Category: Android

Google intends to drop a number of features from the Google Assistant app. The company claims those aren't frequently used. The list of options to kill incorporates  the sending voice messages  ability, as well as controlling the stopwatch on smart speakers.

A new research shows a work in progress by OpenAI that may lead to the replacement of the default Google Assistant on Android smartphones with a ChatGPT AI assistant.It will serve as in-place replacement that handles all user's requests.

Microsoft has quietly made available the Copilot app for Android. The app has been around for almost a week now, and the company hasn't bothered to announce it widely. It allows using the company's AI chat bot on the most popular mobile platform. The apps provides the dialog-based UI, and doesn't require the Bing app.

It is likely that Google will start reporting battery degradation on Android smartphones. Unlike iPhone users who can easily access battery status information in the settings, Android device owners are currently required to use third-party apps or special commands to check their battery health.

In typical company's fashion, Google will drop support for its online cinema service, Google Play Movies & TV. The company has already transitioned iOS and Android users to the Google TV app, as well as removing the service from Roku set-top boxes and most smart TVs.

Google is currently testing a new Smart Search feature that aims to enhance the process of finding information within PDF files and images. It is integrated in the Files app on Android, which is a file manager. By utilizing local machine learning, this option improves the searchability of files. The Smart Search option is able to scan the contents of files on the device automatically, resulting in more accurate search results.

Google Calendar will no longer work on devices running Android 7.1 (Nougat) and older. The latest manifest version of the application has a new line, UnsupportedOperatingSystem__enabled. It contains a message that users need to update their OS to Android 8 (Oreo) or later to continue using the application.

Google has announced that RCS (Rich Communication Service) messages will now be end-to-end encrypted by default, signaling a move towards replacing traditional SMS messaging.

Starting August 2023, Google will no longer release updates for the Android KitKat platform. Devices will no longer receive Play Services APKs after version 23.30.99.