Once again, the Google Pixel 6 quietly introduced a new feature without fanfare. This is a welcome addition for all Pixel 6 owners who want to monitor their fitness without extra gear.

The Google Fit app's heart rate and breathing rate tracking feature is now available on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. This was discovered and reported by 9to5Google, and your Pixel may now have this feature, as we discovered on the Pixel 6 Pro.

These Pixel-specific health tracking features, announced in March, are measured using the phone's rear camera. For breathing, the camera tracks chest movements; for heart rate, it detects subtle color changes in a finger placed over the camera lens.

However, this feature does not appear to have fully rolled out yet. Some users have been told that the feature is labeled "Early access," but it appears that the feature is fully enabled on our Pixel phones. If it is, it appears at the bottom of the home page or under Vitals in the Browse section.

Users will be pleased to know that the readings are seemingly accurate, according to 9to5Google's comparison with Fitbit and also with the Pixel 5 running the same feature. Our own tests showed that it works rather well, but when using breath tracking, you need to keep your finger still on the camera. The only exception was when we took measurements in a dark environment, where the heart rate measurements were significantly off.

Previously, to account for this, the flash could be turned on during the heart rate reading. However, in the Pixel 6, that option is not available. This is likely because the flash is not located near the main camera this time, so having this option would not benefit the accuracy of the reading.

Google continues to put small updates into the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro without officially announcing them, making two great phones even better. Most recently, adaptive sound has been added to the speaker, and there are rumors of face recognition unlocking.

However, the Google Pixel 6 also had quite a few problems. The fingerprint scanner under the display has been the focus of these issues, but there have also been reports of display glitches and ghost dialing, to name two frequently reported problems.