{"id":627170,"date":"2026-09-17T05:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627170\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T05:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T05:00:15","slug":"the-september-pixel-drop-improves-the-vip-contacts-widget-adds-harry-potter-themes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/627170\/","title":{"rendered":"The September Pixel Drop improves the VIP contacts widget, adds Harry Potter themes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The September Pixel Drop is here \u2013 it brings key improvements to the VIP contacts widget, adds even more scam protections, expands Pause Point availability to older models and even celebrates the release of the new Harry Potter audiobooks.<\/p>\n

All Pixel devices going back to the Pixel 6 series are eligible for this update except for the Pixel Tablet. Do note that while the rollout starts today, it will happen in stages and some models (especially carrier phones) may get it in the coming weeks rather than today. Also \u2013 and this is important \u2013 some of these features are region and language dependent.<\/p>\n

The VIP contacts widget now has quick actions that allow you to call or message that most important person with a single tap. Additionally, there are badges indicating missed calls and messages. The update also makes it easy to switch between VIP contacts using the bottom floating menu.<\/p>\n


\n\"The<\/a>
\n
The VIP contacts widget<\/p>\n

Gboard now has a Scam Detection feature. It may sound a little odd to put this on a keyboard, but it makes sense \u2013 when you start to reply to a suspicious message, a \u201cLikely scam\u201d warning chip will appear above the keys. And that is if you even make it that far \u2013 there is Scam Detection for notifications too that brands iffy messages with the same \u201cLikely scam\u201d chip.<\/p>\n


\n\"Scam<\/a>
\n
Scam Detection in notifications<\/p>\n

Scam Detection works on the device itself to keep your conversations private. Note that this only supports six languages for now: Arabic, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Spanish. Initially, Scam Detection launched only in the US, but now nine new countries are covered: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Singapore and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Pause Point was introduced with the Pixel 11 series, but now Pixels going back to the 6-series get it. It\u2019s a simple digital detox feature \u2013 it adds an extra step to launching certain distracting apps. Are you sure you want to open Facebook? The phone will give you a moment to reconsider.<\/p>\n


\n\"Pause<\/a>
\n
Pause Point helps you break bad digital habits<\/p>\n

Finally, Audible released the Harry Potter: The Full-Cast Audio Editions audiobooks. To help you get in the spirit of things, Google made the Harry Potter Audiobook Packs, which are themes \u2013 they change your icons and wallpaper and even use sounds from the books.<\/p>\n

\"Pixel
\nPixel users get a free Audible trial so that they can listen to the new Harry Potter audiobooks<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, eligible Pixel users get a two-month Audible trial for free, so they can start listening to the audiobooks now. Here\u2019s what \u201celigible\u201d means<\/a> \u2013 the Audible trial is available to users in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan and Australia until January 14. The themes are available until December 31.<\/p>\n

This table shows you which features are available for which Pixel devices. Again, it\u2019s all Pixel phones from the 6-series onward, while the Pixel Tablet misses out.<\/p>\n


\n\"The<\/a>
\n
The September Pixel Drop is available for these models<\/p>\n

PS. The Pixel Watch was also updated with improved Raise to Talk (it got a new gesture model), more One Handed gesture app integrations and a variety of bug fixes. You can find more details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a> | Via<\/a><\/p>\n

Google Pixel 11 Pro<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 11 Pro XL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The September Pixel Drop is here \u2013 it brings key improvements to the VIP contacts widget, adds even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[61,60,202,80],"class_list":["post-627170","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\/627170","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=627170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}