Google expands the availability of Android Earthquake Alerts System and adds Emergency SOS on Wear OS

At #GoogleIO 2022, Google announced that it is expanding the regional availability of earthquake detection in Android. A year ago, it had already introduced the feature in regions such as: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. (In total now available for 25 countries)

The company also announced the appearance of Emergency SOS on Wear OS devices. This feature will allow you to activate an emergency call on your watch, allowing you to easily contact pre-selected people and even emergency services in the area.

Google hasn't specified exactly when these new features will appear.

🔗 Google Blog

Follow Google News | En.

Пост на Google News | Ru.

Android 13 will make it easier to share clipboard contents between nearby devices.

At #GoogleIO 2022, the company reminded us of many of the features that were announced at CES 2022, but yet we still haven't heard about one of them yet.

Google revealed a new user experience that uses the clipboard interface from Android 13 Beta 1. There will now be a Nearby Share button next to the Pencil, which allows you to quickly send a copied text or image to another device. At the same time, the same interface appears on the receiving device.

The feature will be available this fall on smartphones and tablets with Android 13.

🔗 Google Blog

Follow Google News | En.

Пост на Google News | Ru.

Brief summary of the Google Pixel 6a:

• Pre-order opens July 21, 2022. And it will arrive in retail stores a week later, on July 28.

• Color options: Charcoal (black) , Chalk (gray-silver) , Sage (mint green).

• U.S. price - $449

• Where available: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. (Learn more about pricing at 9to5Google)

• The Verizon version will cost $50 more ($499) because it will offer mmWave 5G support, a faster version of 5G, while the unlocked version of the smartphone supports Sub6. (9to5Google)

• Android Central reported that the device is also coming to India, but at a later date. (Android Central)

• Rick Osterloh, the senior vice president of devices and services at Google, confirmed to Android Central during #GoogleIO 2022 that the Pixel 6a has a different fingerprint sensor than the Pixel 6/Pro. No details are given. (Android Central)

• Google has confirmed that the Pixel 6a will have cases made of the same material as the Pixel 6/Pro. No Fabric Cases. (9to5Google)

• In general, the specifications agree with what was leaked by EvLeaks, except that the Google Store specifies a battery of 4,410 mAh instead of 4,306 mAh.

• No Headphone jack, no Wireless Charging;

• Sizes: 152.2 x 71.8 x 8.7mm

• 3 years of Android updates and a total of 5 years of security updates

The new Google Health Connect app will sync fitness data from various Android apps, including Fitbit, Samsung Health and others.

At #GoogleIO 2022, the company teamed up with Samsung to introduce "Health Connect," a service and API for Android developers. It unifies data from multiple devices and apps into an ecosystem. Fitness apps will be able reading and writing a user’s health and fitness data from the Health Connect app on your phone.

Android users will be able to control over which apps have read and/or write access to different types of data. Health Connect includes the following key data categories:

• Activity
• Body Measurement
• Cycle Tracking
• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Vitals

Any Android developer can make an app that requests permission to read or write fitness data to Health Connect.

The Health Connect app is already available in early access on the Google Play Store for devices running Android Pie or newer. But so far, no apps are connecting to it.

🔗 Android Developers | Play Store

New Google apps with beta programs on Google Play.

Previously, the company opened beta testing programs for the YouTube Music and TV apps. And now Google Clock, Google News, and Google Play Books have joined them. Registration links are below:

• Google Clock
• Google News
• Google Play Books

After registering, you may have the status "Joining beta…" hanging for a long time. This happens to most users.

🔗 9to5Google

Google unveiled a new Android Auto design with improved adaptation to different display sizes and split screen

The first screenshots of this interface appeared back in early February. The main feature of the redesign, codenamed "Coolwalk", is improved adaptation and scaling to different display sizes and a split-screen layout.

The screen can be divided into three cards:

• mapping and navigation (largest);
• scrollable сontext suggestions from Assistant (analog Material You clock with the date, trip ETAs, incoming text notifications, missed calls etc.);
• player controls (music, podcasts, audiobooks);

They also redesigned the status bar, putting all the elements in one line and adding new icons. Depending on the display, it can be attached either at the bottom or on the left.

The new interface is expected to appear this summer.

#GoogleIO

🔗 Android Developers (YouTube)
🔗 Android (YouTube)