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Recapping Pixel software and Feature Drops in 2023
Dec 28, 2023 Abner Li News Source 9to5google 14 hits
Generally speaking, Made by Google has six big software launches over the course of a year. Some Pixel Feature Drops are bigger than others and that continued to be the case in 2023, while the other two moments are tied to the mid-year and fall hardware launches. March Feature Drop After bug fixes in January and February , the year in updates began in earnest with the March Pixel Feature Drop . Besides preloading Health Connect, Android 13 QPR2 made a handful of UI changes to Quick Settings, like a large digital clock when the panel is fully expanded, and a remaining days/hours battery estimate. Padding tweaks to the Pixel Launcher and app folders were also introduced. The biggest Feature Drop announcement would have been Magic Eraser coming to all Pixel phones, but Google announced that almost three weeks earlier when it brought the tool to Google Photos for Android and iOS via Google One . (The timing of events was quite odd. At the start of February, there was a Pixel 7 Super Bowl ad showcasing Magic Eraser, but that exclusivity ended a little over two weeks later.) As such, the next biggest development for those in the Google ecosystem was At a Glance’s Cross Device Timer that shows active countdowns from your Nest displays/speakers. Additionally: Pixel Tablet and Fold launch Hub Mode on the Pixel Tablet was a big undertaking in that it combined the Nest experience with Pixel/Android, while Google’s new mid-year devices were the first to feature the updated Weather app . This redesign was greatly overdue, with a good first-party weather client being more important than ever these days. These two device launches also culminated Google’s broader work on optimizing Android for large-screen form factors. June Feature Drop With all eyes on Android 14, 13 QPR3 was a more minor update, but it did add “Enhanced PIN privacy” to disable input animations on the lockscreen. The highlight of the June Feature Drop was certainly the Emoji and Cinematic Wallpapers previewed at I/O 2023 a month earlier. A close second in my book was the Home Panel, which is just the Google Home app’s Favorites tab, coming to phones after being introduced on the Pixel Tablet. Notable camera updates include the Macro Focus Video on the Pixel 7 Pro, as well as Palm Timer on Pixel 6+ after launching on the Fold. Speaker Labels in Recorder became searchable, while any saved names got added to generated video clips and transcripts exported to Google Docs. Fall/Android 14 Feature Drop Android 14 brought the biggest Pixel update of 2023 in terms of the number of additions and changes, but there wasn’t anything that necessarily changed the core user experience. In terms of timing, Google tied the release to the launch of the Pixel 8 series, just like Android 12 and the Pixel 6, though that update was much bigger given Material You. During the developer preview/beta period, it’s sometimes not always obvious what’s a Pixel feature and what’s for Android. For example, the Drop made clear that the lockscreen clocks are a Pixel feature. You can read out Android 14 recap here , but highlights include: Auto-confirm unlock for PIN codes, separate Ring and Notification volumes, redesigned Share sheet, and Flash notifications. As for the Feature Drop, there was the big Google Camera 9.0 redesign and the “Check charging accessory” notification. Pixel 8 launch Meanwhile, hardware launches are Google’s biggest opportunity to introduce new features, which are often tied to the latest chipset. This year, the highlight was seven years of OS updates and how Face Unlock can now be used for payments and banking apps. December Feature Drop The December Feature Drop is still fresh in our minds, but it was a big one for Pixel Camera-related additions: On the Gemini Nano front, it’s Recorder Summarize and Gboard Smart Replies, while there’s also Repair Mode and the weather integration in Google Clock.
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