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Tech News
Google is discontinuing Safety Signal, the LTE-based safety tool on the Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3, with access ending December 12. Users will get email and push notifications giving 30 days' notice before their access is cut off. Features like emergency SOS, fall detection and emergency contact calls will still work via WiFi, Bluetooth pairing to a phone, or an active cellular plan.
Google said in a community post that it is discontinuing free cellular access to Safety Signal features—Emergency SOS, Fall Detection, and Safety Check—on the LTE versions of the Pixel Watch 2 and 3. The free access, previously bundled with a Google Health Premium subscription, ends after December 12th, with affected users given a 30-day transition window starting when they receive an email notice.
Code strings found in the latest Pixel Watch app update (version 5.1.0.990450614) indicate Google is deprecating Safety Signal, a Health Premium feature that provides cellular connectivity to the Pixel Watch 2 and Pixel Watch 3 LTE when paired phones are out of range or the watch lacks its own carrier plan. The service currently supports emergency contact calls, Safety Check, Emergency Sharing, Emergency SOS and Fall Detection in the US, Canada, the UK and Germany. Google has not announced a shutdown date or a replacement.
A technical guide explains that Wi-Fi extenders generally work best placed 20 to 40 feet from a router, depending on whether the device has internal or external antennas. It notes that obstacles like concrete, brick, metal and appliances can weaken signal strength, and recommends using an extender's signal LED to fine-tune placement rather than relying on fixed distance rules.
Apple's iOS includes a Voice Isolation mode, available on iPhone XR/XS and newer running iOS 16.4 or later, that uses machine learning to filter out background noise during phone calls. Users can activate it mid-call via Control Center's Phone Controls banner, selecting Voice Isolation or Automatic under the Mic Mode section. Other fixes for poor call quality include checking volume and speaker settings and moving to an area with stronger signal.
Google is rolling out a fix for a bug that removed cellular signal strength indicators from Android Auto dashboards earlier this year. Google employee Mishaal Rahman confirmed the fix is currently rolling out, after some users reported the icon's return in the Android Auto v17.8 beta build. The fix is not yet widely available on the stable channel.
Signal has released version 8.30, extending its end-to-end encrypted backup feature to iOS, macOS, Windows and Linux after debuting on Android nearly a year ago. Users can choose Signal-hosted backups, capped at 45 days of media for free accounts, or unlimited on-device local backups, both requiring a recovery key to decrypt. The update also unifies Android's backup format with other platforms, separates media storage from backup archives to avoid duplication, and lets paying users purge old media locally while retrieving it from hosted backups.
Google's Pixel 11 series switched to a new MediaTek modem, replacing Samsung's Exynos chip used in prior models. While early testing shows overall connectivity improvements, a number of owners have reported mobile data and Wi-Fi problems, and Android Authority has compiled troubleshooting steps such as toggling Airplane mode and reseating the SIM card.
Moxie Marlinspike, the developer behind the encrypted messaging app Signal, has released a new AI chatbot called Confer that uses cryptographic techniques to keep user conversations private. The launch responds to growing concern that mainstream AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini collect and store deeply personal user data with few restrictions on how it can be shared, sold, or subpoenaed.
A newly published online text presents an unconventional, visually driven introduction to the Discrete Fourier Transform, aimed at digital signal processing learners. Rather than relying on dense mathematical proofs, it uses interactive diagrams, animations, and audio examples across roughly 30 pages to build intuition. The author frames it as a supplementary, pop-science style resource rather than a rigorous textbook replacement.
Some Android Auto beta users report that the cellular signal strength indicator, which vanished from the dashboard earlier this year, is reappearing after updating to version 17.8.1638. Users say the icon now shows up again beside the battery status indicator, though clearing the app cache may be required for it to reappear.
A blogger recounts frustrations with Signal, including missing message-edit support until late 2023, unreliable notifications, broken Do Not Disturb call handling, and inconsistent emoji rendering, despite the app's praised encryption and open-source status. The piece uses these gripes to pivot into a broader discussion of why XMPP struggles for adoption compared to alternatives like Matrix, which offers a single documented client implementation versus XMPP's fragmented extension ecosystem.