Google has dropped its newest line of Pixel telephones for 2025, and past being the corporate’s finest telephones but, they’re brimming with nice options price benefiting from.
Whether or not you’re upgrading or switching to Pixel for the primary time, right here you’ll discover a shortlist of useful ideas and methods which can allow you to get extra out of the Android 16-based expertise provided up by the Pixel 10 sequence.
With a few exceptions, all of those characteristic walkthroughs apply to everything of the Pixel 10 line (the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Professional, Pixel 10 Professional XL and Pixel 10 Professional Fold); nevertheless, there are a few upgrades coated which might be unique to Google’s new Professional fashions solely. Learn on for the total run-down.
Flip Professional Res Zoom on or off
When you picked up the Pixel 10 Professional or 10 Professional XL, one of the vital vital digicam upgrades is Professional Res Zoom. Constructing on their predecessors’ Tremendous Res Zoom, Professional Res Zoom boosts the utmost telephoto seize magnification from 30x to a whopping 100x.
Relying on how near launch you purchased your Pixel 10 Professional or 10 Professional XL, there’s an opportunity you don’t have Professional Res Zoom enabled by default. Equally, as Professional Res Zoom provides using generative AI to boost picture constancy above 30x (successfully ‘making up’ picture particulars it ‘thinks’ must be current), not everybody will recognize the characteristic’s inclusion as a part of these new Pixels’ photographic expertise.
As such, right here’s allow/disable Professional Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Professional line.
HOW? In case your Pixel 10 Professional solely zooms in so far as 30x out the field, you’ll must obtain the Professional Res Zoom mannequin. To do that, first open the Digital camera app, and from right here, faucet the Digital camera Settings icon (it encompasses a cog image, partially obscured by a digicam image). The icon must be within the bottom-left of the viewfinder when holding your telephone in portrait.
On the following card that pops up, faucet the icon with the three dots within the top-right, simply to the appropriate of the phrases ‘Picture settings’.
It is best to now be wanting on the full-screen ‘Digital camera settings’ menu. On the backside of the ‘Normal’ part, it’s best to see an entry referred to as Mannequin obtain. Faucet on this.
If Professional Res Zoom isn’t but downloaded onto your Pixel, the following ‘Mannequin obtain’ menu is the place you’ll discover the choice to obtain it. Simply faucet on the downward arrow icon subsequent to ‘Professional Res Zoom’ to obtain the characteristic.
As soon as downloaded, if you return to the viewfinder, it’s best to now discover that you just zoom all the best way as much as 100x.
Equally, if you wish to disable Professional Res Zoom utterly, the downward arrow icon on the ‘Mannequin obtain’ display talked about above will as an alternative be a trash can icon. Faucet the trash can and on the following pop-up titled ‘Are you certain?’ faucet Uninstall to utterly take away Professional Res Zoom out of your Pixel.
Be aware: If the 100x possibility doesn’t instantly seem after downloading the mannequin, merely shut the digicam app utterly, reopen it and check out zooming in once more.
Create a Calling Card
As a part of Materials 3 Expressive – the feel and appear of Android 16 on the Pixel 10 sequence at launch – Google has added a slick new characteristic referred to as Calling Playing cards.
Much like iOS’ Contact Posters, Calling Playing cards act as personalised full-screen posters for key contacts in your handle guide, with the power to decide on particular pictures and add customized font types and hues too.
HOW? To create a calling card, open the Contacts app and faucet on a contact out of your handle guide that you just need to make a calling card for. On the chosen contact’s display, beneath the shortcuts to name, message, or e mail the contact, it’s best to see a immediate field titled ‘Strive including a calling card’. Faucet it.
On the following calling card creation display, select from the Digital camera, Gallery and Google Photographs buttons alongside the underside to seize or choose an appropriate photograph for the particular person whose contact card you’re creating.
When you’ve picked a picture, you may transfer (by dragging with one finger) and resize (with two fingers) the picture till it’s framed to your liking on the contact card.
When proud of the picture’s positioning, you’ll additionally discover completely different font decisions – represented by a sequence of ‘A’s – alongside the underside of the display. Faucet on the completely different ‘A’s to use completely different fonts to your chosen contact’s identify. Subsequent, decide a color from the swatches beneath the font choices.
When you’re proud of each of those particulars, hit Performed within the top-right of the display. You’ll then be taken again to the ‘Edit contact’ display, at which level you may faucet Save within the top-right to save lots of your newly-created calling card.
Be aware: If the ‘Strive including a calling card’ possibility doesn’t seem if you open up a contact inside the Contacts app. As a substitute, faucet the pencil icon within the top-right and faucet on the picture on the appropriate facet of the ‘Image and calling card’ field close to the highest of the display.
If the choice nonetheless doesn’t instantly current itself, ensure that the Contacts and Telephones apps are totally closed, then discover the Telephone app in your Pixel’s apps drawer, long-press on the app icon and on the following pop-up menu choose ‘App data’. Scroll to the underside of the Telephone app’s App data web page and below ‘Retailer’ faucet ‘App particulars’.
