The headliner at I/O 2023 was Google’s upcoming Search Generative Expertise, a brand new AI-driven method to go looking that has digital media publications staring off into the gap and questioning their life selections. But additionally, Android 14 will allow you to customise your wallpapers and ask AI to provide you with snappy comebacks in textual content messages, so all of it evens out. Or one thing.
Google launched the primary developer preview of Android 14 in February, and the second beta dropped(Opens in a brand new window) this week at I/O. A ultimate launch is scheduled for “later within the 12 months,” Google says. On the firm’s annual developer convention this week, we bought a peek at consumer-focused AI customization choices for the brand new cellular OS, plus just a few extras for these with older handsets.
A few of these enhancements are coming to all Android gadgets, whereas others are Pixel-exclusives. This is what we’re wanting ahead to testing out.
Emoji and Cinematic wallpaper (Credit score: Google)
1. Rock Across the AI-Generated Clock
Google’s Materials You(Opens in a brand new window) design method allows you to customise your Android machine with a strong collection of dynamic wallpapers and complementary colours. Android 14 will add new lock-screen customizations, together with clocks, shortcuts, and wallpapers.
Cinematic wallpaper, for instance, turns images in your library into 3D photos, whereas emoji wallpaper allows you to customise your machine utilizing emoji mixtures, patterns, and colours. Search for each to roll out first on Pixel gadgets in June.
Generative AI, in the meantime, will allow you to create a wallpaper from textual content prompts when it lands on Android gadgets this fall.
2. Enhance Your Texting Abilities With Magic Compose
Are your texts getting boring? Much like Good Compose on Gmail, Magic Compose for Android offers you a useful writing software, letting you reply to others with messages recommended by AI. These may be easy automated messages, or extra verbose, stylistic replies that make your messages appear extra skilled. You may as well use Magic Compose to mimic well-known writing kinds, do you have to occur to really feel like roleplaying as Shakespeare on a given day. Good Compose rolls out this summer season in beta.
(Credit score: Google)
3. Banish Dangerous Pictures With Magic Editor
In case your Photoshop expertise are subpar, the AI-powered Magic Editor for Google Pictures guarantees to let individuals make “complicated edits with out pro-level enhancing ability.” Dynamically edit images to take away objects or reposition topics for Instagram-worthy snaps. Google used the instance of eradicating a bag strap or brightening the sky in a photograph as a result of “generally the distinction between a so-so image and the right shot comes right down to getting the framing excellent,” the corporate says. Choose Pixel telephones will get entry to Magic Editor later this 12 months.
4. Make Your Social Posts Pop
Talking of Instagram images, Google is including assist for Night time Mode and 10-bit HDR video in social apps. Android 14 can even get Extremely HDR(Opens in a brand new window), “so you’ll be able to take and examine images with brilliant colours, crisp shadows and all-around superb definition.”
(Credit score: Google)
5. Improved Discover My Machine
As soon as your Android gadgets are loaded up with the most recent and best options, ensure you do not misplace them. An upcoming replace to Discover My Machine(Opens in a brand new window) is not unique to Android 14, nevertheless it’ll roll out this summer season alongside the brand new cellular OS. As soon as launched, Discover My Machine will faucet into “over a billion Android gadgets the world over that can assist you find your lacking belongings like headphones, tracker tags, and even your cellphone through Bluetooth proximity.”
At the moment, Discover My Machine locates lacking devices which might be linked to the web and have location capabilities turned on. However that is not tremendous useful in case your cellphone has been snatched from a bag or pocket out within the wild. So utilizing Android gadgets casts a wider web, just like how AirTags use Apple’s community of gadgets to maintain tabs on the tracker. (Ultimately, each OSes may play good with one another relating to monitoring.)
Google says Discover My Machine will work with Bluetooth trackers from Tile, Chipolo(Opens in a brand new window), and Pebblebee(Opens in a brand new window). The Pixel Buds, in addition to headphones from Sony and JBL, can even “be part of the Discover My Machine ecosystem quickly,” Google says.
(Credit score: Google)
6. Enhanced Location Safety
Trackers are nice for retaining tabs in your gadgets, however they’re additionally being utilized by unhealthy actors to stalk individuals. The issue is most blatant when individuals use AirTags to trace these with an Android machine. Until you obtain a particular Android app, or hear the audible alert, you will not get alerts in regards to the unknown machine. Google’s answer is unknown tracker alerts, which can warn you if it detects a tracker not linked to your gadgets. See on a map the place the monitoring originated, disable the tracker, or proactively seek for them earlier than an alert seems. Google says(Opens in a brand new window) this may “work with broadly used Bluetooth trackers, together with Apple AirTags and all trackers suitable with the Discover My Machine community.” It launches later this summer season.
