Best Google Pixel features — how to make the most of your phone

Now Playing

Now Playing isn't a new feature, in fact, it's been available since the Google Pixel 2. But if you aren't using it yet this is your sign to head to your settings menu and turn it on right now.

It displays songs playing nearby on your lock screen. It works a bit like Shazam but you don't need to open an app to use it, it happens automatically so if you hear a song you like in the supermarket, bar or taxi you just need to glance down at your phone.

Circle to Search

If you're scrolling through Instagram and you see someone wearing your dream pair of boots, you can use Circle to Search to find out where to buy them online. Or, if you're reading an article about Oasis and you want to know what year they formed, circle the word and your Pixel will run a Google search for them.

To activate Circle to Search, hold down on the middle of the screen along the bottom edge until the display turns blue, then simply circle the word or picture you'd like to search for.

Digital Spy/Yasmine Crossland

Gemini

Gemini is an AI chatbot with all sorts of uses that can cope with more free-flowing conversations than Google Assistant could. You can use Gemini to help you write messages and to-do lists, pull together ideas for recipes and travel itineraries, or learn about anything you can think of, like periods of history and works of art.

Gemini can help you summarise web pages and documents from your Google Drive or emails in Gmail. You can use it to generate AI images or get help with anything on your screen. It'll even be able to make travel plans for you using Google Maps or Google Flights.

Answers will be spoken to you and you'll see the information you need written down so you can easily export it to a Google Doc or Gmail.

A few things are missing, like the lack of access to your calendar to make events and it's not always entirely accurate, but Gemini will always be improving, so while it's not perfect right now, it will get better as time goes on.

You can call Gemini by long pressing the Pixel's power button and saying or typing what you want.

Magic Editor

You can use Google's Magic Editor to erase or camouflage distractions in your photos, like a bin or a photobomber. And you can use it to move and resize objects too, like if you want a bigger palm tree in the corner of the shot or a smaller car in the background. It's pretty useful for perfecting your photos post-capture.

For the launch of the Pixel 9 devices, Google has introduced another new tool in the Magic Editor, Reimagine. It lets you add brand-new objects to your photos. You just need to type in what you want to see and you'll be shown a few different options. I used this tool to trick my family into thinking I saw dolphins in Brighton, which they believed, although I wasn't quite so successful at fooling them when I added a tiger to the scene.

Reimagine doesn't always work perfectly and it can sometimes take a few goes to get something useable from it — even when it does work well, it's more of a party trick than anything super useful, but it's an interesting look into just how clever AI is starting to become.

Weather Reports

Checking the weather forecast has been made even easier by Google's Weather Reports — it uses AI to summarise the forecast in a couple of short, snappy sentences.

I love this feature because it means I don't need to go through the forecast hour by hour when deciding whether to take an umbrella or put on a coat. It tells you what you need to know about the chance of rain, humidity, temperature, etc.

You can customise the weather tiles in the app too, so you have quicker access to what you care about seeing the most, like the UV index, wind speeds and air quality.

Digital Spy/Yasmine Crossland

Pixel Screenshots

How many screenshots do you take every week, every year? And they all just end up littered through your camera roll, never to be found again. The Pixel Screenshots app gives you a way to organise your screenshots into collections, search through them and edit them. You can even add details from them to your calendar or search for locations in Google Maps.

For example, when I went away I screenshotted my flight confirmation email. Later I searched for the term “flight” to find it in the app and added it to my Belgrade, Serbia collection with all my different hotel bookings. Then I exported the details to a separate note and even added the booking as an event in my calendar, all directly from the app.

Add Me and Best Take

Google Pixel cameras have loads of features to try out, but two standouts are Add Me and Best Take.

Add Me allows everyone to get in the picture, even the photographer. You just need to take a group photo, then switch over so the photographer gets in the shot and take the photo again. The tool will combine the two images so everyone is in the shot.

Best Take works similarly, merging photos so everyone looks their best. Flick through matching images so each person can pick their favourite one and the tool will combine them into one final masterpiece.

In both cases, when done well, it looks slightly layered but you wouldn't notice if you didn't know about it.

Bedtime Mode

Guilty of scrolling your phone late into the night? Bedtime Mode reminds you to go to sleep at set times, on set days. When it's on, the phone switches to Do Not Disturb stopping any notifications disrupting your night. The entire system turns black and white as well, so you know it's time to put the phone down.

Bedtime Mode also monitors your night's sleep, telling you how long you spent in bed, how much you coughed or snored and whether you looked at your phone at any point during the night.

Digital Spy/Yasmine Crossland

Call Assist

Pixel Call Assist is made up of a few components including Call Screen, Direct My Call, Clear Calling and more — these aren't new but they are really handy, helping you avoid spam calls, transcribe automated menus, estimate wait times and reduce background noise, among other things.

The latest tool in Call Assist is Call Notes which writes up a summary of your conversation when you hang up the phone. That means you won't need to scramble for a pen and paper to jot down addresses, times and prices. For privacy, this feature runs on the device (rather than on a cloud) and everyone on the call will be notified that it's turned on.

Flip to Shhh

Ever been in a meeting or appointment and had a notification or call interrupt you? Flip to Shhh switches on Do Not Disturb when you place the phone face-down on a table. It may seem minor but it makes a huge difference.

Which Google Pixel should you buy?

Our top pick is the Google Pixel 9 Pro because it has the same advanced camera system as the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, but it's a small, pocket-friendly 6.3-inch smartphone. If you don't need the extra telephoto lens, and you'd rather save some extra cash, then we'd recommend the Google Pixel 9 instead.

Be sure to take a look at the best Google Pixel 9 deals to find out the cheapest prices on the series, whether you plan to buy it outright or on a monthly contract.