Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
In summary
- Even after Google ignored the hardware at the Pixel 9 launch, a new update is coming to the Pixel Thermometer.
- Presets allow you to quickly take measurements of commonly encountered objects.
- A new measurement interface adds a camera view and a handy distance guide.
Google isn’t a smartphone maker that’s afraid to experiment with weird hardware — remember the Soli radar-based gesture controls we got on the Pixel 4? It’s a practice the company certainly saw fit to revisit last year, when the company saw fit to give the Pixel 8 Pro a temperature sensor on the back of the phone. The whole thing was odd, it felt like a relic of the bad old days of the pandemic highs, and what’s worse is that it didn't even take very accurate measurementsPerhaps the future holds a brighter light, as today we're taking a look at some updates to the Pixel Thermometer app.
You might think that even Google has written off its temperature sensor experiment, given that the company couldn't even be bothered to mention it when launching the Pixel 9 Pro earlier this week. But on Telegram, the unofficial Google News Channel reports that a number of useful and interesting changes have been made in version 1.0.654975759 of Pixel Thermometer.
With one handy tweak, you’ll be presented with a number of preset measurements, configured for the most popular use cases you’re likely to have. If there aren’t any that suit you, you can simply click the plus sign to start a measurement without these settings.
We also get a new look for the measurement display itself, and these changes actually seem quite useful. The app uses your phone’s camera to help you make sure you’re pointing at the right spot, and a ring around the temperature readout acts as a distance guide, helping you get the most accurate readings possible.
Neither is a huge deal, but both changes definitely sound like steps in the right direction to us, and we're genuinely surprised to see Google putting this much attention into the feature, especially now. Maybe we'll even get the sensor back on the Pixel 10 next year? Only time will tell.