- The next Pixel Feature Drop might land on November 4
- This could include theme packs to change the look and sounds of your phone
- It might also let you create GIFs and animated stickers, and prioritize certain notifications
If you have a Pixel phone, then you don’t need to wait for new versions of Android to get new features, as Google routinely releases Pixel-specific ‘Feature Drops’. And the next one of these updates could include some major upgrades for the best Pixel phones.
Leaker group Mystic Leaks (via 9to5Google) has shared screenshots and videos showing the supposedly upcoming features, and these include theme packs, custom animations, and prioritized notifications.
The most exciting of these is perhaps the theme packs, which, with one tap, will apply a wallpaper along with matching icons, GIFs, and sounds. Initially, it seems a Wicked: For Good theme pack will be launching, consisting of ‘For Good,’ ‘Glinda,’ and ‘Elphaba’ themes, but we’re hopeful that more packs will follow.
If they do, then these could be an easy way to significantly change the look of the interface on your Pixel phone.
Create GIFs and give people the VIP treatment
Next up, there’s the ability to turn an image or Pixel Studio creation into a GIF or animated sticker, and finally, there’s an update to the Pixel VIPs feature, which will ensure messages sent from people you designate as ‘VIPs’ will have their notifications highlighted in yellow, and the person’s contact photo visible in the status bar.
The goal here is to make these messages easier to spot, so you don’t miss them amongst an influx of notifications – though note that this feature only works with messages sent via WhatsApp and Google Messages.
In any case, this sounds like quite a good mix of upgrades, and the Feature Drop could be coming soon, with the leak suggesting a November 4 release.
But until this update actually rolls out, we’d take these rumors with a pinch of salt, as while the images look credible, it hasn’t been long since the last Pixel Feature Drop. Plus, as 9to5Google notes, we’re also expecting to see Android 16 QPR2 land before the end of the year, and this will also include a number of new features. So, the supposed timing of this Feature Drop is a little strange.
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