When Google launched the Pixel Watch 3 in August last year, it was announced that the device would receive the loss of pulse detection feature by September in the United States and several European countries. While the feature was rolled out on schedule in Europe, it remained unavailable to Pixel Watch 3 users in the US until now. Finally, Google is delivering its promise.
Since it"s a high-stakes health feature, Google was required to get clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before rolling it out in the US. The company received FDA clearance in late February this year and was expected to launch the feature by the end of March. Unfortunately, the launch was delayed by a few more days, and the feature has now started rolling out in April.
To get access to loss of pulse detection on the Pixel Watch 3, you need to make sure that both the Personal Safety app on your watch and the Pixel Watch app on your smartphone are running on their respective latest builds. Once the feature is available, you can set it up by accessing the Pixel Watch app on your smartphone, going to Safety & emergency > Loss of Pulse Detection, and then following the on-screen instructions.
Google says that after enabling the feature, it will start monitoring your pulse while you are wearing your Pixel watch. If the watch doesn"t detect any pulse, it will vibrate, and its motion sensors will try to detect any additional signs of pulse. If it detects any movement in the pulse, the check-in process will automatically be canceled.
However, if the watch still doesn"t detect any pulse movement, it will make a loud sound and start a countdown of 20 seconds. If you don"t manually stop the countdown, the watch will try to contact emergency services via a call.
When the emergency contact picks up the call, the watch will automatically play an audio message informing them that it was unable to detect your pulse and that you didn’t respond to any of the prompts. The audio message will also include your location so that emergency contacts can find you quickly.