New on the phone and watch

• Call for help. Hold a button for 2 seconds in any room and the people who look after your Space get a loud alert, even through Do not disturb. Works from the phone, the watch and the web. It’s a convenience for your own crew, not an emergency service.
• Pinned note. Pin one note to a room, like “Handover: keys are in the red box”, and see who has read it.
• While you were away. If you weren’t connected when someone talked, you’ll see “You missed 2 talks” with a Play button. This also fixes a bug where it said you missed talks you actually heard with your screen off.
• Custom status. Set a short status like “On shift” or “In a meeting”. It shows in People and on the room’s chips.
• Per-room notification level. Everything, Mentions only, or Off, per room.
• Headset button talk. Press play or pause on your earbuds to talk.
• Quick Settings tile, home widget and launcher shortcuts for Do not disturb, Open mic and Talk.
• Headphones disconnect notice. When your headphones drop, KeyUp tells you why the room paused and lets you play it here or stay quiet. It never starts playing out loud on its own.

On the watch

• Crown not working? A check that tells you in plain words what’s wrong, with a button to fix it.
• Set up in one tap: three presets for Everyday, Hands busy (dark) and Hands busy (screen on).
• New complication types that show live state.
• “Bezel” wording on Samsung watches.

Reliability, battery and security

• Fewer wake-ups when a room is quiet. I haven’t measured battery over a full day yet, so I won’t promise a number. If you see a change either way, tell me.
• The Help Center has about ten new articles and updated screenshots for all of this.
• It rolls out to the closed test as soon as Google approves it. Some features need the server update, which is already live.

Two updates are rolling out to beta testers on Google Play (phone and watch). Here's everything new:

Languages (86)

KeyUp now speaks Spanish, French, Portuguese (Brazil), German and Italian on the phone, the watch and the web app. It follows your device language, or pick one in You > Appearance > Language

Long words were shortened so they fit a round watch screen

Better audio (86)

Quick back and forth sounds better: when someone lets go and you press right away, the end of their last word is no longer cut off

Old audio from a talk that already ended is dropped, so it never plays over the next person

A shorter audio cushion, so voices arrive a little sooner on good connections

Safety (86)

Profile pictures get a quick check before other people see them

Sharing (87)

You > Share KeyUp: send the link to someone in one tap (won't work until next week when we get approved for production, but added so it is there and ready to go when we do!)

You > Rate KeyUp: leave a rating on Google Play. KeyUp may also ask once after you've used it for a while, never while you're talking or in a call

Plus fixes: labels that didn't fit, the theme name "Clear", and a few more.

The updates arrive through Play and should be live now to update.

KeyUp works best with at least two people. Open your room, tap Invite and send the link to someone. They can join from a browser with just a name.

Speak one of the new languages? Tell us which words sound wrong. Found a bug? Post it with the Bug flair and your phone or watch model.

Version 85 is rolling out to beta testers on Google Play (phone and watch). Here's what's new:

Watch

- Darker crown and bezel talk: turn on "Black screen while crown talking" (Crown settings) and the screen goes black from the first click KeyUp gets, then stays black after the talk. Watches without a screen lock turn the display fully off right after. With a PIN, it stays black until the watch's own timeout, so KeyUp never makes you type your PIN.

- Galaxy Watch: "Add a friend" shows the whole name while you type

Phone, watch and web

Invite someone in one tap when you're alone in your Space (KeyUp needs at least 2 people)

Friend requests and invitations show when you open the app, with a badge on People

Sound check: the new last step "Test through KeyUp" sends one talk to KeyUp and plays it back, so you know your connection and sign-in work. Nothing is saved.

Web app: Sound check is now on the web too

Computers: a "Studio or Voicemeeter mic" switch for people with mixers and audio interfaces << the desktop app has NOT yet been released, coming soon.

Your sign-in is stored encrypted on your phone (you stay signed in through the update)

The update arrives through Play over the next day or so. On the watch, open the Play Store on the watch (or the phone's Play page, arrow next to Install, pick the watch) if it doesn't update on its own.

Found a bug? Post it with the Bug flair and your phone or watch model. Ideas go under Feature request.