You’ll then be pushed to the Telephone app’s web page on the Google Play Retailer. From right here, faucet Uninstall, and on the following pop-up, faucet Uninstall once more. As soon as the app updates have been uninstalled, merely faucet the Replace button and await the Telephone app updates to redownload and reinstall.
As soon as put in, open up the Contacts app once more and observe the unique directions above. The choice so as to add a calling card ought to now be accessible.
Test for AI-altered photos with Content material Credentials
The Pixel imaging expertise has lengthy been about making use of machine studying to imagery to boost the ultimate outcome. Nevertheless, in recent times, Google has began piling on generative AI-based picture seize and modifying instruments, like Magic Editor’s Reimagine characteristic and Professional Res Zoom.
As a way to fight misinformation, Google not too long ago turned part of the Coalition for Content material Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), and one of many extra sensible advantages of its involvement is the addition of picture provenance inside Google Photographs and photographs taken utilizing your Pixel 10’s digicam.
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HOW? To verify a picture’s content material credentials, merely head into your Google Photographs gallery, faucet on a shot you need to know extra about after which swipe up to search out out extra concerning the picture.
On the backside, it’s best to now discover a How this was made part, which tells you key data just like the digicam the picture was taken with, and, within the case of Professional Res Zoom photographs bolstered by generative AI (for instance), further tags to let you already know the picture was “Edited with AI instruments”.
Add music to your recordings with AI
Google’s native Recorder app is a superb inclusion, with highly effective options akin to real-time transcription, however open it up in your Pixel 10 and also you’ll discover it’s gained a brand new trick: the power so as to add AI-generated music. That is good for ideating songs or just including just a little extra pep to your voice notes.
Offered you might have a recording saved inside the Recorder app that’s 3 minutes or much less, you may add music utilizing only some faucets.
HOW? First, open the Recorder app in your Pixel. Subsequent, faucet on the recording you need to add music to. As soon as on the playback display, faucet the three dots within the top-right of the display. On the following pop-up card, faucet on the brand new Create music possibility.
From right here, you’re required to Select a vibe for the model of music you need to add to your recording. You will have two major choices: ‘Featured vibes’ or ‘Your vibes’.
‘Featured vibes’ is a number of 5 completely different ‘vibes’, starting from ‘Chill Beats’ to ‘Dance celebration’. You additionally must possibility to decide on ‘Shock me’, which can mechanically decide one of many different ‘vibes’ for you.
The ‘Your vibes’ part is stuffed with musical therapies that you just create. To create a brand new vibe, faucet on the Create new vibe button, you’ll then be requested to identify your vibe, choose a style and a sense. When you’re blissful along with your decisions, faucet Save on the backside of the display. You’re newly created vibe will then seem within the ‘Your vibes’ tab.
Faucet on a vibe from both tab to assign it to your recording after which faucet subsequent. The Recorder app will then course of your audio, searching for pre-existing rhythm and concord that it could match music to.
As soon as it’s completed processing, you’ll be offered with a barely completely different playback display than earlier than, with two waveforms.
You possibly can faucet Play on the backside of the display to listen to your newly soundtracked recording. It’s also possible to faucet on the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icons inside the higher waveform to supply suggestions to the AI system on whether or not you want its creation. It’s also possible to faucet Change vibe, and the app will re-process the audio with a brand new vibe of your selecting.
When you’re blissful along with your creation, faucet Save copy within the top-right of the display, and also you’ll be taken again to the principle Recorder app display, with the listing of all of your recordings. Your new creation must be the brand new prime entry, with a title that references the vibe you connected to your unique recording, and an ‘AI music’ tag on the bottom-left of the entry.
As with all different recording within the Recorder app, you may then share the audio file or a hyperlink to the recording, as desired.
Be aware: The Recorder app mechanically geese the music when making use of a vibe, which means speech ought to nonetheless be wholly intelligible and its quantity balanced with the brand new music.
It’s also possible to edit or delete vibes you created by navigating to the ‘Your vibes’ tab, long-pressing on any of the vibes you’ve created and tapping ‘edit’ or ‘delete’ on the following pop-up menu.
Hearken to this web page
‘Hearken to this web page’ is a superb assistive device that makes digesting internet pages much more handy, particularly if you’re out and about.
While studying a information story sat on the practice is straightforward sufficient, studying and likewise wanting the place you’re going is infinitely trickier: that’s the place ‘Hearken to this web page’ is available in.
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As long as you will get behind the (considerably stilted) robotic voice the characteristic presently makes use of, the telephone treats the narration like every other audio playback, which means you may nonetheless lock your telephone and slip it in your pocket. You’ll nonetheless have the ability to hear utilizing headphones, too.
What’s extra, typical media management assist enables you to pause/play and scrub via the timeline of a given internet web page seamlessly.
HOW? Open the Chrome internet browser in your Pixel and navigate to the web page you need to hearken to. As long as the characteristic can parse what’s on-screen, you’ll discover the choice to have the web page learn out to you by tapping the three dots within the top-right. This brings up Chrome’s native settings menu, inside which you’ll discover the Hearken to this web page button, in the direction of the underside.
