Google has gotten into a festive mood this time of the year, just like any other normal human, and has announced a number of new Android features to make your life easier or simply more fun.
The most significant feature, objectively, is digital car key functionality. Starting today, you can use your Android phone to lock, unlock, and even start your compatible car. It’s only available in select countries on the Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S21 for compatible BMW cars for now.
Digital car key is paired with an update to Android Auto, which can now be set to launch automatically when you connect your Android phone to your compatible car. You also get smart reply options, set to arrive pretty soon, using which you can respond to texts with Google Assistant, so that your focus remains where it should while driving – on the road.
Coming to Android itself, a new Family Bell feature will alert you and your family about important events throughout your day and help keep you keep in track with your daily schedules. Various smart home devices like home speaker or smart displays will be supporting the feature and will throw reminders for set events, like for say, picking up your kids from sports practice.
Three Google apps are getting new widgets, namely Google Play Books, YouTube Music, and Google Photos. Google Play Books’ new widget lets you access your library and keep track of your audiobook progress. YouTube Music widget puts playback controls and recently played tracks right on your Home screen. And finally, the Google Photos People & Pets widget lets you play slideshows of select faces on your home screen.
Your Android 6.0+ device will also be getting more secure next month or so through auto-resetting app permissions. The feature will be pushed through Google Play Services and will automatically turn off runtime permissions for apps that have been lying dormant for a while. The permissions get restored though with the next time you open the app.
Last but not least, Gboard’s Emoji Kitchen has received a flurry of new combinations to help express emotions that just aren’t there on the system emojis. These have been rolled out to Gboard Beta users and will be available for all in the coming weeks.
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