Google added some great new features for Pixel Watch in the latest Pixel Feature Drop

As the Pixel family of devices continues to grow, Pixel Feature Drops get larger and larger. With this latest update, there are some helpful new items for Pixel phones, but some of the more notable additions this time around come to the Pixel Watch. From oxygen levels to heartbeats to paused workouts, some core, missing features for the Pixel Watch are finally coming to fruition.

First up, blood oxygen saturation levels are now official on the Pixel Watch. We saw them start arriving a bit early for some users, but Google has made it clear that this latest feature drop will add this helpful feature to the Pixel Watch. Monitoring blood oxygen levels is critical for many people, and having it on your wrist when needed is a nice addition.

Second, taking a queue from Fitbit wearables that have come before, the Pixel Watch can now keep track of your heart rate rising and lowering and update you when it falls out of the normal range for you. In many cases, seeing abnormal heartbeat behavior can be a signal that something deeper is going on, and having the Pixel Watch automatically keep an eye on this will be very useful.

Also, in a Fitbit-like way, the Pixel Watch will now be able to pause and restart your running, walking or biking workouts when you take a break. While still not the auto workout recognition I loved on the Fitbit Versa, this is still a helpful enhancement that should make tracking those main workouts a bit simpler.

Finally, Google is touting Spotify on your wrist with some new tiles for Pixel Watch. Specifically, Google points out that users will be able to start a Spotify session, begin a podcast, or see what is in heavy rotation on Spotify with these new tiles. While there haven’t been Spotify watch tiles up until now, it’s nice to see and will make things a bit easier on those of us who enjoy controlling Spotify from our wrists.

As rumors continue to swirl around a new Pixel Watch for the fall, its encouraging to see Google continue to push to make their current, in-house hardware better. Pixel Drops are a big part of that effort, and there’s no reason to expect Google won’t keep delivering new abilities and fixes over the months to come.