A week full of new features for Google and Android. The Mountain View firm has just made Android 12L (12.1) available and announced a tenth feature drop for its Pixel. However, the US giant’s smartphones are not the only ones welcoming the new features and improvements. The Mountain View company just recently announced a slew of new features for Android devices, even the oldest ones.

Google doesn’t always wait for a new major version to come out in order to provide the functionality. While Android 13 won’t arrive until later this year, Google will be rolling out grammar checks for Gboard users. Already able to check spelling, the keyboard will be able to monitor grammar. He will be able to suggest improvements as the emoji kitchen function is enriched. As a reminder, it allows you to mix emoji with stickers. It remains to be seen whether the ceremony will be available in French first or will be reserved for English.

Always with the aim of facilitating communication, messaging application is evolving. Google Improves iPhone Support to Show iOS User Reactions as Emoji; Like when the user interacts with an Android device. The app also improves content sharing from photos.

Another interesting new feature is the ability to automatically sort messages using the Personal and Business tabs. Also, text messages with one-time passwords will be automatically deleted after 24 hours.

Highlighted on Pixel or Samsung devices, Instant Transcription is evolving to provide an offline mode for all. Even without a WiFi or cellular data connection, it will be possible to use this function that allows deaf and hard of hearing people to participate in the discussion.

Wireless sharing gets better

Another major theme for Mountain View, data transfer on Android continues to improve. Google’s wireless proximity sharing tool, called Nearby Share, will make sharing with multiple people easier. For photos, videos, documents or audio files, it will be possible to transfer with more people around you. The only condition is that the device is running at least Android 6.0.

Offered to Google One customers or Pixel owners, the Google Photos portrait blur tool is also rich. These users will soon be able to use this Portrait Blur feature on a large number of photos. It will be possible to blur the background on photos of pets, food or plants. Old photos are affected even if portrait mode is not available.

Among other expected innovations, we note the arrival of an update for the Google TV mobile application. The latter has a tab called “Selection” (or Highlight) to display information such as reviews about movies and series that interest you. For its part, Google Assistant adds the possibility to pay for parking using your voice. It will also be possible to check and detail the parking with your voice through the command “Hey Google, pay for parking”,

Digital Wellbeing is also one of the priorities of the US firm, which is adding a new Screen Time widget. As the name suggests, it provides a summary of your smartphone usage by displaying the three apps you use most every day.

Am I impressed with these new features?

Not all of these innovations are reserved for the latest models. Most Android smartphones are affected and will be able to take advantage of these new features. Google, on the other hand, doesn’t reveal the exact date of availability. Deployments are expected to begin in the next few weeks.