Google’s June Pixel drop brings new safety and health features

Google announced the June Pixel Drop today with features like the ability to schedule a safety check with Google Assistant, instant location sharing with emergency contacts in case of a car crash, a new hands-free photos gesture, and oxygen saturation monitoring for the Pixel Watch.

Pixel Features

Google Pixel’s safety check feature sends an alert to your emergency contact if you don’t respond to the notification at the scheduled time. Now, users can schedule a safety check through Google Assistant by saying “Hey Google, start a safety check for 40 minutes.”

Google launched a car crash detection feature on Pixel devices in 2019. With the latest Pixel Drop, the feature will alert your emergency contacts in case of a car crash with real-time location apart from contacting emergency services.

The search giant is introducing a new way of taking hand-free selfies to Pixel 6 or newer devices. Users can now take self-timed photos — with a 3 or a 10-second timer — by just raising a palm. For the same set of devices, the company is launching an AI-powered feature to turn 2D photos into 3D dynamic wallpapers. Additionally, users can now play with over 4,000 emoji wallpaper combinations with color and pattern customization options.

Google has a fantastic recorder app, and starting next week it will have the ability to attach speaker labels to a recording. This makes it easier to understand who said what in a recording. Plus, users will be able to export the recording transcripts to a separate Google Docs file, create speaker-labeled video clips, and search for speakers within recordings.

Google built a macro-focus mode for photos on Pixel 7 Pro. The new update will extend that ability to videos as well.

There are a bunch of other updates coming to Pixel phones:

• The Pixel Home app has been redesigned to let you easily access smart home devices through the lock screen through the home panel.
• Pixel 6a and 7a will get adaptive haptics to reduce rattling by lowering vibration intensity when the device is on a hard flat surface.
• Google is launching two new Google Assistant voices making it 12 U.S. English voices available to users.
• The company is tweaking the adaptive charging feature to slowly charge it to 100% an hour before it is expected to unplug. Since this is a feature that requires learning about charging habits, it will take a few charging cycles to become more effective. Previously, the adaptive charging feature was dependent on setting alarms during a particular time period.

Pixel Watch features

• With the latest Pixel Drop, Google is introducing SPO2 (blood oxygen saturation) monitoring. Google said that while this feature is not intended for any medical diagnosis, it can give users an insight into changes in blood oxygen levels when they are sleeping to measure the quality of sleep.
• Pixel Watch will now send you an alert if your heart rate is very high or very low so you can consult a professional if needed.

• Google Assistant for Wear OS adds support for Italian, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish and Spanish.
• The new update brings three new Spotify tiles for initiating a Spotify DJ session, listening to podcasts, and checking out tracking in heavy rotation.
• Pixel Watch can now auto-pause and resume exercises like running, walking or bike exercises.
• Google is launching two new metal link bands for the Pixel Watch in Brushed Silver or Matte Black colors. These bands are available on the Google online store and Google retail locations from June 16 for $199.99.

Fitbit features

• All Fitbit devices will let you check the Daily Readiness Score to indicate if you are ready for a workout today.
• The Your Exercise menu will show a full list of different workouts with your recent workout on the top so you don’t have to manually reorder them (for Charge 5, Luxe, and Inspire 3).
• Some devices will be able to get texts in Hindi, read caller ID in Arabic, and view events in Vietnamese (available on Sense 2, Versa 4, Charge 5, Luxe, and Inspire 3).
• Fitbit Sense 2 and Versa 4 will now have tiles for logging periods, viewing your cycle, and editing information directly from the watch.

Some of these updates will have a slow roll so they might not immediately show up on your devices.