Transcript

Aisha 00:00:00 Your devices are getting better over time and so we think about it across the entire portfolio. From phones to watch, to buds to tablet. We get really excited about how we can tell a joint narrative across everything.

Voiceover 00:00:13 Welcome to the Made by Google podcast, where we meet the people who work on the Google products you love. Here's your host Rashid Finge.

Rachid 00:00:21 Today we're talking to Aisha Sharif and DeCarlos Love. They're both product managers for various Pixel devices and work on something that all the Pixel owners love, the Pixel feature drops.

Voiceover 00:00:32 This is the Made by Google Podcast.

Rachid 00:00:35 Aisha, which feature on your Pixel phone has been most transformative in your own life?

Aisha 00:00:40 So many features. I am a singer so I actually think recorded transcription has been incredible because before I would record songs I just like freestyle them, record them, type them up. But now with transcription it works so well. Even deciphering lyrics that are jumbled, I think that's huge.

Rachid 00:00:57 Amazing. DeCarlos, same question to you but for Pixel Watch of course longtime listeners will know you work on Pixel Watch. What has been the most transformative feature in your own life on Pixel Watch?

DeCarlos 00:01:07 I work on the fitness experiences and so for me it's definitely the ability to track my heart rate but specifically around the different heart rate targets and zone features that we've released. For me it's been super helpful. My background is in more football track and field in terms of what I've done before and so using the heart rate features to really help me understand that I shouldn't be going as hard when I'm running, you know, leisurely two or three miles and helping me really tone that down a bit. It's actually been pretty transformative for me to see how things like my resting heart rate have a change due to that feature.

Rachid 00:01:42 Amazing. Aisha, I know we spend a lot of time and energy on feature drops within the Pixel team. Why are they so important to us?

Aisha 00:01:48 So exactly what DeCarlos said, they're important to this narrative that your devices are getting better over time and so we think about it across the entire portfolio from phones to watch to buds to tablet to fold, which is also a phone but we've even thrown in like Chrome OS to our drops sometimes and so we get really excited about how we can tell a joint narrative across everything. The other part is with our Pixel 8 and 8 Pro and I'm still so excited about this, we have seven years of OS updates, security updates and feature drops and so feature drops just pair so nicely into this narrative of how your devices are getting better over time and they'll continue to get better over time. Yeah,

Rachid 00:02:27 We'll still be talking about Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro in 2030 with those seven years of software updates and I promise we'll have an episode on that shortly. Now the March feature drop is upon us, but I just wanted to look back to the last one. First one from January. Aisha, could you tell us some of the highlights from the January one that just launched?

Aisha 00:02:47 So it was one of the few times where we've done a software drop with hardware as well, so it was really exciting to get that new mint color out on Pixel 8 and 8 Pro we also had the body temperature sensor launched in the US so now you're able to actually just with like a scan of your forehead, get your body temp, which is huge and then a ton of AI enhancements. Circle to Search came to Pixel 8 and 8 Pro so you can search from anywhere one of my favorites photo emoji. So now you can use photos that you have in your album and react to messages with them. Most random, I was hosting a donut ice cream party and literally had a picture of a donut ice cream sandwich that I used to react to messages. Love those little random reactions that you can put out there.

Rachid 00:03:29 Amazing. And that was just two months ago now we're upon the March feature drop already. There's one for Pixel phones, then one for Pixel watches as well. Let's start now with the watch DeCarlos, what's new in March.

DeCarlos 00:03:41 The big story for us is that not only are we going to make sure that all of your watches get better over time, but specifically bringing things to previous gen watches. So we had some features that launch on the Pixel Watch 2 and in this feature drop we're bringing those features to the Pixel Watch 1. Some of the things specifically are looking at our Pace features thing I mentioned earlier around our heart rate features as well are coming to the Pixel Watch 1 that's allows you to to kind of set those different settings to target a pace that you wanna stay within and get those notifications while you're working out if you're ahead or above that pace. And similar with the heart rate zones as well, we're also bringing activity recognition to Pixel Watch 1 and users in addition to Auto Pause will be able to leverage activity recognition for them to start their workouts in case they forget to actually start it on their own as well as they'll get a notification to help them stop their workouts in case they forget to end their workout when they're actually done outside of workouts. Another feature that's coming in this feature drop is really around the Fitbit Relax app. Something that folks enjoy from Pixel Watch 2, we're also bringing that there so people can jump in to, you know, take a relaxful moment and work through breathing exercises right on their wrist.

Rachid 00:04:52 Let's get to the March feature drop on the phone side now Aisha, what's new for Pixel phone users?

