3 small but useful improvements in Play Services update
Google is tinkering with Wallet and your phone can now auto-archive apps if you’re running low on storage. Furthermore, Xiaomi phones now work as a digital car key. All of these improvements are part of the latest Play Services update.
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1. Google Wallet improvements
Google Wallet should become much more than the collection point for your credit and debit cards. Wallet can also store your flight boarding pass, as well as event tickets. The changelog of the December update of Google Play Services now shows that Wallet is getting even more features.
You can now manage your payment cards from a Fitbit wearable. That currently only works with the new Sense 2 and Versa 2 smartwatches. In addition, Google is testing a system in select US states that allows users to add their ID or driver’s license to Wallet. Google Wallet verifies the quality of the passport photo.
2. Xiaomi phones unlock cars
The digital car key is also part of Wallet, at least on Google phones and select Samsung devices. It has become known in Play Services that it is now also supported on Xiaomi phones, although it is not known which models are involved. We have asked Xiaomi for clarification on this.
Today, only a few cars work with the digital car key. You can only unlock BMW cars with your phone, especially models that have appeared on the market since 2020. Google works with phone manufacturers and car manufacturers in the so-called Car Connectivity Consortium. General Motors, Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, among others, are also taking part in those talks, so we can expect support for cars from these brands in the long term.
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3. Archive apps
Finally, we discover that Google has improved the archiving of apps. Archiving apps is an alternative to deleting and the feature was recently rolled out to some Android users. The advantage of archiving apps over deleting them is that your personal data from the app is preserved. And yet the app takes up much less space on your phone. You can restore the app at any time.
What’s new with archiving apps is that your phone will now automatically archive apps. This happens with unused apps and only when a phone has too little remaining storage to continue functioning properly. If there is not enough storage space, your smartphone can no longer download essential updates, which can cause all kinds of problems.
Thanks to the Play Services changelog, it has also become known that Google is working on an Android alternative to the Apple Find network. What do you think of the new features of Google Wallet? Let us know in the comments.
