Hi Reddit!

Today, we're announcing multiple new Android features as part of the September Android Drop. From keeping track of important items in Find Hub to reducing motion sickness during your ride, these new features are designed to help you stay connected effortlessly. 

Here’s what’s coming in the September Android Drop. Starting with what’s new:

1. Keep track of important items with Find Hub

Soon, you’ll be able to keep track of important items, like your spare keys or passport, with the new remembered items tab in Find Hub. Just say, “Hey Google, remember in Find Hub that I put my passport in my bedroom drawer,” and it automatically logs the item and location. You can opt to add a photo to make it even easier to find your item later. When you need to find it later, just ask Gemini for its location or check your remembered items tab in Find Hub.

https://reddit.com/link/1w4jtwn/video/1aur7m3x7ymh1/player

This feature will roll out soon and will be available on devices running Android 16 or later in all markets and languages where both Gemini and Find Hub are supported.

2. Help reduce motion sickness during your ride with Motion Assist

Keep using your phone from the passenger seat while reducing motion sickness with Motion Assist, which adds subtle bubbles to your screen that sync with the vehicle’s movement. It’s designed to help bridge the gap between what your eyes see and the movement of the vehicle. 

https://reddit.com/link/1w4jtwn/video/gu01k2xy7ymh1/player

You can set Motion Assist to turn on automatically while you’re in a moving vehicle or add a shortcut to toggle it from Quick Settings. You can also customize the bubbles’ shape, color, and opacity to match your style. 

Motion Assist is rolling out starting today and will be available globally on devices running Android 17 or later.

3. Use Google Keep to collaborate with friends on notes right from your chat

Share and update notes right inside Google Messages so the whole group is on the same page. From grocery lists to vacation plans, you can effortlessly collaborate on notes without switching between apps. Just hit the + icon in Google Messages to bring Google Keep into your conversations.

This feature is rolling out starting today and will be available globally for Google Messages users in RCS chats. The Google Keep app and extension are also required.

4. Personalize your chats in Google Messages with custom backgrounds and themes

With the new Chat theme feature in Google Messages, you can personalize your chats with distinct backgrounds and colors. Pick a wallpaper or use your own photo, and your text bubbles will automatically match — or you can change the colors to suit your personality. Set a latte theme for your coffee buddy or use a beach photo for the vacation group chat. 

https://reddit.com/link/1w4jtwn/video/osn33ae08ymh1/player

The Chat theme feature is available to use now in Google Messages for RCS chats. Chat themes are only visible to the user who created them and not other chat participants.

5. Use Guided vision to understand things around you

Share your camera in Gemini Live to hear descriptions of what’s in front of you. Guided vision can help with things like reading the fine print on a food label, ordering from a menu in a dimly-lit restaurant, or locating household objects. If your camera isn't lined up, you get instant voice feedback on how to reframe – guiding you to adjust your camera, pan across a space, or center an object so you get the exact answers you need. For quick access, add guided vision to your Accessibility shortcuts or enable it directly from the TalkBack menu or Gemini App Settings. 

https://reddit.com/link/1w4jtwn/video/x8f4ygz18ymh1/player

Guided vision was designed for and with the blind and low vision community and is coming soon to phones running Android 9+ in countries where Gemini is available. 

Guided vision can make mistakes. It is not intended as a medical device, mobility aid, or substitute for safe-travel guides. Don’t use it for navigation or obstacle detection.

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In addition to these new features in the September Android Drop, we’re also highlighting the following features, some of which you may already be using (but if not, try them out!)

1. Elevate your photos with a single tap in Google Photos

With AI Enhance in Google Photos, you can make complex photo edits with just a tap. AI Enhance analyzes your photo and makes the most impactful corrections instantly, like fixing lighting, colors, and cropping. Whether you're dealing with tricky shadows or dull lighting, you get crisp, natural-looking results without the tedious editing.

https://reddit.com/link/1w4jtwn/video/z24u3wn48ymh1/player

AI Enhance is available to use now in Google Photos.

2. Make complex photo edits in Google Photos by just asking

Take the complexity out of editing and transform photos with one quick ask. To edit with Ask Photos, simply type or use your voice to describe the changes you want to see – from fixing a harsh glare to removing background distractions. Make your pictures look just how you want them to without the need for professional editing.

