Google will be handing out new features to Android soon, including widgets, as well as auto and car-based features.
Google's New Features For 2021
In a blog post, Google announced the details of the new features coming soon to Android. The update will add new widgets suited for Google Play Books, Google Photos, and Youtube Music. There will also be new android auto features as well as updates for Google Photos and Google Assistant.
The music widget will offer playback controls and will let you access recently played songs. Then, the book widget will allow you to click the shortcut to reach your digital library.
Meanwhile, the Google Photos widget; which will be available next week, is set to specifically show pictures for selected pets and people available in your library.
To add, there will also be a Google Photos' Memories feature, which will show curated pictures and videos of events like Christmas, Birthdays, New Year, etc., within the photo grid's standard interface.
Furthermore, Google will set forth a Family Bell feature. It will work as an alarm/reminder system that can be set to broadcast from smart displays and speakers.
Finally, there's the highly-anticipated car-based feature that will also be added.
Users with devices like Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S21 will now be able to use their phones as digital car keys. Google's car-based addition will only work on compatible BMW vehicles in selected countries.
Earlier this year, Google announced that they were working on a car key feature to be released for Android phones, citing BMW specifically as one of their partners.
Google announced that the said feature is going to be available for BMW 2020 and 2022 model vehicles. Still, the company hopes to add several more compatible vehicles for their car key feature in the future.
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Google's Android Auto Features
Moreover, Google also planned to add auto features for Android.
This includes an option to obtain a car-friendly interface to be automatically launched whenever an Android phone is connected to the compatible vehicle.
There will also be a new 'play button' gracing the home screen of the interface so vehicle and Android owners can start the music playback with just a single tap.
Other than that, a new search icon will also be made available to search for music quickly, alongside a new smart reply setting for text messages.
Lastly, Google also announced an update regarding the rollout of its new permission-reset feature available on older Android phones. This will automatically turn off permissions for apps that haven't been used in a while.
The same feature was already available for running Android 11 and above devices. It's only just now that it will be added to Android 6 and up, but it will be rolled out "starting next month" for their January releases.
Typically, Google's new features will be released in different timeframes, starting from 'today', which is for the digital car key feature, to the 'upcoming moths', which is set for other auto features for Android.
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Written by Thea Felicity
