Google Pixel's January Feature Drop comes in the form of app updates

Yesterday, Google announced the gradual rollout of the year’s first Pixel Feature Drop, deviating from the regular quarterly releases, with the next one initially slated for March. The company has now affirmed a notable distinction: the January Feature Drop will not come with a new system update but instead comprise a series of application updates on the Play Store.

Unlike normal monthly updates, Pixel Feature Drop updates focus on several new features or notable changes to existing features, so they come in the form of a new OS version. However, this one seems a little less ‘ambitious’ since it will be implemented with app updates. Anyway, we can’t complain since we didn’t even expect such an update for these dates, and the March update is still in the plans.

Regarding this, Google said that “updates will be available in the application only through the Google Play Store.” For example, the Pixel 8 Pro is already getting the ability to read body temperature thanks to a new version of the Thermometer app. The company also updated the Fitbit app to support recording body temperature readings.

The Google app is getting a new update that includes a ‘cts’ in the build number, preparing it for the rollout of ‘Circle to Search‘ on Google Pixel devices, which will happen on January 31. On the other hand, the Google Messages app will receive the new Magic Compose capabilities and Photomoji support through a server-side update, so it does not need an update via the Play Store.

In addition, Google also confirmed that the February patch for eligible Google Pixel devices will be available during the first days of next month. It’s noteworthy that there is speculation that the March Feature Drop update could actually be moved forward to February, as the Android 14 QPR2 beta program started a month earlier than expected. In any case, nothing is yet confirmed in this regard.