Edit with Ask Photos is available now for eligible users aged 18+ in the U.S., UK, Germany, India, Japan, France, Italy, Australia, and Spain, in English, French, German, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Marathi, Spanish, Tamil, and Telugu.

3. Get answers to questions through a real-time conversation with Search Live

Get answers through a back-and-forth conversation with Search Live, now available anywhere AI Mode is available. Have a back-and-forth conversation using your voice and get real-time audio responses, or share your camera to ask about what's in front of you. Whether it’s installing a floating shelf or solving a tough math problem, get help with links to keep exploring.

4. Create new images from anything you see with Gemini Live

Point your camera and ask Gemini Live to transform your surroundings with Nano Banana. Talk and ask to see your sleeping dog as a Renaissance painting, swap your bedroom walls for a fresh sage green, or turn a history timeline from your textbook into an annotated visual guide – your idea comes to life as a new image in seconds.

This feature is available now on devices running Android 10+.

5. Remixing images in Google Messages gets even better with Nano Banana 2

Remix in Google Messages now uses Nano Banana 2, so you can combine multiple photos and create realistic images with clear text and enhanced world knowledge. Make a party invitation or put your friend on a movie poster, and if you’re both using Google Messages, you can remix the same image back and forth – without leaving the chat.

This feature is available for users aged 18+ in select countries and languages.

6. Talk to Gemini Live during your next drive with Android Auto

Brainstorm your biggest ideas or learn something new right from the driver's seat. With Gemini Live on Android Auto, say “Hey Google, let’s talk” or tap the Live icon to start chatting freely in a back-and-forth conversation. Interrupt at any time to ask a new question or change the topic – all completely hands-free so you can stay focused on the road.

Gemini Live in Android Auto is available in all supported Android Auto countries and languages for devices running Android 11+.

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Head over to android.com/drop to learn more about these Android features as well as explore features introduced in past Drops!

I've been using gestures navigation in some form in and off pretty much since Android phones started using on screen buttons. I liked that I got more screen real estate out of a 16:9 device, plus the futuristic feel I guess. Got a OnePlus 6 back when it came out, with the option natively for both types. I switched between the two a bit, but ultimately stuck with gestures, especially as the animations got better and better.

Recently gave buttons a proper go for the first time in years, and after getting over the muscle memory, I'm loving it again! They both have their merits but I forgot how nice it is to use. Feels snappier and more intuitive. The only concerns really are that I feel that developers don't give it as much consideration as they should and that it slowly dies out. There's the odd app that doesn't really account for it properly, and OnePlus themselves (on my 13) have clearly stopped caring about it and can no longer long press the back or recent buttons to do anything, for example.

Either way nothing important to share or to ask about, just thought I'd give button nav a bit of love!

Hi everyone!

I've had an android phone for a couple of months now, absolutely love the freedom it gives me. Without a doubt, buying this phone is the best upgrade I've experienced ever since buying my first phone.

I've always thought that transferring files between your computer and your phone should be as easy as plugging the phone into the computer. The default way to do that seemed to be MTP, but it's incredibly slow and clunky, as has been noted on many other posts.

I've tried adbfs and some of its forks. While the experience was better, I still found it was slow, and I had trouble accessing any large file.

I was then really surprised to discover madbfs. It looks like a complete rewrite of adbfs, now fast enough so that the files feel like they're stored locally. I've used for a couple of months to manage the files on my phone, and I've found it works amazingly.

Sadly, it's only available on Linux, as it relies on libfuse, and it's only a CLI application. Which means it does take a little bit of technical know-how, but the tradeoff is completely worth it IMO. You could probably get it to work on Windows or macOS using something like WinFSP or MacFUSE.

Hope this helps someone!

How you know, Nokia is just a brand that's used on some very low-end phones. But it was once synonymous with quality. Its downfall began when they decided, after abandoning Symbian, to put Windows Phone on their phones. The hardware was excellent, but the chosen ecosystem proved to be a losing proposition. But if they had immediately chosen Android, would they be a brand today on par with Samsung, Motorola, etc.?

When Tensor was first announced, there was a lot of hype. Finally, there was going to be a real third "flagship" offering to Qualcomm and the Apple A series in the US, which mattered at a time where flagship Snapdragon chips were significantly underperforming Apple both in terms of compute and heat management. Tensor was also supposed to bring a cost benefit, which it arguably did at least initially; the Pixel 6 series was a good deal all-around. However, as we all know, there have been more than a few problems with Tensor.

