Google rolls out a bunch of a new Android features in time for the holidays
From time to time, Google releases updates for its Android platform. Some of these updates might be minor and include things like bug fixes, patches for exploits and vulnerabilities, and sometimes these updates can be major where Google introduces new features that allow users to do new things, quality of life improvements, and more.
If the latter is something you’re more interested in, then you’ll be happy to hear that Google has announced that they are releasing a bunch of new updates for Android that will bring about some new features to the platform in time for the holiday season.
Google Photos and emoji mashups
One of the new changes will be to the Google Photos collage editor, where Google has worked with Australian husband-and-wife visual duo DABSMYLA and renowned watercolor artist Yao Cheng Design to offer up new styles for users to play around with. There will also be new seasonal emoji mashups that users can access via Gboard, creating new holiday-themed emojis that they can include in their messages to friends and family.
Better accessibility
The update will also introduce a new accessibility feature in the form of reading mode, where users can better adjust things like contrast, text size, font type, page clutter, and more, all of which is designed to help make reading things on your screen easier, especially if you might be blind, visually impaired, or dyslexic.
Find content faster
There will also be the introduction of a new YouTube Search widget for the home screen that will help users find videos faster. Speaking of videos, there’s also a new tap to watch option on Google TV that will let users quickly cast content from the Google TV app to compatible TVs.
Digital car keys and Wear OS
Google has also made some changes to the digital car key feature (available on Pixel devices and iPhones first) where users can now share their digital car key with others. This means that if you’re away for the holiday and someone needs to move or borrow your car, you can send them a digital copy of the key which they can then use to unlock and start your car.
Last but not least, the latest update will also be bringing about some changes to Wear OS. This includes the addition of new tiles that give users shortcuts to features like contacts, seeing the sunrise and sunset times, and more. Google Keep on Wear OS has also been updated to be more optimized for smartwatches and will now support custom backgrounds, photos, and drawings.
There will also be the addition of support for Google Assistant where users can now quickly launch more than 30 types of exercises with the adidas Running app using your voice.
Source: Google