1. The Personal Safety app stores important emergency information and more

Some of Pixel’s proactive safety features — like Safety Check — require you to add emergency contacts, so make sure these are up to date in the Personal Safety app.

While you’re in the app, you can also add important personal information — like blood type, allergies and medications — and choose for that information to show up on the lock screen of your phone and watch. This is especially helpful if you have any critical medical information you would want first responders to know in the case of an emergency. You can even opt to share this information with participating first responders during an emergency call. This information is only stored on your device, and you have full control over whether or not it shows up when your device is locked.

Tip: To make it easier to quickly get to the Personal Safety app on your phone in an emergency, press and hold the app icon and drag it to the home screen. On your watch, just press the crown and navigate to the pre-installed Personal Safety app.

2. Emergency SOS can call for help

With Emergency SOS, you have extra backup if you’re ever in an emergency situation.

For Pixel phones, all you have to do is quickly press the power button five times or more. This will either prompt you to press and hold a button on your screen for three seconds or start a 5-second countdown (depending on what you chose during setup) before emergency actions start — which include calling emergency services and any other actions you chose to enable.

When setting up Emergency SOS in the Personal Safety app on your phone, you have plenty of emergency action options to choose from based on the type of help you want. For example, you can opt for Emergency SOS to trigger any combination of the following actions: call emergency services, share your location and important information with select emergency contacts, automatically record a video and save it to the cloud. You can also choose to have the video automatically sent to your emergency contacts.

On Pixel Watch and Pixel Watch 2, Emergency SOS will alert emergency responders or emergency contacts that you need help. To trigger it, press the crown five times or long press the crown and tap and hold “Emergency SOS”.

Tip: If you want your phone to play a loud alarm sound during the Emergency SOS countdown, you can choose to turn the alarm on during setup. Otherwise, you’ll only feel haptic (i.e. tactile feedback) so you can discreetly call for help.

3. Scheduled Safety Checks help you explore with confidence

Whether you’re out on an early morning run or attending a party in an unfamiliar place, Safety Check on Pixel phones and both Pixel Watches helps your loved ones know what you’re up to and if you might need help.

To start a Safety Check, head to the Personal Safety app on your phone or watch, choose an activity (like walking home), the duration of the safety check (from one minute to 8 hours), and select emergency contacts (like your roommate or a parent) who will be notified if you fail to respond when the Safety Check ends. During setup, you can also opt to let your contacts know when you start or cancel a Safety Check.