Smartwatches used to just be an extension of your phone, keeping you informed without taking you out of the moment. Sure, they had heart rate and other sensors, but health and fitness tracking really wasn’t the focal point in the early days.
Since that time, we’ve come a long way, and they now offer a wealth of features that can help you stay informed about your physical fitness and health. They can even help you if you’re ever in an emergency situation, calling for help when you can’t do it yourself.
Getting help when you need it most is important
We probably don’t talk about the safety and emergency features on smartwatches enough, but they’re extremely important. The Google Pixel Watch delivers a wealth of options here, with features like Fall Detection, Emergency SOS, Car Crash Detection, Safety Check, Medical ID, and the list really goes on.
What you might find surprising is that a lot of these features just work right out of the box, without having to sign in to a Google account. That’s convenient, especially if you’re just looking to slap on the watch and get to work. With that said, we don’t think people are using a Pixel Watch in this way, and most are pairing it with their account to get the full benefits.
But if you’re someone who doesn’t use an account with the Pixel Watch, you might be forced to in the near future. Android Authority reports that Fall Detection could, at some point, require a Google account sign-in to work properly. The news outlet found code in version 4.4.0.897056328 of the Pixel Watch app that signals this change might be coming.
However, if this does come about, it appears that Google will provide some leeway, allowing the feature to operate for a certain time without an account. The code doesn’t show just how much time will be provided before the feature gets locked out. As you might expect, it can be important to have that extra layer of data available when an emergency arises.
And it goes without saying, but these types of interactions should be as seamless as possible, especially when you might not be able to talk to someone on the other end who’s trying to help you. While it’s a good idea to have your personal account information attached to emergency services, we know that some users won’t be interested in this change.
Naturally, this is just something seen in code right now, so it could always change before it arrives to the public. Just be sure to keep an eye out for a future change.
