Google’s March 2026 Pixel Drop is one of the better ones in some time, and it includes a flashlight trick iPhone users have had for years.
QPR2 was released on March 3, adding security patches and five other quality-of-life features that Pixel users have been waiting for. There’s adjustable flashlight brightness, a way to remove the At a Glance widget, a more transparent Adaptive Connectivity system, a new location indicator for your apps, and some AI-generated icon packs (if you’re into that sort of thing). Here’s what each one does and where to find it on your own Pixel.
Google just dropped a major Android update — here are the best new features to know
Plus some cool stuff coming in March’s Pixel Drop
Adjust your flashlight brightness
It doesn’t always have to be blazingly bright
Before this update, adjusting your flashlight brightness was a matter of sideloading an APK or relying on workarounds. QPR4 finally makes it native. I know on my iPhone, it’s been a windfall every time I need some light but don’t want to blow my partner’s eyes out in our darkened morning bedroom.
How to use it: Pull down your Quick Settings panel and turn on your flashlight (or torch, for you Brits). What you do next will depend on the size of the tile on your phone. If it’s a 1×1 tile, long-press the flashlight icon to open the Flashlight Strength slider. If it’s a 2×1 tile, tap the right side of the tile to open the slider. Then drag the slider up to increase your flashlight’s brightness, and drag down to decrease it. Slide all the way to the bottom to turn off your flashlight. Tap anywhere outside the slider to dismiss it and keep the flashlight at the level you left it at.
Remove At a Glance from your home screen
Reclaim your screen space
One feature that divides Pixel users is the At a Glance widget. Some folks love it up at the top of their screen, others hate it there. The new QPR3 update gives you a way to get it off your home screen without disabling the widget entirely. If you keep it active, it’ll still display on your lock screen and always-on display. It just won’t be taking up valuable home screen real estate.
How to use it: Long-press an empty spot on your home screen and choose Home settings, then tap the gear icon next to At a Glance. Simply toggle Show on home screen off.
This is different from the main “Use At a Glance” toggle in settings. The widget keeps running on your lock screen and display if you choose this option.
Get better control over Adaptive Connectivity
Two toggles for the price of one
This has existed on earlier Pixel phones as a single toggle that claims it improves battery life by managing network switching. This old single toggle could cause problems like dropping you from Wi-Fi or switching off your 5G at odd moments. QPR3 breaks the toggle into two separate settings so you can finally understand and decide on what you’re actually toggling on or off.
How to use it: Go to Settings > Network & Internet> Adaptive Connectivity. Now you’ll see two separate toggles instead of one. They should both be set to ON by default. You can toggle each independently now, which is useful if you want automatic Wi-Fi to data handoffs but not the reverse, or vice versa.
- SoC
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Google Tensor G4
- Display
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6.3-inch Actua pOLED display, 1080 x 2424 resolution, 60-120Hz, 3000 nits peak brightness
- RAM
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8GB
- Storage
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128GB, 256GB
- Battery
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5,100 mAh
- Ports
-
USB-C
The Google Pixel 10a is a budget-oriented smartphone with a flat back and long battery life. It’s powered by the same Tensor G4 chip as its predecessor, and many key specs are identical to the Pixel 9a. However, you do get a brighter screen, better modem, new software features, and Android 16 with seven years of software support.
See when apps are accessing your location
Don’t let anyone be sneaky again
You’ve likely seen the camera and microphone access dots in the status bar, as they’ve been around since Android 12. Location has been the one holdout, and not all apps that use your location actually need it. The latest update brings Location services up to date with the other two by adding an indicator when the app you’re using is also using your location data.
How to use it: This basically happens on its own, but if an app is using your Location data, a small blue dot will appear in the top right corner of your address bar. If you open Quick Settings, the dot expands to a blue pill with the location icon within it. Tap the pill to see which app is using your location, and tap the arrow next to that app name for quick shortcuts to close the app or manage its location permissions.
Generate an icon pack
If you’re into it, I guess
In yet another “add AI even where most folks don’t want it” move, Google has added on-device AI icon generation to the Pixel Launcher. There are five styles so far: black and white Scribbles, rainbow-themed Cookies, green-tinted Easel, gold-colored Treasure, and space-style Stardust.
How to use it: Long-press any empty spot on your home screen, then choose Wallpaper & style, swipe up to Icons, and then tap Create. You’ll then be able to pick a style or color option (if available) and tap Download. Generation will take place in the background; you don’t need to stick around while it crunches numbers. Once done, tap Download to apply. Your pack then lives under your icons preview screen (along with Default and Minimal) and will even appear on new apps you install later.
AI icons only apply to home screen icons, not the app drawer. Also, while Google calls this AI-powered, it still just feels like you’re downloading an icon pack and applying it. Not too much customization from there.
March Drop Madness
If you’re not sure you have the latest QPR3 update for your Pixel, head into Settings > System > Software updates and check manually. Most features are live right after you update, though ones with server-side elements like At a Glance categories, could take a little longer to appear.
