The Pixel 9 series is, like so many 2024 tech products, all about AI. In Google’s self-described Gemini Era, everything is a vehicle for AI: even basic smartphone functionality, from voice calls to texting to photography, is a canvas for Google to experiment with generative AI functionality.
Screenshots got an AI boost on Pixel 9 with the aptly named Pixel Screenshots, a brand-new system app pre-installed on the Pixel 9 series. Once you opt into Pixel Screenshots, it collects all the screenshots on your device and uses generative AI to read their content, making them searchable with natural language. It’s really a pretty clever use of AI — but it’s also yet another way to access our screenshots on top of several that already exist.
You can access screenshots on your Pixel 9 from three separate apps. Google Photos actually provides three individual links to your screenshots. On the Collections tab, there’s a pill-shaped Screenshots chip at the top of the page, a separate Screenshots link in a list near the bottom, and a third link to screenshots inside the On this device collection, right next to your camera roll. There’s also the Files app, which comes pre-installed on Pixel phones and offers a prominent link to your screenshots folder. And now, there’s a new home for screenshots in the dedicated Screenshots app.
I realize Pixel Screenshots is meant to be an exclusive perk for Pixel phones, but I still think either of the existing apps would have been a fine place to stick AI screenshot functionality. Google Photos in particular seems like a perfect fit; Google announced AI image search for Photos back in May, in a feature called Ask Photos. Ask Photos scans the images in your library to make them searchable with natural language. You can, to use Google’s examples, Ask Photos what your license plate number is, or what the themes of your child’s birthday parties were. Ask Photos was set to roll out “in the coming months,” though, and it’s still not here.
Things are getting messy here
Duplication of functionality isn’t user-friendly
I’m pointing this out mostly because I think it’s strange and a little funny that the Pixel 9 series ships with a new, dedicated system app for handling screenshots when Google’s already got two other pre-installed system apps handling screenshot functionality. But it’s also a usability issue. Doubling or tripling up on pre-installed apps with functional overlap is a good way to confuse and frustrate less techy users. Hell, I’m a little frustrated by it, and I fully understand what all these apps do.
Google’s screenshots situation isn’t quite as bad as Samsung’s old habit of bundling multiple SMS/RCS clients (something the company is still working to correct), but it’s hard to argue it makes for a good user experience. The Screenshots app may be getting even more convoluted, too, with functionality that integrates Circle to Search’s visual queries into Screenshots evidently in the works.
That might make sense thematically — Pixel Screenshots and Circle to Search both help you find more information about things on your phone’s screen. But it confuses Pixel Screenshots even more: with Circle to Search searches tacked on, Screenshots would be both a third place to access your screenshots and the only place to access a log of the things you’ve highlighted using Circle to Search.
Google’s in an experimental phase, testing the waters to see where and how it can leverage AI across its product portfolio. I’m not against that at all. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to make AI-powered experiences that make users’ lives just a little easier; I’m eager for Ask Photos, and I had Gemini write some Google Sheets formulas for me just this morning. But I’m really hoping the company’s efforts get a little less scattershot soon — Google’s AI ambition is weighing down the Android experience on Pixel phones.
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Google Pixel 9
The Pixel 9 is Google’s most affordable 2024 flagship, making a few compromises when compared to the Pixel 9 Pro and Pro XL while retaining the Google smarts the lineup has become known for. An upgraded 48MP ultra-wide camera is paired with a 50MP main shooter, and the selfie cam added autofocus. All of this comes with new Gemini AI features and a 2,700-nit Actua display for exceptional value at its price point.
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Google Pixel 9 Pro
The Pixel 9 Pro is a new addition to Google’s lineup, slotting in as a smaller premium flagship to pair with the Pixel 9 Pro XL. The latter is the direct successor to 2023’s Pixel 8 Pro despite its new XL moniker, whereas the Pixel 9 Pro brings a new form-factor to Google’s high-end offerings, sporting the same dimensions as the standard Pixel 9 model while packing all the AI and camera prowess we’ve grown accustomed to from Google’s Pro lineup.
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