Google argues that Tensor is optimized for AI tasks and the camera via its TPU and ISP enhancements, and this may be true to some extent. However, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 outperforms the Tensor G6 even in these areas through raw processing speed. Yes, the Snapdragon is not as efficient in these areas, but that ultimately does not seem to matter at the Snapdragon is so far ahead that it can simply brute force its way towards outperforming the Tensor G6.

Google argues that Tensor is supposed to improve efficiency, but we are not seeing this in the real world. Aside from Google specific tasks (e.g., Gemini Nano and Night Sight), we aren't seeing much benefit from Tensor. I don't think local Gemini that may be marginally faster than it is on a Galaxy S26 Ultra is worth keeping a flagship price in light of Tensor's deficiencies, and neither do I think marginally faster Night Sight is (although the speed of Night Sight on the Pixel 11 Pro XL is impressive). Battery life on Pixels with Tensor has notoriously lagged behind the competition, and based on preliminary results from the Pixel 11 line and my own experience with the Pixel 11 Pro XL, it has gotten better than before, but the lagging still continues. Heat management, also improved this generation, seems to still be worse than even the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.

Then, there's of course the modem. Enough has been said about this. It's definitely better than before, but still not as stable as the competition from Qualcomm or Apple.

Tensor was supposed to provide a security benefit, and it did for a number of years. Then, the news comes out today that MTE is no longer included on Tensor G6, despite it being a feature Google highlighted in articles with the Pixel 8 and despite it having real security benefits. Google could have used the opportunity here to start getting more developers to adopt MTE, but instead, Google chose to get rid of MTE in a world where MTE is likely to become more important and in a world where both the Apple A19 series and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 added MTE to improve security. Titan M3 introduced post-quantum cryptography, but I'd argue that in a world with few quantum computers and lots of attacks that MTE can protect against, dropping MTE may overshadow any benefit that Titan M3 brings today.

Lastly, of course, Pixels vastly underperform devices launching at the same price. For Pro model Pixels in particular to be worth their price in my opinion, they would have to launch $300 cheaper than the competition (so, a Pixel 11 Pro XL should cost $300 less than an iPhone 17 Pro Max or Galaxy S25 Ultra, maybe even more). There are of course massive preorder deals on Pixels and frequent discounts, but at least in the first few months, these still do not get the price down to something more appropriate. Yes, there are other reasons why the Pixel Pro models are as expensive as they are (they don't seem to compromise on things like display and cameras), but we should not being seeing stuttering on a $1000+ phone in 2026 made by the primary developer of Android because the phone has less than half the multi-core performance of its competitors and less than a third of the GPU performance while seeing worse battery life and worse thermal management. There is absolutely a real-world penalty here, and it absolutely knocks down the perceived value of the phone, further than the price delta between Tensor G6 and the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in my opinion.

I never thought I'd say this when we were in the days of Snapdragon Pixels, but it's time for Tensor to either start performing at Snapdragon levels, or bring back Snapdragon if they're going to charge the prices they want to charge. Being a marginally better vessel for Gemini does not justify the prices that Google is charging for their Pro models in a world where phones like the S26 Ultra exist, neither does the software experience for the vast majority of people.

I've so far enjoyed the Pixel 11 Pro XL in my time with it overall, but to be honest, I think I would recommend an iPhone or Galaxy for the vast majority of people in a heartbeat unless they have very specific requirements. It's strange to live in a world where the iPhone has significantly better value than the Pixel. Yes, the Pixel is totally fine in real-world uses (except for graphically intensive gains and occasional stuttering in things like Google Maps), but we are absolutely overpaying for what we get.

I have One Plus 15 with 16GB ram and have used tools such as Off grid AI, Google AI edge studio and Local Dream. I know that we are still a long way from getting tools that have desktop like capabilities. However, I am able to run a 4B parameter LLM and an HD image generator locally on my phone.

These apps and some others that I have used seem to be lacking more in stability and features than in AI generation. e.g. AI edge studio can transcribe only audio only for 30 sec and only if i hold down the mic button - which is something whatsapp has had for years now. ANother app i tried allows me upload only a short 30-40 sec audio clip and only a very specific format which my phone recorder doesnt generate for transcribing. Text generation seems to be terribly slower compared to image generation for some reason.

So yeah, I was wondering if there other really useful apps / tools for local AI that people are using and are happy with.