YouTube Music can now play recommended music via Google Assistant, allow external devices to start music, and more

Google is slowly but surely getting ready to shut down Google Play Music, and YouTube Music is its replacement, for better or worse. The company has been adding features to bring YouTube Music up to speed with Google Play Music, and it has made some fair progress in recent months. The latest set of updates rolling out to YouTube Music add new features such as the ability to play recommended music via Google Assistant, allowing external devices to start playback, and bring over the “Recent Activity” section, in addition to other recent changes such as Android TV support and Google Maps integration.

Play recommended music on YouTube Music via Google Assistant

You can now play recommended music with simple Google Assistant voice commands. On Assistant-enabled phones and Google Nest smart speakers, you can say “Hey Google, play recommended music from YouTube Music” and have personalized music suggestions across your favorite artists and genres based on your listening history, play on your device.

Recent Activity

The “Last Played” section within the Library tab has been renamed to “Recent Activity”. This section now also shows recent albums and song additions to your library, much like how Google Play Music did.

Google did not note this feature in its press release, but the change has been spotted by users on Reddit.

Initiate YouTube Music playback via external devices

The app is now also surfacing an option that allows users to start playback through external devices, a feature that already existed in Google Play Music.

Google did not note this feature in its press release, but the change has been spotted by users on Reddit.

YouTube Music comes to Android TV

Google has brought over Android TV support for YouTube Music in a rather strange way. Instead of releasing a dedicated YouTube Music app for Android TV, Google has decided to instead bake the functionality within the existing YouTube for Android TV app. This server-side change was already spotted last month, so Google’s press release confirms its official rollout.

Google Maps integration

This is another feature that has already been rolling out to users over the past month, but Google is announcing the same nonetheless. You can now add YouTube Music’s playback controls to the navigation screen on Google Maps, making it easier to control music playback during your commute. To do so, tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of Google Maps and then tap on the Settings option. In the Settings menu, select Navigation settings and then tap on the toggle next to the “Show media playback controls” setting. Then select YouTube Music from the pop-up window, tap on Next, and then OK to confirm your selection.

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YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

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YouTube Music can now play recommended music via Google Assistant, allow external devices to start music, and more

Google is slowly but surely getting ready to shut down Google Play Music, and YouTube Music is its replacement, for better or worse. The company has been adding features to bring YouTube Music up to speed with Google Play Music, and it has made some fair progress in recent months. The latest set of updates rolling out to YouTube Music add new features such as the ability to play recommended music via Google Assistant, allowing external devices to start playback, and bring over the “Recent Activity” section, in addition to other recent changes such as Android TV support and Google Maps integration.

Play recommended music on YouTube Music via Google Assistant

You can now play recommended music with simple Google Assistant voice commands. On Assistant-enabled phones and Google Nest smart speakers, you can say “Hey Google, play recommended music from YouTube Music” and have personalized music suggestions across your favorite artists and genres based on your listening history, play on your device.

Recent Activity

The “Last Played” section within the Library tab has been renamed to “Recent Activity”. This section now also shows recent albums and song additions to your library, much like how Google Play Music did.

Google did not note this feature in its press release, but the change has been spotted by users on Reddit.

Initiate YouTube Music playback via external devices

The app is now also surfacing an option that allows users to start playback through external devices, a feature that already existed in Google Play Music.

Google did not note this feature in its press release, but the change has been spotted by users on Reddit.

YouTube Music comes to Android TV

Google has brought over Android TV support for YouTube Music in a rather strange way. Instead of releasing a dedicated YouTube Music app for Android TV, Google has decided to instead bake the functionality within the existing YouTube for Android TV app. This server-side change was already spotted last month, so Google’s press release confirms its official rollout.

Google Maps integration

This is another feature that has already been rolling out to users over the past month, but Google is announcing the same nonetheless. You can now add YouTube Music’s playback controls to the navigation screen on Google Maps, making it easier to control music playback during your commute. To do so, tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of Google Maps and then tap on the Settings option. In the Settings menu, select Navigation settings and then tap on the toggle next to the “Show media playback controls” setting. Then select YouTube Music from the pop-up window, tap on Next, and then OK to confirm your selection.

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YouTube Music - Stream Songs & Music Videos (Free, Google Play) →

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Gboard adds 3 new suggestions: Smart replies, GIF search, and stickers

Google is starting to roll out new types of suggestions on Gboard, making it easier than ever for users to communicate. Or more accurately, it’s easier than ever for Gboard to communicate for users.

According to Android Police, some Gboard users on Android are reporting seeing smart replies, sticker recommendations, and GIF search recommendations based on the last text that was sent. Here’s an album showing off these 3 new types of suggestions:

Screenshots via AndroidPolice

 

In the instance of smart replies, users might see suggested replies to a question. The screenshot above shows this new system in action. After a question is asked, one-word answers in bubbles are recommended. It doesn’t get any easier to communicate than that.

Sticker recommendations show up in much the same way. As you’re typing a message, a sticker may show up above the keyboard. Tap on it and you’ll get a larger preview; tap and hold it and a pop-up will let you see more items or turn off stickers entirely.

As for GIF search recommendations, they’ll show up in the search bar based on the last texts you’ve sent. So, if you send a text saying, “I’m so happy,” you might see GIF search recommendations for happy, excited, or joy. Likewise, messages with sad-sounding text in it might surface GIF search recommendations for relevant GIFs.

Obviously, much of this can already easily be done by a user with Gboard. The whole point is to reduce the friction of communication and surface these features without much interaction.

AndroidPolice says these features are being tested among a small group of Gboard users, so not everyone has access to them just yet. If all things go well, however, we may see more users gain access to these features to make communication easier than ever.

