Google I/O

Google I/O, or simply I/O, is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. The name "I/O" is taken from the number googol, with the "I" representing the "1" in googol and the "O" representing the first "0" in the number. The format of the event is similar to Google Developer Day.
History
Google I/O 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Google I/O 2021 took place online. Google I/O returned to its in-person format in 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic; Google I/O 2022 took place as an in-person conference for the first time since the one held in 2019.
Evolution
2008
Major topics included:
Android
App Engine
Bionic
Maps API
OpenSocial
Web Toolkit
Speakers included Marissa Mayer, David Glazer, Steve Horowitz, Alex Martelli, Steve Souders, Dion Almaer, Mark Lucovsky, Guido van Rossum, Jeff Dean, Chris DiBona, Josh Bloch, Raffaello D'Andrea, Geoff Stearns.
2009
Major topics included:
AJAX APIs
Android
App Engine
Chrome
OpenSocial
Wave
Web Toolkit
Speakers included Aaron Boodman, Adam Feldman, Adam Schuck, Alex Moffat, Alon Levi, Andrew Bowers, Andrew Hatton, Anil Sabharwal, Arne Roomann-Kurrik, Ben Collins-Sussman, Jacob Lee, Jeff Fisher, Jeff Ragusa, Jeff Sharkey, Jeffrey Sambells, Jerome Mouton and Jesse Kocher.
Attendees were given a HTC Magic.
2010
Major topics included:
APIs
Android
App Engine
Chrome
Enterprise
Geo
OpenSocial
Social Web
TV
Wave
Speakers included Aaron Koblin, Adam Graff, Adam Nash, Adam Powell, Adam Schuck, Alan Green, Albert Cheng, Albert Wenger, Alex Russell, Alfred Fuller, Amit Agarwal, Amit Kulkarni, Amit Manjhi, Amit Weinstein, Andres Sandholm, Angus Logan, Arne Roomann-Kurrik, Bart Locanthi, Ben Appleton, Ben Chang, Ben Collins-Sussman.
Attendees were given a HTC Evo 4G at the event. Prior to the event, U.S. attendees received a Motorola Droid while non-U.S. attendees received a Nexus One.
2011
Major topics included:
Android
Google Play Music
Google Play Movies
Honeycomb
Ice Cream Sandwich
Chrome and ChromeOS
Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung
Angry Birds for Chrome
In-app purchases for Chrome Web Store
Attendees were given a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Series 5 Chromebook and Verizon MiFi.
The after party was hosted by Jane's Addiction.
2012
The I/O conference was extended from the usual two-day schedule to three days. There was no keynote on the final day. Attendees were given a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Chromebox. The after party was hosted by Paul Oakenfold and Train.
Major topics included:
Android
3D imagery for Earth
400 million users announcement
Analytics
Google Now
Jelly Bean
In-app purchases for Wallet
Project Butter
Chrome
310 million users announcement
Chrome for Android is stable
iOS app
Compute Engine
Docs
Offline editing
Drive
App for iOS
SDK (v.2)
Glass
Gmail
425 million users announcement
Google+
Hangouts app and metrics
Platform for Mobile with SDKs and APIs
Maps
Offline for Android
Enhanced maps in API
Transit data in API
Nexus
7
Q
YouTube
Updated 720p HD API
Heat maps and symbols in API
Updated Android app
2013
Google I/O 2013 was held at the Moscone Center, San Francisco. The amount of time for all the $900 (or $300 for school students and faculty) tickets to sell out was 49 minutes, even when registrants had both Google+ and Wallet accounts by requirement. A fleet of remote-controlled blimps streamed a bird's-eye view of the event. Attendees were given a Chromebook Pixel. The after party was hosted by Billy Idol and Steve Aoki.
Major topics included:
Android
900 million users announcement
Updated Search
Studio
App Engine
PHP support
Google+
Redesign with photo and sharing emphasis
Hangouts
Updated IM platform
Maps
Redesign on web and Android
Play
Games
Music All Access
Play for Education
Samsung Galaxy S4 to be sold
Updated Google Play Services
TV
Update to Jelly Bean
Puzzle
On the conference website, users could enter a binary code by clicking or typing in 0 and 1. The inputs would then be displayed at the bottom of the page. If the code matched one of the binary codes listed below, users were redirected to a page with a unique theme for each code.
2014
Major topics included:
Android
Auto
Lollipop
Material Design
One
Slides
TV
Wear
Chromebook
Improvements
Google Fit
Gmail
API
Attendees were given a LG G Watch or Samsung Gear Live, Google Cardboard, and a Moto 360 was shipped to attendees after the event.
2015
Major topics included:
Android Marshmallow
App permission controls
Native fingerprint recognition
"Deep sleep", a mode which puts the device to sleep for power saving
USB-C support
Deep-linking app support, which leads verified app URLs to the app in the Play store.
