Pixel phones get a lot of credit for their excellent cameras and battery-saving tools, but Google’s hardware is also strong in the safety department. With a healthy dose of Google’s AI on board, Pixel devices offer some powerful personal safety features as well as integrations that will watch your back even when you let your guard down. Many of them require nothing more than a quick trip into the settings menu.
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Here are a few safety tools that I make sure to activate on my Pixel, along with the quickest way to use these features in your daily routine.
1. Emergency SOS is your one-button lifeline
When you find yourself in a sticky situation, fumbling through menus can cost precious seconds, and that’s why the power button is so useful. It’s always there, easy to find, and ready to be pressed even from your pocket.
Pixel lets you press the power button five times quickly, or press and hold for three seconds, to activate Emergency SOS. Once started, Pixel will trigger a series of potentially life-saving actions on your phone. Pixel can simultaneously blare an obnoxiously loud emergency alarm, dial 911, share your real-time location with predetermined contacts, and begin recording an emergency video. You are in full control over how many of these actions fire off.
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Head to Settings > Safety & emergency > Emergency SOS, flip the switch, and set the exact response that makes sense for you. There’s even a demo mode so you can practice.
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2. Safety Check turns your phone into an accountability buddy
Whether planning an off-grid hike or walking home after a late shift at work, Safety Check is an essential feature that ensures the people who care most about you know you’re safe and well. Safety Check schedules a future ping on your Pixel that demands an “I’m OK” confirmation. If you fail to confirm, your Pixel automatically enters Emergency Sharing mode and broadcasts your location to the pre-selected contacts.
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Head to your app drawer and open the Personal Safety app, tap Start a Safety Check, list the reason for the safety check, pick a duration, and choose who gets notified if you miss the check-in. The beauty of this feature is that nobody else has to remember your timetable; the phone does that job. Your contacts are only notified of your location if you fail to check in when the app asks.
3. Car Crash Detection calls 911 when you can’t
Pixels from the 4a onward can recognize when a car crash is in motion by detecting sudden deceleration and listening for the loud impact signature of a serious wreck. If the phone thinks you’ve crashed, it sounds a loud alarm and voice prompt asking if you’ve been in an accident.
You can then answer out loud or swipe the colored controls on the screen to confirm what happened. If you fail to answer, the device automatically rings emergency services while passing along your exact location and the type of collision detected.
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You’ll find the toggle in Settings > Safety & emergency > Car crash detection. Turn the feature on, grant the location and microphone permissions, and it sits quietly until the moment you truly need it. But let’s hope that never happens.
4. Live Location Sharing shares your journey in real time
Google Maps can stream your exact location to anyone of your choosing for as little as 15 minutes, or until you shut the feature off. My wife and I share our locations on a persistent basis, which comes in handy for timing dinner when the other comes home at the end of a long day. It’s also a great feature for sharing evening runs, ride-share trips, or long highway drives.
Inside the Google Maps app, tap your profile picture and choose Location sharing. Select the duration for the share, and pick one of your contacts. Now, your profile image can be viewed while traveling inside Google Maps. This feature is also handy for helping one person navigate directly to the other.
5. Medical info on the lock screen speaks when you can’t
In a dire emergency, first responders often need facts quickly. Your Pixel can be set to display critical data without unlocking the device, including blood type, allergies, medications, emergency contacts, and more. You can even set this information to be shared automatically during an emergency call.
Head over to Settings > Safety & emergency > Medical information and fill out any fields that might be essential in case of an emergency event. Those details will then appear on the Lock Screen after swiping up and tapping Emergency, giving paramedics the context they need while you receive care.
6. Call Screen filters strangers before you pick up
Not only do spam calls waste time, but unknown numbers can often hide actual threats. Pixels have become incredibly capable at spotting spam calls, thanks to Google’s cloud database of reported bad numbers.
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Open the Phone app, tap Settings > Caller ID & Spam, and enable See Caller and Spam ID. If your Pixel offers the option, you can also select Filter spam calls, which will prevent the call from ringing your phone at all, sending it straight to voicemail.
7. Permission alerts protect your mic and camera
Not every app needs access to your microphone and camera, yet apps can be greedy. Thankfully, a bright green dot appears in the top-right corner of the display whenever an app is actively using the microphone or camera, allowing you to find and revoke that permission.
When you see the green light, pull down your notification share and tap the big green icon to reveal which app made the request, then tap the pull-down to Manage access. You can also head to Settings > Security & privacy > Privacy Controls > Permission manager to revoke access.
8. Private Space hides sensitive apps and data
Google recently introduced Private Space, a secure, isolated storage area on Pixels for locking away sensitive apps, files, and photos. You can protect that hidden folder with a PIN, password, or biometric lock.
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On Pixels running Android 15 or newer, go to Settings > Security & privacy > Private space, authenticate, and follow the prompts to set up your vault. You can even hide Private Space from your app list entirely, making it invisible until you unlock it via a keyword search and authentication.
9. Lockdown Mode protects your data under pressure
If you’re ever worried that someone might force you to unlock your phone, Lockdown mode can help. It instantly disables fingerprint and face unlock, hides all lock-screen notifications, and requires your PIN or password to unlock the device. In the US, law enforcement cannot compel you to reveal something you know (like a PIN or password), making Lockdown a valuable tool for protecting your rights.
To activate Lockdown, press and hold the power button and volume up together to bring up the power menu, then tap Lockdown. Think of this feature as a panic button for your private life.
10. Find Hub recovers a lost or stolen phone in minutes
Losing a handset feels awful, but Google’s Find Hub portal tracks your Pixel, rings it at full volume, locks it with a message, or wipes it completely.
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In advance of that fateful day, go to Settings > Security and privacy > Device finders > Find Hub and switch on ‘Allow device to be located’.
If you lose your device, either visit android.com/find from any browser or download Google’s Find Hub app and sign in to see your missing device on the map in real-time.
You probably bought your Pixel for its smooth software and sharp photos, but Google has also made great strides in protecting your data and keeping you safe. I trust my Pixel every time I step out the door, and once you enable the same security features, your Pixel will do the same for you.
Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
