‘Tis the season, after all
The year’s nearly up, but Google isn’t missing out on one last opportunity to bring a whole bunch of new features to Android ahead of the holiday season. Whether you’re looking for new ways to decorate your home screen, look back on treasured memories, or move into the future with fresh features for cars and Assistant. Here’s everything coming to Android starting today.
Three new widgets are first on the list, following up on Google’s recent efforts to bring more information and control to your home screen. YouTube Music is getting another new widget — the same one we got an early glimpse of back in October. While it’s not as stylish as its record-shaped playback tool, it’s a little more helpful, with a list of recently-played tracks stored on your home screen.
Next week, Google Play Books is getting a new widget that shows your entire library of novels and audiobooks. Google Photos is also getting in on the fun with a People & Pets widget. Just select a frame of your choosing to match your closest friends and family members, and your home screen will automatically display a rotating collection of photos.
Speaking of Photos, new Memories highlighting holidays and birthdays will start appearing in your photo grid today. We’ve been waiting for this since Google launched a similar feature for Best of Month memories this past summer, so it’s nice to see it arrive before the end of the year.
Android Auto
Android for cars is getting a whole slew of changes and improvements, starting with the official launch of digital car keys. You’ll need to have a Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, or a Galaxy S21 for it to work — not to mention a “compatible” BMW vehicle — but if you meet all of the requirements, you’re one step closer to the future. For all other Android Auto users, you’ll have to take solace in a handful of other new tools, including an always-available play button and auto-launch when plugging in your phone.
In the coming months, Android Auto is getting a new search icon for quickly finding songs and artists via voice, as well as Smart Reply for responding to text messages safely and quickly while driving.
Assistant and Gboard
Assistant and Gboard are both receiving new updates today, bringing along improvements to pre-existing features. Family Bell — a tool previously limited to smart home devices — is coming to phones ahead of the holiday season. In addition to all of those pre-existing alerts, Google is adding some specifically designed for this time of year, adding reminders and suggestions to water the Christmas tree, plan a family movie night, or volunteer in your community.
Meanwhile, Emoji Kitchen is getting a ton of new potential combinations, starting today in the beta version of Gboard and coming to all users over the coming weeks. These are always fun to play around with, so grab the latest beta from APK Mirror if you’re interested in checking them out.
Security
Last but certainly not least, Google is beefing up security on Android by automatically turning off runtime permissions for apps you haven’t been using. You can always re-enable permissions — and these apps will prompt you to do so once you’ve reopened it — but it should prevent a forgotten app from going rogue and accessing data without your explicit permission.
It’s coming to users next month via Google Play Services on any device running Android 6.0 or higher.
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