Google Pixel’s June Feature Drop brings Astrophotography time lapse, Heads Up, Locked Photos Folder

Google’s latest Feature drop of Pixel smartphones is now rolling out with some new features and market expansion of already existing features. Last week, we reported that Astrophotography would receive a “time lapse” feature and this update includes it.

Astrophotography will now capture a short timelapse of the exposure when shooting a still image with the mode. Basically, every long-exposure capture of the sky that you perform on the Pixel will also be made into a short video of the exposure time, much like Google Photos does with Motion Photos. There isn’t a dedicated Astrophotography time lapse mode per se.

At Google I/O, the company previewed its Locked Folder option within Google Photos and that feature is now rolling out with the update. “Sensitive” photos can be moved into the Locked Folder, or you can take them directly into the Folder. This locked folder is only accessible by passcode or fingerprint.

Heads Up is a new feature within Digital Wellbeing that reminds you to look up if the device detects the user is walking while actively using the phone.

Three Pride-themed wallpapers have been added to Pixel devices with this update.

New Pride wallpapers

You can now use Google Assistant to answer or reject phone calls using only your voice by saying “Hey Google, Answer/Reject call”.

Gboard’s clipboard feature will now be more helpful with addresses and phone numbers. When copying a block of text containing a phone number, address, and website, Gboard will extract a phone number or email address when it thinks you might be trying to save it or share it with someone.

Three of Google’s Pixel-exclusive features are expanding to new markets: Google’s Car Crash Detection expands to Spain, Ireland, and Singapore. The Call Screen feature is now available in Japan. Finally, The Recorder app will be available to use for live transcription from Singaporean, Australian, Irish, and British English dialects. This last update will be rolling out by the end of July to all Pixel 3 devices or newer.

The June update also issues fixes that are listed below.

The June Pixel Feature Drop update is now rolling out.

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