Google will let users of its Android mobile operating system set up custom calling cards and share their live location in messages, catching up with features that Apple Inc already offers to iPhone owners.
People who use Google Messages can share their location in a real-time map view while texting, the Alphabet Inc-owned company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Users can also set their own photo, font and colour for a calling card that will be displayed when their call is received.
As part of the announcement, Google is also launching an option for users to share details of their luggage tracking tag with partner airlines to help identify its location. More than 10 air carriers, including Air India, China Airlines, the Lufthansa Group and Turkish Airlines, will accept that tracking information as part of their baggage recovery process, Google said.
Even though Apple’s iOS system has had these features for over a year, Google’s latest additions will reach a massive number of users on the Android platform, which powers more than more than 3 billion devices around the world. While Apple dominates the market for premium smartphones, Android is the most popular mobile platform globally. The software enhancements also come at a time when consumers might be holding onto their phones longer as a global memory chip crunch contributes to rising phone prices.
At the same time, Google is rolling out artificial intelligence-related enhancements to its line of Pixel devices, paving the way for its Gemini assistant to tap into personal data so that it can complete more tasks on users’ behalf. Apple has been working to launch an improved version of its Siri virtual assistant this year, but that effort has run into fresh snags, Bloomberg reported last month.
The AI features that are available on the latest Pixel devices, as well as the newest Samsung Galaxy S26 smartphone line, include the ability to delegate tasks to Gemini such as hailing an Uber ride and ordering takeout from DoorDash Inc. or groceries through Instacart. Other tools include the ability to identify individual pieces of an outfit from images and to see how they fit based on a full-body image that users upload themselves. – Bloomberg
