Maps, Gboard, and Four More Google Apps Are Getting Smarter With These Updates: All You Need to Know

Google is updating six in-house apps with new features ahead of the holiday season. The new features were announced for apps such as Google Maps, Gbaord, Voice Access, Android Auto, Nearby Share, and Google Play Books. The company in a blog post states that the new updates will make way to Android smartphones, while some of the features may also come to iOS versions of these apps in future. Several features are already available in the beta version of these apps, while the stable update will release shortly.

Starting with Gboard, the keyboard app by Google is getting a new feature that will allow users to mix two emojis. Dubbed as Emoji Kitchen, the feature will enable users to create unique emojis by mixing two emojis together. It is already available on Gboard beta, and the regular Gboard app running on smartphones with Android 6 and above is said to receive the update in the coming weeks. “The Emoji Kitchen is going from hundreds of unique design combinations to over 14,000. Each mix makes it easier for you to express yourself with a little extra flair,” the company explained in the blog post.

Similarly, Google Maps is getting a new ‘Go tab’ to help users navigate frequently visited places. The Go tab will replace the Commute tab on the app, and users here can pin their favourite destinations to get information about these places quickly. “Pin your favourite driving destinations like school or a grocery store to quickly see directions, live traffic trends, disruptions on your route, and an accurate ETA—all without typing the place’s address. If you take public transit, you can pin specific routes, which will let you see accurate departure and arrival times, alerts from your local transit agency, and an up-to-date ETA right from the Go Tab,” the tech giant noted. Google adds that the Go Tab on Maps is coming to both Android and iOS versions in the coming weeks.

Google is also working with publishers in the US and the UK to bring more audiobooks with auto-generated narration. With the auto-generated narrators, users will have access to those books that currently don’t audio versions. These books will be available to download via Google Play Store, and users can listen to them via the Google Play Books app. The tech giant says that the publisher tool to create auto-narrated audiobooks is currently in beta, but it will roll out to all publishers in early 2021.

The Google Voice Access for Android is getting a new update to help persons with motor disabilities. The new update will bring more voice controls so that users can manage apps via voice commands. For example, users can say “open Photos,” or “tap Your Map” to see a map of all photos on the smartphone. Google says this feature that relies on machine learning capabilities that make navigation “convenient and hands-free.” The feature is available on devices running Android 6 and above, globally.

Lastly, the Android Auto app that is the Android version of Apple’s Car Play is expanding to more countries. The app with Google Assitant makes it easier to do other tasks while driving. “With Android Auto, you can talk to Google to play music, send messages, get directions, and more, so you can keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” Google explained. The app is available in India as well with select car manufactures.

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