Newsletter
Google has announced its next Feature Drop for Pixel smartphones and other Google products, a bit earlier than usual. Normally, this would be announced on the first Monday of the month with the new security update. So it’s nice to see this coming a bit earlier.
So what is Google launching for the holidays? Well, let’s start with what’s coming to Pixels. Google is making it easier to add holiday cheer to your photos and messages. There are going to be unique designs available from two new artists – Australian husband-and-wife duo DABSMYLA and renowned watercolor artist Yao Cheng Design. You’ll be able to just pick your photos, select your design and rearrange the layout with simple drag-and-drop controls.
Emoji Kitchen has also added some new Emoji, allowing you to be able to mash up into creative sticker combos via Gboard. So you can add some snow, snowmen and more to your emoji stickers.
Google is also going to be rolling out the new YouTube home screen Search Widget. So you can search YouTube for something to watch directly from your home screen, and yes it is Material You-designed.
Digital Car Key is arriving, as well as updates to Wear OS
Digital Car Key is going to be able, so that you can share access to your car with friends and family. This is available on Pixel and iPhones to start.
Now, when it comes to Wear OS, there’s a few new things coming here. There are new Tiles coming, that will make it easier to get in touch with your favorite contacts and view sunrise and sunset times right from the watch, without opening any apps.
Google Keep is also getting an update on Wear OS, and this will better reflect the visual enhancements to your notes like photos, co-authors and background colors. Google is also adding adidas Running integration with Google Assistant. This will enable users to quickly jump into more than 30 types of workouts using their phone. Just say “Hey Google, start a run with adidas Running”.
Some pretty big updates coming to Google’s entire ecosystem to close out 2022.