December Pixel Drop: New Features for Your Pixel Phone, Tablet, and More  
December 5, 2024  

This update introduces significant enhancements including Gemini updates, Expressive Captions on Pixel, new Pixel Screenshots capabilities, and optimizations designed to improve the interoperability of your devices.   

Key Highlights:  
- The December Pixel Drop introduces new functionality across your Pixel phone, tablet, and other devices.  
- Gemini now allows users to control smart home devices, play music on Spotify, and access information on Maps.  
- Call Screen has advanced, utilizing Gemini Nano to suggest contextual responses to unknown callers.  

The latest Pixel Drop provides enhanced intelligent features for your devices, along with new utilizes for Gemini, camera advancements, and security updates. Notably, it also extends several popular features to additional countries.  

Utilizing Gemini in Innovative Ways:  
- Tailor how Gemini supports your needs with the new saved info feature in Gemini Advanced.  
- Users can request Gemini to remember their preferences to receive more personalized responses relevant to their goals—such as providing vegetarian recipes if specified.  
- Gemini can now place calls to personal contacts or businesses and facilitate message drafting and sending via your default communication apps. Additionally, functionalities such as setting alarms and managing device settings are available.  
- Upcoming support for additional applications is anticipated in the coming weeks.  
- The new Spotify extension enables access to music and mood-related playlists, and smart home device control is now streamlined through Gemini for compatible devices.  

Enhancements for Call Management:  
- The Call Screen feature powered by Gemini Nano can provide contextually relevant, easy-to-tap responses for incoming calls.  
- Live transcripts of screened calls enhance user awareness during call screening, offering the option to accept or decline calls at any point.  

Capturing and Sharing Memories Made Easy:  
- Users can now capture and share Ultra HDR photos directly to Instagram.  
- Finding photos to share on Snapchat is simplified with an updated Photo Picker, presenting all folders and cloud photos in an accessible format.  

Dual Screen capabilities enhance portrait photography on Pixel Fold and Pixel 9 Pro Fold, allowing previews before capturing images.  

Updates to "Made You Look" now feature on the first-generation Pixel Fold, utilizing animations to engage younger audiences. Pixel 9 Pro Fold users will enjoy new visuals from Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out.  

Sharing Pixel Studio stickers is now seamless through Gboard, and Emoji Kitchen introduces an easier way to create amusing emoji combinations directly from your keyboard.  

Organizational Tools in Pixel Screenshots:  
- New improvements to Pixel Screenshots include seamless saving from Circle to Search, ensuring effortless retrieval of valuable content.  
- Screenshots will automatically categorize themselves for efficient searching, suggesting actions based on saved details.  
- Tickets and credit cards captured in screenshots can now be added to Google Wallet for convenient access alongside other important documents.  

Audio-Visual Enhancements:  
- Expressive Captions capture the emotional tone of spoken content across various media on Android devices.  
- The Recorder app now features a “Clear voice” function to minimize background noise and enhance sound clarity during recordings.  

Enhancements for a Smooth User Experience:  
- A new Simple View option improves navigation through increased font size and touch sensitivity.  
- The Now Playing feature now displays album art for enhanced music discovery and exploration.  
- Controls on the Pixel Tablet are more readily accessible via a swipe from the lock screen.  

Security and Safety Features:  
- The Identity Check feature is now available, requiring biometric authentication when significant settings adjustments occur in new locations.  
- Users can utilize Google's built-in VPN on Pixel Tablets, ensuring personal data is protected on public Wi-Fi connections.  

Health and safety tools on Pixel Watch 3 have expanded to new regions, including Loss of Pulse Detection and Fall Detection features, enhancing emergency response capabilities.   

The December Pixel Drop coincides with the rollout of new Android features, beginning today.  

Please note: Your Pixel device will receive Pixel Drops during the applicable Android update periods. Availability may vary by device model.  

For more updates, stay connected with Google.