Pixel Feature Drop arrives with fixes for the fingerprint scanner, Wi-Fi, and cellular connectivity
We may earn a commission if you make a purchase from the links on this page.
The Pixel June 2022 Feature Drop has been released by Google and there are three new features for the At a Glance widget for the Pixel lock and home screen. One is a video feed from an installed Nest Doorbell Camera allowing the user to view a small image on the widget of the person at the door who pressed the doorbell. Some Pixel users have already been able to use this feature.
Pixel Feature Drop addresses under-display Fingerprint Scanner,
To check what capabilities your At a Glance widget has, long press on the display near the widget. You'll see a pop-up that says "Customize." Tap on it and on the next page, click on the At a Glance gear icon and you'll see all of the notifications that you can toggle on for the At a Glance widget.
At a Glance will now show you a reminder when you have your phone's flashlight turned on and you'll be able to turn the light off with a single tap. This feature will prevent you from accidentally leaving your flashlight on while also allowing you to turn the torch off without going into Quick Settings again. Another new feature available in the U.S., Australia, and India will show the latest AQI (Air Quality Index) reading from the At a Glance widget.
Buy the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro
The higher the AQI reading, the more polluted is the air that you are breathing. A reading of 50 or below is considered to be good while a reading of 300 or higher is hazardous.
The June Feature Drop includes a "pocket operator for Pixel." This app, available from the Google Play Store, will let you "turn everyday sounds into music." The feature will work only on the Pixel 5, Pixel 6, and newer models.
According to the Play Store listing, "Using the Pixel phone's video camera as a sampling tool and utilizing Google's TensorFlow machine learning to analyze and categorize the samples, you can create unique drum and sample kits from the things around you wherever you are. Play and mix live or record step by step using your recorded video clips. Use up to 4 tracks across 16 patterns to compose full songs."
The Feature drop will now allow digital vaccination cards to be stored on Google Wallet and placed on your home screen. After first being announced with the December Feature Drop, Conversation Mode is now more widely available for Pixel 3 and later models using Sound Amplifier on the Accessibility page under Settings. This feature separates speech to amplify the voice you want to hear while other people and ambient noises are filtered out improving the audio on calls.
The update adds three new Pride-related Wallpaper options
To celebrate Pride Month, the Feature Drop includes three new Pride-related wallpaper options from Yann Bastard. In addition, Car Crash Detection is now available in Canada for Pixel 3 and later (Pixel 3a is excluded). This feature activates when a crash involving the car that you're driving or riding in has been detected. If you aren't able to answer any prompts, emergency calls are made that include the location of the accident along with a request for help.
Also, For the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, Google has expanded the availability of Chat translation in messages to more languages such as Traditional Chinese, Dutch, Korean, Thai, and Turkish.
The update also exterminates several bugs including one that promises "General improvements for Wi-Fi stability & performance," which many Pixel 6 series users have been hoping for. Just as important is the update that includes "General improvements for network connection stability & performance."
And yes Virginia, Google also addressed issues with the under-display fingerprint scanner:
- Fix for issue occasionally causing rear fingerprint unlock to take longer than expected.
- Fix for issue causing under-display fingerprint unlock to fail while in a call with AOD (always-on display) active.
The rumored Face unlock facial recognition system did not appear which might be considered a big disappointment for Pixel 6 Pro owners, especially in light of rumors that the device had the feature scratched from the phone at the last minute. Still, the problems that many have been complaining about such as the poor performance from the fingerprint scanner, and the loss of Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity could be fixed with this update.
To install the update, go to Settings > System > System update.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: