Oliver Haslam on March 17, 2022, 8:02 pm

Google I/O 2022 Announced As An Online Event With Limited Live Audience

Now that many restrictions in terms of COVID-19 are being restricted it was hoped that Google I/O and Apple WWDC, the big two annual developer conferences, would be in-person this year.

While we’re still waiting to hear what will happen with Apple’s June event, we now know that Google is sticking to an online format.

This year’s Google I/O event will run on May 11 and May 12 and will be available fully online. However, there there does appear to be a version of the event that will be streamed at Google’s Shoreline Amphitheatre facility, according to The Verge and Axios’s Ina Fried.

“This year’s event will be broadcast in front of a limited live audience, and is completely free and open to everyone virtually,” Google spokesperson Alex Garcia-Kummert said in a statement to The Verge. That limited audience will be comprised primarily of Google employees and some partners, according to a Google statement shared with Axios’ Ina Fried.

That’s still a long way from the usual live event with people on-stage announcing products and developer improvements, but it’s better than nothing. Google I/O will be open to everyone and registration will be completely free. Those registrations should be open later this month, according to a Google I/O FAQ.

All eyes will now be on Apple to see what happens with WWDC. Notably, many developers feel that the online format has actually been better than the in-person one, although there is still something to be said for being in the same room as each other.