New Android features include Digital car key sharing, Reading Mode and more
Google has announced a bunch of features for Android just in time for the winter season, headlined by a brand new Reading Mode. This is joined by new collage designs on Google Photos, new emojis on emoji kitchen, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about the feature drop.
Reading Mode
Reading Mode comes with a host of customisation options (Image credits: Google)
Reading Mode is a new accessibility app that aims to provide a more accessible reading experience for people who are blind, have low vision, or are dyslexic. Once you download and enable it, you’ll see a tiny overlay on the side of your screen. Open any article on the web and tap that overlay icon to see content from the article in a much more readable format. The feature works with YouTube videos too. Users can also tap the play button at the bottom to convert the text content into speech.
Digital Car Key sharing support
Google launched Digital Car Key last with Android 12, allowing users to automatically lock/unlock supported cars. With this feature dump, users can now share their digital car key with friends and family across Pixels and iPhones. Think of it as letting someone you know borrow your car keys for a while. Users can manage multiple car keys and their access from the phone’s digital wallet app.
New Google Photos collage styles
Share you best memories in customisable collage form with Google Photos (Express photo)
Google Photos recently added Styles to the collage editor, allowing users to share customisable collages. Expanding on that, the company’s introduced some new designs from two new artists – Australian husband-and-wife visual duo DABSMYLA and renowned watercolour artist Yao Cheng Design.
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To create a new collage, open Photos, select multiple photos, hit “Add to” at the bottom, and then select “Collage.” Here you’ll see several designs and layouts you can use.
New Emoji Kitchen emojis
Emoji Kitchen already offers over 15,000 ‘hybrid’ emojis but it’s now gained even more combos – and this time they’re all about the winter season. Bring up Gboard on any messaging app, tap the emoji icon to the left of the space bar, and input any winter-related emoji to see new suggestions.
Other features
1. Starting next week, you’ll be able to directly cast from the Google TV app to your compatible TV through a floating action button at the bottom right of the app.
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2. The Google Keep app on Wear OS devices has been updated to present better-looking notes and to-dos, with support for custom backgrounds and more.
3. New integration with the Adidas Running app in Google Assistant will let users start a run by saying “Hey Google, start a run with Adidas Running.”
