
Joined November 2010
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I've been so inspired by the innovative apps and games joining Google Play this year. As Android developers continue to raise the bar on app quality and cross-platform experiences, we've been building smarter ways to curate and surface the very best content for our shared users.
In Q3, we connected fans with live sports across Play, expanded "Broaden Your Search" to new languages like Spanish and Hindi, and offered developers more metrics to understand what resonates, to name a few. We’re also giving developers more flexibility to monetize and grow with new capabilities like usage-based billing and advanced retention tools.
It has been truly special to see how they're putting these tools to work to delight users both on and off the Play Store.
Check out the Q3 edition of The Latest from Google Play at the link in the comments to learn more about how we’re helping developers reach their biggest fans while making it easier for you to find the content you love.
Catch up on how we're making Google Play more personalized and rewarding: google.play/the-latest/2026-…
Sam Bright retweeted
We’ve rebuilt the @Shopify mobile app from the ground up in native for iOS and Android 📱
The new experience brings a fresh design, smoother interactions, and Liquid Glass on iOS. It also launches faster on both platforms, with Android launch time cut by more than half.
Congrats to the game studios chosen for our first-ever @GooglePlay Indie Games Fund in Africa!
Earlier this year, we committed $1 million to support talented indie developers in Sub-Saharan Africa in scaling their business, optimizing their titles, and overcoming international distribution barriers.
Each of these studios will get a share of non-dilutive funding, resources and 1:1 mentorship from Google Play, and technical support from Unity to help them scale sustainably.
Massive thank you to this year's cohort and all of the studios that applied. I can't wait to see what you achieve next!
Meet the 10 studios in our Indie Games Fund Africa cohort: blog.google/products-and-pla…
No two Android developers build the exact same way. Some engineers build in terminal windows with lightweight agents, some live in Android Studio, and others manage vast cross-platform codebases.
Our philosophy is simple. We must meet developers exactly where they are.
Today, at the #AndroidDevSummit, we announced key updates designed to make our tools more flexible and help developers scale their apps across devices:
• 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲: You can use the agent of your choice in Android Studio, including Claude agent, Codex, Google Antigravity, or over 40 ACP-compliant agents.
• 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗖𝗟𝗜: New features make it even easier for your agent of choice to navigate complex workflows. With Android device streaming, Jetpack Compose previews, performance profiling system traces, quality analysis score tools, and over 30 new Android skills, your agent can work faster and more efficiently.
• 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀: With the arrival of Googlebook, we’re also helping developers’ apps scale more seamlessly across phones and laptops without requiring a separate codebase. This is supported by the updated Compose adaptive skill which helps agents transform compact mobile apps and optimize tabletop layouts for foldables.
• 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗦𝗗𝗞𝘀 & 𝗘𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗫𝗥: Build for an expanding lineup of Android XR devices like XREAL AURA, using stable Core Jetpack XR SDK libraries, stable Android XR emulators in Android Studio to build and iterate from the laptop without physical hardware, the stable Android XR Engine Hub for performance traces, and Geospatial APIs in ARCore to anchor digital content to the real world.
No matter how you build, Android is adapting to your workflow.
Here is the full list of announcements from the Android Dev Summit: goo.gle/4ii2Q0s
Sam Bright retweeted
I’ve always believed that the endgame of spatial computing is something close to the holodeck on Star Trek – computing that feels limitless, immersive, and completely natural.
When we started building Android XR, we knew the early chapters of that story would require bulky headsets. That was the price of admission for the technology at the time.
Today, you can see the transition to the next generation happening in real time.
XREAL just officially launched XREAL AURA, the first wired XR glasses running Android XR. Because they’re dramatically lighter and more balanced than traditional headsets, they cross a critical barrier: you can comfortably keep them on for hours whether watching a movie or getting work done on multiple screens.
I’ve been using a pair recently, and it changes how you think about screens:
🟢 For productivity: I can pull up multiple virtual windows in a public space without anyone seeing my work. It completely changes working on the go.
🟢 For entertainment & daily apps: Because it runs Android, all of your favorite Google Play apps are natively there alongside immersive XR content.
🟢 For everyday life: With Gemini integrated, the glasses understand what you're looking at and can give you hands-free, contextual help as you walk around.
We wanted Android XR to be more than a cool tech demo – we wanted it to fit effortlessly into daily life. Today feels like a huge step in that direction.
Proud of the Google and XREAL teams who pulled this off!
Learn more about XREAL AURA here: blog.google/products-and-pla…
Sam Bright retweeted
👀IMO this is gonna be huge: Google Play is making it easier to install (& soon share) your own🛠vibe coded Android apps!
