According to Android expert Mishaal Rahman and our friends at Android Central, Google Pixel owners can expect many pleasant improvements to their phones in the next Feature Drop

Google sends out these Feature Drop updates about every three months, so we expect the next one to arrive in March along with the next Quarterly Platform Release (QPR) version for regular Android 14

These features have not been officially announced, and Rahman said he cannot guarantee that everything he discussed will be ready for Feature Drop However, the fact that they are all essentially complete means that they are very likely to appear soon in compatible Pixels

To start, Quick Settings at the top of the notification shade has gained some new powers: the Bluetooth tile now shows all paired devices and lets you quickly switch between them when you tap and hold it It also provides a shortcut to the relevant area of the Settings app for new pairings Similar functionality was already offered in some manufacturers' proprietary Android skins, but it is always good to see Google adding functionality to basic Android so that all handset manufacturers can take advantage of it

The Internet tile in Quick Settings has also added a useful feature, a tap-and-hold Wi-Fi sharing button This should be much quicker and more obvious to access than the Settings app menu, which previously allowed this to be done

Google added the option to screen record or screen mirror the entire phone screen as well as just one app, and the latter hides any notifications that appear while recording or mirroring Those who have ever plugged their phone into a display to show a slide deck or photos and accidentally displayed a message preview that no one should have seen will be relieved

Android already displays a green or orange icon in the corner to indicate if the camera or microphone is in use However, the next Pixel Feature Drop should change this screen to a less obtrusive pop-up, allowing users to quickly see which apps are using these features without having to leave the app they are currently using

One piece of news that Pixel Fold users will appreciate from Rahman is the addition of a search bar to the taskbar app drawer, making it easier to find apps This is a feature that is already in the main app drawer, but meant that fold users had an inconsistent experience when trying to find apps from the shortcut dock at the bottom of the screen when the phone is unfolded

Other changes that Rahman says will be included in Feature Drop include faster background downloads of over-the-air (OTA) updates, a redesigned Weather lock screen, app names in the Pixel Launcher to be more readable, two-line labels, elimination of battery-limited mode, and package names for various apps on the information page

For Pixel users, 2024 is off to a pretty good start: the Google Gemini AI chatbot has just launched for Pixel owners in the US, and other updates like the Pixel 8 Pro's temperature sensor body temperature measurement and Circle to Search Other updates are just getting started While these Feature Drop additions are not entirely new features for compatible Pixels, they are still nice-sounding optimizations of features you likely already use regularly