Google Pixels are getting a new Fast Emergency Dialer for local police, fire, and medical services
Google includes a lot of safety features with its Pixel phones. Services likecar crash detection, assisted emergency calls, andspontaneous video recordingare all part of its Personal Safety app and have proven to help in times of distress. Google’s now adding another experience to the app, called the Fast Emergency Dialer.
You might not have heard of the feature, but it’s subtly different from to the Traditional Emergency Dialer (TED) call screen, as documentation calls the old a dial pad for punching in emergency numbers manually. When the new Fast Emergency Dialer (FED) is enabled, a set of simple swipe and touch commands will automatically list emergency numbers for your area, including the police, fire, or medical services. This allows you to quickly call for help, even when the phone is locked, all without knowing those numbers previously.
The best part is that the feature isn’t tied to a single place and will update the emergency contact list based on your location — useful for those that travel a lot, given emergency numbers sometimes vary from place to place.
Google has confirmed to us that the Fast Emergency Dialer has recently started rolling out to Pixel phones — given the timing, it could get a larger announcement as part of the anticipated March Feature Drop update. Google haspreviously announced the rollout of safety features like thisas part of Feature Drop changes.
Left: Traditional Emergency Dialer.Right: Fast Emergency Dialer with single option.Images via Esper.io’sMishaal Rahman, last via AP tipster Eduardo Ribeiro.
So far, the feature isn’t live on any of our own devices, but using it is simple according to associated documentation:Swipe upfrom your lock screen and tapEmergency call. The emergency menu will come up, and if you have the new Fast Emergency Dialer, you can then use the slider to navigate through the listed contacts. Google has also included other ways of accessing the interface using the power and volume buttons. However, they vary with device models and Android versions, socheck Google’s support pagefor the one that applies to you.
At least one of our tipsters and a former AP staffer has seen the featureas far back as July of 2021(Thanks: Eduardo Ribeiro) but with a slightly different UI. At the time, we didn’t know what controlled it, and it wasn’t widely available. Google may have been testing the feature for some time, or certain markets may have gotten it early, but Google confirms to us it’s currently rolling out.
The feature as it was spotted last July.
Settings for the Fast Emergency Dialer can be accessed from Google’s Personal Safety app, alongside the Traditional Emergency Dialer. Google will set its Pixel phones to use FED automatically, but it may not be available in all locations, depending on region and carriers. Even when available, the feature may be limited by other factors. In such instances, the phone will automatically switch to the traditional dialer, which requires you to punch in the digits for emergency services manually — and therefore know them ahead of time.
As much as we take precautionary measures, emergencies still happen. However, the time it takes to get helpcan make all the difference. The Fast Emergency Dialer is a welcome addition to an already robust suite of safety features on Android and Pixels, includingearthquake detection,location sharing for emergency services, andAndroid 12’s emergency SOS, all of which can come in handy if the unexpected happens.
UPDATE: 2022/03/01 11:16 EST BY RYNE HAGER
Additional context.
Our coverage has been updated with additional information, showing the UI in the wild as far back as July of last year, though it looked different at the time. We aren’t sure if Google simply tested it for that long or if it was available in other markets ahead of a wider rollout.
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