Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Android Feature Drop: What’s NEW?!”.
Google’S just released a new Android feature drop for all Android devices out there plus there are some new interesting developments in the company branding. So let’s get into it. So this ain’t, a regular pixel fixture drop, we’re expecting that to come repackaged as Android 14., hopefully rather soon, but instead a bundle features for all Android phones. That’S a big deal on why all the changes are welcome.
You might not be too bothered all the same. The most notable is the updated at a glance widget, which is getting a lick of paint here to better resemble the widget that is hardwired into the pixel launcher on Google’s first party Hardware, it’ll work in the same way too, with assistant powered features like Dynamic travel, Updates things like your gate and your departure times for specific flights alongside more refined, weather and event reminders it’s rolling out right now. So if you do use the widget from the Google app, you should see it switch over in the coming days, but it doesn’t seem to be that widely available right now visually. It’S a big departure with the widget. Also, now living within a pill shaped icon and the weather conditions almost duplicating, which seems a little bit redundant from our side. This will replace the existing at a glance which has been used for a long time on your device running Android, 9 or higher, and, of course it will be rolling out over the coming days. Google Wallet is also getting some important changes, and one that I think will be super helpful, is a new photo.
Import option means that we’ll be able to digitize things like barcodes and QR codes. Google says that this means you’ll be able to digitize things like gym, passes, library cards, other tickets, but in theory the possibilities could be pretty much endless. I can see this actually being the most useful Edition here in this Android feature drop and just like the rest. It will begin rolling out very soon we’re not seeing it on any of our own devices and I’m actually personally the most excited to try this one for myself. I don’t necessarily know why you’d want to do this in your car, but conference calls via Cisco’s, WebEx and zoom are getting added to Android auto.
This means you can join conference, calls see schedules and get up to speed with all of those important business focus calling options. It also goes without saying that video calling itself isn’t going to be available via this. Just the voice kind: hey it’s a nice option. If you do need it, especially for business purposes, but I reckon it probably won’t affect most of you out there, Google also isn’t stopping there with an update to the lookout application image each q a now offers more detailed descriptions for images which I think is a Really nice addition for those with visual impairments. When you open an image using this application, you can type a question or even use voice commands to get a better idea or understanding of what is actually in the photo with the application describing that that alone, I think, is a nice little extra but 11 further Languages are being added for this accessibility feature, including Japanese Korean and Chinese, which brings the total number of supported languages via the lookout application to 34..
The final Android Focus feature added here is the ability to add sleep data from your Fitbit or Google Fit applications to your personal routines. This can be added to the good morning routine, where you can just ask the assistant or say to the assistant good morning to hear a recrap of your sleep stats first thing in the morning, which might be helpful. I don’t know that’s everything new! That’S coming to your phone on. All of these options should already be rolling out now, so you should see them very soon. The big new thing from Google, though, is actually some edited branding for Android, including a new logo and 3D book Droid, which actually comes complete with a new chunky torso.
These were actually hinted at earlier this year at CES and teased alongside that event, but the new styling includes a capital A for Android. So there’s no lowercase a here expect to see this new branding on Android devices later this year and at least until Google decides the platform needs the end of their update or another refresh. This could be what we see for the next few years, and that is basically your lot.
Android 14.. This isn’t it we’re hoping to see that very soon, especially now, the data has practically concluded this stage and stay tuned for more on that from us here at Android authority. Maybe we’ll see this update alongside the pixel 8, which is expected to launch at some point in October, we’ll have more info when we do find out. Hopefully, though, you enjoyed this rundown of the latest Android feature drop, although it isn’t the most feature focused cheers for watching, though, and I will catch you in the next one. Thank you. .