As the year comes to a close, many frantic smartphone users haven't had the chance to explore the major updates to Google and iPhone operating systems that arrived this fall. When you finally have a break, or maybe even a new phone in your gift collection, why not start with some of the most personally interesting features that can help you enjoy it more? Android 14 either iOS 17? Below are some highlights.
Express yourself
Google's Android 14 release was largely focused on improving safety and accessibility features. But Google has also added new ways to personalize Phone screens with new wallpapers, app widgets and shortcuts. To get started, open the Settings app, select Wallpaper & Style, and choose to personalize your device.
Apple has many options in its iOS 17 Wallpaper Settingsbut with last week's iOS update 17.2users can get deeply personal in a different way with the new diary app included with the software; It is also in the app store. Journal is a free digital journal for recording thoughts and feelings through text, images, and topic suggestions. You can back up your encrypted entries to your iCloud account, where you'll get five gigabytes of free online storage before Apple. start charging.
Apple's multimedia diary is similar to third-party applications such as Day one and Journey, which have free and paid premium versions. While Google has yet to add its own dedicated diary app to Android, some people use the company's free app. Keep and Documents apps for your thoughtful moments.
Search your world
Image-based search adds another dimension to activities like shopping, going to museums, traveling, or just walking around town. Existing Apple Visual search The feature to identify objects in photos got a boost in iOS 17 and now works in videos too. To use it, simply open a photo or pause a video on your phone and tap the Info icon (third from the left) at the bottom of the screen. If more information is available about the subject of the image, tap Search to view search results.
(Another trick with Visual Look Up: When you see a bright white outline around the main object in a photo, tap it to open a pop-up menu. Select Add sticker to save a cropped copy of the object that you can send in a message or insert from iPhone emoji keyboard.)
Google Lensinserted in 2017, has become increasingly accurate by combining object identification and relevant search results on the Internet. Let's say you are in a museum and I want more information in the work of art you are looking at through your phone's camera. Tap the adjacent Google Lens icon to view articles collected by Google Search.
Google Lens works with objects in still photos and exported frames of video clips. It is available as android app but it's integrated elsewhere, including in Google's standalone app for Android and iOS.
Both Apple Visual search and Google Lens It can recognize, copy and translate text in images you see through the camera. Please consult each company's privacy policy if you have concerns about data collection.
Take off
Android developers have been sneaking little surprises into the system code for years, and this year's update brings a hidden game. To find out, open the Settings app and scroll down to About Phone. Tap it and then tap Android Version.
On the next screen, quickly tap Android Version three times to start the game. On the game screen, press and hold the Android 14 logo until the phone starts vibrating and a small spaceship appears. Press your finger on the screen to get the direction controls and use the position information in the corner to fly to different stars.
Go to standby mode
Apple's iOS 17 includes a Support feature that turns your iPhone lock screen into a smart screen to display time, temperature, photos, music, recipes, and other apps. When enabled in iPhone settings, standby mode activates when the phone is charging and remains stable in the horizontal screen orientation.
If you don't care about the default widgets, press and hold your finger on either side of the screen to choose new ones from the list of standby-friendly options. The Night Mode option in settings gives the screen a red tint if you decide to use the phone as a bedside clock.
