The Apple Watch has generally been the smartwatch that introduced major health and safety features to the world. The Pixel Watch, the Galaxy Watch, and basically every other smartwatch have generally adopted those features down the road after the Apple Watch introduced them first.
That changed in a big way today at Google's latest Made by Google event. At the event, the company unveiled the Pixel Watch 3, the latest generation of its smartwatch. In addition to a new 45mm size, a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, and new fitness and wellness features from Fitbit, the new Pixel Watch also introduces a brand new health and safety feature called Loss of Pulse Detection.
In a press release, Google says "Loss of Pulse Detection on Pixel Watch 3 is an opt-in feature that has the ability to detect loss of pulse and automatically place a call to emergency services if you are unresponsive to provide potentially life-saving care." The company says that loss of pulse can occur due to cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose, or poisoning, so there are a range of instances where this feature could come into play and potentially be life-saving.
You can check out Loss of Pulse Detection in the video from Google below:
Apple needs to bring this feature to the Apple Watch
The Apple Watch already packs a ton of health and safety features including Fall Detection, Car Crash Detection, notifications of a high or low heart rate, notifications of an irregular heart rhythm, and more. However, the watch does not currently have a feature exactly like the new Loss of Pulse Detection feature packed into the Pixel Watch 3.
Just like I talked about how it is good that Google ripped off Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite feature for the Pixel 9, I think Apple needs to rip off Google's Loss of Pulse Detection feature for the 10th generation Apple Watch. While there are some features that companies should protect and we should dunk on each other when they are adopted by others, health and safety features are not one of them.
These kinds of features should be ubiquitous across all devices and platforms. These things aren't something to be greedy about and keep it as an exclusive feature on your device, and we shouldn't award companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and others for trying to do so.
So, good for everyone who buys a Pixel Watch 3 and gets the benefit of a little more peace of mind with this feature. I hope the next Apple Watch rips this off immediately.
