Google I/O: 10 New Updates Heading to Your Android Devices

As part of its Google I/O event Wednesday, the company revealed the second beta of Android 15 with a ton of improvements across the product line, from phones to watches to TVs. Many of the new updates include the company's new Gemini AI tech, making things faster and more powerful.

The team shared a few things on Monday, including Circle to Search coming to homework help, a Gemini overlay in Android itself, and clearer descriptions in Talkback, a way for people with visual disabilities to interact with their mobile device.

Today, however, Google dug even deeper, with 10 new features coming to Android 15, like Private Space, Theft Detection Lock, Play Protect, and more augmented reality features to boot.

Google Gemini AI Hits Android 15

Private space is a new way to create a separate environment on your Android device that requires a second authentication to access. It's a way to keep more private stuff even more private than just on your phone, and it includes a separate notification system for those private apps and a way to hide its existence altogether.

Coming later this year, Theft Detection Lock will use AI to sense if someone grabs your phone out of your hand and tries to get away with it. If that theft motion is detected, your phone will lock down and keep your data safe.

Google AI also comes into play with Play Protect, a new system to spot apps that might be fraudulent or engaging in phishing attempts. The AI will analyze how your apps use sensitive permissions and how they interact with other apps to decide if there's any foul play. Your phone will send the analysis to Google for review, and the company promises to warn users or disable the app if it's found to be harmful. The company is careful to note that this system won't collect any personal data while working, either.

You can already save digital versions of stuff that has a barcode or QR code to your Google Wallet, but the new Android will soon let you create a digital version of simple text passes, too, like event tickets, library cards, auto insurance cards, or gym memberships, leading to less paper you have to carry around with you.

Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and Android in the Car

Augmented Reality (AR) is coming to Google Maps, too, with special experiences for places like Singapore and Paris. The company notes that these AR features are setting up a "foundation for the extended reality (XR) platform that we're building in collaboration with Samsung and Qualcomm for the Android ecosystem."

Google built-in, the company's car-centric system, is coming to more cars (Acura ZDX, Ford Explorer, and more) and will include ways to watch shows on Max or Peacock and play games like Angry Birds on included screens. The company is also bringing Google Cast to cars with Android Automotive OS, starting with EV-maker Rivian "in the coming months."

Wear OS gets some updates, too, with battery life optimizations in Wear OS 5, along with more data types for running apps like ground contact time, stride length, and vertical oscillation.

Coming later this month, Google says Android 15 will update the Find My Device app with support for Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee, with support for more tags from eufy, Jio, Motorola, and more coming later this year.

AI comes to Google TV in the form of content recommendations and filling in descriptions for shows and movies that have missing or untranslated descriptions, while RCS is set for Japanese users soon, as well.