Forget just calling 911; if you have an Android phone, you can now share live video directly with the dispatcher. It’s a new feature Google announced this week called Android Emergency Live Video, and it’s rolling out to folks in the US, along with select regions in Germany and Mexico, for phones running Android 8 and newer with Google Play Services.
This capability becomes available during an emergency call or text, as a dispatcher can send a request to your phone to share live video. You need to tap to accept the request, and your phone’s camera will start streaming footage, whether that’s to assess a fallen tree on the road or to guide you through CPR until an ambulance arrives. Google says the feature is encrypted, and you can stop sharing the live video feed at any time. There’s nothing you need to do to set the feature up.
Courtesy of Google
You Can Now Double Pinch on Your Pixel Watch
This is the bougiest thing about me, but I love being able to control my smartwatch or fitness tracker without having to poke or tap at the screen. Apple introduced Double Tap on the Apple Watch in 2023, which took learnings from Apple’s accessibility software, called AssistiveTouch. It helped Apple Watch wearers with accessibility issues use gesture-based controls. This year, Apple introduced Wrist Flick to dismiss calls or silence timers with WatchOS 26.
Now Google is introducing gesture controls on the Pixel Watch 4. These features are named (with no apparent shame whatsoever) Double Pinch and Wrist Turn. Like Double Tap, you can use Double Pinch to answer or end calls or pause timers. The Pixel Watch will give you hints as to when Double Pinch might be helpful.
These features join Raise to Talk, which is a wrist-based gesture that Pixel Watch wearers can use to talk to Gemini. The smart replies on the watch have also been improved. Back when Wear OS was called Android Wear, Google had a few gestures that let you flick your wrist away or toward your body to scroll through notifications and tiles. What goes around comes around. —Adrienne So
Apple Fitness+ Expands to New Markets
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Apple’s Fitness+ is an unusual case. It’s one of the company’s weakest offerings financially, as reported by Bloomberg. Management of the division recently rolled over to Apple Health head Sumbul Desai after explosive allegations that Jay Blahnik, the vice president of fitness technologies, had created a toxic work environment. (Prior to the management shuffle, Apple had said it was launching an internal investigation into the alleged conduct.) Personally, I’m waiting for Fitness+ to get rolled into 2026’s rumored new Health+ app. I’m getting tired of being so confused about where all my health data is on my iPhone!
