Google – Learn Beginner

CSS Font-display and how to use it

Hiren Vaghasiya — Fri, 08 May 2020 03:05:33 +0000

Yesterday we included a custom Google Font on our website and briefly mentioned the font-display option. Let’s dive deeper into what it is and how it works.

In modern browsers, we can use the font-display function.

Font Display options

auto: This is the default value, and leaves the decision up to the browser, in most cases, it will be block
block: This tells the browser to hide the text until the font has fully loaded. This is the flash you see when it swaps on some sites.
swap: Swap, as the name suggests, will start with the fallback font and swap once the font is loaded.
fallback: This is a compromise between auto and swap. It will start by hiding the font for a brief period and then go into the swap routine.
optional: This is much like the fallback method. It tells the browser to start with a hide and then transition into the fallback font. The nice option here is that it allows the browser to see if the custom font is even used at all. If, for instance, a slow connection appears, they are less likely even to see the custom font.

How to use font-display

As seen in the previous example, we can use it as such:

h1 {
  font-size: 40px;
  font-family: 'Amatic SC', cursive;
  font-display: swap;
}

What is a fallback font?

So we talked about fallback fonts quite a bit, but what are those even?

h1 {
  font-family: 'Amatic SC', 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;
}

So in the above example, the custom font is Amatic SC the system font is Times New Roman or Times, so in the case of using swap, we will first see Times New Roman and when the custom font has loaded it will show Amatic SC.

Browser Support

Not all browsers support this, but I encourage you to use font-display. The browsers that don’t support it will decide for you.

Thank you for reading, and let’s connect!

Thank you for reading my blog, feel free to subscribe to my email newsletter, and ask questions and give your valuable suggestions.

How to use Google Fonts in your next web design project

Hiren Vaghasiya — Thu, 07 May 2020 14:39:41 +0000

Let’s get started on implementing a custom font for your website.

Finding your Google Font

To find a cool font, we can go to the Google Font library and pick one we like.

Once you have found the one you want, open it up you will see the whole set’s letters and Styles. Google Fonts will allow you to include on our more styles on your website. In my case, I’m using Amatic SC Bold. Click the Select this style button for each style you want. You will see a side menu on the right. It will have a Review and Embed section; in the embed, we can get the code.

Embedding the Google Font in your website

There are two ways of embedding the font into your website

attribute; this sets a link like any external stylesheet
@import this imports it directly in the CSS

The Google Fonts website will also show you which font-family rule you must apply to each element you want to have this specific font.

Should I use Link or @import?

This is a question that keeps floating around on the internet, and Steve Souders did an excellent job of comparing the two. As his article title suggests,is the best way to go according to him and Yahoo.

Using the Google Font on our website

We embed the Google Font in the head of our HTML file using the following code. This is the code you get from Google Fonts.

Then in our CSS we can do the following:

h1 {
  font-family: 'Amatic SC', cursive;
}

It’s important to use the name as stated in Google Fonts website.

What to think about

So important to note when using Google Fonts, they tend to load slowly, the more you use, the more load time it will add. And Google itself will not like that very much. My suggestion is that you keep it to one custom font. We can use font-display: swap to not interfere with the load, more on this in another article!

Thank you for reading, and let’s connect!

Thank you for reading my blog, feel free to subscribe to my email newsletter, and ask questions and give your valuable suggestions.

The new Google Pixel Buds are available for your listening pleasure

Learn Beginner — Wed, 06 May 2020 12:31:00 +0000

In October, Google introduced the all-new Google Pixel Buds—with high-quality sound, an unobtrusive design that fits securely and comfortably in your ear, and helpful AI features. We wanted to make sure whether you’re streaming content while working out or sitting in a noisy room talking on a conference call, you have the best possible audio experience.

So now Pixel Buds are available for $179 in Clearly White in the U.S., Also you can check out that in your region Google Store is available or not.

Google sat down with some of the team behind Pixel Buds to learn more about what’s new, and also to hear how they’ve been using them.

Get started easily with Fast Pair

All the content from official Google Pixel Buds blogs.

Source: Google Blog

I always used to use wired headphones because I had concerns about the reliability of Bluetooth® connectivity, as lots of other earbuds have pairing problems, including the original Pixel Buds. With the new Pixel Buds, we focused on improving Fast Pair to eliminate these pain points and easily connect to your phone.
– Ethan Grabau, Product Manager (Google Inc.)

Clear calls with special mics and sensor

To give you clear calls, even in noisy and windy environments, Pixel Buds combine signals from beamforming mics and a special sensor that detects when your jaw is moving. This helps so you don’t have to look for a quiet place to take a call. It’s come in particularly handy these past few weeks for me working from home with two young daughters.
– Jae Lee, Audio Systems Engineer (Google Inc.)

Adaptive Sound for better audio

Adaptive Sound is perfect for those moments like when you’re steaming milk for a latte, or when you’re washing your hands or the dishes. Those noises can eclipse your audio experience for a bit, until the latte, or your dishes are done.
– Basheer Tome, Senior Hardware Interface Designer (Google Inc.)

To help, Adaptive Sound temporarily and subtly adjusts your volume to accommodate for the new noise in your environment, and goes back to normal after it’s dissipated. It works kind of like auto-brightness on your phone screen: It momentarily adjusts to the world around you to make the experience of using your device a little simpler.
– Frank Li, UX Engineer (Google Inc.)

Hands-free help with Google Assistant

When I’m working in the yard and wearing gloves, I can use ’Hey, Google’ on my Pixel Buds and easily control my music. I can also hear my notifications, and reply to a text message with just my voice and Google Assistant.
And when I’m taking my dog on our daily walk and using my Pixel Buds, I use Google Assistant to navigate and check my fitness progress hands-free while juggling a leash and bag of dog treats. The Pixel Buds are slim enough they fit snag-free under a hat or hoodie, too.
– Max Ohlendorf, Technology Manager (Google Inc.)

Source: Google Blog

Real-time translations with conversation mode

We set out to see how we could use Google Translate on Pixel Buds to reduce language barriers. Making the conversation as natural as possible even with the use of the phone was important, so we decided to create the split-screen UI to show exactly what was being said, and translating it in real-time on the screen with conversation mode. Any exposure to a different language is also an opportunity to learn, so we wanted to make the feature is not only as helpful as possible for things like being in a different country, but also as simple as being able to help bilingual households across generations connect through language.
– Tricia Fu, Product Manager (Google Inc.)

Peace of mind with Find My Device

The fear of losing expensive wireless earbuds is real, and in many cases a reason why people are afraid of trying them. We tried to reduce that fear a bit with Find My Device. If an earbud falls out when you’re walking or running, you know right away. But you may be less aware when you return home and absentmindedly put them down somewhere. So we built the ability to let you ring your earbuds from your phone. We also wanted to make sure we were thoughtful in what that experience is like. You can ring one earbud at a time, to focus on finding either the left or right earbud. The moment your hands touch the lost earbud, the ringing will stop. We hope people won’t need to use this feature often, but if they do, they can find misplaced earbuds more easily.
– Alex Yee, Interaction Designer (Google Inc.)

Source: Google Blog

Like Pixel phones and other Google devices, Pixel Buds will get better over time with new features, including an update to Find My Device which will show the last known location of your earbuds. Check out more cool features on Pixel Buds and see which features will work with your device.