Apps
Android Auto 13.3 update hints at radio station integration
Google has rolled out the Android Auto 13.3 Beta update, which reveals exciting new radio features. The fresh update hints at new ways to manage radio stations and local media on your car’s infotainment system.
Over the past few months, Google has been working on a “Car Media” app designed to provide more control over local media, using both locally stored content and streaming services.
Now, the Android Auto 13.3 beta update suggests that Google is focusing on integrating radio stations, with the addition of a comprehensive list of music genres and radio station categories ranging from genres like Classic Rock and Jazz to Emergency and Weather programming.
The full list of genres and categories is as follows:
- Adult hits
- Alarm
- Alarm test
- “Children’s programmes”
- Classic rock
- Classical
- College
- Country
- Country music
- Culture
- Current affairs
- Documentary
- Drama
- Easy listening
- Education
- Emergency
- Emergency test
- Finance
- Folk music
- Hip hop
- Information
- Jazz
- Jazz music
- Language
- Leisure
- Light classical
- National music
- News
- Nostalgia
- Oldies
- Oldies music
- Other music
- Personality
- Phone-in
- Pop music
- Public
- Religion
- Religious music
- Religious talk
- Rhythm and blues
- Rock
- Rock music
- Science
- Serious classical
- Social affairs
- Soft music
- Soft rhythm and blues
- Soft rock
- Spanish Music
- Spanish Talk
- Sport
- Sports
- Talk
- Top 40
- Travel
- Varied
- Weather
Although we haven’t seen these features appear yet, the update hints that they are coming soon. Right now, it seems like these categories are being prepared as placeholders for radio station data. They will likely show up when the “Car Media” app is fully launched.
However, it’s unclear exactly when these radio features will be available or how they will work. The new functionality might require deeper integration with car systems, which Google has been working on recently.
WhatsApp is testing a new feature in its latest beta update that will bring themed icons to contacts and group chats. Users of Android devices can verify the new update via version 2.24.24.12.
Currently, when a contact or group chat doesn’t have a profile photo, WhatsApp shows a simple grey icon. In the upcoming update, WhatsApp will introduce colorful icons, which makes it easier to tell contacts and groups apart.
Each icon will have its color, which will help users quickly identify chats, even if they have the same name or no profile picture. This change is similar to the color-coded icons seen in the Android address book for contacts without photos.
The new themed icons will be especially useful for users who don’t set profile pictures, as the different colors will make it much simpler to recognize who’s who.
WhatsApp’s new colorful icons feature is under testing and will be available in a future update. If you’re using the WhatsApp beta on an Android device, you may see this feature in the coming weeks.
Aside from this, WhatsApp is also testing the new color theme feature, allowing users to choose the main color of the app. The light mode will get a sleek black theme instead of the usual green, while the dark mode will feature white as the primary color.
These features and changes aim to give WhatsApp a modern, minimalist look while improving readability. Stay tuned for updates as WhatsApp is continuously working to make new features available for users.
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Google Wallet is preparing to introduce a new feature that will send notifications based on your location. The app will soon alert you about event tickets, flight updates, and other passes when you’re close to the relevant place.
Currently, Google Wallet sends alerts for things like flights, events, and passes, but these notifications aren’t based on where you are. However, a recent teardown of the app’s version 24.44.695355101 update (spotted by Android Authority) reveals that Google Wallet will soon send notifications for tickets and passes based on your nearby places or location.
With the upcoming “Nearby notifications” feature, Google Wallet will start sending you reminders when you’re close to the location related to your pass.
For example, if you have concert tickets stored in your Wallet and you’re near the venue, you’ll get a notification to remind you about your tickets. This will make it easier to stay on top of your passes without having to check the app manually.
In addition to this, you’ll also be able to customize these notifications. You can choose whether or not to receive location-based alerts for each pass. For example, you can turn off notifications for parking passes if you don’t want to be reminded about them when you’re near a parking lot.
While the feature isn’t available yet, it’s expected to be included in a future update to Google Wallet. Once it rolls out, it will make managing your tickets and passes much more convenient. Stay tuned for more information.
Samsung has rolled out a fresh update for its Photo Editor app, which brings new features to enhance the user experience. This fresh update makes editing photos and creating custom stickers more intuitive and versatile than ever before.
The latest update adds the ability to save Sketch-to-Image generated results individually. Previously, users could create sketches and transform them into detailed images, but now they can save these results as separate files.
With this new feature, you can now save each sketch transformation as its own image file, making it simpler to organize and share your creations.
In addition, the update introduces a new manual area selection tool for creating custom stickers. This feature is available in the app’s “Labs” section and lets you manually choose specific areas of an image.
You can now choose out specific part of a photo and turn it into a sticker. This gives you more control over how you select a part of an image to make it easier to create personalized designs or stickers for your photos.
This fresh update of the Samsung Editor improves the app by adding more creative options. Whether you want to save your sketch results or create unique stickers from your photos, these new tools make the app more flexible and user-friendly.
Samsung is continuously improving its apps to give users more ways for personalization. So, if you’re using a Galaxy device, install the update now to enjoy new features.
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