The Pixel 7a has an exclusive feature that intelligently changes the intensity of vibration alerts
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The Google Pixel 7a officially launched a couple of days ago as the latest in Google's A-Series of devices to hit the mid-range smartphone market. However, a feature has been discovered on it that is not available yet in any other Pixel phone — for now.
The feature is called "adaptive alert vibration", which was recently spotted by Android Police on the Pixel 7a, but also spotted back in December by Mishaal Rahman in the Android 13 QPR2 beta for the Pixel 6a. The feature was not widely available then, so it was not largely publicized.
The Pixel 7a has that "adaptive alert vibration" feature that I spotted back in December in the Android 13 QPR2 beta for the Pixel 6a. This option "reduces [the] vibration strength while your phone is still and the screen is facing up."
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) May 12, 2023
Screenshots: Android Police https://t.co/HiEAZRpbLvpic.twitter.com/BrmfytxNAb
The hallmark of this feature is that it reduces strength of the device's vibration when the phone is sitting still and the screen is facing up, suggesting that it isn't being actively used. Currently, in addition to having the option to turn vibration alerts on or off, Pixel users have the option to adjust the intensity level of said alerts but that is unfortunately restricted to four different levels.
This new feature takes it a step further, allowing you to customize the vibration intensity while your phone is sitting out and not being used. The latest feature can be accessed by navigating to Settings, followed by Sound & vibration, and then Vibration & haptics. This is also documented in a new support document.
It is unclear why this feature is only available on the 7a and not on the Pixel 7 or 7 Pro. It stands to reason that it relies on the device's accelerometer and employs some AI magic to determine the state of the device at the time, so it's hard to imagine that the only device that can support it is the latest mid-ranger.
However, it won't be the first time that Google releases a new feature as a new device exclusive that lasts only a few months before it rolls out to other Pixel devices. Such has been the case with many other Pixel-exclusive features that in some cases have even made their way to non-Pixel devices, such as Magic Eraser. Regardless, it's good to see Google continue to use their computational prowess to come up with features that improve quality of life, and in this case, battery life.
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