APK Insight

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.”

As seen by camera-based heart and respiratory rate tracking in Fit for Android, one aspect of Google’s Health initiative is leveraging existing devices to collect health data. Google is now in the process of testing on-device snore and cough detection for Android and/or Pixel.

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 update to Google Messages prepares to offer suggested actions for certain messages such as starring, scheduling, and more.

As part of Google’s continued expansion of the Pixel series’ At a Glance features, you may soon get notifications of package deliveries spotted by your Nest Doorbell.

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

Following the trend set by many other Google apps, Google News is the next product set to gain a Material You redesign on Android, and we have your first look.

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.

A newly uncovered animation of Android’s Tap to Transfer could offer visual hints of the upcoming Nest Hub dockable tablet, or it could be showing nothing at all.

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.

Recent reporting suggested that Google Duo would soon be gaining a handful of features to match Google Meet, but our research suggests otherwise.

Evidence within the Fitbit app suggests that Google’s acquisition has multiple fitness wearables on the horizon, none of which appear to run Wear OS.

Google’s upcoming “Switch to Android” app for iOS may be able to import data from your iCloud directly into Google Photos.

Following new widgets for YouTube Music and Google Photos in December, Digital Wellbeing will soon get a screen time widget that shows how much you’ve been on your phone and the top Android apps being used.

The latest update to the Stadia app for Android points to Google’s game streaming service gaining motion controls, a revamped touch gamepad, and more.