Google has dropped new Android features to celebrate the holiday season. There are new features for smartphones, tablets, and even Wear OS smartwatches, including the Reading mode, YouTube’s search widget on the home screen, and more. Check them out below.
New Android Features Introduced
The Reading mode is a new accessibility feature, which can help improve the reading experience, especially for those who are blind or have poor vision. Once downloaded via the Play Store, it will become a part of the Settings.
The Reading mode will help you read content without any distractions like ads on a website and change the contrast, font type, and font size. There’s also the text-to-speech feature with playback speed control. It supports English, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Digital car key, which allows you to lock/unlock compatible cars via phones, can now be shared with Pixel phones and iPhones. This functionality is coming to select phones with Android 12 and above. You will be able to see who has access to the digital key and even change it via the digital wallet app.
There’s the new YouTube search widget for the home screen. This will allow you to access videos, Shorts, and more with a simple tap. Plus, the Google TV app now allows you to directly cast to a compatible TV with a single tap.
Google Photos now supports the new Collage Styles from DABSMYLA and renowned watercolor artist Yao Cheng Design. Styles let you tweak and create shareable collages. Plus, Emoji Kitchen now has support for new emojis like a snowman, to be converted into a sticker combo. There’s also the ability to reply to a specific message on Google Messages, much like on WhatsApp.
New Wear OS features include new tiles to view favorite contacts and more, updated Google Keep app, and Google Assistant support for the Adidas Running app to get access to about 30 exercises. So, which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
