The Pixel 4 Personal Safety app w/ car crash detection can now be sideloaded on older Pixels [Download]

Damien Wilde | Feb 21 2020 - 6:16 am PT

As part of the numerous deep dives into the Android 11 Developer Preview 1, there have been some notable tweaks, but not too many major changes. However, the new Personal Safety app that first appeared ahead of the Pixel 4 launch can now be sideloaded on older Pixel phones.

The Personal Safety app version 1.1.286909525 comes preinstalled as part of the first Android 11 Developer Preview build — but only on the Google Pixel 4. The application has been extracted and can now be sideloaded on some older Pixels, including the 2 XL and 3 XL (via XDA-developers).

It includes car-crash detection by using your phone location, accelerometer, and microphone data to determine if you and your vehicle have been involved in a collision. If your Pixel thinks that you’ve been in a car accident, then the Personal Safety app will play a loud sound and then ask if you need further assistance. It will automatically dial 911 and share your location with emergency services.

While you would hope that you’d never need the Personal Safety app at any point, it’s a great inclusion that might just help save a life if installed on your phone. The only downside at this stage is that it is region locked to the United States, even though here in the UK I am able to see references to 999 — the speed dial for the UK emergency services.

You can sideload the latest build of the Personal Safety app on your Pixel device and enable this car-crash detection right now if you wish. It’s worth keeping in mind that the app simply won’t work on non-Pixel devices. XDA notes that if you install it on your Pixel and have issues getting past the emergency contact part, make sure to grant the app all the permissions it needs within your device Settings.

The app is available to download from APK Mirror right here.