\t\t\t\t\t![\"I](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789513211_513_60f78aad-4eb8-5b13-8c9d-d557102565ef-thumbnail.jpeg\")
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An update to Google\u2019s Pixel VIP feature<\/a> \u2014 which lets you designate up to eight contacts as close friends and family \u2014 lets you create home screen widgets that can tap to easily call or text your favorite people. If you call someone especially frequently, you won\u2019t need to dig through your phone or text app first.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s new Scam Detection alerts in the Gboard keyboard will work across chat apps, showing a warning pop-up when the phone detects a likely scam text message. This feature joins the existing Scam Detection alerts in notifications, which are getting a regional expansion with support for more languages.<\/p>\n Pixel phones will receive Harry Potter theme packs for customizing your device\u2019s home screen, icons and sounds, which are coming as part of a promotional tie-in with the Audible release of Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions<\/a> audiobook. Anyone with a Pixel 6 or newer will get the packs, along with an offer for two months of Audible access, whether or not you want to stream Harry Potter.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s also updating its Pixel Watch this week, with improvements to how its raise-to-talk gesture works on the Pixel Watch 4<\/a> and 5<\/a>, along with adding a one-handed pinch gesture for opening your notification tray on the Pixel Watch 3<\/a> and newer.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s Pixel Drop comes as Apple just released iOS 27<\/a>, which adds the updated Siri AI<\/a> along with an assortment of AI features, to the iPhone 15 Pro<\/a> and newer. Apple\u2019s iOS 27 works on devices as old as 2019\u2019s iPhone 11<\/a>, promising performance improvements along with an overhauled device search<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMike Sorrentino\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSenior Editor\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMike Sorrentino is a Senior Editor for Mobile, covering phones, texting apps and smartwatches — obsessing about how we can make the most of them. Mike also keeps an eye out on the movie and toy industry, and outside of work enjoys biking and pizza making.![\"Spam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Scam-Detection-Pixel-Drop.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
Scam Detection alerts are coming to the Gboard keyboard on Pixel phones.Google<\/p>\n![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789513212_92_3bd0cabe-fdcf-4403-b29a-796d9a303387.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tSee full bio\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google is giving Pixel users faster ways to reach frequent contacts, a new scam alert to fend off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-625791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mobile","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}