The Pixel Watch 2 has been ripping off Apple Watch features ever since it launched, and today is no different. However, let me be clear — that’s a good thing, especially when the features that it is copying have to do with health and safety.
In a blog post, the company announced the June Feature Drop, which includes a ton of new features across the Pixel lineup. In addition to new features for the Pixel phones and Pixel Tablet, the company also announced that the Pixel Watch 2 will finally get Car Crash Detection.
“In time for National Safety Month, Car Crash Detection is launching as a brand new safety feature on Pixel Watch 2 that gives you more ways to stay safe and get help when you might need it most, even when you don’t have your Pixel phone,” Google says.
If you’re in a severe car accident, your watch can now check in to make sure you’re okay. If you need help or don’t respond, it will automatically dial emergency services. Car Crash Detection integrates with Emergency Sharing on your watch, so your emergency contacts will be notified and get your real-time location if you’ve been in an accident. We’ve also improved Fall Detection to better detect falls from bicycles.
The feature, which detects when you’ve been in a car accident and will automatically call emergency services and notify your emergency contacts, is basically a carbon copy of the same Car Crash Detection feature found on the more recent models of the Apple Watch and Apple Watch Ultra.
While Apple people could yell and say, “Apple did it first,” features like this are ones that we should all hope everyone rips off each other. While we can dunk on iOS vs. Android and Mac vs. Windows, health and safety features shouldn’t be exclusive to any operating system and should be available regardless of which ecosystem you’re a part of.
So I say, thank you Google! I’m glad more people are going to have peace of mind when driving that their phone and now their watch will have their back on their next drive.
