The holidays may be coming up and the year winding down, but Google isn't slowing down because today it announced six new features coming soon to Android devices.
Gboard's Emoji Kitchen feature is getting an upgrade that'll push it from hundreds of custom design combinations to more than 14,000. Just tap two emoji to quickly see suggested combos or double tap a single emoji to get more intense emotion options.
All of these upgraded Emoji Kitchen combos are now available in the beta version of Gboard and they'll launch to everyone on Android 6.0 or higher in the coming weeks.
The next app to get an upgrade is Google Maps. A new "Go" tab will launch in the Google Maps apps for Android and iOS in the coming weeks that'll let you pin your favorite driving destinations for faster access. Just tap a location and you'll quickly get directions, live traffic trends, disruptions on the route, and an accurate ETA.
If you take public transit, you can use the "Go" tab to see accurate departure and arrival times, alerts from your local transit agency, and an up-to-date ETA.
Nearby Share is getting better, soon, too, with an update that'll let you share apps from Google Play with Android users around you. This upgrade will roll out in the coming weeks and it'll give you a "Share Apps" menu in the "My Apps & Games" section to share apps with a nearby friend without cellular or Wi-Fi networks.
Android 11's new Voice Access feature is now rolling out globally to all devices on Android 6.0 or higher. Available for download from Google Play, Voice Access is built with people with motor disabilities in mind and lets you control your phone using your voice. And now it lets you add labels to the screens of your Android apps to help you work within them using your voice.
Google is working to make audiobooks better, too. Working with publishers in the U.S. and U.K., Google Play will now use auto-generated narrators so that books without audio versions can be narrated, giving you more audiobook options to choose from. This feature is currently in beta and will roll out to all publishers in early 2021.
And finally, Android Auto is expanding to more countries. It'll be arriving in 36 countries over the coming months, all of which are listed below (via The Verge):
- Europe: Albania, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine
- Asia: Turkey, Thailand, and Indonesia
- Africa: Angola, and Botswana