Discover the fun side of software updates for iPhone and Android
As the year draws to a close, many frenzied smartphone users haven’t yet had a chance to explore the major updates to the Google and iPhone operating systems that arrived this fall. Now that you’re finally getting a breather – or maybe even a new phone in your gift package – you can start with some of the more personally appealing features that will make it easier to get started Android 14 or iOS 17? Here are some highlights.
Express yourself
Google’s release of Android 14 was largely focused on improvement security and accessibility features. But Google has also added new ways to adjust phone screens with new wallpaper, app widgets and shortcuts. To get started, open the Settings app, select Wallpaper & Style and make your choices to personalize your device.
Apple has plenty of options in its range iOS 17 Wallpaper Settingsbut with iOS from last week 17.2 updatedusers can get very personal in a different way with the new Journal app supplied with the software; it is also in the App Store. Journal is a free digital diary for recording thoughts and feelings through text, images and topic suggestions. You can back up your encrypted data to your iCloud account, where you get five gigabytes of free online storage space before Apple starts charging.
Apple’s multimedia Journal is similar to third-party apps Day one And trip, which have free and paid premium versions. Although Google hasn’t yet added its own dedicated diary app to Android, some people are using the company’s free app To hold And Documents apps for their pensive moments.
Search your world
Image-based search adds a new dimension to activities such as shopping, going to a museum, traveling or simply walking around the city. Apple exists Visually look up feature for identifying objects in photos got a boost in iOS 17 and now works on videos too. To use it, just open a photo or pause a video on your phone and tap the Info icon (the third from the left) at the bottom of the screen. If more information is available about the subject of the image, tap Lookup to view the search results.
(Another trick with Visual Look Up: If you see a glowing white outline around the main object in a photo, tap it to open a pop-up menu. Select Add sticker to save a silhouette copy of the object that you can send or insert into a message from iPhone emoji keyboard.)
Google Lensintroduced in 2017, has steadily become more accurate thanks to the combination of object identification and relevant Internet search results. Suppose you are in a museum and… wants more information on the artwork you view through your phone’s camera. Tap the adjacent Google Lens icon to view the articles that Google Search rounds up.
Google Lens works on objects in photos and exported window frames from video clips. It is available as Android app but is integrated elsewhere, including in the standalone Google app for Android And iOS.
Both from Apple Visually look up And Google Lens can recognize, copy and translate text into images you see through the camera. Check each company’s privacy policy if you have any concerns about data collection.
Shoot away
Android developers have been putting little surprises into the system code for years, and this year’s update brings a hidden game. To find out, open the Settings app and scroll down to About phone. Tap it and then tap Android version.
On the next screen, tap Android Version three times quickly to start the game. On the game screen, press and hold the Android 14 logo until the phone starts to vibrate and a small spaceship appears. Press your finger on the screen to get the steering wheel controls and use the position information in the corner to fly to different stars.
Go to standby
Apple’s iOS 17 includes a Stand-by feature that turns the iPhone’s lock screen into a smart display showing the time, temperature, photos, music, recipes and other apps. If enabled in iPhone settings, standby mode will be enabled when the phone is charging and stable in the horizontal screen orientation.
If you don’t like the default widgets, press and hold your finger on either side of the screen to choose new ones from the list of Standby-compatible options. The Night Mode option in the settings will give the screen a red tint if you decide to use the phone as a bedside table.