Google has a bunch of new Android features you should check out!
Mobile platforms like Android are ever-evolving and changing. To keep things fresh and to offer improvements, Google pushes out new features while updating existing ones. Sometimes these improvements are huge, sometimes they’re small, and sometimes they’re essential. If you’re looking for some changes, Google has announced a bunch of new Android features that could be useful for you.
New accessibility features
For starters, Google has announced a bunch of new accessibility features for Android. This includes TalkBack powered by Gemini. For those unfamiliar, TalkBack is an accessibility feature for Android where it reads the screen out loud to those who might have impaired vision. With the update, Google is applying its Gemini AI to the feature to offer even more detailed audio descriptions to give users a better idea of what’s on their screen.
Another potential accessibility feature is Chrome read aloud. Users can enable the “listen to this page” feature in Chrome’s settings and have an article read out loud to them. This isn’t just for accessibility purposes. It could be useful if you’re the type that absorbs information better through sound rather than sight.
Circle to Search for music
Google has also announced Circle to Search music search. Circle to Search is a feature that lets users circle items in an image and ask Google’s AI to help them find it on the internet. The update now applies to music too, so if you’re watching a video and are curious what song it is, Circle to Search can do that too.
Earthquake alert expansion
There is also an expansion of the Android Earthquake Alerts System in the US. This will now be available across the entire US and its six territories, where using crowdsourced earthquake detection technology, it will alert and warn users ahead of time if an earthquake is detected.
Offline maps for Wear OS
Last but not least, Google has announced that offline maps are coming to Wear OS. This will be handy if you’re overseas or have a poor internet connection, so you can download the maps to your Wear OS smartwatch and view them even without an internet connection.