This week, Apple launched a new app called Apple Invites, which smartly uses iCloud to send out digital event invitations. It’s a good idea, but I believe Google could do it even better with tools like Google Calendar, Gmail, and Google Photos.

Digital invitations have become quite popular because they are quick and easy compared to sending out paper cards. Apple Invites isn’t doing anything completely new, but it does make the process smoother by linking with other Apple services. For example, you can add event photos to a shared iCloud album, collaborate on an Apple Music playlist, and use Apple Maps for navigation to the event.

The app works well, including for those on Android phones, which is quite impressive for an Apple product.

However, I keep thinking about how Google could have beaten Apple to this idea. Google Calendar is already a favorite for scheduling among many users. If Google had an event invitation system built into Calendar, organizing in-person events would be much simpler. Add Gmail for easy communication, and integration with YouTube Music for shared playlists, and it would be even more useful. Google Photos could facilitate beautiful shared albums without the limitations Apple has for non-iCloud users.

Here’s the thing: Apple Invites is easy to use if you’re already in the Apple world, but Google has the advantage because almost everyone has a Google account, even many iPhone users. This means Google could make event planning accessible to a broader audience.

It would be fantastic if Google added these invitation features to Google Calendar. However, with Google’s current emphasis on developing AI technologies, it seems unlikely that they’ll prioritize this, even if Apple Invites becomes very popular.

Watching the big game this year is simple if you use Tubi, but if you’re trying to watch it with Chromecast, you might hit a snag, and it’s not because Google’s service is broken. The big game started tonight, and lots of folks have been talking online about problems with Chromecast. They can’t seem to get the game playing on their TV; instead, it’s stuck on their phones.

But, don’t worry, Chromecast isn’t the problem here. The issue is with how Tubi has set up its streaming for the big game. Normally, you can use Tubi on Chromecast or any device that supports Google Cast to easily stream content to your TV from the “Stream” section. However, for this particular game, Tubi has made it so you can only watch it through a special button on their app’s main page, which doesn’t work with Chromecast.

If you’re set on using Chromecast, you might want to try other services like YouTube TV, which does support streaming the game to Chromecast devices. Meanwhile, Tubi’s stream of the game is still available on other platforms like Roku, Android TV, Google TV, and Apple TV through their own apps.

So, while it’s a bit disappointing if you were planning to use Chromecast with Tubi, there are other ways to catch all the action of the big game without missing out.

The Google Play Store is a vital part of using an Android phone. It’s where you get most of your apps, making downloading them safer than from random websites. But even the Google Play Store can have its share of problems, like a glitch where it keeps showing you’ve got updates to do, even if you’ve already done them.

These sorts of glitches don’t happen often, but when they do, they can make app downloads fail or drain your phone’s battery. There’s one specific glitch where the Google Play Store tells you to update apps again that are already up to date.

This issue makes the “Downloads” section show updates for apps that should be fully updated. You can spot these false updates because they don’t list how big the update is. Normally, when an app needs updating, you see how much data it will take and when you last updated it. But with this glitch, that information isn’t there.

I looked at my phone to see if I was having this problem, but everything seemed fine. Yet, someone from the 9to5Google team noticed that apps like Gboard, Google Messages, Pocket Casts, and The Athletic were showing they needed updates again. These updates were just small downloads, around 1 to 2 MB, but they didn’t change anything since the apps were already at their latest version.

We’re not sure why this is happening. There were similar issues reported about five years ago, suggesting this might be a recurring problem. Google hasn’t said anything official about it, but it would help if they did explain what’s going on.

So, if you’re seeing the same app updates over and over in your Google Play Store, know you’re not alone, and hopefully, Google will fix this soon.