Google Pixel UI guide: Everything you need to know

Most people probably think that Google Pixel smartphones come with standard Android. However, this is only half the story. In reality, Pixel phones come with an Android skin known colloquially as the Pixel UI. It looks a lot like the standard Android but has added different designs and features.

See also: All previously released Google Pixel phones

The idea that Pixels have stock Android probably stems from the idea that the Nexus line – which precedes the Pixel line – came with stock Android. However, since the first Google Pixel in 2016, Google’s mobile phones have been equipped with a subtle software skin.

The article below will tell you everything you need to know about the Pixel UI!

Publisher’s Note: This article was updated in September 2021. We will add / remove content as soon as Google releases more information about the Pixel UI.

As mentioned earlier, the Pixel UI has a lot of similarities to stock Android. If you’re using both systems side by side, you’d likely think they were the same. However, depending on the respective Pixel device, many more functions are integrated into the Pixel user interface than with standard Android.

As an example of this, modern Pixel phones have a feature called the Call Screen. It uses the intelligence of the Google Assistant to answer your spam calls and make sure it is not a robocall or telemarketer. You can find a controller for this function in the Android settings. Obviously, since only Pixel phones offer this, you won’t find this switch in standard Android. There are dozens of pixel functions like this one.

See also: What is android

However, since Google Pixel phones represent the “Stock” Android smartphone experience, Google doesn’t play with the general look and feel of Stock Android. While a lot of additional features have been added, the Pixel UI is intentionally sleek and simple so as not to detract from the design of Android itself.

Pixel UI has been well received by both critics and consumers. Most agree that its simplicity is a benefit that keeps it quick and stable. However, there is sometimes criticism when compared to other feature-rich Android skins like Samsung’s One UI. Pixel software can seem anemic in comparison – although this competition gives us a lot of options when it comes to phone software.

The latest version of the Pixel user interface

Pixel smartphones are almost always the very first phones to get new versions of Android. This makes sense because Google owns Android and also owns the Pixel line, so it can easily tweak the new Android versions of Pixels.

Since Google’s Pixel UI is closely aligned with Android versions, the latest version of the UI will be the same as Android’s. In other words, when Android 12 comes out, the latest version of the Pixel software will be Android 12. Until then, however, Android 11 is the current version.

See the next section for steps to check your version number.

How to check your version and for updates using the Pixel UI

If you don’t know what version of the Pixel UI is on your Google device, it’s easy to check. Here are the steps:

1. Go to Android settings by finding the shortcut in your app drawer or notification bar.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and tap the Via phone Section.
3. By doing Via phone You will see your section Version numberwhich is both your Android and your Pixel UI version.

If you’re using an older version of the Pixel UI, chances are that an update is waiting for you. You can check for software updates using the following steps:

1. Go to Android settings by finding the shortcut in your app drawer or notification bar.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and find that system Section.
3. Within system, find and tap Progressive to expand the list. Then tap System update at the end of the list.
4. The Pixel UI will let you know if you’re using the latest version. If not, you will be given instructions on how to download and install an update.

If your software is up to date but you don’t have the latest version of the Pixel UI, it means your phone hasn’t received the update yet. It is also possible that your phone is too old to receive new updates.

A brief history of the pixel user interface

In 2010, Google and HTC teamed up to create the Google Nexus One, the first smartphone to feature the Nexus branding. The phone was launched with stock Android. So began a number of other Nexus branded phones, all developed by Google in collaboration with other OEMs, and all ending up with standard Android.

In 2016, after launching eight Nexus phones, Google launched the first Pixel smartphone. Although Google didn’t admit it back then, the Pixel line usurped the Nexus line to become the new Google smartphone brand. Unlike the Nexus range, however, Google not only designed the phones, they also made them.

See also: How Google Pixel smartphone prices have changed over the years

This first Pixel phone was on board with the Pixel UI, making it the first phone with the Android skin. At this point, however, the skin was so minimal it might as well have been in stock. However, over the years, Google has kept adding more and more to the Pixel software while keeping the look and feel of the stock.

The version of Android that launched with the first Pixel was Android 7 Nougat. Therefore, there will be no previous versions of the Pixel user interface.

This is what the Pixel UI looks like

Here is a gallery of screenshots that should give you an idea of ​​what to expect from Oxygen OS.

Every Android skin out there puts its own stamp on the software. Here are four things the Pixel UI can do that most other skins can’t.

Call screen

We briefly mentioned this feature earlier. With the Google Assistant, the call screen feature answers your calls for you and acts as your personal secretary. The caller communicates with the Google Assistant as if they were speaking to a real person. If so, you will be given a transcript that will help you determine if this is a real person with a real reason to call you. If you agree, Assistant will transfer the call. If not, it will go to voicemail and you won’t have to do the work yourself.

App suggestions

There are five app icons at the bottom of a Pixel Home screen. Typically, you would choose these five icons manually. However, the icons you choose today may not be the ones you would like to see next week. App Suggestions solves this problem by constantly changing the five icons to exactly match what the Pixel user interface wanted. As an example of how incredibly useful this would be, let’s say you use Google Maps to navigate home after work every day. The software will detect this trend and automatically display maps for you on the home screen when you leave work. Clean!

Night vision and astrophotography

Technically, these are aspects of the Google Camera app, not the Pixel user interface. However, since they are only available on Pixels, we’ll include them here. Night Sight is Google’s computational photography feature that makes photos taken at night or even in relative darkness look like they were taken under ideal lighting conditions. Many manufacturers have similar features, but Google’s is one of the best – if not the best. Likewise, the astrophotography capabilities of Pixels are unsurpassed.

Is running now

When your Pixel is not in use, information can be shown on its permanently on display. You can choose some of this information as the title and artist of the music that is being played around you. This is great when you are in a bar and someone is playing a cool song on the stereo. Instead of having to use a third-party app, you can just look at your phone, which has the information right there for you.

More information that may be of interest to you

That’s all you need to know about Google’s Pixel UI! Make sure to bookmark this page as we will update it if Google changes the Android skin.