Ryan Haines / Android Authority
TL;DR
- The brand new Pixel Screenshots app solely processes about 15 screenshots a day robotically.
- Pixel Screenshots is a brand new app on the Google Pixel 9 that extracts data out of your screenshots so you may search via them later.
- Many liken it to Microsoft’s Recall characteristic for Home windows, however Recall processes much more screenshots much more incessantly.
The Google Pixel 9 sequence made its debut on the Made by Google occasion earlier this week, and as everybody anticipated, Google AI was the centerpiece of the occasion, much more so than the precise {hardware}. The Pixel 9 not solely introduces thrilling new AI digicam options like Add Me and Reimagine but additionally new AI-powered apps like Pixel Screenshots.
Pixel Screenshots is a brand new app that makes use of on-device AI to investigate the screenshots you are taking, extract textual content and different data from these screenshots, after which create a database which you could later search via. For instance, when you took a screenshot of a flan recipe a few months in the past, you may open the Pixel Screenshots app and search “flan recipe” to shortly discover that screenshot. You may even sort questions concerning the recipe into the search bar, and the Pixel Screenshots app will use on-device AI to generate a solution.
The on-device AI mannequin utilized by Pixel Screenshots is named Gemini Nano with multimodality, the most recent model of Google’s Gemini Nano massive language mannequin (LLM) that’s able to textual content, audio, speech, and picture processing. Gemini Nano with multimodality is presently solely obtainable on the most recent Pixel telephones with the Google Tensor G4 processor, which incorporates the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Professional, Pixel 9 Professional XL, and Pixel 9 Professional Fold.
As a result of Pixel Screenshots makes use of on-device AI to course of your screenshots within the background, Google put some restrictions on it in an effort to save battery life. A product supervisor on the sidelines of the Made by Google occasion advised me that the Pixel 9 throttles the Pixel Screenshots app. Therefore, it solely robotically processes about 15 screenshots in a single day. The remainder are processed when the gadget is idling and charging, although I’m advised you may override this someway, presumably by opening the Pixel Screenshots app.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Throttling the Pixel Screenshots app in order that it solely robotically processes about 15 screenshots per day is a great choice, contemplating how resource-intensive its processing possible is. Google tells us that it takes about 15-20 seconds to course of a screenshot within the background, so if the Pixel Screenshots app had been to, say, take a screenshot each 5 seconds like Home windows Recall does, then it might take between 3 to 4 hours to course of an hour’s value of screenshots within the background. In fact, this might most likely be sped up loads by allocating extra assets to Pixel Screenshots, however Google deliberately set a 15 screenshot cap to protect battery life and in addition preserve system well being as they don’t need screenshot processing to interrupt any essential flows like taking a photograph.
I’m positive that modders will discover a way round these limitations, however would anybody actually need that? Whereas Android’s app information mannequin is safer by default than Home windows’, the privateness implications of getting every thing you do saved in an enormous, searchable database is a bit scary for a lot of. I personally suppose Google made the proper alternative in limiting Pixel Screenshots to screenshots you are taking manually.