Aisha 00:04:57 So echoing some of the sentiment that DeCarlos shared with March, really being around devices being made to last mm-Hmm . So Pixel Watch 1 getting features from Pixel Watch 2, we're seeing that on the phone side as well. So Circle to Search will be expanding to Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. We're also seeing 10 bit HDR move outside of just the camera but it'll be available in Instagram so you can take really high quality reels. We also have partial screen sharing, so instead of having to share your entire screen of your phone or your tablet when you're in a meeting or you might be casting now, you can just share a specific app which is huge for privacy.

Rachid 00:05:33 Those are some amazing updates in the March feature drop. Could you tell us a little bit more about, is there any news maybe for the rest of the portfolio as well?

Aisha 00:05:40 Yeah, so uh, screen sharing is coming to tablet. We're also seeing Docs markup come to tablet so you can actually just directly what it sounds like markup Docs, um, Uhhuh, right? But draw on them, take notes in them and you can do that on your phone as well. And then another one that's amazing Bluetooth connection is getting even better. So if you've previously connected maybe buds to a phone now you just bought a tablet, it'll show that those were associated with your account and you can much more easily connect on those devices as well.

Rachid 00:06:08 There's is a part of this conversation I'm looking forward to most, which is asking a question from the Pixel Super Fans community. They're getting the opportunity each episode to ask a question and today's question comes from Casey Carpenter and they're asking what drives your choice of new software in releases, which is a good one. So you mentioned now, uh, and de Carlos I'll start with you. You mentioned a set of features coming to the first generation Pixel Watch, like how do you sort of decide which ones make to cut this time, which one maybe come next time? How does that work?

DeCarlos 00:06:39 For us, we really think about the, the core principle of we wanna make sure that these devices are able to continue to get better and we know that there has been improvements from Pixel Watch 2. And so in this case it's about making sure that we bring those features to the Pixel Watch 1 as well. Obviously we like to think about can it actually happen? Sometimes there may be new sensors or things like that on a newer generation that are just make some features not possible for a previous gen, but in the event that we can bring it back, we always strive to do that, especially when we know that we have a lot of good reception from those features and users that have kind of given us the feedback on the helpfulness of them, what are the things that the users really value and really lean into that as helping shape how we think about what comes next.

Rachid 00:07:23 Aisha, DeCarlos mentioned user feedback as a part of deciding what's coming in a feature drop. How important is that in making all of the decisions?

Aisha 00:07:31 I think user feedback is huge to everything that we do across devices. So in our drops we're always thinking about what improvements we can bring to people based on user feedback but based on what we're hearing. And so feature drops are a really great way to continue to enhance features that have already gone out and add improvements on top of them. It's also a way for us to introduce things that are completely new or like DeCarlos mentioned, take things that were on newer devices and bring them back to older devices.

Rachid 00:07:58 Now I'm sure there are a lot of people listening wondering when can they get their hands on these new features? When is the March feature drop actually landing on their devices? Any thoughts there?

Aisha 00:08:06 So March feature drop, all these features will start rolling out today, March 4th.

Rachid 00:08:11 Now we've had many, many, many feature drops over the years. I'm wondering are there any particular features that stand out to you that we launched in a feature drop? Maybe Aisha I can start with you. I

Aisha 00:08:22 Think all of the call features have been incredibly helpful for me. So a couple of my favorites, call screen, we had an enhancement in December where you get contextual chips now, so if somebody's like leaving a package and you're in the middle of a meeting, you can respond to that. Also direct my calls available for non toll free numbers. So if you're calling a doctor's office that starts with just your local area code now you can actually use Direct my Call on that, which is such a time saver as well and Clear Calling love that feature, especially when I'm trying to talk to my mom and she's talking to a million people around her as I, as we're trying to have our conversation. So all incredibly, incredibly helpful features.

Rachid 00:08:58 That's amazing. Such staples of the Pixel family right now and they all came through a feature drop. DeCarlos of course Pixel Watch has had several feature drops as well. Any favorites in there for you? Yeah,

DeCarlos 00:09:08 I have a couple outside of the things that are launching right now. I think one was when we released the SpO2 features in a feature drop. That was one of the things that we heard and, and knew from the original launch of Pixel Watch 1 that people were excited and looking forward to. So it measures your oxygen saturation, you can wear your watch when you sleep and overnight we'll measure that SpO2 oxygen saturation while you're sleeping. So that was an exciting one. We got a lot of good feedback on being able to, to release that and bring that to the Pixel Watch 1 initially. So that was special. Oh, actually one of the things that's happening in this latest feature drop with the Relax app, I just really love the attention and, and the design around the breathing animations. And so something that folks should definitely check out is, you know, the team that put a lot of good work into just thinking about the pace at which that animation occurs. It's something that you can look at and just kind of lose time just looking and seeing how those haptics in that animation happens. Amazing.

Rachid 00:10:05 It's always the little things that make it extra special. Right? Absolutely. That's perfect. Aisha, DeCarlos, thank you so much for making Christmas come early once again and we're all looking forward to the feature drop in March. Thank you

DeCarlos 00:10:16 Thank you.

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