Every Pixel phone comes with a few preinstalled apps, and while you don’t need an introduction to most of them, there are a few that are easy to overlook. I’m talking about apps that are so good that Google has kept them exclusive to Pixel devices. I always miss these any time I’m using a non-Pixel phone, so yes, if you’ve been ignoring them on your own phone, you’re probably missing out.
Pixel Screenshots
Turn your screenshots into a searchable library
Pixel Screenshots has to be the most underrated Google app of all time. If you have a habit of using screenshots to save just about every bit of information you might need “some day,” this is the app that actually makes that habit worth something.
Pixel Screenshots uses AI to analyze every screenshot you take. It detects text, products, addresses, links, or whatever else is inside it to understand the context. It even generates a title for it and groups it with related screenshots automatically. Later, when you actually need the screenshot, you can simply describe it in plain language to find it. You can even narrow down results using the built-in filters like music, restaurant, song, transactions, and conversations.
My favorite thing about Pixel Screenshots, though, is that it even shows relevant suggestions from your screenshots in other apps. For instance, if you’ve taken a screenshot of a cafe, you’ll see that as a suggestion the next time you open Google Maps. If you’ve taken a screenshot that shows a song’s name, Gboard will suggest it any time you head to YouTube search. So yes, Pixel Screenshots actually does something useful with those thousands of screenshots you save.
Pixel Recorder
It’s more than just a voice recorder app
A built-in voice recorder app has been a standard for all Android phones for years. But the Pixel Recorder app is special because the kind of features it offers isn’t something you’ll find on most other phones.
For starters, it can automatically transcribe your voice recording, which is super handy if you tend to record meetings, lectures, long conversations, or anything similar. It’s not a simple transcription either. The app recognizes different speakers within a recording and labels them as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on.
The main benefit of these transcripts, though, is that they let you search for a specific voice recording by just describing a phrase or word in it. And of course, the app can even generate a quick summary of that transcript. The app uses AI, but the processing happens on-device, so you don’t need to worry about privacy either.
Pixel Recorder even lets you share a recording by creating a public link, which is handy if you want to share something with a bunch of people at once. The other person can hear the recording and check the transcript on any device.
Now Playing
Shazam who?
Pixel’s Now Playing feature needs no introduction at this point. But in March 2026, Google turned it into a standalone app. You can now access it from the app drawer, and it’ll show you a list of songs it identified along with the exact date and time. From there, you can add it to your favorites, save it to a playlist, share it with someone, or open it in your preferred music streaming app. There’s also a manual search option that lets you identify a song whenever the automatic detection misses it.
The best part about Now Playing is how effortless it is. You could be playing a game like FC 27 or watching an episode of Suits when a catchy song comes on in the background. Your Pixel will identify it without you having to pause what you’re doing, open Shazam, or even touch your phone. The song is added to your Now Playing history, so it’s all automatic. And since Now Playing works completely offline, you don’t have to worry about it missing any song.
Thermometer
A Pixel feature worth flexing
This one’s not available on every Pixel, including the new Pixel 11 series. But if you have a Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro/Pro XL, or Pixel 10 Pro/Pro XL, the Thermometer app is worth checking out. As the name suggests, it lets you measure the temperature of objects around you using just your phone.
It might not seem like something you’d need every day, but there’s plenty of room to get creative. You can use it for cooking, checking the temperature of formula milk for your baby, identifying potential insulation problems around windows, or even taking someone’s body temperature. It’s obviously not a replacement for an actual thermometer by any means. Still, it’s a handy little tool to have around for quick temperature checks when you need them.