#Android #GoogleTV #MY
Google TV app to get Material You redesign, adding 'Highlights' tab for entertainment news
Google TV will be getting two new updates, Highlights tab for entertainment news and Material You redesign for the Android app.

The newly added "Highlights" tab is something similar to Google Discover, but only show news related to programs and shows.

"Home" tab is rebranded to "For You," this is where you can find the program you haven't finished watching and also watch recommended shows picked by Google for you. As you can also see, the Android app is about too receive Material You redesign too.

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#Android #Photos
Google Photos bring Portrait Blur to all photos with more improvements
Google Photos make it possible to bring back portrait shot even if you didn't use portrait mode earlier to capture the photo.

While the feature has been made available for awhile, but it is only available for pictures that have depth information. With this update, you can apply bokeh effects to more subjects, like food, plants, insects and more. It is also possible to apply it to old images that are in your Photos library too.

In order to get access to the feature, your device will need to have at least 3GB of RAM and running Android 8 or later version. All Pixel back to the first generation are able to use it for free, the rest need to be on a paid Google One subnoscription to use the feature.

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#Android #Transcribe
Live Transcribe can now works without an Internet connection
Live Transcribe can transcribe speech-to-text captions in real-time, at the same time offering multiple languages, which is useful for people who have difficulties in hearing.

Currently, it is required to have an Internet connection in order to transcribe speeches accurately and fast, but soon it will be possible to do it without an Internet connection. You will be able to use it in places that have poor or no Internet connections like villages, airplanes, underground public transit... you name it.

The app is preinstalled on nowadays Pixel and Samsung phones, other users can also download it from Play Store for free. To enable the feature, just go to the app settings and enable “Transcribe offline” toggle, then download the languages pack and you will be able to use it offline. A banner will also be shown to confirm that it runs without the Internet.

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#Android #Assistant
Google Assistant can pay for your parking fee
It is easier to pay your parking fee with the help of Google Assistant.

Just say "Hey Google, pay for parking," follow the on-screen instructions to pay for your parking fee. If you want to extend the time for parking, you can say “Hey Google, extend parking,” or “Hey Google, parking status” if you want check the remaining time for your parking,

This feature is only available in around 400 US cities with the partnership of ParkMobile.

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#Android
Nearby Share can share files with multiple devices at once
Nearby Share has been around for awhile now, and this time Google added the ability to send files to multiple devices instead of one at a time.

You can continue to select more people and share the files with them, which is much more convenient instead of having to repeat the process multiple times to share it with many people.

It's nice to see that Nearby Share is getting better over time, It is rolling out to devices running Android 6 & later.

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#Android #DigitalWellbeing #MY
Digital Wellbeing can show your screen time on your home screen
Digital Wellbeing is introduced with the release of Android 9, to help keep track of your screen time on the phone. Now, Google is introducing a new widget to help you keep aware of it all the time.

The widget shows the screen time and three of your most used apps of the day with some nice infographics. It is also designed to fit well with Material You and followed your wallpaper's color.

The widget is available to all Android phones running Android 9 or later, Android 12 will get dynamic color support for the widget as usual.

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#Android #Gboard
Gboard's grammar correction and more Emoji Kitchen mashup rolling out to all Android devices
If you're using Gboard as your default keyboard, you will be glad to know that it can helps you to correct grammar mistake, also letting you to create custom text stickers too.

Previously made exclusive to the Pixel 6, and later expand to more Pixel phones, now the grammar check feature is widely rolling out, which is able to correct your grammatical error and provide suggestions to improve the overall sentence. Your keyboard language will need to be set as English (U.S.) in order to get this feature.

You can also create unique emoji sticker by typing in two emoji and Emoji Kitchen will prompt you with emoji suggestions. Meanwhile custom text stickers is only available for Pixel devices, which is rolling out with the March Feature Drop update.

