Google has a large number of new features for the Android operating system, which appears to be made available later this year. According to what was announced by the technological giant, new widgets will soon arrive for YouTube Music, Google Play Books and Google Photos. Plus new options for Android Auto and updates for the Google Assistant and Google Photos. In short, many new features coming to Google Android. So let’s go and discover them one by one.
Google Android: All the new features coming by the end of 2021
1. Android Auto
The biggest news coming to Google Android undoubtedly concerns the owners of Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro e Samsung Galaxy S21, who can use their smartphone to lock, unlock and start the car. In short, the phone will become the digital key for “compatible BMW vehicles”, but only in some countries. More specifically, the function will be available “on all BMW vehicles of the year 2020 & 2022“, although Google hopes to add new models in the future. But that’s not the only news coming later this year – apparently, it will be possible to set Android Auto to do so start automatically when connecting the smartphone to the car, so as to allow users to stay connected on every journey.
Plus, once you’re on the road, the system will help you stay focused on driving. The new intelligent response options, in fact, will allow users to reply to text messages using the Google Assistant. And as if that were not enough, it will be possible to listen to your favorite music in the car with a just tap the play button, which is now always active on the Home screen. In the future, then, it will be possible to use voice to search faster for songs to be played within the Apps on Android Auto. A simple touch on the search icon will allow you to say the title or artist of the song to be able to listen to it without further action.
2. YouTube Music, Google Play Books e Google Foto
Among the new options arriving on Google Android there are also some interesting widgets for the main apps of the operating system. The new widget YouTube Musicfor example, brings playback controls and recently played songs directly to the Home screen. And so does the widget Google Play Books, which will give you convenient access to your library of books and audiobooks. Finally, the Google Photos People and Animals widget, which will bring your favorite pictures of friends, family and pets to the Home screen. Just select the faces you care about most, and then choose a suitable frame, and the widget will do the rest.
3. Family Bell
Interesting news also coming for “Family Bell“, The function that sends notifications and alarms to remind users of the day’s commitments. Now, in fact, it will also be possible to set alarms on smartphones, as well as on smart home devices. Additionally, Google will add new activities to plan under this option, including watering a tree, a family movie night, or volunteering to support a local cause.
Finally, Google introduced the automatic reset of permissions on Android, which will allow the smartphone to automatically disable runtime permissions for all those applications that have not been used for a while. However, if desired, users will still have the possibility to restore the permissions, simply by opening the App or the Settings menu. A feature that will be available “starting next month” for all smartphones with Android 6 or later. Clearly, as often happens with Google, these features will be released at different times, but all by the end of 2021. And this reassures us a lot.