June Pixel Feature Drop adds easy vaccine card shortcuts, Nest Doorbell video from your lock screen, and more

The quarterly update also debuts a new music video mixing app by teenage engineering

Today might be the start of Apple's WWDC developer conference, but Google's also releasing its June 2022 Feature Drop update for Pixels. Included in this new release is an app to "turn everyday sounds into music," made in collaboration with design and audio darlings Teenage Engineering. Other changes to conversation mode, digital vaccine card shortcuts, the At a Glance widget, and even new wallpapers are included. In tandem, the June update is now rolling out with fixes for Pixels.

We haven't been able to play around with it just yet (so we can't tell you precisely how it works), but the new "pocket operator" app that's part of the Pixel Feature Drop claims to convert recorded video into "music and video cut-ups," with what sounds like semi-automated mixing tools. The preview above shows off buttons you can tap to cut together different clips and audio. It's English only, though, and limited to the Pixel 5 and more recent models. You can check it out on the Play Store once the listing for the app is live.

If you are storing your vaccine card digitally on your phone, The June 2022 feature drop adds a way to quickly and easily it to your home screen for easier access. Just try to take a screenshot of your digital vaccine card, and you'll see a new prompt to "add to quick access" and follow the on-screen prompts. Your Pixel will recognize what it is and save it locally with an easily accessible shortcut you can open right from your home screen.

Conversation mode in the Sound Amplifier app is coming to the Pixel 3 and newer, joining other changes in the more general Android Feature Drop last week, which brought improved background noise reduction and "faster and more accurate sound," together with a snazzy new Material You UI. If you aren't familiar with the feature, it uses machine learning and your phone's camera to tune in on a targeted voice, filtering out other noises. Pixels are also the best phone for Google Meet calls, courtesy of a new noise reduction feature on Pixels, which claims to filter out background noises like traffic or barking dogs.

Google's At a Glance widget and its myriad integrations are well-known to Pixel owners, but it's picking up a "new" trick that was spotted in testing back in January. When someone rings your Nest Doorbell, a video feed will appear inside the widget, right on your lock screen. That saves you the time to track down the doorbell notification and tap it, opening the app to see what's up.

It's Pride Month too, and much as it did with Chrome OS, Google is releasing three new wallpapers for the occasion, designed by illustrator Yann Bastard — actually his real name.

There's also a new reminder to turn off your flashlight if it's accidentally left on, and air quality alerts are coming soon to the US, Australia, and India.

Today's Feature Drop update is available for the Pixel 4 series and later (Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro). The system update is rolling out starting today, but keep in mind that some changes in Pixel Feature Drop updates also require app updates to work or have other server-side components, so it may take a little while for all the new features to appear on your device. OTA images for manual installation should be available shortly.