With the Pixel 6 last October, Assistant debuted “Quick phrases” to skip the hotword for two specific actions, and you might soon be able to “silence” incoming calls.

Ahead of iOS 16 launching next month, Apple Music for Android has been updated with the latest features to ensure parity as part of version 4.0, which is currently in beta.

The Pixel Buds Pro launched earlier this week in four delightful colors, but it should come at no surprise that Google considered many more during the development process. Here are some variants that we believe came closer to launching, but ultimately didn’t.

A sleep timer to pause playback after a specified increment is in the works for YouTube Music. This has been a long requested feature, especially since Google Play Music offered one ages ago.

The latest update to Stadia’s Android app, version 4.22, includes preparations for reactions on the Explore tab, a warning about “too many players,” and more.

As of today, At a Glance on Pixel has 14 distinct capabilities and Google is readying three more, with ridesharing status being the most notable.

Last month, we reported how Google Calendar was laying the groundwork to replace Assistant Reminders with Tasks. More details on how the Reminders-to-Google Tasks migration in Calendar should work are now available. 

Last month, Google updated At a Glance with flashlight reminders and Nest Doorbell alerts. The Pixel At a Glance widget could soon get a “Cross Device Timer” capability that integrates with Google Home.

Google seems to be preparing for car crash detection and other Pixel-exclusive Personal Safety features available on other Android phones.

As early as 2018, Google had been readying an Assistant-adjacent feature that supercharges saving and reminders on Android. It now appears that Google is no longer working on “Assistant Memory” as the company’s reminders strategy becomes ever more muddled. 

The latest update to the Google Camera app, version 8.5, includes new details about the photography and videography features of the Pixel 7 and next year’s Pixel tablet.

At the start of this month, it emerged that Google Assistant is losing the ability to set both location-based and assigned reminders. A bigger change looks to be underway as that old Assistant Reminders system in Google Calendar is being replaced by Google Tasks.

Google launched its Android, iOS, and web note-taking app in March of 2013. Now, over nine years later, Google Keep is about to add text formatting that will let you bold, italicize, and underline text. 

Nearly two years after the last settings redesign, Google is taking another stab at making it easier to control and manage the ever-growing list of what Assistant can do.

In March of 2021, Google started using federated learning on Android to improve “Hey Google” hotword accuracy. An upcoming “Personalized speech recognition” feature now looks to help Google Assistant get “better at recognizing your frequent words and names.”

Stadia 4.16 is rolling out now via the Google Play Store and includes preparations for likely 1440p streaming, in-app help improvements, and more.

The latest Digital Wellbeing feature coming soon to Android 13 devices is the ability for Bedtime Mode to dim your wallpaper.

After introducing better widgets, Apple Music for Android is getting an in-app Sleep Timer that offers extensive options. 

The latest update to the Stadia app, version 4.13, points to game-specific touchscreen controls and hints at 1440p streaming on Android.

With Android 12, the Pixel Launcher introduced a new on-device search experience at the top of the app launcher. While it’s temporarily gone from Android 13 Beta 1, the Pixel Launcher is working on search shortcuts beyond the Google app.

The security industry, as organized by the FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, has been working to replace passwords given people’s tendency to use weak ones or reuse them. Two-factor authentication (2FA) has helped to remedy that but the future is “passkeys,” with Android and Google readying support.

In October of 2020, one Nest Hub Max user managed to get an early look at “Blue Steel.” This capability lets you just gaze at your compatible Smart Display to trigger Google Assistant, and a launch under the name “Look and Talk” might be coming soon.

It should soon be possible to use the At a Glance widget on Pixel phones to keep track of your grocery orders, including when pickups are ready and when deliveries are on their way.

While Apple in no way invented Bluetooth trackers, AirTags undoubtedly popularized the category this past year. There are ongoing concerns about these readily available devices being used to track people, and tag makers have taken steps to counter that. Google might soon add a Bluetooth tracker detection capability directly into Android.