If you are wanting to know what Google is working on when it comes to software, Google I/O is usually your best bet, with the Android ecosystem often being a major element at this annual developer-focused event.

For 2022, Google I/O is taking place on 11th and 12th May, with both an in-person and online experience touted. For the in-person aspect of this now hybrid event, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted out this week that the Shoreline Amphitheatre will once again play host to the two-day long conference.

We'll be back live from Shoreline Amphitheatre for this year's #GoogleIO! Join us online May 11-12 https://t.co/KgNKbaLeym pic.twitter.com/NUodJb7UCi

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) March 16, 2022

If you are thinking that the general develop community will be in attendance, Google spokespeople have clarified that the in-person portion will be dominated by Google employees and some of the company’s technology partners.

This move is understandable as the last thing Google would want is its I/O conference to be a superspreader for COVID-19.

For those wanting to tune in online, registration will be free, with it said to be opening up access to a portal later this month.

After being cancelled in 2020, like so many other tech events that year when the pandemic hit and shifting to purely online in 2021, this year will mark the first hybrid version of Google I/O.

While we are sure that a return to pure in-person is planned down the line, this hybrid option still affords non-developers a bit more insight into what Google has planned for its software moving forward.

As such it will be interesting to see if any new announcements or demos like the infamous Duplex AI call of a few years ago.