- Android 16 introduced real-time notifications called Live Updates
- These alerts will soon be compatible with Google Wallet
- You’ll get easier access to information about the trips you take
Android 16 introduced live updates, a new type of real-time notification to keep you up to date on sports scores, travel information, and deliveries, much like Live Activities on iOS, and now Google Wallet is being updated to support the feature.
As described in the latest release notes (spotted by 9to5Google), Google Wallet will now show live updates for “key travel trips including flights, train rides, and events.” However, please 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 will need to have some type of ticket stored in your Google Wallet, such as a boarding pass for a flight or a ticket for a train trip. Then the app will get the necessary real-time information from the ticket.
It is likely to be useful to many users. You might see an update showing the progress of your flight as it approaches its destination, for example, or an alert about a delay to your train, but we haven’t seen this in action yet, so we’re not sure what kind of notifications might appear.
Slow adoption
As is often the case, the various apps Google creates for Android take some time to make use of all the different features enabled by Android 16. Recently, Google Wallet got the latest Material 3 Expressive redesign, for example.
The other Google Wallet updates with this latest Google Play services patch let you add cards through supported issuer apps without entering your details again, for a smoother transfer, and notifications when loyalty passes are imported from Gmail (on Android 12 or later).
As for live updates, app developers haven’t been in much of a rush to add support for the feature. At least it’s enabled in Google Maps, where it gives you a better idea of navigation directions when you’re busy in other apps or have your phone locked.
Hopefully these persistent notifications will be more widely adopted in the future as they have the potential to save time and add convenience. Of course, Android has been able to display live information in a notification for a long time, but Live Updates make these alerts more obvious on Android.
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