Android’s new 'Heads Up' feature to prompt distracted users to look up while walking

Google has added a new feature to Digital Wellbeing, a feature meant to limit the excessive use of smartphones. The new “Heads Up” feature is another way of telling people to stop being engrossed in their smartphones and look up while walking to avoid any accidents. The Android feature “Heads Up” will advise you to pay attention while walking. The new feature is a part of Digital Wellbeing’s beta. The feature sits in the Settings menu (in the Reduce Interruptions section) and will remind you to stay alert while walking. [caption id=“attachment_9528081” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Once enabled, “Heads Up” is expected to notify you of your surroundings and give you a “heads up” in case something appears on your way. Image: Pixabay[/caption] A Twitter user Jay Prakash Kamat spotted the feature in the Digital Wellbeing app on his Google Pixel 4a. It was also spotted by XDA Developers a few months ago.

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— jay (@jay__kamat) April 11, 2021

As suggested by a previous XDA Developers report, its description reads, “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”. Once enabled, “Heads Up” is expected to notify you of your surroundings and give you a “heads up” in case something appears on your way. You can easily disable the feature by heading to the Settings menu again and tapping on the Heads Up feature in the Reduce Interruptions section to stop such notifications. As a reminder, the feature is still in beta and hasn’t started rolling for all users. Since it has started appearing for some, there are chances it will launch for all (first for the Pixel users) pretty soon.