5 new features coming to Android — including improvements to Google Messages, Gemini Live, and Find Hub

Google has announced five new Android features These include updates to Google Messages, Gemini Live, and Find Hub, along with the launch of Motion Assist All of these features should either be available now or rolling out soon Android is constantly evolving, and you don’t need to wait for major new releases to get new features.

Indeed, following on from the launch of Android 17 in June, Google has now announced five new improvements coming to Android.

These include updates to Google Messages, Gemini Live, and Find Hub, plus a whole new tool to help reduce motion sickness, so there’s quite a lot here.

You’ll find full details of all five new features below — some of which should be available now, while others are coming soon.

1.

Motion Assist (Image credit: Google) We’ve known for a while that Google was working on a feature designed to combat motion sickness, and now it’s finally launching.

Dubbed Motion Assist, this Android 17 feature places a “subtle bubble overlay” on your screen that’s designed to reduce motion sickness when you’re in a moving vehicle, by moving in time with the vehicle, allowing you to read, browse, and watch videos while in a car or on a bus, train or boat, all without feeling ill.

You can set Motion Assist to turn on automatically or add it to Quick Settings, and you're able to customize the shape, color, and opacity of the bubbles.

It remains to be seen how well it will work, but Apple launched a similar tool called Motion Cues a couple of years ago, and that can make a real difference, so hopefully this will too.

2.

Chat themes in Google Messages (Image credit: Google) Google Messages has finally got a feature it probably should have had years ago — customizable chat wallpapers and themes.

This is actually slightly less new than the other things on this list, as Google already announced the feature and rolled it out a few days ago, but it’s highlighting it again as part of this latest Android announcement.

With this upgrade, you’ll be able to add more personality to your chats and make them more aesthetically pleasing — but don’t worry, any customizations you add are only visible to you, not the people you’re talking to.

3.