In the past few hours, several new features have emerged relating to Google apps and services for Android, specifically Gboard (Beta channel), Call Screen (for Pixels) and Weather, which should become a new independent app. Here are all the details.
GBOARD: POSSIBILITY TO CUSTOMIZE THE TOOLBAR
The feature was presented in the Beta circuit already a few months ago, but so far its availability has been very limited even in the Beta circuit. It seems that now Google has finally decided to “turn on the taps”, so to speak. In essence, the developers of Mountain View have created (on Android, for now) a newly designed toolbar, with squarer and denser shortcut buttons, at least in the secondary menu that can be called up thanks to the first button at the top left. From the secondary menu it is therefore possible replace the always visible shortcuts, of which there are four, simply using drag & drop.
CALL SCREEN, SIMPLIFIED INTERFACE ON PIXELS
Google is slowly rolling out a feature update that spots potential advertising calls on its smartphones. Basically, instead of including multiple options for each type of unwanted call (call center, blocked/withheld numbers, numbers not in directory, and so on) you can now set three levels of protection: base, medium and maximum. The first level automatically rejects only calls from numbers known to be spam, the second answers and filters calls deemed suspicious, the third answers and filters all incoming calls.
GOOGLE WEATHER BECOMES AN APP IN ITS OWN
Colleagues of 9to5google have discovered that the Mountain View giant is working to separate what until now was simply a part of the main Search app and turn it into an app in its own right. It’s easy to imagine that with the advent of smartwatches, tablets and foldables, each with their own layout needs, Google decided that the time was ripe to guarantee greater independence and versatility in the weather service.
The clues for now are scarce in terms of quantity, but excellent in terms of quality: rummaging through the system resources of one new version of the Clock app (the 7.5), the source indeed found clear references to a new package called com.google.android.apps.weather. Apparently (and as it is logical to assume) the two apps will be widely integrated with each other – the watch will also show some graphic indications on the current weather conditions of the selected location, as shown by new image files uploaded in this version of the app.
It remains to be seen when this new app will arrive. In this sense there are no indications, but it is very easy to predict that it will be made available on the occasion of the release of Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet next month. We assume it will be compatible with most Android devices, not just Google ones.