Android Pay
Android Wear
"Always on" extension to apps
Wrist gestures
Chrome
Custom tabs Gmail
Inbox availability for everyone
Maps
Offline mode
Nanodegree, an Android course on Udacity
Now
Reduction in voice error
Context improvements
Photos
Play
"About" tabs for developer pages
A/B listings
Store listing experiments
"Family Star" badge
Project Brillo, a new operating system for the Android-based Internet of things.
Project Weave, a common language for IoT devices to communicate.
Attendees were given an Nexus 9 tablet and an improved version of Google Cardboard
2016
Sundar Pichai moved Google I/O to Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA for the first time. Attendees were given sunglasses and sunscreen due to the amphitheater's outside conditions; however, many attendees were sunburned so the talks were relatively short. There was no hardware giveaway.
Major topics included:
Allo
Android
Daydream, Android support for VR was shown with Daydream.
Instant Apps, a code path that downloads a part of an app instead of accessing a web app, which allows links to load apps on-demand without installation. This was shown with the B&H app.
Nougat
Wear 2.0
The inaugural Google Play Awards were presented to the year's best apps and games in ten categories.
Assistant
Duo
Firebase, a mobile application platform, now adds storage, reporting and analytics.
Home
Play integration with ChromeOS
2017
Major topics included:
Android Oreo
Project Treble, an Android Oreo feature that modularizes the OS so carriers can update their smartphones easier.
Flutter, a cross-platform mobile development framework that enables fast development of apps across iOS and Android.
Google.ai
Google Lens
Google Assistant became available on iOS devices.
A new standalone (in-built) virtual reality system to be made by the HTC Vive team and Lenovo.
Attendees were given a Google Home and $700 in Google Cloud Platform Credits. The afterparty was hosted by LCD Soundsystem.
2018
Major topics included:
Android Pie
Digital Wellbeing initiatives
Material Design 2.0
Changes in Gmail
Android Wear 3.0
An Impressive Google Assistant
AR/VR efforts
Updated Google Home
Attendees were given an Android Things kit and a Google Home Mini. The after party was hosted by Justice with Phantogram opening.
2019
Major topics included:
Android Q Beta 3
Pixel 3a and 3a XL
Flutter on web
Google Lens
Firebase
AR walking directions in Google Maps
Offline, streamlined Google Assistant
Assistant driving mode
Kotlin-First Development
Rebranding of Google Home devices to Google Nest
Live Caption
Project Mainline (streamlined OS update process on Android Q)
Google Duplex web API
The after party was hosted by The Flaming Lips. There was no hardware giveaway.
2020
The 2020 event was originally scheduled for May 12–14. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event was considered for alternative formats and eventually canceled.
2021
Major topics included:
Smart Canvas on Google Docs
Google Meet
LaMDA
TPU v4
Multitask Unified Model (MUM)
AR objects in Google Search
Google Maps
Indoor Live View
Detailed street maps
Tailored maps
Area busyness
Google Shopping
Little Patterns and Cinematic Moments on Google Photos
Android
Material You
Android 12 Beta 1
Integration with ChromeOS and Google TV
Expansion of Android Auto
Wear OS
Merging with Samsung Tizen
UI redesign
Integration with Fitbit
Google Health
Project Starline
A "pre-show" was held before the keynote, featuring a performance from Tune-Yards and Google Arts & Culture's "Blob Opera" experiment.
2022
Major topics included:
Android 13
Immersive View
Search With Scene Exploration
Privacy Control For Ads
Matter
Google Wallet
Flutter, a cross-platform mobile development framework that enables fast development of apps across iOS and Android.
Pixel 6a
Pixel Buds Pro
Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro (preview)
Pixel Watch (preview)
Pixel Tablet (preview)
2023
The 2023 conference took place on May 10, 2023. It was being presented before a restricted in-person audience, while being widely accessible to all online. Attendees could join the livestreamed keynote sessions, and explore an array of technical content and learning materials, accessible on demand.
Major topics include:
Generative AI features
PaLM 2
Bard
Duet AI in Google Workspace
Labs
Pixel 7a
Pixel Tablet
Pixel Fold
References
External links
Official app
Google I/O 2008 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2009 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2010 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2011 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2012 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2013 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2014 Session Videos and Slides
Google I/O 2015 Session Videos
Google I/O 2016 Session Videos
Google I/O 2017 Session Videos
Google I/O 2018 Session Videos
Google I/O 2019 Session Videos
Google I/O 2021 Session Videos
Google I/O 2022 Session Videos
Google Developers at I/O on Twitter
I O
Software engineering conferences
Web-related conferences
Recurring events established in 2008