Key Takeaways
- Android’s latest Feature Drop includes enhancements to the Assistant’s “At a Glance” feature, bringing it closer to the capabilities of Pixel smartphones.
- Google’s Image Q&A with Lookout is now out of closed beta, allowing users to describe and ask questions about images in 34 languages.
- Users can import digital passes into Google Wallet via photos, and Zoom and Webex meetings will soon be available on Android Auto. Fitbit sleep tracker data can also be included in the good morning routine with a simple voice command.
Android 14 is just on the horizon, but Android’s own Quarterly Feature Drops are still chugging along. This quarter’s feature drop brings plenty of useful new features to all Android users and should come to all supported devices in the coming weeks and months. Note that an Android Feature Drop is not the same as a Pixel Feature Drop, where Pixel-related drops are only for Google’s own Pixel phones.
Keep in mind as well that with this Android Feature Drop, it’s not clear how some features will be rolled out. It may be the case that some can simply roll out as part of an application update, but others may need to come in the form of a system update. This is the first-ever Android Feature Drop, so we’re not sure how things are really going to work just yet.
First and foremost, the Assistant app’s “At a Glance” that’s available on non-Pixel phones has been supercharged, giving it some AI features that bring it closer in line with what you can get on an actual Pixel smartphone. It’s not the full experience obviously with the likes of Nest Doorbell integration and all that, but it will give you prompts like when to leave for the airport, weather updates, and more.
On top of that, Google’s Image Q&A, with Lookout, is now out of closed beta. How it works is simple: provide Lookout an image, and it can then describe the image to you. You can then ask questions about the image to hear a response, with 11 new languages for a total of 34.
Other than that, you’ll finally be able to import digital passes into Google Wallet via photos, meaning that any apps that only have a digital pass on your phone but no way to import them to Google Wallet can finally be imported anyway. The company also reiterated that Zoom and Webex meetings would come to Android Auto, where you can join conference calls from within your car.
The last big announcement in Android’s Feature Drop involves Fitbit and Google Fit. You’ll be able to hear the data collected overnight from your sleep tracker as part of your good morning routine, simply by saying “Hey Google, good morning.”
These updates are expected to roll out to devices in the coming weeks, though Google did not private a timeframe.
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