Enhanced Now Taking part in
Now Taking part in has been a powerful Pixel characteristic from the get-go, in a position to passively determine music inside vary of your telephone’s microphones. The identify and artist of any recognised monitor seem on the AOD (always-on show) and lock display, so you may look down and discover out what it’s you’re listening to.
With Enhanced Now Taking part in – which is disabled in your Pixel 10 out of the field – Google’s added the power for to characteristic to mechanically supply the related album artwork too. It makes it that little bit simpler to recognise a specific music or artist on-line or on retailer cabinets when you go searching for out a specific monitor for your self.
HOW? To improve Now Taking part in to Enhanced Now Taking part in, open the Settings app after which faucet on Sound and vibration. Subsequent, scroll all the best way to the underside till you see Now Taking part in. Faucet on Now Taking part in to open up its devoted sub-menu display.
Partway down, it’s best to then see the choice to toggle Enhanced Now Taking part in on. As soon as enabled, any detected tracks saved inside your Now Taking part in Historical past (additionally discovered inside the Now Taking part in sub-menu) will embody album artwork, relatively than a generic musical observe icon.
Allow Superior Safety
With Google’s command of the net world, it stands to purpose that they’re additionally fairly well-versed at defending in opposition to a few of its extra unsavoury features, and that penchant for safety can be current on their telephones.
Whereas not enabled out the field, the Pixel’s Superior Safety suite does every thing from enabling theft detection lock (instantly locking your telephone if it thinks it’s simply been snatched out of your palms by an assailant), activating Android Secure Shopping, with menace detection, warning you about suspicious hyperlinks despatched through Google Messages, and extra.
HOW? To degree up the safety in your Pixel, open the Settings app, then scroll right down to and faucet on Safety and privateness. Inside the Safety and privateness sub-menu, below the ‘Different settings’ part, faucet on Superior Safety. On the Superior Safety menu, all that’s left to do is to toggle on the swap to the appropriate of System safety possibility.
Empower the facility button
As soon as upon a time, a telephone’s energy button was used to energy the telephone on and off, however in recent times, whereas they’re nonetheless used to show your telephone on, they’ve principally been repurposed for different duties, leaving multi-button configurations the one approach to entry that all-important energy menu.
Within the case of the Pixel 10 sequence, while a faucet on the facility button will darken your display and lock your telephone, a long-press will as an alternative summon Google Gemini. There’s additionally a devoted Gemini app, an ‘Ask Gemini’ widget pre-loaded on the house display and the power to activate Gemini by merely utilizing the “Hey, Google” wake phrase.
All in all, Google has made certain that granting fast entry to Google Gemini in your Pixel is properly and really coated, begging the query: can’t the facility key simply be the facility key once more?
If, like me, you’re over urgent energy and quantity up each time you need to formally swap off or restart your Pixel, right here’s reassign the facility button’s major perform.
HOW? Head to the Settings app and, as soon as open, search for System – faucet on it. About midway down the System menu, it’s best to have the ability to faucet on the Gestures possibility. On the backside of the Gestures sub-menu, faucet on the entry labelled Press and maintain energy button.
The following ‘Press and maintain energy button’ display ought to present you that ‘Digital assistant’ is presently chosen, together with a slider that allows you to outline how lengthy you might want to maintain the facility button to summon stated assistant. To disable this characteristic and reinstate the facility key’s unique performance, merely faucet Energy menu. Lengthy-pressing the facility key will now convey up the facility menu as soon as once more.
Be aware: Even with this modification, energy key + quantity up will nonetheless additionally summon the facility menu.
Increase show decision & refresh fee
The Actua and Tremendous Actua shows throughout the Pixel 10 sequence are among the nicest available on the market, however out-the-box you’re not getting the absolute best viewing expertise accessible.
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There are two settings price checking earlier than getting caught into dwelling along with your new Pixel: decision and refresh fee.
Utilizing the Pixel 10 Professional XL for example, whereas the telephone comes with a 6.8-inch 1344 x 2992 120Hz OLED show, likelihood is you’re viewing every thing in ‘Excessive decision’ mode by default, which clocks in at 1080 x 2404.
The upper the decision, the sharper issues will look on-screen, however the higher the drain on the battery too.
Equally, the display serves up super-fluid 120Hz visuals out of the field the place accessible, however this equally comes on the expense of battery longevity. As such, when you aren’t fussed about excessive refresh fee viewing, it is likely to be in your finest curiosity to change the characteristic off (which caps the viewing expertise at 60Hz as an alternative). In any other case, go away it’s.
HOW? Open your Pixel’s Settings app, faucet on Show and contact, scroll right down to the underside of the listing to search out Display decision after which swap from Excessive decision to Full decision, to maximise picture constancy.
Equally, on the backside of the Show and contact part of the Settings app, you’ll additionally see Clean show. Chances are high, it’ll be toggled ‘on’ by default, however you may swap it on and off as you like from right here.