Android doesn’t always highlight its most useful changes. Some of the best improvements arrive quietly and blend into the system, so they’re easy to miss at first. Then one day, your phone handles something faster or more smoothly, and you realize a feature has been there all along. Since these additions rarely come with big visual changes, they tend to reveal themselves gradually through everyday use.
Here are a few Android features Google has introduced in recent updates that are worth checking on your phone.
Circle to search got a lot smarter
Translate, search, and identify anything on screen
Circle to Search already lets you look things up directly from what’s on your display, but recent updates have made it far more capable. It now handles translations, quick answers, and visual searches in a way that feels built into the system rather than layered on top.
Long-press the navigation bar to bring up the search overlay instantly. From there, anything on the screen can be selected or circled. Text in another language can be translated on the spot, with the language picker letting you switch options without leaving the overlay. Circle an image or a section of the screen, and Android can identify what’s visible, surface related results, or show contextual details in a compact panel that stays above the current app.
The overlay has also become more interactive. It accepts voice input, listens for nearby music, and allows follow-up questions while keeping the original screen in view. That makes it easier to move from identifying something to learning more about it without breaking your flow or starting a new search elsewhere.
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Built-in protections for theft and tracking risks
Google has also expanded Android’s built-in safety tools to address real-world risks such as theft, unwanted tracking, and sensitive content. Most of these protections stay in the background and step in only when something seems off.
Recent Android versions include theft protection features that can automatically lock your phone if it detects suspicious movement, such as a sudden grab-and-run scenario. There’s also an offline lock that secures the device if it remains disconnected for a while, along with a remote lock option that lets you secure it quickly if it ever goes missing.
Android can now alert you if an unknown Bluetooth tracker appears to be moving with you. If a tracker that doesn’t belong to you travels alongside you for an extended period, your phone can send a warning and guide you through locating and disabling it. This feature was added after growing concerns around misuse of tracking devices and works with AirTags and other compatible trackers.
Privacy protections now extend into Google’s own apps as well. On supported devices, Google Messages can blur certain sensitive images and display a prompt before you view or send them. The warning appears only when needed, adding a layer of protection without interrupting normal conversations.
Screen recordings are cleaner now
Capture only what matters on screen
Screen recording has been part of Android for years, but recent updates have made it much easier to capture only what actually matters. Instead of recording everything on your display, newer Android builds on supported devices can focus on a specific portion of the screen, making recordings look more intentional and less cluttered.
When starting a recording, you now get clearer controls for choosing what should be captured. You can record the entire screen or switch to a partial screen mode that keeps the focus on a single app or area. Notifications, status bar alerts, and other on-screen elements stay out of the recording when you narrow the capture area, so the final clip looks cleaner without extra trimming later.
Android now removes apps you don’t use
Free storage without deleting your app data
Storage usually fills up slowly, and unused apps are often the reason. They might sit silently for months, holding on to space even when you barely open them. Android now has a quieter way of handling this: apps you haven’t used in a while can be archived automatically instead of staying fully installed.
When an app is archived, most of its installed files are removed to free up storage, but its icons, permissions, and basic data remain in place. The app still appears on your home screen like any other app. Tap it, and Android restores the missing parts from the Play Store and opens it again without making you set everything up from scratch.
This keeps your storage from filling up with apps you installed once and forgot about. It’s especially useful for one-time downloads that sit unused for months but still take up space.
The option sits inside the Play Store rather than in the main system settings. Open the Play Store, tap your profile icon, then go to Settings -> General to find the Automatically archive apps toggle. Once enabled, rarely used apps can be archived whenever storage runs low, while your data and access remain intact.
Check your settings after every update
Circle to Search now keeps translation running as you scroll, so you don’t have to restart it every time the screen changes. Android’s safety tools also include Scan now in Unknown tracker alerts, which check for nearby trackers. These kinds of additions often arrive after updates. That’s why it’s worth taking a quick look through your settings once your phone finishes updating. You’ll often spot a new toggle or shortcut that wasn’t there before.
