Summary
- Google’s latest Pixel Feature Drop brings new camera features, app screen sharing, and fast pair improvements.
- Circle to Search feature expands to Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, allowing quick searches by drawing on the screen.
- Pixel Watch 1 receives pace and heart zone training updates, bringing it closer to the newer Pixel Watch 2 capabilities.
It’s the first Monday of March, and you know what this means. Google is back with a new round of updates for its Pixels as part of its Pixel Feature Drop initiative, adding a bunch of capabilities to its devices every three months. Many of the additions were already in testing in Android 14 QPR2, and they’re now finally coming to everyone with a recent Google device. If you’re in the US, you’ll have to wait just a little longer, though. While the Feature Drop rolls out internationally today, Google says you’ll have to wait until March 11.
What’s new in Android 14 QPR2 Beta 3 and earlier
Google’s latest QPR2 release packs many surprises and some long-awaited features
Circle to Search is coming to more phones
Two more phones, to be exact: the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro
At Samsung’s big Galaxy S24 launch event, Google revealed a new way to quickly gather more information about what’s on your screen: Circle to Search. To invoke it, you can simply hold the navigation bar or home button at the bottom of the screen and then draw circles or squiggle lines across the screen to look something up with a quick Google search.
The feature initially came exclusively to the Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 series, but given that it’s purely software-based, we’ve been hoping that Google would quickly expand it to more phones in its own lineup. The company sure listened, but it decided to go for another arbitrary cutoff again. Rather than releasing Circle to Search on all currently supported Pixel phones, it’s only bringing it to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro — not even the Pixel 7a with largely the same hardware as the Pixel 7 gets to enjoy it.
App screen sharing and fast pair improvements
No need to show everyone your notifications when you record your screen anymore
With other features, Google is less focused on its latest and greatest phones. Thanks to upgrades to Android itself as part of QPR2, you can now record only one specific app on your phone without revealing your system UI or notifications. This capability is coming to all phones starting with the Pixel 5a and newer as well as the Pixel Tablet.
If you’re switching to a new phone or you just happen to have multiple Google devices to connect to your favorite Bluetooth earbuds, this update may be for you: Google offers a new “Previously used with Account” option on the connected devices settings page, which makes it possible to quickly access Bluetooth devices you’ve previously used on a phone with your Google account.
Google also made its new floating voice typing keyboard for Android tablets official with this release. Rather than showing you the full-screen keyboard at all times when you’re dictating, the keyboard collapses into a small pill that you can move around your screen as you need. This has started to roll out on Android tablets a while ago already, though.
New camera features and next-generation call screening
You can enjoy some more improvements on your Pixel phones
The Pixel 8 and 7 series are in for some new photography and videography enhancements with the March Feature Drop. Google is rolling out the option to upload Ultra HDR images to Instagram, allowing you to take full advantage of the new image format on social media. Similarly, 10-bit HDR videos can now also be used and shared in Instagram Reels. You may have come across some of these extra bright videos during your scrolling sessions already.
Hands-on with Ultra HDR in Android 14: The future of photography
Android 14 adds support for Google’s new Ultra HDR image format — here’s how it will change the way we take and view photos
Google’s signature Call Screen feature is in for a small upgrade, too. When a caller remains silent after you activate Call Screen, a chip will now appear that you can tap to make Assistant say “Hello?” Assistant will also let callers know to wait longer when you can’t immediately answer.
The first-gen Pixel Watch is getting some love
A whole bunch of new fitness features make their way over from the Pixel Watch 2
The Pixel Watch 2 may be the current star of Google’s (admittedly small) lineup of watches, but its predecessor is finally in for some upgrades that brings it closer. With the March Feature Drop, the Pixel Watch gains support for pace training, allowing you to set a targeted pace during your GPS-assisted workout. You can see if you’re within your zone on your watch and you will get a notification if you’re not. Something similar is also available for heart zone training, with the Pixel Watch now capable of notifying you when you switch to a different zone.
The Pixel Watch 1 additionally offers an Auto Workout Mode. Like the second-gen watch, this means that it will automatically start and stop tracking when it detects a certain range of workouts. This is available for running, walking, elliptical, spinning, outdoor biking, treadmill training, and rowing.
Coming soon to a Pixel near you
The Pixel lineup is becoming more fragmented
As you can tell, not all phones and not all watches offer the same software features anymore. And with Google also dividing the start of the rollout between international and domestic markets, the lineup is looking a little more fragmented than before. We can only hope that features like Circle to Search will become available across the entire lineup sooner than later.
