Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
For the past few years, Pixel Drops have felt a bit like Christmas morning for me. A fresh new update with a bunch of exciting features to try out, some I’ve been waiting for for years, others I didn’t know I needed but I now couldn’t live without. There have been some duds, though — a few Drops that didn’t bring much or were shockfull of features I didn’t really care for. Nothing, though, comes close to this latest November Pixel Drop.
I’ve updated both my Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL, as well as my older Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL, just to make sure I wasn’t missing something, and I couldn’t tell you how underwhelmed I felt when the update notice popped up and all I got was… the Wicked theme pack?!
What do you think of the new Pixel November Drop? 11 votes It's awesome. Lots of cool features to try! 0 % It's fine. I'm enjoying a few new features. 9 % It's disappointing. There's nothing here I want. 73 % I'll reserve judgment until I actually get most of these features. 18 % Wait, there's a November Drop already? 0 %
A very sparse changelog
On paper, the update should’ve packed a ton of exciting new features, from notification helpers to call and message protections, passing by improvements to Pixel VIPs, and a fantastic new power-saving mode in Maps. In reality, the only thing the My Pixel app on my phone told me about was the Wicked theme pack. I even had to type that g.co/pixel/themes URL manually to download the app on my phone and test it out… and immediately disable it. I’m holding out hope for more theme packs and more customization, though, so I won’t judge this new feature for what it is now.
My Pixel only told me about the Wicked theme packs. I had to dig to find the new notification summaries and ringtone sounds.
My Pixel was lying to me, though. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the new Sound Matters sounds for ringtones, notifications, and alarma are available on my phones, too, under Settings > Sound and vibration.
After a reboot, I also managed to get the new Notification summaries. They didn’t show up in the My Pixel app or the notification I received after the update, but the setting is there under Settings > Notifications > Notification summaries. I’ve enabled it, but I’m waiting for some friends to bombard me with a dozen messages to see how well it works. The one day you need that WhatsApp group to not shut up!
And Google Magnifier is, indeed, now available to download on my Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. But that’s the extent of it. Everything else that was promised isn’t live yet.
... continue reading