Google has updated the app to version number V7.14.15 which has bought customization feature to the search bar widget but turns out that’s not the only thing the update had to bring with it. A little teardown of the app by Android Police revealed more information about the Quartz which is slated to the Google-Home like device with the built-in display just like the Amazon Echo show.
The Quartz feature can be put in two different ways; it can be a new Home device with a screen to display the content like weather, time, alarm, and more which TechCrunch reported last month. On the other hand, it can also be the ‘Visual responses’ feature which Google demonstrated at the I/O 2017 this year. Visual Responses feature sends custom info screens to televisions via Chromecast in response to user requests. At this very moment, there is no concrete source to incline towards one conclusion among both the possibilities.
However, TechCrunch had earlier reported that the new Home device with the screen was codenamed Manhattan. Further digging in the teardown of the new Google app reveals yet another name-Monet that is being highlighted and both the Quartz and Monet are related to an activity. While these codenames are spotted for the first time in this update, the previous update packages had a large block of string code with “image_viewer” prefix which may or may not be related.
Furthermore, digging a little deep in the codes, we now get to see what Quartz can do. It can help you with cooking and recipes by displaying the recipes and cooking preparation. You can watch YouTube videos and control music and if it indeed is a smart home device with a display is what we are getting, we will be able to interact more with it and control the music playback with standard playback buttons like play, pause, etc. It lets you set timers with pause, resume, and remove buttons and you can also check the weather.
You can browse through the photo gallery, do web browsing, access Google Maps for directions, shopping and style suggestions and much more. All these are just assumptions which have no legitimate sources to draw any conclusions. The Google app updated APK is already available to download. Get the APK here.