Google is rolling out a new Pixel Feature Drop update for its Pixel range of smartphones. For those unaware, the search giant is known for introducing new features for its phones every three months via Pixel Feature Drop releases. The latest update for June brings some interesting additions.

The June 2021 Pixel Feature Drop update is being seeded out for the following Google Pixel smartphones.

• Pixel 5
• Pixel 4a (5G)
• Pixel 4a
• Pixel 4 XL
• Pixel 4
• Pixel 3a XL
• Pixel 3a
• Pixel 3 XL
• Pixel 3

Although the entire Pixel range (except the end of support devices) is receiving the update, some features on not available on certain devices. That said, let’s take a look at these new features one by one.

Astrophotography Videos

As the name suggests, users of Pixel 4 and later devices will be now able to record videos while clicking pictures in astrophotography mode. Users can try waiting longer (longer exposure) to click a shot to get more stars in their video.

Heads-up

This feature is part of the Digital Wellbeing app. It will periodically alert users to look up from their handset’s screen while walking. It was previously only available for a select few users.

Locked Folder

This feature was first announced at Google I/O 2021. It will let users save their select photos and videos in Google Photos to a different called ‘Locked Folder’. These media files are hidden locally on the user’s phone and are protected by biometrics. They don’t show up in any other part of the Google Photos app.

Car Crash Detection

Car Crash Detection is part of the Personal Safety app and is not available on Pixel 3a/3a XL. It automatically alerts emergency services when a car crash is detected. This feature was previously only available in the US, the UK, and Australia, But now, it’s rolling out to users in Spain, Ireland, and Singapore.

Call Screen

Call Screen helps users in avoiding spam calls. This feature is now being rolled out in Japan. It was previously only available in the US and Canada.

Recorder

The Google Recorder app is one of the best recorder applications on any platform. The new update brings support for transcription in more English dialects, namely Singaporean, Australian, Irish and British English.

Pride Wallpapers and Sounds

Since June is Pride month, Google is celebrating by adding new Pride-themed wallpapers and sounds.

Call Actions on Google Assistant

Users of Pixel 4 and above can now ask Google Assistant to accept or reject calls. 

Gboard Smart Replies

Gboard can now smartly suggest phone number, email address, and URL in clipboard for replies.

All the above-mentioned new features will be rolled out to eligible Google Pixel smartphones via respective app updates from the Google Play Store in the coming weeks.

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Google Recorder app was first introduced with the Pixel 4 series last year. The tech has now introduced an improved version called Google Recorder 2.0. The new version comes with several improvements over last year’s version and is only available for the Pixel 5.

In case you don’t know, the Google Recorder app gives users an easy way to record and transcribe audio on their device without an internet connection. Some of the new features the Recorder 2.0 brings includes one to help users find, edit, and share their audio recordings.

Apart from that, it comes with Smart Scrolling which is to aid the editing of transcript over 150 words long. In this case, Google Recorder will automatically find important keywords and place them on a scrollbar to help you quickly jump to important sections of the transcription. The words will appear as soon as you start scrolling through the transcription.

The app also comes with an improved audio editing feature which lets you edit the voice recording by editing the transcript. When you tap on the scissors icon, it quickly jumps to the editing screen. There are two new buttons at the bottom of the transcription, one to crop and another to remove. You can remove a sentence from your recording by simply highlighting the sentence and tapping on the Remove button. But if the goal is to keep one section away from the recording without deleting, you can highlight it and then press Crop. This action will remove the non-highlighted part from your recording.

Further, Google Recorder 2.0 now lets users convert audio files to video files so that it will be easy to share. Most social media platforms don’t support sharing audio clips but with the conversion, you can now share your audio clips. This can be done by tapping the Share icon in the app, and then select “Video clip.” The app then automatically converts the audio clip into a video file with the waveform and transcript embedded inside. You even get the option to customize the video by Content, Layout, and Theme for audio clips that are up to 60 seconds long.

The new version also comes with a text correction feature. This feature will let you easily fix mistakes made during automatic transcriptions.

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