Hands on with Google Pixel 10 Pro XL

7. Extra photography tips

Something else I noticed while using Pro Res Zoom and other Pixel Camera features was the helpful question mark icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Whatever mode you’re shooting in, click it, and your Pixel will offer tips. For example, if I choose the long exposure option and hit the question mark, Pixel brings up a series of examples of long exposure photos alongside how-to instructions.

8. Writing prompts (and plenty of privacy) with Pixel Journal

Pixel’s new Journal app is great if you struggle with writing your thoughts down but would like to have a way to look back on more than photos. You aren’t just left to stare at a blank doc and try to think up something to write; Journal has “life story” prompts that ask you to recall early memories or things you’ve done that have surprised you. You can add photos to these and even adjust font and color to make it feel more personal (for whatever reason, “serif” just feels more “journal” to me). And it’s protected: There’s an option to add a specific password as well as fingerprint ID.

9. Even more helpful screenshots with Magic Cue

Magic Cue is a new feature for Pixel 10 phones that works in the background to help connect information that’s scattered across your apps. It’s able to show you details from places like Gmail, Calendar and Messages when you need them. Another app it connects to is Pixel Screenshots — and this one’s proven the most useful for me. I’m already a fan of Screenshots, which uses AI to intelligently organize the seemingly random bits and pieces of information I collect. But even that is only as useful as I make it; I still need to open that app and find what I’m looking for, albeit in a quicker and more organized way. But now with Magic Cue, Screenshots is even more powerful: Without any action on my part, Magic Cue can tell me what that new restaurant was that I took a screenshot of, or when my partner texts to ask me about it or allow me to instantly respond to a message asking about what food brand our dogs eat with me needing to go — you guessed it — find a screenshot.

10. Gemini Live on-screen guidance

In addition to new Pixel devices, we also announced a few updates to Gemini Live at Made by Google. Gemini Live now provides visual guidance by highlighting things directly on your screen. For me, this is a great cooking companion: It helped me make dinner decisions (“I need cumin for this recipe. Is there anything you see here I can use as a substitute?”) and it helps me make choices at the grocery store without spending time reading labels (“Is this generic brand basically the same as the name one?”). And given that Gemini Live can have a normal conversation with me, taking stops and starts and pauses into account, I can speak naturally the entire time.