Tear-down of Google App v7.12 hints at ‘Active Edge’ in Pixel 2, Google Bar, improved ‘Routines’

Google is likely to pack the ‘Active Edge’ feature in the upcoming Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. According to a report by 9to5Google, an ‘APK teardown’ of Google app v7.12 revealed references to this feature in the upcoming Pixel 2. [caption id=“attachment_3988697” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] The ‘Active Edge’ was first introduced in the **HTC U11** that was launched earlier this year. The feature comprises invoking a command by interacting with two opposite edges, usually, the sides of the smartphone. This is not the only feature that was uncovered in the teardown and the code referred to many upcoming features. For the uninitiated, ‘APK teardown’ is where people decompile the latest version of any given Android app and analyse the code. The code inside the app provides many interesting features that may make way in the future or are under testing. All of the uncovered features may or may not make their way to the finished product but they do reveal the latest that the company is working on. Moving on, the report points out at ‘Active Edge’ making its way to the Pixel 2. [caption id=“attachment_3981493” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Image Credit: HTC[/caption] The code hints that users can ‘Squeeze for your Assistant’ to access Google Assistant in the upcoming flagship from Google. The app also reveals that users can change the ‘squeeze gesture’ on their device to assign another function to the feature. One thing to point here is that this is not the **first time** where reports are hinting at the Pixel 2 receiving this feature. The second feature is the ‘Routines’ feature where users can set phrases to invoke a set of commands. The feature is similar to ‘Google Shortcuts’, a feature that the company introduced at I/O 2017. However, the main difference is ‘Routines’ allows users to invoke a number of commands while ‘Shortcuts’ allows one command. Google is also working on something called the ‘Google Bar’. It is unclear at the time of writing if it is a new type of search bar or widget or quick search bar in notifications. However, the app code does pack a number of settings to change the shape, colour and transparency of the bar. Google is also working on introducing new voices and hot words for Google Assistant. The company is also planning to increase its ‘ambient noise library’ to add ‘sleep sounds’. Last but not the least, the teardown also hints at improved Podcasts support for Google Assistant.