New features are on the way for Android phones and Pixel devices thanks to First quarterly Android 15 platform update. New features for all eligible Android phones include more descriptive video subtitles, an update to the Gemini-powered Lookout app, and a Spotify extension for Gemini. Pixel owners will receive some additional updates, including deeper integration of the Pixel Screenshots app for Pixel 9 phones.
Enhanced subtitles, or expressive subtitles as Google calls them, add descriptive phrases to try to capture unspoken moments in the dialogue; think (gasp) or (applause). They will appear throughout your system wherever you can access video subtitles, including social media apps and video messages.
Another accessibility-oriented update is aimed at Lookout, an app that provides audio descriptions of photographs and objects for people with low vision or blindness. Google is adding its Gemini 1.5 model to the image Q&A portion of the app to offer better descriptions of photos taken or opened with the app. It's a continuation of an effort Google highlighted at I/O to bring more ai features to Lookout.
On the ai front, Google is adding more extensions to the Gemini Assistant. The Spotify extension allows you to play music from Spotify through Gemini. When Gemini Assistant debuted, it was missing basic features like this, capabilities that the non-ai Assistant has been offering for the better part of a decade. This is another step towards feature parity between Gemini and the standard Google Assistant. Gemini will also have access to the Utilities extension that has been rolling out, allowing you to take more actions on your behalf, such as making phone calls, sending emails, and changing phone settings.
Other highlights of this update include the ability to create stickers with Emoji Kitchen within Gboard, share photos with a QR code in Quick Share, and an improved scanning mode for receipts and similar in Google Drive.
Pixel phones get a little more with the December feature drop, with several new features specifically for the Pixel 9 series. The call screening feature gets a potentially useful update with contextual answer suggestions. While the caller is talking to the assistant, they can tap an answer to answer questions without answering the call.
The Pixel 9 Screenshots app also gets some updates. Now, when you use Circle to Search, you'll have the option to save that search in the Screenshots app, which seems like a logical place to keep track of your past queries. You can also activate a new feature to show suggested search phrases in Gboard based on what you save in Screenshots. And if you added tickets or credit cards to Google Wallet with a screenshot, you'll also be able to save them in the Screenshots app.
There are a few other features on the feature list for previous-generation Pixel phones, including identity verification, which will require additional authentication if the phone detects that you are in a new location and sensitive settings are being accessed. It all starts rolling out today for phones running Android 15 and Pixel 6 and newer phones.
