Watch your step with “Heads Up”, Googles new feature

In November last year, XDA’s Mishaal Rahman spotted an upcoming feature, called Heads Up, in a teardown of the Digital Wellbeing app. At the time, we’d learned that the feature would alert users to keep their heads up while walking to avoid any accidents. The feature has now started rolling out to Google Pixel users with the latest Digital Wellbeing beta update.
The feature hasn’t changed much since we first spotted it in the teardown last year. The setup screen shows the same description: “Watch your step with Heads Up…If you’re walking while using your phone, get a reminder to focus on what’s around you. Use with caution. Heads Up doesn’t replace paying attention.” Tapping on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of this screen begins the setup process, after which the feature shows a pushes a reminder every time you use your phone while walking.
You can find the new Heads Up feature within the Reduce Interruptions section of the Digital Wellbeing app settings. Once it’s enabled, you can find a couple of additional settings within the same section. There’s a new toggle to disable the reminders, permission controls for Physical activity and Location, and a feedback option.
At the moment, the new Heads Up feature seems to be rolling out only on Google’s Pixel devices with the latest Digital Wellbeing beta update. In case you haven’t received it yet, you can update to the latest beta release by following the Play Store link below and joining the beta program. Currently, we have no information from Google regarding a broader rollout. However, we expect the company to release the feature on more Android devices in the near future. We’ll let you know as soon as that happens.

Report by Chetali S M
Reported on – 13/04/2021