Google Enhances Android: Key Features Including Gemini and Earthquake Alerts

New Android Features Announced

The Mountain View-based tech giant detailed the new Android features in a blog post. Interestingly, these features are not limited to Pixel users, and all supported Android devices will be getting them. Google has started rolling out these features; however, it might take up to 14 days before all users receive them.

Accessibility Enhancements with Gemini

TalkBack, the screen reader feature in Android, is getting a significant upgrade. The accessibility feature is aimed at those who have poor vision or are blind. The feature is now being powered by Gemini, Google's in-house artificial intelligence (AI) model. With the Gemini integration, the feature will be able to provide detailed audio descriptions of digital images, photos in the gallery, pictures in text messages, or social media posts, the company said.

Innovative Music Identification: Circle to Search

Last month, a report claimed that Google was testing a music search feature for Circle to Search. The tech giant has now confirmed the feature. Users with Android devices that support the visual lookup feature will be able to identify songs and music playing either on the device or nearby. Users can activate the feature and tap on the music button to identify the track name and artist, as well as open a YouTube video.

Enhanced Browsing with Google Chrome

Google Chrome is also getting a text-to-speech feature that will enable Android users to listen to web pages in the browser. This way, users can listen to news articles, blog posts, and more. There are options to choose the listening speed, type of voice, and language.

Earthquake Alerts Expansion

Earlier, Google rolled out the Android Earthquake Alerts System in beta for a select number of users. This feature sends an earthquake alert to users based on crowd-sourced detection technology and is now being rolled out to all users in the US. It is still not available to users in regions outside of the US.

Offline Maps for Wear OS

Finally, the company is also releasing a feature for Wear OS smartwatches. Users with supported OS will be able to download offline Google Maps on the device. This way, even without the smartphone, they can check the map on the smartwatch. Further, when the device is online, users will also be able to search for their destination using voice commands and view their current location with a single tap on the watch face.