How to Enable Everything Except What’s Broken in the June Google Pixel Feature
Google Pixel Android owners are getting several new features, including updates to your device’s personal safety app and more . Plus, Personal Safety is now supported on all Pixel smartphones from Pixel 2 and up, not just Pixel 4. Problem? Google made a mess by including personal safety.
Let me explain.
To start using the Personal Safety app or its latest features, you need to install all new updates for your Pixel (via Settings> System> Advanced> System Update) , as well as any new app updates. which may linger on the Google Play store.
After you update and restart your device, you will most likely see “prompts” at the top of your notifications. Click on it to go to a new window listing some of the major new additions:
You can click Take a Look to explore the new features, which will give you links to add your information to the Personal Safety app if you haven’t already. This kicks off the ability to access the Personal Security app from the start, which is a bit of a mess on Android.
If you don’t see these tips in your notifications, open the Settings app, click on Search Settings, search for Tips and launch Pixel Tips, which should display the aforementioned personal safety options. For some reason, Google makes it incredibly difficult to access the Personal Safety app – I haven’t seen an option to open it through the app drawer, and Google’s instructions for opening it didn’t help much either.
After following the requests provided by the Pixel Tips app (the only way to access Personal Security), I ended up on this screen that allowed me to link my Google account to the app:
In turn, passing these requests led me to the Personal Security application itself. (What a long and strange journey it has been.)
While I feel like I have access to the Emergency section, I still haven’t seen other important updates that Google is promoting. This means that they either did not reach me, or I am still doing something wrong. This is frustrating as, judging by their descriptions, they seem incredibly useful:
And I am hardly the only person experiencing this issue. Feel free to try the troubleshooting methods suggested from these links if you like, but prepare yourself to be disappointed. I just want to state the obvious: it sucks, Google. Don’t talk about features, especially security features , that your users can’t access without reading the 3 FAQs and the oracle to possibly gain partial access to the default hidden security app. Come on.
What about the other June update features?
There are three features that are important to know if you have installed the June update Pixel: time departure to sleep , the Adaptive Battery and Recorder .
Time to go to bed
Google has tweaked the Clock app for Pixel owners to add a new Bedtime option so you can have a recurring alarm, include Google Assistant in your morning alarm, and even have the Pixel slowly increase screen brightness before the alarm goes off.
You can also give yourself before bed on your Pixel, which will remind you when it’s almost time to go to bed. Your device can even set itself to automatically go into Do Not Disturb mode (and dim its display) so that you are not tempted to constantly check for various notifications.
When does my Pixel battery run out?
Google has also tweaked the Pixel’s Adaptive Battery feature a bit. Make sure it’s turned on by going to Settings> Battery> Adaptive Battery to have your phone adequately turn off background services when you need a little extra charge when it’s done charging. You can now also roughly see when your phone will die, given its current use, on the battery screen:
Recorder
If you own a Pixel 4, you can now use Google Assistant to record your voice. Just tell your phone, “Ok Google, start recording my voice” to launch the Recorder app.