Google’s June 2024 Android 14 Pixel Feature Drop brings a slew of improvements to compatible Pixel phones to deliver a better user experience. Feel free to learn about all the key new features in the update below.
1 Improved AI-Generated Summaries in the Recorder app
The Recorder app is among the best apps on the Pixel. It uses AI to provide real-time transcripts of voice notes being recorded with speaker label support. The June 2024 Feature Drop makes the app even better by letting you download AI-generated summaries of a recorded note.
Google also claims that the Summaries are now more detailed than before and will include speaker labels, making it easy to follow conversational transcripts.
More importantly, you can export the transcript of a recorded voice note to Google Docs or into a text file for easy sharing.
Downloadable AI-generated summaries are available on the Pixel 8 Pro. However, if you have the Pixel 8 or Pixel 8a, you can enable this feature through the hidden Developer options menu. The feature is also limited to English voice notes.
2 Manual Camera Mode Gets Even Better
The Pro camera mode in the Pixel Camera app is getting more powerful; you can now switch between lenses manually. So far, the Pixel’s camera app has automatically toggled between camera lenses based on lighting conditions and zoom.
Once you install the June 2024 Pixel Feature Drop, you can manually pick the camera lens you want to use in Pixel Camera’s Pro mode. Besides the Pixel Fold, this enhancement is available on the Pixel 6 Pro and newer Pro models.
3 Offline Phone Finding Support
The June 2024 Pixel Feature Drop also enhances Find My Device support on your Google Pixel by adding offline phone finding support in the Find My Device app.
As the name indicates, the feature allows you to track your lost or stolen Pixel phone for up to 23 hours after it’s powered off or runs out of battery. It relies on Google’s Find My Device network to work, ensuring that your location data is encrypted and not compromised in any way.
Offline phone finding only works on the Pixel 8 series and is not globally available as of early 2024.
4 DisplayPort Support
The June 2024 Feature Drop makes the USB-C port on the Pixel 8 a lot more useful by enabling DisplayPort support. In simpler terms, you can connect your Pixel 8 to a computer monitor with DisplayPort over USB-C and watch content directly on it.
While this might seem minor, it’s a handy addition, as you can use DisplayPort support to turn the Pixel into a mini-PC for viewing spreadsheets or movies on a bigger screen.
Do note that you must use a compatible USB-C cable with DisplayPort support for the external monitor output to work. This feature is only available on the Tensor G3-powered Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro, and Pixel 8a.
5 Quickly Lookup Unknown Numbers
It’s now easier than ever to look up unknown numbers quickly. You will see a new “Lookup” option when you tap an unknown number in your call log. Previously, you had to use a service like Truecaller or do a reverse search of the number on Google to identify the caller.
Reverse Phone Number Lookup is available on Pixel 6 and newer devices, including the Pixel Fold.
Besides these major additions, the Feature Drop also brings Gemini Nano to the Pixel 8 and 8a. However, you must enable access to the AI model through the hidden Developer options menu. Running Gemini Nano locally will speed up many AI tasks on your Pixel phone, like AI summaries in the Recorder app, Magic Compose in the Messages app, and more.
You can download the Feature Drop right now by heading to Settings > System > Software updates > System update on your Pixel phone.
