Digital car keys function is now available on Pixel 6 and Samsung Galaxy S21 for compatible BMW vehicles

Google has uncovered a large number of features and updates for Android 12. Beginning today, the digital car key function that was reported at Google I/O in May is accessible on Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S21 for viable BMW vehicles in select countries. You can use your phone to lock and unlock the doors, and start the engine. The feature is possible coming to different vehicles later — Google has been working with other, anonymous automakers on help for digital car keys.

There’s presently an option to open Android Auto automatically when you connect your gadget to a viable vehicle. Likewise, the home screen will have an always-on play button, so you can fire up your favorite music with a single tap.

Smart reply options (which will show up in the coming months) will offer more ways of reacting to text messages while you’re driving. You can tap to reply or make a custom message with the help of Google Assistant. Additionally coming soon, there’ll be a faster way to search for music in your media apps. Simply tap the search button and say the name of your favorite artist or song.

Other media-centric options are coming to the home screen of Android 12 proper. A YouTube Music widget, for example, incorporates playback controls and recently played songs. Two different widgets are carrying out the next week. One for Google Play Books offers access to your library of books and could assist you with monitoring where you are in audiobooks.

A Google Photos People and Pets widget, in the interim, gives an easy way for carrying your friends and family to the home screen. Select a few faces and a frame, and your family, companions, and pets can take pride of place on the home screen.

Elsewhere in Google Photos, you’ll begin to see Memories in the photo grid. It’s an arranged selection of photos and videos from holidays and events like birthday celebrations and graduations, which are shown in a stories format. Alongside renaming, personalizing, and correcting them, you’ll have the option to remove Memories from the grid.

Google is bringing Family Bell from smart home products to cell phones. You can set up the feature to alert you and your family with bells and notifications when it’s an ideal opportunity to do specific things, like getting kids from school or getting to bed at a decent hour.

Relatives can set or customize however many bells as they like on their own gadgets to keep stay on schedule. Google will offer recommended bells as well, including holiday-themed ones like volunteering for a local cause or watering the tree.

In Gboard’s Emoji Kitchen, you’ll see thousands more emoji mashups. They’ll be accessible for Gboard Beta clients beginning today and for everybody in the coming weeks.

Last, yet not least, Google declared another Android security measure. To assist with ensuring your privacy, your gadget will automatically turn off runtime permissions (which permit apps to access data or complete activities for you) in apps you haven’t used in some time.

You can turn these permissions back on in the app or the gadget settings. The feature will be accessible on Android 12 at first. Beginning next month, Google intends to carry it out to gadgets with Google Play services running Android 6.0 or later.