Google Pixel Phones May Soon Adapt Touch Sensitivity Based on Environment: Report

Google's last year's Pixel 8 series offers an exclusive screen protector detector feature. This advanced feature detects when a screen protector is put on or taken off from the Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro handset and notifies users to enable or disable screen protector mode accordingly. Now, the search giant is reportedly gearing up to introduce a new adaptive touch feature to Pixel handsets. This facility is expected to automatically adjust screen touch sensitivity based on the environmental conditions and activities of users. Reference about the feature was allegedly spotted on Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1.

As per a report by Android Police, evidence of the adaptive touch feature was found in the code strings of the latest Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 release. According to the strings, the adaptive touch feature will reportedly adjust the touch sensitivity of the handset automatically based on the user's environment, activities, and screen protector.

The strings don't include references to the environmental factors or activities that would trigger a change in touch sensitivity. However, the report speculates that Pixel might adapt screen touch sensitivity automatically based on environmental conditions like rain or cold and activities like swimming. The mention of screen protector could be a reference to the screen protector detection feature which is already available on Pixel 8 devices.

Further, the report states that once the new feature goes live on Pixels, the Adaptive Touch toggle will be placed in the Settings app under Display > Touch Sensitivity. The feature is expected to improve the user experience.

As mentioned, Google is already offering the screen protector detector feature exclusively for the Pixel 8 series. This functionality detects when the user adds or removes a screen protector from the handset. Upon attaching a screen protector, it will send a notification prompting the user to enable the screen protector mode to increase the touch sensitivity.