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As you use your phone to sign in to apps and sites and make purchases, your details can be saved to your Google account so they're easily accessible from another device. Last year, Google added a security layer on top of these autofill prompts, to make sure only you can use your payment info and credentials. Now, a new setting allows you to sync those preferences across your devices.
A secret, unreleased option lets users invoke Assistant on smart displays without saying 'Hey Google'
Come near it and it'll start listening for your command
Google's latest smart displays come with ultrasound sensing, a neat tech that uses ultrasonic waves to measure distance to nearby objects and adapt the UI depending on how near of far you are. Timers, weather reports, media controls, and other elements grow larger when you step away, to make it easier for you to spot them at a distance, then return to their regular size when you come close. This same technology appears to be at the heart of a new feature Google is working on, which proactively triggers Assistant the moment you come near without you having to say "Hey Google" first. Well, it's either this or the camera, but we're more inclined to believe it's using ultrasound.
Google announced the Nest Hub Max several months ago, promising the new smart display would be able to recognize users' faces. Well, the necessary pieces are already in Assistant, although the Hub Max is nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, that means the Nest Hub Max won't be far behind.
Both XDA Developers and 9to5Google have spotted another upcoming feature in Android Q: more secure native facial recognition. Think Apple's Face ID rather than Android's existing Trusted Face system. Other OEMs like Xiaomi and Huawei have already shoehorned in their own facial recognition solutions, but now Google is bringing the feature to the (literal) source.