Google Pixel

This year’s penultimate Pixel software update is rolling out today with the November security patch. It’s rolling out for the Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a (5G), and Pixel 5.

One of the Google Pixel 5 features that got a lot of acclaim in early reviews was Portrait Light, the ability to adjust the light source of a photo after it’s been taken. Now, before that phone is even released in the United States, the feature is already rolling out to older Pixel phones.

Following last month’s launch, the first update to Android 11 is rolling out today with the October security patch. It’s available for the Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, Pixel 4, and Pixel 4a.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that Google’s latest Pixel ads miss the mark. The production is fine, sure. The narrator? Great. The lighting and art style? No problem at all! But across eight different scenarios, they somehow argue that the Pixel (the phone) is better than Pixel (the dog). This is objectively wrong.

Earlier this year, Google lost the “Distinguished Engineer” responsible for the research that went into the Pixel’s imaging capabilities. Marc Levoy is now at Adobe, and sat down with The Verge for a very interesting interview about his career and what’s next in photography.

Google today launched Android 11 for the latest Pixel phones. In addition to new media controls and smart device controls, it features the September security patch. If it hasn’t rolled out to your device, Google has posted the official OTA and factory images.

The launch of Android 11 coincides with the quarterly Pixel Feature Drop. In addition to the general platform release, Google’s first-party devices pick up some exclusive features, with the most notable being Live View Location Sharing in Google Maps.

Since 2017, the Google Camera app has been home to fun AR stickers that let you liven up photos and videos. Later rebranded to Playground, Google is dropping support for these Playmoji characters on future Pixel devices, starting with the Pixel 4a. 

Assistant is undoubtedly one of Google’s most important products today and its prominence, as well as capability, will only increase in the future. Google has made a small tweak to how Assistant visually appears on Pixel phones as the Pixel Launcher now opts for a microphone icon.

It emerged this week that the latest Google Camera app introduces a new, simplified “PXL” file naming scheme. Google Camera 7.5 is also responsible for Pixel Portrait images no longer being stored in individual folders.

The latest version of the Pixel camera app started rolling out in late July and is now widely available for those on Android 11. Google Camera 7.5 is currently light on user-facing features, but does introduce a new “PXL” naming convention for photos and videos.

Google’s long-awaited Pixel 4a starts landing in the hands of customers next week, and by now, you’ve probably heard the narrative. This is all the phone anyone needs, and it has the best camera. Beyond that, though, Pixel 4a has a larger job. With Google’s smartphone lineup flailing at the high end, this mid-ranger can teach the company a thing or two.

As we try to make sense of Google’s 2020 Pixel lineup, an internal Android document reviewed by 9to5Google gives us our first glimpse of what to expect next year. According to the document, Google is developing Android builds for Pixel 5a, a foldable Pixel, and at least two other first-party devices.

The Android 11 Beta is now well underway with a final release set for later in Q3. Until then, the August security patch is rolling out with the next stable update for the Pixel 2, Pixel 3, Pixel 3a, and Pixel 4.

While the Google Pixel 4a is the headline star, there are some more notable software additions that have also come to the fore — the latest being Live Captions in audio and video calls for Pixel devices.

2020 has been a weird year for the Google Pixel lineup, and as we’ve learned more, things have only felt more complicated. Today, a leaked teaser image is giving us a bit more context on Google’s plans, as this “Pixel 5G” teaser hints at two phones packing the connectivity.

Earlier this year, Google lost the Pixel’s chief camera engineer amid criticism about the Pixel 4. Marc Levoy has now landed at Adobe as a “Vice President and Fellow” working on the Photoshop Camera, computational photography, and other research projects.

Smart Displays and Android TV sets double as fantastic picture frames when not actively being used. Both platforms are now in the process of picking up a new “Captured on Pixel” background collection.