Recently, the Google Pixel 9 series went official and brought with it a bunch of AI features. However, the new Pixel Screenshots app stood out quite easily. This new AI app on the device, powered by Gemini Nano, can analyze your Pixel’s massive library of screenshots like it’s nothing and lets you search through them using text and voice. But how do you use the Pixel Screenshots app? Let’s find out!
How to search for screenshots in Pixel Screenshots
This latest AI feature works with the Pixel Screenshots app on Pixel 9 phones. So follow the step-by-step process below to learn how to use the app:
- Open the Pixel Screenshots app, which will trigger a brief setup process upon first power-on.
- Press More and then hit To light up to enable the feature.
- Once this is done, the app will start downloading the AI models it needs to work.
- Then you will find a floating search bar at the bottom of the home screen. Here you can enter the description of your screenshot (the product name in our case) or explain it using voice search.
- Once done, the app will instantly display the screenshots matching your query.
- Simply tap on screenshot to find the option to share it from here. You can also tap the Chrome icon to go to the webpage immediately.
And just like that, you can easily find screenshots with the Pixel Screenshots app. But the app also lets you organize screenshots into folders called Collections to bring some order to the app. More on these collections below.
How to Organize Screenshots in Pixel Screenshots
Over time, like your photo gallery, your Pixel Screenshots app will also start to get cluttered. If this triggers your OCD, the app allows you to organize screenshots into folders. Follow the steps below to learn how to do this:
- From the Pixel Screenshots app home screen, at the very top, tap the plus icon under the Collections panel.
- Next, name your collections folder and tap the check mark icon to create the collection.
- Once the collection is created, tap on the folder to open it.
- Then press Select screenshots to add screenshots.
- You can easily delete a collection by tapping the trash icon top right.
What else can you do with the Pixel Screenshots app?
But that’s not all, and the app still has a few tricks up its sleeve! That being said, here’s what else you can do with it:
1. Set screenshot reminders
We often take screenshots of important things to come back to them later. However, we often forget about them. To avoid this, the Pixel Screenshots app also allows you to set custom reminders for screenshots. With this, you can choose to receive reminders for important things such as sales. Here’s how:
- When you open a screenshot, you will see a alarm bell icon next to the edit icon. Tap it.
- This will open the Reminder windowwhere you can set presets like Later Today, Tomorrow, and Next Week.
- If you don’t like the presets, you can press Choose date and time to set up a custom reminder.
You can also set these reminders directly through the preview panel when you capture a screenshot.
2. Add images manually
Additionally, you can choose to manually add images to the Pixel Screenshots app. Here’s how to do it:
Next to the search bar at the bottom you will find a more buttonTap to manually add images from your phone’s gallery or use your camera to capture an image (it’s not really a screenshot, but okay).
How to turn off the Pixel 9 screenshot feature
Even if the feature works on the device, it’s completely normal to not be comfortable with an AI model analyzing your screenshots. So, if you want to disable the feature, you can easily do so.
- Open the Pixel Screenshots app and tap the icon settings icon top right.
- SO, disable the “Search your screenshots with AI on device” setting.
- As soon as you turn it off, you will also see the option to delete all AI summaries and metadata. If you want to get rid of that as well, tap on it and press DELETE in the confirmation window.
Pixel Screenshots App: Supported Devices
As of now, the Pixel Screenshots app is only available on the new Pixel 9 series, which includes:
These are the only devices currently compatible with the Gemini Nano’s multimodal update. Unfortunately, these features will be limited to the Pixel 9 series.
Since Google also likes to reserve AI features for its newer models, it is impossible to say whether the Pixel Screenshots app will come to older Pixels. However, we can expect Samsung to offer this interesting feature under a different name in partnership with Google.
Is Pixel Screenshots app safe to use?
While it’s interesting and all, is the Pixel Screenshots app really safe to use? Are you wondering if the Pixel Screenshots app compromises your privacy? It’s understandable that you’re wondering this because it’s the main reason behind Microsoft’s delay in rolling out Windows Recall. So, here are a few things to note in this regard:
- As Google points out on its dedicated site Shop Page“Because it’s powered by Gemini Nano, Pixel’s onboard AI, your information is private, secure, and available without an internet connection.” All processing happens offline, on your Pixel 9 device.
- Windows Recall uses AI to analyze all your files and doesn’t give you any control. In contrast, Pixel Screenshots uses Gemini Nano to analyze only the screenshots you take.
- More importantly, the app allows you to easily disable the feature and put yourself at complete peace of mind. This comes in handy if you’re worried about your phone being compromised in some way. Plus, since it’s unclear whether a compromised Google account will give malicious actors access to your screenshots, it’s understandable that users would want to keep this setting disabled.
That’s all for now. We hope this guide has given you a good understanding of how the Pixel Screenshots app works. This is something you can expect once your Google Pixel 9 ships. If you have any further questions, comment below!
