Google's latest Feature Drop for Pixel devices brings Ultra-wideband, digital car key support and more

3 min. read

Published on December 7, 2021

published on December 7, 2021

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Last night, Google announced the latest feature drop for Pixel smartphones which includes an easy way to access Snapchat, the ability to use your Pixel device as digital car key, bass level control on Pixel Buds A-Series and more. Find the full list of features below.

With Quick Tap to Snap, you can access Snapchat directly from your lock screen, making Pixel the fastest phone to make a Snap. Quick Tap to Snap is available to all Pixel 4a with 5G or newer Pixel phones. Plus, starting this month, you’ll be able to add a new Pixel-exclusive Lens – Pixel Face – to your Snaps.

Google has partnered with BMW to enable digital car key for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. On select 2020-2022 BMW models in certain countries, you can now unlock and lock your car by tapping your phone on the door handle, and you can start your car by placing your Pixel on the interior key reader and pressing the engine start button.
Ultra-wideband is now enabled on Pixel 6 Pro. This technology improves Nearby Share so you can quickly and securely send files, videos, map locations and more to other ultra-wideband devices nearby.
Conversation mode, an early-stage accessibility feature in the Sound Amplifier app, is now available in beta first on Pixel. This feature uses on-device machine learning to help anyone better hear conversations in loud environments by tuning into their conversation partner and tuning out competing noise.
Google has updated the Now Playing experience on Pixel to help you find your next favorite song. As always, Now Playing’s automatic recognition is done entirely on-device. If Now Playing hasn’t automatically identified a song playing nearby, turn on the new search button and tap to let Pixel find it for you (available on Pixel 4 or newer Pixel phones).
Google is introducing improved bass-level control for the Pixel Buds A-Series. With any Android 6.0+ device, you can now open the Pixel Buds app and use a slider to adjust bass from -1 to +4, giving you twice the bass range you currently have.
In celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Google collaborated with Dana Kearly, a disabled multidisciplinary artist from Vancouver B.C., to create three beautiful new wallpapers for the Curated Culture collection.
Car crash detection is now supported in Taiwan, Italy and France, in addition to Spain, Ireland, Japan, the U.K., Australia, Singapore and the U.S.

Google is enabling new languages for transcription in the Recorder app. These include Japanese, French and German on Pixel 3 and newer Pixel phones.

https://youtu.be/FmznwhHlCP8

Source: Google