New features to come to your Android phone soon, including Portrait Blur, fine-tuning widget and Nearby Share update

Google has been working on a suite of updates for its Android platform and users can look forward to them later this month. From Messages updates that include iPhone-like reactions to smarter ways to pay for parking by using voice command, the updates also cover Google TV, Photos and Widgets just to name a few.

Here are the latest features you can expect:

Live Transcribe will work even when offline:

Live Transcribe will provide real-time speech-to-text captions to enable everyday in-person conversations between people who are deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing. The app now offers an offline mode for when WiFi and data aren’t available, like on an airplane, or in other areas without consistent internet access.

Portrait Blur coming to Google Photos:

If you’re a Google One member or a Pixel user, you can already use Portrait Blur in Google Photos, a photo editing tool that can intelligently blur the background on photos of people, post-snap. Coming soon to the Photos app on Android, these users will be able to use this effect on photos of more subjects, like pets, food and plants, too.

Highlights on Google TV:

The new Highlights tab on Google TV offers a personalised feed of entertainment news, reviews and more based on movies and shows you’re interested in. You can now catch up on articles about the entertainment you love, or track the next big sensation, all in one place.

Fine-tuning widget:

A new screen time widget offers a glimpse of the three apps you use the most each day. Tap the widget to open Digital Wellbeing, where you’ll find some helpful ways to fine-tune your digital habits, including:

• Daily timers for your apps
• Focus mode, which pauses distracting apps at set times
• Bedtime mode, which silences your device and changes the screen to black and white at bedtime
• Nearby Share: A new update on Nearby Share makes it easy to share with multiple people rather than just one person at a time. You can now tap to add more recipients during a transfer. It will be rolling out on all Android 6+ devices.

Source: Google Blog

READ ALSO: Google rolls out new features and quality-of-life updates for Android devices

This article was first published in Hardware Zone.