Pixel March feature drop brings Health Connect, faster Night Sight, more

Google is pushing out the March feature drop for its Pixel devices, including all Pixel phones and the Pixel Watch. The changelog for the update leaked a few days ago and matches today’s official announcement.

Google is adding a bunch of improvements and new features to older Pixel phones with the March feature drop. Its Health Connect platform is also coming out of beta. Here’s the full changelog.

• Faster Night Sight: Google’s Night Sight feature will now be able to click and process low-light images faster on the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro got this perk at launch, but now the older Tensor-based Pixels can join the fun. Unfortunately, the Pixel 6a appears to be left out for now.
• Magic Eraser for all: Google already announced the wider availability of the Magic Eraser feature that removes unwanted objects from images. The company is just reiterating this for the March feature drop. Now all Pixel users can remove photobombers and other distractions straight from Google Photos.
• Health Connect: Google announced Health Connect during I/O 2022. The app was in beta all this time but will now come pre-installed on Pixel phones with the March feature drop. The app helps collate health data from several health apps in one place.
• Direct My Call: Pixel 4a phones and newer can now show on-screen menu options when you call a business even before the call is answered.
• Timers with no unlock: If you set a timer on a Nest device, that timer’s information will now appear on your Pixel’s lock screen through the At-A-Glance widget. You’ll also get a push notification when the timer is finished so you can dismiss it or add more time, if necessary. This is locked to English at the moment and not compatible with the Google Home Max.

• Fall detection: Once again, Google is reiterating that it has released the fall detection feature for the Pixel Watch. The feature rolled out to the Google wearable last month. It helps detect hard falls and automatically contacts emergency services should you need help.
• Sound and display: Wear OS 3+ watches — including the Pixel Watch — will get new sound and display settings in the coming weeks. This will include switching the watch to mono audio, new color-correction modes, and a greyscale display mode.