Gboard - the Google Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

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Gboard adds 3 new suggestions: Smart replies, GIF search, and stickers

Google is starting to roll out new types of suggestions on Gboard, making it easier than ever for users to communicate. Or more accurately, it’s easier than ever for Gboard to communicate for users.

According to Android Police, some Gboard users on Android are reporting seeing smart replies, sticker recommendations, and GIF search recommendations based on the last text that was sent. Here’s an album showing off these 3 new types of suggestions:

Screenshots via AndroidPolice

 

In the instance of smart replies, users might see suggested replies to a question. The screenshot above shows this new system in action. After a question is asked, one-word answers in bubbles are recommended. It doesn’t get any easier to communicate than that.

Sticker recommendations show up in much the same way. As you’re typing a message, a sticker may show up above the keyboard. Tap on it and you’ll get a larger preview; tap and hold it and a pop-up will let you see more items or turn off stickers entirely.

As for GIF search recommendations, they’ll show up in the search bar based on the last texts you’ve sent. So, if you send a text saying, “I’m so happy,” you might see GIF search recommendations for happy, excited, or joy. Likewise, messages with sad-sounding text in it might surface GIF search recommendations for relevant GIFs.

Obviously, much of this can already easily be done by a user with Gboard. The whole point is to reduce the friction of communication and surface these features without much interaction.

AndroidPolice says these features are being tested among a small group of Gboard users, so not everyone has access to them just yet. If all things go well, however, we may see more users gain access to these features to make communication easier than ever.

Gboard - the Google Keyboard (Free, Google Play) →

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WhatsApp now lets you quickly search Google for forwarded messages

WhatsApp users can now search the web when receiving certain forwarded messages flagged by the platform. The messaging platform on Monday detailed the new feature, saying it provides users with a quick way to find news results and other sources of information.

When a forwarded message is shared, a magnifying glass will appear next to the message, signifying you can tap the magnifying glass button to search the web. To preserve privacy, users choose to upload messages via their browser without WhatsApp itself ever seeing the message. That way, end-to-end encryption will be preserved as the user is the one sending the contents of forwarded messages to their web browser.

The messaging platform first started flagging forwarded messages back in 2018. Earlier this year, they tightened restrictions on frequently forwarded messages by preventing users from sharing these messages to more than one chat at a time. With this new feature, users can quickly verify the veracity of any claims in a forwarded message for themselves by performing a quick Google search query.

WhatsApp said its “search the web” option will be available starting today in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and the US for Android, iOS, and WhatsApp Web. This feature was spotted in beta tests earlier this year alongside other upcoming features like multi-device access, searching by date, and more.

WhatsApp Messenger (Free, Google Play) →

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Source: WhatsApp

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WhatsApp now lets you quickly search Google for forwarded messages

WhatsApp users can now search the web when receiving certain forwarded messages flagged by the platform. The messaging platform on Monday detailed the new feature, saying it provides users with a quick way to find news results and other sources of information.

When a forwarded message is shared, a magnifying glass will appear next to the message, signifying you can tap the magnifying glass button to search the web. To preserve privacy, users choose to upload messages via their browser without WhatsApp itself ever seeing the message. That way, end-to-end encryption will be preserved as the user is the one sending the contents of forwarded messages to their web browser.

The messaging platform first started flagging forwarded messages back in 2018. Earlier this year, they tightened restrictions on frequently forwarded messages by preventing users from sharing these messages to more than one chat at a time. With this new feature, users can quickly verify the veracity of any claims in a forwarded message for themselves by performing a quick Google search query.

WhatsApp said its “search the web” option will be available starting today in Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, UK, and the US for Android, iOS, and WhatsApp Web. This feature was spotted in beta tests earlier this year alongside other upcoming features like multi-device access, searching by date, and more.

WhatsApp Messenger (Free, Google Play) →

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Source: WhatsApp

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The new Google Assistant will soon support German, French, Spanish, and Italian on the Pixel 4a/4

Today, Google lifted the veil on the Pixel 4a, the company’s second-ever mid-range Pixel smartphone. They also surprisingly teased the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 for a fall launch. But new hardware isn’t all that Google announced today. The company also announced software updates to two of its nifty AI-powered features: Live Caption and the new Google Assistant. The former can now work over voice and video calls while the latter will soon work in 4 new European languages: German, French, Spanish, and Italian.

Back at Google I/O 2019, Google demonstrated a much faster version of its Google Assistant service. According to Google, the “new Google Assistant” processes speech at nearly zero latency, offers nearly real-time transcriptions, and works without a network connection. They accomplished this by trimming down 100GB of speech recognition and language understanding machine learning models to less than 0.5GB in size. The new Google Assistant experience also supports Continued Conversations and integrates with other Google apps on your device.

At launch, the new Google Assistant was only available on the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL in U.S. English and with personal Google accounts. However, Google has since expanded support to G Suite accounts, new English locales including Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and Singapore, and the first foreign language: Japanese. With the Pixel 4a launch, however, Google announced that the new Google Assistant will be available in the aforementioned 4 European languages.

Introduced last year, the new Google Assistant is also available on Pixel 4a to help with multitasking across apps and getting things done quickly, like finding a photo or sending a text. You can now try out the new experience in German, French, Spanish and Italian, in addition to English, with more languages coming soon.

Google’s support page has been updated to reflect today’s announcement, with the notice that support for these 4 languages “will be available soon.” We’ll let you know when these new languages are added. Meanwhile, check out our Pixel 4a coverage to learn more about Google’s latest device.

Google Pixel 4 Forums ||| Google Pixel 4 XL Forums ||| Google Pixel 4a Forums

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