Google on Tuesday released some new features for Android users. Five new functions have been added to existing Android tools such as TalkBack and Circle to Search. Google Chrome also gets a new text-to-speech feature that allows users to easily listen to text and web pages. Offline Google Maps has been added to supported Wear OS devices. Finally, the Android earthquake warning system will reach a broad user base in the United States.
New Android features announced
Mountain View tech guy explained the new Android features in a blog post. Interestingly, these features are not limited to Pixel users and all Android devices get support. Google has started rolling out these features, but it may take up to 14 days for all users to get them.
TalkBack, the screen reading feature on Android, is getting a major upgrade. The accessibility feature is for people who are visually impaired or blind. This feature is now powered by Gemini, Google’s internal artificial intelligence (AI) model. With Gemini integration, the feature can display audio information about digital photos, photos in the gallery, photos in text messages or social media posts, the company said.
Last month, a report said Google was testing a music search feature for Circle to Search. The technician has now confirmed the operation. Users with Android devices that support the visual search feature can identify songs and music playing on or around the device. Users can enable this feature and press the music button to identify the song name and artist, and open a YouTube video.
Google Chrome has a text-to-speech feature that allows Android users to listen to web pages in the browser. This allows users to listen to news stories, blog posts and more. There are options for choosing the listening speed, audio style and voice.
Earlier, Google released the Android earthquake warning system in beta to many users. This feature sends earthquake alerts to users based on crowd detection technology. This feature is now rolling out to all users in the US. Not yet available for users outside the US.
Finally, the company is also releasing a feature for Wear OS smartwatches. Users with supported operating systems can download Google Maps offline to the device. This way, even if they don’t have a smartphone, they can check the map on a smart watch. Additionally, when the device is connected, users can also search for their destination using voice commands and see their current location with a tap on the watch screen.