I've used @GoogleAIStudio to make a few apps, mostly for work-related demos, but I know a lot of folks have been using it to experiment with making highly personalized apps.
Installing & sharing those apps has been a bit of a pain, though, which is why I think surfacing them in Google Play under your own private, personal app library is a great idea. And making those apps eventually shareable with just your friends & family is also neat.
New on Google Play: More ways to create, discover, and play @google blog.google/products-and-pla…
Sam Bright retweeted
Excited to collaborate with the team at Amazon to bring the power of Android and Google Play to the all-new lineup of Amazon Alexa Tablets! When @panos_panay’s team reached out about working together, we knew we could create something great for users.
This means users will have access to the Play Store and all the apps and games they love right out of the box. Huge congratulations to Panos and the Amazon team on this milestone. Can’t wait to hear what people think once they get these devices in their hands!
Sam Bright retweeted
One Android CLI command grounds your agents in the latest Wear OS guidelines. ⌚🙌
The Wear Compose M3 skill helps your AI generate optimal code for components like SwipeToReveal. Add the skill and drop the custom rotary code like the FotMob team did → goo.gle/4Aw7wIi
Sam Bright retweeted
Google brings back Android Dev Summit with Android 18 ‘powerful new graphics features’ tease 9to5google.com/2026/09/25/an… by @technacity
Sam Bright retweeted
Googlebook is officially here! I’ve been so excited to share the details with the world.
Today, many of us rely heavily on laptops to get work done, but we think there is an opportunity to rethink the category to address the needs of people today. So we brought the best of ChromeOS and Android to create a new platform for laptops.
Our initial focus with Googlebook is to deliver an amazing laptop that feels awesome for Android phone users.
Here’s what to know about Googlebook 🧵👇
Sam Bright retweeted
Introducing Expert Intelligence ✨
A cross-@Google initiative that helps you engage with your trusted sources, starting with eligible @GooglePlay ebooks in Gemini Notebook. You can now combine expertise from your favorite authors with other sources and engage with your books in brand new ways!
Try it out here: goo.gle/expertintelligence
Sam Bright retweeted
The GPS innovation on Pixel Watch 5 is genuinely next level. Huge congrats to the team for thinking outside the box to make it happen!
nitter.cf/dcrainmakerblog/status…
Google has just released the Pixel Watch 5, and says it's 2X more accurate than the Apple Watch Ultra 3 & Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. So, I went to NYC to try and break some things. And everything else new in the Pixel Watch 5: dcrainmaker.com/2026/08/goog…
Sam Bright retweeted
Huge congratulations to the Pixel team on today's #MadebyGoogle announcements!
Pixel 11 is another major milestone for Gemini Intelligence, which is a set of capabilities that represent the best of Gemini on the most advanced devices.
I’m particularly excited about the launch of our Gemini-fied keyboard microphone: Rambler. This kind of reinvents the keyboard by allowing you to just speak your mind with a brain dump of thoughts and the system figures out what you meant and comes up with a polished message. That’s totally different from today’s voice dictation microphone, which faithfully transcribes every word including “uhms”, and “ahs”.
I’ve been using it for a couple of months, and it’s changed the way I use my phone. In fact, this post was dictated with Rambler!
This new capability is launching in over 100 languages on Gemini Intelligence devices when you are using Gboard. Can’t wait to hear what you all think!
Sam Bright retweeted
venmo just unlocked a new level 🎮💸 starting today, you can use your Venmo balance or linked payment methods to pay for apps, games, in-app purchases, and subscriptions on @GooglePlay
newsroom.paypal-corp.com/202…
Sam Bright retweeted
Congrats to the @SamsungMobile team on another great #GalaxyUnpacked! Today, we introduced the first capabilities of Gemini Intelligence coming to Samsung’s new foldable devices, along with other updates:
✨ Task automation: Delegate daily "life admin" (reservations, shopping, travel) across 40+ popular apps.
📚 Gemini Notebook: Pre-installed on every new foldable device, you can drag-and-drop sources side-by-side to generate slide decks, podcasts, and custom study guides. Plus, get a 6-month trial of Google AI Pro!
⌚️👓 Gemini on the go: Access Gemini on the Galaxy Watch9 by simply raising your wrist. We also shared two more frame designs of the upcoming intelligent eyewear collections with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
📲 Easier switching: Our native migration tool now lets you switch from iPhone wirelessly, now transferring passwords, Wi-Fi credentials, and eSIMs.
Excited to keep building the future of mobile with @SamsungMobile. And thank you to the @Android and @GeminiApp teams for all the hard work!
Check out the blog post to learn more about today’s updates: blog.google/products-and-pla…
