Android Advisor - UK (2021-08)

6 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 88

GOOGLE I/O 2021

Augmentedrealitycanbeusedtoidentify

localbusinesses.

thatGoogledoescareaboutyour

privacy.Forexample,welearnedmore

than2 billionGoogleaccountsnow

useGoogle’s‘auto-delete’capability,

whicherasesyourwebandappactivity

after 18 months.Googlealsosaidthat

it’sworkingtoeliminatebadpasswords

andis a strongproponentofphone-

basedauthentication.

Googlesaidthatit’saddingcontrols

to deleterecent searches(specifically

bytime,suchasthepast 15 minutes).

Mapswillalsoremindyouthat

LocationHistory is on, so that you can

turn it off if you’d like. Finally, Photos is

introducing a protected Locked Folder

where you can store any images in a

de facto lockbox – if stored there, they

won’t show up elsewhere in Photos, or

anywhere on your device.

SEARCH

Why should you care about a ‘Multitask

Unified Model’ (MUM)? Because that’s

what Google is predicating its next

generation of Google Search upon.

MUM is designed to understand the

context of a query – for example, what

do I need to hike Mount Fuji? – and

search out the answer across text and

video, and even in foreign languages.

Google also revealed that you’ll be able

to snap a photo of your hiking boots,

ask whether they could be used on the

hike, and the new search algorithm will

understand enough about the specific

model to answer your question.

Visually recognizing the world around

you will be part of your Android phone,

too. Google has partnered with Simone

Biles and Megan Rapinoe to put them

‘inside’ AR, so you’ll be able to watch

Biles perform a virtual tumbling routine.

In Maps, you’ll be able to use your

smartphone screen and camera to tell