(Credit: Google)
Android users should find the whereabouts of their friends and their luggage less of a mystery, courtesy of new updates that Google unveiled Tuesday for its mobile operating system.
Both of these location features leverage the Find Hub app that Google introduced last May as a new front end to its Find My network, and both also catch up Android with features that iPhone users have had for a while.
First, you can now share your location from inside the Messages app. Start a conversation with someone, tap the plus button at the left of the new message field, and tap a new "Real-time location" button in that menu. You can then choose how long to share your spot—for one hour, today only, indefinitely, or for a custom duration.
The other person will also need to run Google Messages to see that live update in-app; there's no interoperability yet with Apple's older location-sharing feature, so in that case the recipient would get a link to see your position in their browser."
A new luggage-tracking feature, meanwhile, allows you to share a web link for a Bluetooth tracker you wisely stashed inside a checked bag with a participating airline.
Google lists 10 such carriers, none of which are US-based: Ajet; Air India; China Airlines; Lufthansa Group members Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Swiss International Airlines; Saudia Airlines; Scandinavian Airlines; and Turkish Airlines.
It also says Qantas will soon add this feature and notes Google's work to integrate it with two bag-tracking systems widely used at airports, SITA's WorldTracer and Reunitus's NetTracer,
Apple launched its own AirTag luggage-location tool in late 2024 with only three airlines—United Airlines, Air Canada and Aer Lingus—but Apple now says 36 airlines support that feature, a list that includes all of the larger carriers in the US except Southwest Airlines.
A third feature in Google's new bundle of updates adds a feature missing from the Calling Cards option it introduced in August: the ability for the people you call to see the photo and background you selected on their own screen, something already supported in Apple's iOS Contact Posters.
The remaining three new items in Google's announcement seem less noteworthy: yet another set of Emoji Kitchen stickers, "Teacher-Approved kids' games" for Android Auto to ease wait times in a parking lot, and a new feed of short-form videos in Google Play modeled after YouTube Shorts.
Song Identification, Real-Time Transit Updates, and More
Google also announced a second set of updates now rolling out only for its Pixel devices, the latest in its ongoing series of Pixel Drop releases for its own lineup of Android phones. One expands the utility of the Now Playing widget that can identify a song, even if your phone is offline, by adding a standalone Now Playing app for Pixel 6 and newer phones.
Another augments the At a Glance lock-screen feature with options to show real-time updates about your transit commute, sports scores, and investments; the first requires Pixel 7 or newer phones, while the other two work on models as old as the Pixel 6 series. Those and newer models also gain the ability to tweak the look of your home screen with "custom AI-generated icons," which seems like an excellent way to confuse friends if they borrow your phone.
Two other new features only work on the just-announced Pixel 10 series: "Magic Cue" restaurant recommendations that Google's Gemini AI can serve up in a chat, and a "Find the look" fashion-finder feature for the Circle to Search visual-query tool that will also let you do a virtual try-on.