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#Android #Highlights
New Android features March 2022 Highlights
• Google TV app to get Material You redesign, adding 'Highlights' tab for entertainment news
• Google Photos bring Portrait Blur to all photos with more improvements
• Google Messages rolling out iMessage reactions, birthday reminders and more
• Live Transcribe can now works without an Internet connection
• Google Assistant can pay for your parking fee
• Nearby Share can share files with multiple devices at once
• Digital Wellbeing can show your screen time on your home screen
• Gboard's grammar correction and more Emoji Kitchen mashup rolling out to all Android devices

Source:
Google Blog

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#News #Pixel
Google resolved Widevine bug for some Pixel devices with Android 12L update
Android Police

Google has rolled out Android 12L to supported Pixel devices update a few days ago, bringing in a lot of improvements. For some weird reasons, several Pixel owners faced a Widevine bug issue nearly a year and after updating to Android 12L, many reported that it resolved the issue.

Widevine is a DRM solution developed by Google, used by media streaming apps to ensure secure video playback, and is separated into L1, L2, L3 three levels. L1 is the highest level and come with all Pixel devices by default, support streaming HD content, whereas L3 only allow you to stream SD content.

A lot of people that are affected got the level L3, which means losing the access to play HD content in Netflix for example. Earlier some people said after updating to Android 12L beta, it fixed the Widevine issue.

Now Android 12L stable update is released, more and more people are confirming the issue is gone for them., some said they had to factory reset in order to fix it permanently. Anyway it's nice to know that the issue is no longer there for most users at least.

#News #Android #StopRussianAggression
Google planning to bring Air Raid Alerts to all Android phones via Play Services update
XDA Developers

As the invasion of Ukraine continued, in order to protect citizens in Ukraine, Google is rolling out Air Raid Alerts system to all Android devices in Ukraine.

In Google Play Services v22.06.15, there is strings which indicated how the features work:
"This feature uses only your device’s approximate location to send notifications about potential air raids. Google does not use this location information to track or identify you."

That mean the Air Raid Alerts system will be activated and alerting you about air raid if you're somewhere in Ukraine, without needing an additional application.

Here's how the air raid notifications will look like:
• The Government of Ukraine issued an alert for %s at %s. Take shelter immediately.Tap to change settings.
• The Government of Ukraine canceled the alert for %s at %s. Tap to change settings.

As mentioned earlier, Google is starting to roll out the feature, hopefully people in the Ukraine can stay safe and protect themselves from these alerts.

#Android #A12L
Android 12L let you use scrolling screenshot for Webviews
XDA Developers

Android 12 introduced scrolling screenshot, allowing users to capture more of their screen in one shot. With Android 12L rolling out to more Pixel devices, a lot of stuff have been improved including scrolling screenshot too.

Previously it is not possible to use the feature in Webviews, but with Android 12L, Google managed to fix the issue. When opening webpage in a Webview and took a screenshot, you will see the "capture more" button appeared at the bottom which let you take a scrolling screenshot. Webview basically means an embedded browser which can load web pages in applications.

This feature is already first spotted (code review) by Mishaal Rahman and now widely available with the Android 12L update.

#GooglePlay #PlayStore
You can use Play Points balance to pay for apps, games and more
9To5Google

Earlier if you had wanted to cash in with your Play Points balance, you need to redeem a voucher or coupon first and later use it, but with an update, Google now let you to use Play Points balance directly when purchasing.

When going through the usual purchase screen, you will see a new section prompting you to "Use points." Tapping on it show you several options, one can save you $1 with 100 points, or you can just choose to spend points to pay for the purchase.

By the way, you can earn more points when spending in the Play Store depending on your level, varying from 1 to 1.4 point per every $1 spent.

#PlayStore
Play Store rewrote on Jetpack Compose, used up to 50% less code and gain faster rendering speed
Android Developers Blog

Play Store is about to get much more snappier than ever before. The code used for Play Store till today has been more than 10 years old and "had incurred tremendous tech debt" over the years, so the team is planning to rebuild it with a new framework, Jetpack Compose.

Regarding developer productivity, “hundreds of engineers” working on the app, and they found it "requires much less code, sometimes up to 50%" with declarative UI framework. They used the Ratings table as an example, saying it only just used 210 lines of Kotlin instead of 350 lines Java and 55 lines XML. They also mentioned animations are much easier to add too.

In performance, they said Play Store loads search page results with 40% less rendering time, with the help of baseline profiles. They also managed to "built a Modifier to easily spot these recompositions" in their debug settings, and saw jank reduced by 10~15%.

The team said it's "a big step-up for code quality and health," hopefully they can rollout the all new improved Play Store soon which should make the experience much better to use,