Few know that monthly security updates Android have only been around for a few years and were not originally planned at all. It's just that at one point Google realized that its operating system was full of bugs and vulnerabilities that should be fixed so that people would like to use it or at least not be afraid to use it. However, this concept turned out to be too difficult to convey even to the users of Google Pixel smartphones, who, although they belong to the Okologikov audience, for the most part do not have the slightest idea about the protective mechanisms Android. Therefore, the company decided to spice up security patches with new functions.
Google pays more attention to Pixel smartphones than everything else
Since the end of last year, Google has been publishing a so-called Pixel Feature Drop every three months. It's kind of like a promise to add features to the Google Pixel firmware. As a rule, these are quite valuable innovations for users to pay attention to them. The company released its third Pixel Feature Drop tonight and revealed some pretty noteworthy details about the future of the Pixel line.
Auto brightness on Android
Auto brightness can react not only to ambient lighting
Google has made changes to the adaptive screen brightness feature, making it work not only based on information about ambient lighting, but also user behavior. Now, if the system detects that the smartphone's charging is low, and the user continues to load the device with heavy tasks, it will lower the display brightness to a lower level to save battery life. This way, you can save a little energy to keep the tasks already started, and prevent premature discharge.
Sleep will help bring your own routine back to normal
The sleep mode, which had been rumored for a long time, was finally officially presented. Google has promised to integrate it into the firmware of Google Pixel smartphones, making it part of the Digital Wellbeing function, which tracks user activity throughout the day. The innovation has to find out what tasks distract the user before going to bed, preventing him from sleeping peacefully, and also contribute to easier falling asleep and waking up. For this, relaxing melodies will appear in Android, which can be turned on before going to bed and set as an alarm clock. Subsequently, this mode will appear on all other smartphones.
Translate voice to text on Android
Google Recorder will be integrated with Google Assistant. Pixel smartphone users can now control it using their voice. Thus, it will be possible to activate the recording, pause and even search for previously saved devices in the memory. If necessary, it will be possible to extract a transcript from the recording and transfer it in text format to Google Docs for later use. This is a very valuable function for those who have to take a lot of notes, for example, journalists, students and subordinates of different levels.
Personal Safety is not a very useful feature that is unlikely to be popular
For the safety of users, it was decided to add the Personal Safety feature to the Pixel firmware. Its purpose is to make the user feel good from time to time. It works as follows: you go on a hike and set yourself a certain time period, after which you must return and note that everything is fine with you. If the mark is not followed, the smartphone will automatically notify emergency services and your loved ones, whose contacts you will pre-memorize.
All of these features will be available on Google Pixel smartphones within a month. Not to say that they turned out to be so valuable, after all, the innovations of the previous quarter were much more interesting. But, since they have implemented it, then let it be. Perhaps voice control or the auto brightness function will come in handy for someone and help improve the experience of using a mobile device. Another question is how tangible this improvement will be for users of 'pixels', who are used to special treatment from Google.