Google is working hard to expand its services. Importantly, the tech giant is rolling out five Android features in the coming weeks. Let’s have a look at the new features. Google Play Audiobooks, Voice Access, etc. Moreover, Google is also making Android Auto available in 36 more countries.
Let’s start with Google Maps. The tech giant is giving Maps a new Go tab that lets a user quickly navigate to favorite places without entering the address. Moreover, a user can pin his or her favorite public transport route to see departure and arrival times, as well as any delays right from the tab.
Furthermore, Google suggests pinning both driving and public transport to the same destination to see which mode of transport will get the passenger there faster than others. The Go tab will start rolling out to Android as well as iOS devices in the coming weeks.
There are other interesting features as well. The tech giant is also making a change that could result in more audiobooks in the Play Store. According to Google, it is providing publishers in the U.S. and U.K. with a new auto-generated narrator tool that can be used to create audio versions of books that currently lack them. As a reminder, the tool is currently beta and should be coming to all publishers in early 2021.
Android and new opportunities
Another feature is Voice Access. The tech giant is making its enhanced Voice Access navigation available around the world, running on Android 6.0 and above. This feature is already available on Android 11. Importantly, with the help of machine learning, Voice Access allows for easy manipulation of UI elements such as buttons and labels by voice.
Interestingly, the Nearby Share functionality will also soon support the direct sharing of Play Store apps with nearby Android users. The apps are sent via whatever method two phones that belong to users deem the fastest. For example, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy, WebRTC, or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi.
Last but not least, based on the information provided by Google, it is expanding Android Auto support to 36 more countries over the next few months. The tech giant made an important decision, as it is hard to imagine modern cars without Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. This way, it will be easier to convince car owners to buy smartphones produced by Samsung, Sony, and other manufacturers.
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