The advent of MWC is always an opportunity for Google to shine a light on some smaller, but still useful, tweaks to its ecosystems. This year, the Android giant is unveiling a raft of minor additions to Android and Wear OS designed to further smooth the bumps in your digital life. That includes a new widget for Google Keep that’ll let you check-off to-do lists from the comfort of your home screen. You’ll also get the ability to, with a compatible watch, let you dictate notes and to-do list items from your wrist.
Another more notable change is improved noise cancellation in Google Meet when used on some Android devices. The company says that, much like the feature as it already exists, you’ll find the noise of nearby construction or other distractions will be crunched to oblivion while you chat. And, on the audio front, Google says that you’ll soon be able to use Chrome OS’ Fast Pair feature to connect new Bluetooth headphones to your machine with a single tap.
Less notable additions include the ability to mash together different emoji to offer a more topic relevant response. In the example, you can merge the Basketball emoji with the Heart Eyes, to give you either a heart-shaped basketball, or add a basketball-like texture to those same heart eyes. Similarly, Android handsets will get new tap-to-pay animations to bring some cartoonish cheer to balance out the misery of spending money on things.
And, on the accessibility front, Chrome on Android will now let you zoom the size of content by up to 300 percent while preserving page layout. Wear OS 3+, meanwhile, will offer Mono-audio for those who might be distracted by stereo, as well as grayscale and color-correction modes for your watch display for easier viewing. If you’re interested in learning more about this, you can check out Google’s full and comprehensive work-up of all the features over at its blog.