- Android 16 introduced real-time notifications called Live Updates
- These notifications will soon be supported by Google Wallet
- You get easier access to information about trips you take
Android 16 introduced Live Updates, a new form of real-time notification to keep you updated on sports scores, travel information and deliveries, just like Live Activities in iOS – and now Google Wallet is being updated to support the feature.
As detailed in the latest release notes (spotted by 9to5Google), Google Wallet will now show Live Updates for “key travel trips that include flights, train journeys and events”. However, note that this is part of an update to Google Play Services and may take a few weeks or even months to reach everyone.
To use this feature, you must have some form of ticket stored in your Google Wallet, such as a boarding pass for a flight or a ticket for a train journey. The app then pulls the necessary real-time information from the ticket.
It will likely be useful to many users. For example, you might see an update showing the progress of your flight as it reaches its destination, or a warning about a delay on your train – but we haven’t seen this in action yet, so we’re not sure what kind of notifications might pop up.
Slow adoption
As is usually the case, it takes some time for the various apps that Google makes for Android to make use of all the different features enabled by Android 16. For example, it was only recently that Google Wallet got the latest Material 3 Expressive redesign.
The other updates to Google Wallet with this latest Google Play Services patch allow you to add cards through supported issuer apps without re-entering your information – for a more seamless transfer – and notifications when loyalty cards are imported from Gmail (on Android 12 or later).
As for Live Updates, app developers haven’t been in a big hurry to add support for the feature. At least it’s enabled on Google Maps, where it gives you a better idea of navigation directions when you’re busy in other apps or have your phone locked.
Let’s hope these persistent notifications become more widespread in the future, as they have the potential to save time and add convenience. Of course, Android has long been able to display live information in a notification, but Live Updates makes these alerts more obvious across Android.
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