Pixel 11 Pro’s HiLight Will Now Light Up When Your Besties Text You
CNET ·
Key points
- The HiLight LED on the Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold will now illuminate when preferred contacts send texts in Google Messages, as part of a new Pixel Drop update.
- Historically, HiLight was tied to phone calls with five color options or a Gemini-assisted color swirl, which critics argued limited its usefulness compared with third-party LED controls.
- Google intends to continuously add features to HiLight, with text message support framed as a logical step to enhance practicality and adoption.
- In addition to HiLight enhancements, Tuesday's Pixel Drop brings features that initially launched on the Pixel 11 to the Pixel 10, such as Rambler for voice dictation improvements and Gemini Intelligence for proactive, on-screen suggestions.
- Gemini Intelligence could enable quick-action links (for example, maps) when planning activities like dinner with friends, reflecting a focus on context-aware assistance.
- Google also announced the Pixel Tag item tracker arriving on Wednesday and that Google Fi will gain multi-network support to improve connectivity.
- The article positions HiLight as part of a broader push toward richer, more interactive notifications and smarter, assistant-driven features across Google's device ecosystem.
Summary
Google expands the HiLight LED, adding a glow when preferred contacts text via Google Messages on the Pixel 11 Pro family, as part of a Pixel Drop update. The feature previously lit for calls in five colors or a Gemini color swirl, and has faced early critiques for limited scope. The update also ports several Pixel 11 features to older models, including Rambler for dictation improvements and Gemini Intelligence for proactive, context-based suggestions. This move broadens notification dimensions on the Pixel line and signals further feature Rollouts, with additional product news like Pixel Tag and multi-network Google Fi in the pipeline. The shift suggests momentum toward more integrated, multi-modal notifications and AI-assisted assistance, though policy around customization and control remains a point of reference for user experience.
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