Pixel 8 Pro Update Lets You Check People's Temperature and Circle to Search

Google's January Pixel Feature Drop adds Photomojis and AI tools like Magic Compose to some Pixel phones.

Patrick Holland Managing Editor

Patrick Holland has been a phone reviewer for CNET since 2016. He is a former theater director who occasionally makes short films. Patrick has an eye for photography and a passion for everything mobile. He is a colorful raconteur who will guide you through the ever-changing, fast-paced world of phones, especially the iPhone and iOS. He used to co-host CNET's I'm So Obsessed podcast and interviewed guests like Jeff Goldblum, Alfre Woodard, Stephen Merchant, Sam Jay, Edgar Wright and Roy Wood Jr.

Expertise Apple, iPhone, iOS, Android, Samsung, Sony, Google, Motorola, interviews, coffee equipment, cats Credentials

Patrick's play The Cowboy is included in the Best American Short Plays 2011-12 anthology. He co-wrote and starred in the short film Baden Krunk that won the Best Wisconsin Short Film award at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival.

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Patrick Holland

Jan. 25, 2024 6:00 a.m. PT

2 min read

A Pixel 8 Pro with the Thermometer app open — With the latest update, the Pixel 8 Pro can take a person's body temperature.
Google

Google laid out updates coming to a range of Pixel phones on Thursday, including bringing the AI-powered Circle to Search feature to the Pixel 8 series and adding the ability to take a person's body temperature with the Pixel 8 Pro's Thermometer app.

This story is part of Samsung Event, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Samsung's most popular products.

As part of its latest Pixel software drop, Google said Photomoji -- a feature that lets people turn a photo into a sticker for reactions in messaging threads -- is coming to the Pixel 3A and newer models.

Circle to Search, an AI tool revealed at last week's Samsung Unpacked event on Galaxy S24 series phones, should now be available on the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It was developed in partnership with Samsung and allows you to search for almost anything on your phone's screen just by circling it.

Read more: Best Android Phone of 2024

The Pixel 8 Pro, Google's only phone with a built in temperature sensor, can now take your temperature -- or someone else's. You simply open the app and scan a person's forehead. The results can even be saved to your Fitbit profile. When the Pixel 8 Pro launched in October, it noticeably lacked the ability to record a person's body temperature and could take the temperature of only food and objects.

Lastly, another generative AI feature, Magic Compose, is coming to certain Pixel phones. It can help you rewrite a message draft in different styles and tones to make it read more professional, concise or even Shakespearean. The feature comes to Pixel 8 Pro in US English as well as the Pixel 6 and newer phones in Spanish, French, German, Korean and Italian.

A woman wearing a mint colored dress holding a mint bag with a mint Pixel 8 Pro — The Google Pixel 8 series now comes in mint.
Google

Speaking of Pixel phones, Google will now offer the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro in a new mint color that is available only at the Google Store and Google Fi Wireless.

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