Security & privacy settings more widely rolling out to close Pixel Feature Drop [U]

To close out the December Feature Drop, Google is now rolling out the combined Security & privacy settings for Pixel phones running Android 13 QPR1.

Update 12/20: In recent days, the Security & privacy menu has more widely rolled out to non-Pixel 7 devices. In our case, that’s a Pixel 4a, 6a, and 6 Pro. Besides checking in the Settings app, another sign it’s live is pulling down Quick Settings and having the new tile appear. 

We have one report of the unified settings being available on Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1, but it’s not on a 7 Pro that we checked this evening.

Original 12/9: In Settings, the new Security & privacy menu uses a shield icon that features a checkmark with Google choosing to highlight “App security, device lock, permissions” in the description.

The very first item on this page is a card that notes the status of your device with the ability to initiate a Scan. If there are no problems, you get “Looks good” and the shield checkmark in green. If issues are identified, like in the cover image above, you’ll be prompted to take action. (It’s also worth noting how the design Google showed off at I/O 2022 in May features “Protected by Android” branding that does not appear today.)

Tapping App security opens the Play Protect page in Google Play, while Device lock is a dropdown with Screen lock and Face & Fingerprint Unlock.

Google Security Checkup first prompts you to select an email and then takes you to the corresponding Google Account page, while Find My Device opens its on/off settings. Updates notes the Android security patch level and Google Play system update, while Privacy is the last dropdown menu: 

• Privacy dashboard
• Permission manager
• Privacy controls 

More security settings is unchanged from before: Smart Lock, Device admin apps, Encryption & credentials, Trust agents, App pinning, and Confirm SIM deletion. 

There’s also More privacy settings: Notifications on lock screen, Show media on lock screen, Android System Intelligence, Personal using app data, Autofill service from Google, Google location history, Activity controls, Ads, and Usage & diagnostics. 

There’s also a new Quick Settings Tile/page for Security & privacy that lets you quickly perform a scan, as well as toggle Camera, Microphone access, and Location.

Old standalone Security and Privacy settings

How to get Security & privacy

So far, we’ve encountered Security & privacy settings on a Pixel 7 and 7 Pro running the stable Android 13 QPR1 build after updating to all available Google Play system updates. In our case, the first came in at around 50MB and the second was under 1MB. After that’s complete (November 1, 2022), we went to App info to Force stop the Settings app.

Update: As of this evening, wide availability looks to be limited to the Pixel 7 series.

This is the last piece of the December Feature Drop. The free Google One VPN started rolling out at the start of the month, Clear Calling and unified Pixel Launcher search is live after installing Android 13 QPR1, Recorder 4.2 with Speaker Labels went wide yesterday, and Live Bloom is available with an update to the Pixel Live Wallpaper app via the Play Store. Pixel 6 and 6 Pro should update Android System Intelligence and Digital Wellbeing to get cough and snore detection.

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