Yet more upgrades are coming to Pixel phones: A Practical Look
Google is working on a pair of potentially useful new software features for its Pixel phones as a free upgrade.
The first of these features is the ability to lock and power down your phone with a simple double-tap screen input. At present, this needs a physical press of the power button.
As someone who uses a whole lot of phones, this can be problematic in itself, given Google’s unorthodox button placement – something I’m rediscovering with the Google Pixel 11 Pro.
Chris Martin / Foundy
This double-tap-to-lock gesture had been spotted in an Android 16 beta around a year ago, but Android Authority just spotted its return in the latest Android 17 QPR2 Beta 3 build.
More specifically, it seems Google has updated some of the dormant code related to the feature, adding the home screen to the feature’s description.
This seems to imply that you’ll be able to send your Pixel into a sleep state both from the lock screen and the home screen. It’s like the reverse of the double tap to wake, which LG introduced all those years ago.
Google has also added a reference to a dedicated Settings menu section for this “Double tap to turn off screen” option, letting you toggle it on and off.
AI battery usage monitoring
The second new Pixel software feature spotted by Android Authority sees Google’s AI smarts being applied to your phone’s battery usage.
In the Android 17 QPR 2 Beta 3 code is a mention of new “Battery usage summaries”. While the website was unable to get the feature working properly, it seems that it will draw from apps actively used within the last 14 days and generate insights on your battery use.
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
These will include personalised tips to help improve your phone’s battery life.
It seems the feature will use Gemini Nano to generate these summaries locally. This, in turn, means that any phone older than the Google Pixel 8 probably won’t support the feature.
We’ll be looking out for both of these new features in forthcoming Pixel Drops; the next should land in September.
The news follows on from Gemini and lockscreen upgrades being spotted.
