Android gets reading mode and combines all streaming services in one app
A new reading mode, streaming services in Google TV and a new search widget for Youtube are just some of the new features from Android's December 2022 feature drop.
Regularly, Google summarises innovations for Android - and Wear OS - in so-called feature drops. The collection for December 2022 has now been published. Some of the new features are already available, others are expected to follow soon, and some are only available locally or on select devices.
All streaming services in one app
The new features appear for different areas and apps of Android. For example, you can integrate streaming services into the Google TV app. You can then use the search function to find series and films from Disney+, Prime Video, Netflix and the like. You can start playback directly from the app on a TV with Google TV - virtual remote control on the smartphone included. Speaking of videos: Youtube gets its own search widget.
Source: Google
The Reading Mode app is already available in the Play Store. It is designed to help people with "limited vision, blindness or dyslexia" use their smartphones. It offers additional customisation options for contrast, text size and colour, voice output and fonts in apps as well as on web pages.
For its Messages app, Google is retrofitting a feature that has long been common in other messengers. You can quote messages you reply to. Google is expanding the Emoji Kitchen in the Gboard keyboard, which remixes emojis into stickers, to include new winter motifs.
Source: Google
In Google's Photos app, you should soon find new backgrounds and templates for collages. They come from pop art couple DABSMYLA and watercolourist Yao Cheng.
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If you have a digital car key, you will soon be able to share it with others - if the car manufacturer - currently probably only BMW - allows it in your country. At the start, however, this will only work with the Pixel 6 and 7 as well as iPhones that have not been named more precisely. Other smartphones running at least Android 12 are to follow.
A new warning icon on the profile picture of your Google account is supposed to provide more security. If you click on it, suggestions will appear on how you can improve the security of your account.
Small updates for Wear OS
Not directly Android, but very closely related, is Wear OS. The software for smartwatches also receives new functions with the current feature drop. These include new tiles that you can bring onto your watch: Your contact favourites or the display of sunrise and sunset. Google has completely redesigned the note app Keep for a better overview on the small display. If you use Adidas Running, you can look forward to the integration of Google Assistant into the running app on the smartwatch.
Source: Google
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