June Pixel Feature Drop is Here With Gemini Nano, Display Port, Phone Lookup, Camera Stuff, More

The best part of each quarter for Pixel owners is when Google finalizes its next big quarterly Android update, as it also means we’ll get a Pixel Feature Drop with new toys to play with. The June Pixel Feature Drop is arriving today and there are almost a dozen items of note from Google, although a few were previously announced.

To dive in, let’s first look at all that is coming to Pixel phones, tablets, and foldables, from the Pixel 6 up through the Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Fold, and Pixel Tablet.

• Gemini Nano is expanding to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a for some on-device AI processing. Previously, Google had said that Nano wouldn’t come to the Pixel 8 because of a hardware limitation, only to then flip days later and suggest they’d let users try it out as a Developer Option with the June Feature Drop as some sort of developer preview. Because the Pixel 8a is so similar to the Pixel 8, it too is getting in on this preview. To start, Google previously announced that Gemini Nano on these devices would utilize Summarize in Recorder and Magic Compose in Messages.
• Summarize in Recorder can now detect and include the names of speakers and also export transcripts into text files or Google Docs. This is available on the Pixel 8 Pro, as well as that new developer option for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8a.

• Display Port Support arrives on the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a, allowing users to connect their phones to a secondary display with a USB-C cable. This could be useful for consuming content, like movies, shows, and slides.
• Reverse Phone Number Lookup comes to the Pixel 6 up through the Pixel 8 and Pixel Fold. This was previously spotted in testing back in April, but the idea sounds amazing. When an unknown number hits your call log, you can tap it a couple of times to perform a lookup that can use things like Google Search to look up the number and provide you more information.

• Find My Device, the new device location network from Google, does indeed find devices like the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a even if they are powered off. I feel like this was spotted weeks ago, but apparently not official from Google until today.
• HDR+ on most Pixel devices (Pixel 6 through the Pixel Tablet, Fold, 8 Series) can now “automatically identify the best moment from your photo in HDR+ with a single shutter press, guaranteeing users picture perfect photos every time.” Neat.
• Manual Lens picking on Pixel cameras is a thing now on the Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel Fold, according to Google, who says you have the option to manually touch the specific camera you want to use at any time. While I have not tested this yet, it should be only slightly different than simply choosing zoom levels like you’ve done for years. You can see what this looks like in the image above (right).
• Google Home Favorites Widget has rolled out, but you know this. This new widget was a part of the Android Feature Drop at the end of May. This brand new widget will provide quick, customizable, smart home controls on users’ phone and tablet home screens. It is available in the Public Preview.
• Pixel Tablet gets Doorbell Notifications when it’s docked in hub mode. Now, when someone rings your doorbell, you’ll get a snapshot of who is at the door. Again, this was announced a week or so ago.

Alright, that’s it for phones and tablets and foldable, so now we look at what’s new in the June Pixel Feature Drop for the Pixel Watch.

• Car Crash Detection and Bicycle Fall Detection are now available on the Pixel Watch 2. Should you experience a car crash, the Watch 2 will ask if you are OK and can then dial emergency services or contacts. Similarly, fall detection is improved when falling from bikes on both Pixel Watch and Watch 2.
• PayPal has entered Google Wallet on the Pixel Watch, but this isn’t really a specific Pixel thing, as Google announced this for Wear OS at the end of April.
• Google Home is also more powerful on the Pixel Watch, with a new Wear OS Tile, watch face complication, and more controls, like over smart fans and humidifiers. Again, this is Wear OS-level stuff that was a part of the broader Android Feature Drop from May.

So there you have it! That’s all that is new in the June Pixel Feature Drop. As is always the case with these updates, Google rolls these new features out in waves, so you may not see everything right away.

// Google