Google Pixel users just got a cool free upgrade

After the pandemonium that surrounded the Made by Google event last month, older Google Pixel users may have been feeling a little left out. The event saw the unveiling of the Google Pixel 7 and the Google Pixel 7 Pro, alongside the Google Pixel Watch.

The phones were a massive hit, in no small part because of the raft of software features announced. Slowly, some of those features have rolled out to older devices. Users of previous-generation devices have access to Improved Real Tone, Clear Calling, Guided Frame, Spatial Audio and Quick Phrases.

Now, one really cool feature is starting to roll out. Pixel Recorder 4.0 shipped as standard with the Pixel 7 range, but users of devices like the Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro are also starting to see the update.

The update adds a raft of new features to Pixel Recorder, to set it apart from other audio recording apps. Within the app, you can share recordings with other people, changing the access to make it public, private or somewhere in between. Much cooler, though, is the Pixel Recorders ability to transcribe audio into a .txt file, or into a Google Doc.

This means that you can have a text version of your recording without the faff of manual transcription. In the 4.0 update, there are 13 different languages which are supported. Three of these are new, and aren't currently supported by the older Tensor G1 chip. Expect that to change soon, though.

Also coming in a future update is a feature which will recognise different voices and distinguish between people in the transcription. This means that the Pixel Recorder will soon be able to dissect a conversation and identify who says what, rather than simply transcribing everything as a single block of text.