"You can now create custom icon shapes, cohesive themes, and extend dark mode to apps that don't have their own dark theme. The overhauled parental controls let you manage screen time, downtime, app usage, and rewards directly on your kid's devices, while AI-powered notification summaries give you a TL;DR of long messages or group chats. Related notifications are also now grouped, and lower-priority notifications, like promotions, are silenced."
"Expressive Captions now have the relevant emotion tags, and they're rolling out in English-speaking YouTube videos as well as across Android. Configurable AutoClick for mouse users reduces strain, Guided Frame is now more descriptive about what's in the camera's view on the Pixel camera app, and you can launch Voice Access with a voice command to Gemini. Fast Pair for hearing aids is also expanding (now available for Demant, Starkey support coming in early 2026), and better voice dictation with TalkBack is coming soon."
"Google is also showing some love to older versions of Android, with features that aren't 16-specific, such as Emoji Kitchen stickers, the ability to leave and report group chats in Google Messages, the option to check for scams with Circle to Search, and pinned tabs in Chrome just like on desktop. My favorite new feature is Call Reason, which enables you to flag your call to any saved contact as "urgent." -Simon Hill"
Google released an Android update that introduces custom icon shapes, cohesive themes, and extended dark mode for apps lacking native support. Parental controls were overhauled to manage screen time, downtime, app usage, and rewards directly on children's devices. AI-powered notification summaries create TL;DRs for long messages and group chats, while related notifications are grouped and lower-priority alerts are silenced. Accessibility enhancements include Expressive Captions with emotion tags, Configurable AutoClick, Guided Frame improvements, Voice Access via Gemini, expanded Fast Pair hearing-aid support, and forthcoming TalkBack dictation. Pixel devices receive the features first, with third-party device rollouts to follow. Older Android versions gain Emoji Kitchen stickers, group-chat reporting in Messages, Circle to Search scam checks, pinned Chrome tabs, and a Call Reason option to mark calls as urgent.
Read at WIRED
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