Android launched 5 updates on Tuesday as a part of its newest launch of the cellular working system. Obtainable for smartphones, tablets, and Put on OS watches, the brand new options embody audio descriptions of photos, text-to-speech know-how for net pages in Chrome, and the power to lookup songs with “Circle to Search,” amongst different issues.
Initially introduced in Might, all Android customers are formally getting “TalkBack,” an accessibility function for people who find themselves blind or have low imaginative and prescient. The function is Google’s model of a display screen reader, which offers detailed audio descriptions of digital photos. TalkBack is powered by Gemini Nano, Google’s large-language-model-based platform. Customers can now hear descriptions of all kinds of photos, like on-line merchandise, photographs of their digital camera roll, or footage in textual content messages.
One other new accessibility function is “Hearken to this web page,” which permits customers to take heed to webpages within the Chrome browser, whether or not that’s a weblog put up, information article, or recipe. The function is useful for individuals who are blind or have a studying incapacity, and individuals who favor listening over studying. Customers can pause, rewind, and quick ahead, in addition to set their most popular listening pace and the kind of language and voice. It helps a number of languages, together with English, French, German, Arabic, Hindi, and Spanish.
Google’s Circle to Search function, which was introduced earlier this yr, permits customers to look from wherever on their cellphone by making gestures like circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping. The function now permits Android customers to seek for songs by way of a brand new music button, eliminating the necessity to open a third-party app like Shazam. Customers can merely activate Circle to Search by lengthy urgent the house button or navigation bar.
The brand new music functionality can establish songs taking part in from the cellphone or within the background by close by audio system. Along with displaying the observe identify and artist, it additionally directs them to music movies by way of the YouTube app.
In accordance with some Reddit customers, the music functionality has been steadily rolling out to Samsung system customers for a couple of weeks now.
Android’s earthquake alert system has been obtainable for a while. Nevertheless, it’s now increasing to all U.S. states and its six territories. It was first launched in California in 2020, and it makes use of smartphone sensors to detect tremors and assist folks put together for pure disasters and emergencies. For earthquakes of a magnitude of 4.5 or increased, Android sends out two varieties of warning alerts, both providing you with a heads-up a few mild quantity of shaking or an alert recommending extra speedy motion if it detects excessive shaking.
Android smartwatch customers can use offline maps, a Google Maps functionality for folks to get round in the event that they go away their cellphone behind, get misplaced, or discover themselves with out cellular phone service. Watch OS additionally launched two new shortcuts to permit customers to seek for locations utilizing their voice or shortly faucet the watch face to see the place they’re on the map.
These options are launching alongside Android 15, which is able to roll out to extra gadgets later this yr, together with Pixel gadgets.