Gear News of the Week: Android gets emergency live video, Pixel Watch 4 supports gestures

Forget just calling 911; If you have an Android phone, you can now share live video directly with the sender. It’s a new feature Google announced this week called Android Emergency Live Video, and it’s rolling out to people in the US, along with select regions in Germany and Mexico, for phones running Android 8 and later with Google Play Services.

This capability becomes available during an emergency call or text message, where the sender can send a request to your phone to share live video. You need to tap to accept the request, and your phone’s camera will start streaming footage, whether it’s to assess a fallen tree on the road or to guide you through CPR until the ambulance arrives. Google says the feature is encrypted, and you can stop sharing your live video stream at any time. There is nothing you need to do to set up the feature.

Courtesy of Google

You can now double tap on your Pixel watch

This is the coolest thing for me, but I love being able to control my smartwatch or fitness tracker without having to tap or tap on the screen. Apple introduced Double Tap on the Apple Watch in 2023, which took lessons from Apple’s accessibility software, called AssistiveTouch. It has helped Apple Watch wearers with accessibility issues use gesture-based controls. This year, Apple introduced the “Wrist Flick” feature to reject calls or silence timers with WatchOS 26.

Google is now offering gesture controls on the Pixel Watch 4. These features have been named (with no apparent shame at all) Double Pinch and Wrist Turn. Like Double Tap, you can use Double Pinch to answer or end calls or pause the timer. The Pixel Watch will give you hints on when Double Pinch might come in handy.

These features join Raise to Talk, a wrist-based gesture that Pixel Watch wearers can use to talk to Gemini. Smart responses have also been improved on the watch. When Wear OS was called Android Wear, Google had a few gestures that let you move your wrist away or toward your body to swipe through notifications and windows. what goes around comes around. —Adrian Su

Apple Fitness+ expands to new markets

Apple’s Fitness+ is an unusual case. It’s one of the company’s weakest offerings financially, according to Bloomberg. Management of the division recently moved to Apple Health chief Sumbul Desai following explosive allegations that Jay Blahnik, vice president of fitness technology, created a toxic work environment. (Before the management change, Apple said it would launch an internal investigation into the alleged behavior.) Personally, I’m waiting for Fitness+ to be integrated into the rumored new Health+ app for 2026. I’m tired of being confused about where all my health data is on my iPhone!