Google Pixel Phones Start Getting the ‘Feature Drop’ Update With New Features, Improvements

Google has released its second ‘Pixel feature drop' update that focusses on a bunch of new features and improvements for Pixel smartphones. Eligible devices that will be getting the latest update include the Pixel 4, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 2 smartphones. The latest feature drop has already started rolling out to eligible Pixel smartphones from March 2 in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, Taiwan, Spain, Italy, and Ireland. The rollout will be done in stages over the course of the next two weeks.

For those who don't know, unlike the usual software updates, feature drops are exclusive to the Pixel smartphones which are aimed to bring major new features and improvements. Google announced the feature drop through a support post by a community manager. Key points from the latest feature drop include:

• All the Pixel smartphone users from the Pixel 2 onwards will now be able to access their credit cards, tickets, or anything else in the wallet like emergency contacts and medical information by simply pressing and holding the power button.
• Pixel 3, Pixel 3a and Pixel 4 users can now take a screenshot of a boarding pass to automatically generate a smart chip that lets you save it to Google Pay. The pass can then be accessed via the power button.
• A new gesture for Motion Sense on Pixel 4 phones lets you pause music with a single tap above the phone.
• All the Google Pixel smartphones from the Pixel 2 onwards now have the ability to schedule Dark theme based on local sunrise and sunset times.
• All users of Pixel smartphones from the Pixel 2 onwards now have the ability to assign certain rules to their Pixel phones when they are in a certain Wi-Fi network or physical location.
• 169 new emojis added on all the Pixel smartphones from the Pixel 2 onwards thanks to the emoji 12.1 update.
• Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 users now get new AR effects in Google Duo.
• Pixel 4 smartphones now offer better front-facing portrait blur improvements, colour pop and the ability to create a 3D photo on Facebook.
• Pixel 4 smartphones in the UK and Australia now have the ability to detect if a user has been in a severe car crash and needs help with emergency services.
• Pixel 2 smartphones get the Live Caption feature which automatically captions media playing on the phone.
• In addition to long-press, Pixel 4 users can now firmly press to get more help from your apps more quickly.
• Improvements to Adaptive brightness on Pixel 4 smartphones in extremely bright ambient light situations.

As mentioned above, all the eligible Pixel smartphones have already started receiving the latest feature drop update from March 2. Google has promised to deliver the rollout in the course of the next two weeks and we hope the time-frame stays like that.