Hidden Features on Google Pixel Phones You Should Know

Google Pixel phones have unique features built into Android that you will not find on other phones — including Call Screen, Magic Eraser, Now Playing, and Hold For Me.

In this guide (6 steps):

1.Use Call Screen for unknown calls
2.Try Hold For Me on customer service calls
3.Remove objects from photos with Magic Eraser
4.See what song is playing with Now Playing
5.Use Direct My Call for automated phone menus
6.Transcribe recordings with the Pixel Recorder app

Use Call Screen for unknown calls

~36s

When your phone rings with an unknown or spam-likely number, look for the "Screen call" button instead of the green Accept button. Tap Screen Call and Google Assistant will answer, ask the caller who they are and why they are calling, and show you a live transcript of their response. Based on what you read, tap "Accept," "Decline," or "Report as spam." You never have to speak to potential spam callers yourself.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Go to the Phone appSettingsSpam and Call ScreenCall Screen to configure automatic screening for suspected spam calls, so you do not even need to tap anything for clearly suspicious numbers.

Try Hold For Me on customer service calls

~35s

When you are on hold with a company and you hear hold music, tap the "Hold for Me" button that appears in the call screen. Your phone will monitor the hold music. When a human agent comes on the line, your phone plays a chime and shows "An agent may be available." Pick up the phone and tap "I'm here" so the agent knows you are ready. This works for most toll-free customer service numbers that use standard hold music.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: Hold For Me is enabled by default on Pixel phones. To check or manage it, go to Phone appSettingsHold For Me.

Remove objects from photos with Magic Eraser

~25s

Open Google Photos on your Pixel and select a photo. Tap "Edit" at the bottom, then swipe through the toolbar to find "Tools." Tap Magic Eraser. Google will automatically highlight people or objects in the photo that it thinks you might want to remove. You can tap any highlighted item to erase it, or circle something yourself with your finger. Tap Done, then Save Copy to keep the edited version while preserving the original.

See what song is playing with Now Playing

~38s

Now Playing runs automatically in the background on Pixel phones. When a song plays near your phone (from a speaker, TV, or nearby device), the song title and artist name appear quietly on your lock screen or as an ambient display below the clock. No asking or tapping required. To see your history of identified songs, swipe up on your home screen and search for "Now Playing History" — it keeps a log of every song recognized.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: To turn Now Playing on or off, go to SettingsDisplayLock ScreenNow Playing. It is on by default and uses only a tiny amount of battery since all processing happens on-device.

Use Direct My Call for automated phone menus

~27s

When you call a company that uses an automated phone menu ("Press 1 for English, Press 2 for billing"), Direct My Call transcribes the options as text on your screen in real time. You can tap the number on screen instead of listening for the right option. This feature activates automatically when you call supported numbers (most 1-800 and toll-free numbers). Look for the transcription to appear in the call screen within a few seconds of the automated menu starting.

Transcribe recordings with the Pixel Recorder app

~35s

The Recorder app on Pixel phones (pre-installed) records audio and simultaneously creates a full text transcript. Tap the screen during recording to add bookmarks at important moments. After recording, you can search the transcript for keywords — for example, finding the moment in a meeting where someone mentioned a specific topic. Transcripts are stored locally on the phone and can be shared as a text file. This is useful for lectures, interviews, and meetings.

Quick Tip

Quick Tip: You can search your old Recorder transcripts from the main Recorder app screen. Tap the search bar and type any word that was spoken — Recorder finds every recording that contains it.

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Google Pixel phones run a version of Android made directly by Google, which means they get features that other Android phones do not have — often for months before any other device, if ever. Many of these features use Google's AI technology to do things that would otherwise require significant manual effort.

Call Screen is one of the most popular: when an unknown number calls you, Google's AI answers on your behalf, asks the caller their name and reason for calling, and shows you a live transcript. You decide whether to accept, decline, or block the caller — all without saying a word.

Hold For Me is a related feature that automatically waits on hold for you. When you call a customer service number and are put on hold music, you can tap "Hold For Me" and put your phone down. Google's AI monitors the call and taps your wrist (through your watch) or vibrates your phone when a human comes on the line.

Magic Eraser is a photo editing tool in Google Photos that removes unwanted people or objects from your photos. You circle what you want removed and Google's AI fills in the background.

Now Playing runs in the background whenever your screen is off, identifying songs that are playing near you without you asking. The song title and artist appear on your lock screen. It works even in airplane mode because the song database is stored on the phone.

Direct My Call shows the numeric options from phone menus (the "Press 1 for billing, Press 2 for support" type) as text on your screen so you can see and tap them instead of listening and guessing.

These features are built into Pixel phones and require no extra apps or subscriptions.

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