Google Pixel update adds battery-saving Maps mode, AI photo remixing, and smarter notifications

Google has announced its November software update for Pixel phones, called Pixel Drop — a quarterly feature release that brings new capabilities to existing devices — with features including notification summaries, a power-saving mode for the Maps app, quick photo edits, and Gemini Nano-powered photo edits in Messages.

Apple introduced Notification Summaries with the Apple Intelligence feature set last year. Google is now continuing its notification summaries for conversations and longer conversations on the Pixel 9 and newer devices. The company said that next December it will introduce a feature that will silence low-priority notifications. In comparison, Apple has the Priority Notification feature that stands out Important notifications.

Google is introducing a new low-power mode for its Maps app that will dim the screen and display only important information, including navigation route and next turn details. The company said that with this feature, which will be available to Pixel 10 series users, you can provide up to four hours of battery life.

The company previously offered phone call fraud detection with the Gemini Nano and on-device speech detection for users in the US with the Pixel 9 and later models. It is now expanding this feature to users in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Australia, and Canada.

Google is also adding a way to indicate when a message is a scam, by including a “Likely a Scam” button in the message notification. This depends on the company’s current feature that analyzes the content of the message and Detects spam or fraud.

Company Nano banana The photo template has become popular among users. It’s now adding a feature called Remix, powered by this model alongside Gemini in the Messages app, which lets you use the image and reimagine it with prompts. This feature is rolling out to users in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, and New Zealand with RCS enabled and English language support.

Google added Pixel VIP feature In June, it lets you designate eight of your closest contacts and get updates from them through the home screen widget. With November’s Pixel Drop, notifications from these contacts will be prioritized. Additionally, if an incident such as a flood occurs in the area where they live, you will see a crisis badge in the Contacts widget.

The company is also adding a new AI-powered editing feature to Google Photos. Users can tap “Help me edit” and ask photos to “remove Riley’s sunglasses, open my eyes, and make Angel smile and open her eyes.” The feature will use Google Photos’ face collections feature to recognize people and apply adjustments.

The November drop also expands support for the call transcription feature, called Call Notes, to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Japan. It offers a “Wicked: For Good” theme pack with new wallpapers, icons, system sounds, and GIFs inspired by the movie for Pixel 6 and later devices.