In October, the tech giant released the Pixel 7 as well as the Pixel 7 Pro; then, in November, the company released a tiny software update that addressed a few bugs. This first significant Feature Drop update brings improved connection speed, a complimentary VPN, and more to the most recent Google smartphones. This is a large update, but it is available for your smartphone now.
The latest version dubbed the “Android 13 Quarterly Platform Update 1 (QPR1),” is an omnibus patch that includes a number of changes, including performance improvements, security updates, and a handful of new functionality. Google has published a long list of security patches for the Pixel, as well as the monthly Android bulletin includes information on vulnerabilities. But with a Pixel, you’ll receive monthly special treatment just like that. The plethora of additional functions add a lot of enjoyment to QPR1.
So. What’s New?
Smooth Calling is the first, and it was revealed for the Pixel 7 prior to it being released. Nevertheless, this functionality had previously been unavailable. Although many modern smartphones hardly deserve the name “phone,” Google has included capabilities like Call Screen on the device in an effort to make making and receiving phone calls more pleasant.
Google’s proprietary Tensor processor is put to good use in Clear Calling by employing machine learning to reduce ambient sound and enhance speech quality during phone conversations. To use this function, you must enable it in your phone’s call settings, and it is exclusive to the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.
The superb recorder software that stores audio as well as excerpts to the cloud are available for Google’s Pixel phones as well. Google has improved Recorder by giving it the capacity to recognize individual voices and assign them labels in transcripts. Speaker labels are only accessible in the respective application on the Pixel 6, 6 Pro, 7, and 7 Pro since the underlying machine learning algorithm needs a Tensor chip.
The most recent radical shift concerns the concept of privacy, at least in part. With the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro release, users get free access to Google’s One VPN service. In the same way that all Google One users may do so, you can redirect your data via a secure Google server. This may be useful for protecting data when using public Wi-Fi, but it requires putting your faith in Google. According to the terms of service, the VPN keeps very few logs and does not collect any personally identifiable information.
