7 hidden Pixel 10 features you should turn on right away (and one to avoid entirely)

The Google Pixel 10 may no longer be Google’s newest smartphone, but thanks to regular Feature Drops and Android updates, it has continued to gain plenty of new features since launching in August 2025.

While the headline features have mostly stayed the same, Google has quietly added several smaller additions that have largely flown under the radar.

I’ve been using the Pixel 10 Pro since its launch, and over the past year, I’ve come across quite a few hidden features that make the phone much better to use every day.

If you’ve just picked up a Pixel 10, or even if you’ve been using one for a while, here are seven hidden Pixel 10 features I think everyone should enable, and one I’d recommend skipping entirely.

Your Pixel can complete tasks inside apps for you

Screen Automation lets Gemini do the tapping for you

Compared to most other Android phone makers, Google puts a huge emphasis on AI features, and the Pixel 10 is no exception.

The company launched the phone with a long list of Gemini-powered features, and it has continued adding more ever since.

One of the lesser-known, yet most powerful, additions is Screen Automation.

Have you ever wished your phone could order your usual coffee or book a ride home without you tapping through half a dozen screens?

That’s exactly what Screen Automation is designed to do.

Google introduced the feature earlier this year, allowing Gemini to interact directly with apps on your screen and perform multistep actions like ordering food or booking a cab.

Gemini can understand what’s on your display and interact with buttons, scrolling, and text fields inside supported third-party apps.

Anything involving payments still requires your approval, but everything leading up to that can be handled automatically.

If you want to place your usual Starbucks order, you can ask Gemini to do it.

There’s a faster way to reach your alarms and timers

There’s a shortcut built into Android that opens it with a single tap

Now for something much simpler.

I still catch myself opening the app drawer when I need the Clock app on my Pixel 10 Pro.

Thankfully, there’s a much faster shortcut that works from almost anywhere: Pull down the notification shade and tap the time displayed at the top.

Android instantly opens the Clock app, giving you quick access to alarms, timers, the stopwatch, and everything else without digging through the app drawer.

Launch apps in the new multitasking app bubbles

Android 17’s App Bubbles are genuinely useful

Credit: Android Police

One of my favorite additions in Android 17 for the Pixel 10 series is App Bubbles. It’s Google’s new take on multitasking. It lets you run an entire app inside a floating window.

When you’re done with it, dismiss the window, and it shrinks into a floating bubble at the side of the screen.

When you need it again, tap the bubble and the app pops right back up where you left it.

It’s one of those features that has genuinely changed how I multitask on a regular slab phone.

Gemini can understand what’s on your screen

Screen awareness makes Gemini far more useful

Coming back to Gemini features, Google has also made it much more useful by giving it screen awareness.

Instead of explaining everything manually, you can press and hold the power button and ask Gemini a question about whatever is currently on your screen. It understands the context automatically.

For example, I recently came across a multivitamin supplement and asked Gemini whether it covered my recommended daily intake of vitamin B12.

It was able to read the nutritional label on the screen, extract the relevant information, and compare it against the recommended daily intake without me having to type anything.

Let your Pixel organize notifications automatically

Notification Organizer automatically groups alerts so they’re easier to manage

Another Pixel 10 AI feature I genuinely like is Notification Organizer. It automatically sorts incoming notifications into categories so they’re easier to manage.

For example, if you’re constantly getting notifications from shopping apps, news alerts, social media, and promotional messages, Notification Organizer groups them instead of dumping everything into one long list.

The feature isn’t enabled by default, though. You can turn it on by heading to Settings > Notifications > Notification Organizer and enabling the toggle.

You can also choose which categories you’d like Android to organize, including Promotions, News, Social, and Suggestions.

Your Pixel 10 is secretly a desktop computer

Connect it to a monitor, and Android transforms into a desktop workspace

Have you ever been jealous of Samsung Galaxy phones being able to connect to an external monitor and instantly turn into a desktop computer with Samsung DeX?

Well, your Pixel 10 can do something similar.

With the Android 16 Feature Drop earlier this year, Google introduced Android Desktop Mode for the Pixel 10 series.

Connect your phone to an external monitor, and it transforms into a desktop-style interface complete with floating windows, proper multitasking, and support for up to four virtual desktops at once.

The experience is surprisingly close to Samsung DeX, although you’ll still want to connect a keyboard and mouse to get the most out of it.

That said, if you need a proper desktop setup while traveling, the Pixel 10 sitting in your pocket is more capable than you might think.

Google Maps has a hidden Power Saving mode

This Google Maps feature is exclusive to the Pixel 10 series

Another hidden Pixel 10 feature, although it’s technically part of Google Maps, is Power Saving Mode.

Google introduced it with a Feature Drop last year, but it’s currently exclusive to the Pixel 10 series.

Normally, when you start navigation and lock your Pixel, Google Maps keeps the navigation visible on the screen.

Power Saving Mode replaces that with a dim, black-and-white always-on display that still shows the essentials, including turn-by-turn directions, your live position, ETA, and remaining distance, while using significantly less battery than the standard navigation view.

I recently wrote about this feature in detail because it’s become one of my favorite hidden Pixel 10 additions. And the battery savings aren’t even my favorite part.

Disable Gemini from launching every time you hold the power button

Now for the one feature I usually turn off as soon as I set up a new Pixel.

By default, pressing and holding the power button launches Gemini. But that isn’t what I want most of the time.

If I’m holding the power button, I usually want to access the power menu, not an AI assistant.

That’s one of the first settings I change on every Android phone I use, including my Pixel 10 Pro.

Instead of using the power button, I launch Gemini with the swipe gesture from the navigation bar whenever I actually need it.

You can switch it back as well by heading to Settings > System > Gestures > Press & hold power button and changing the action from Digital Assistant to Power menu.

I’m looking forward to more features with Android 17 QPR1

These are some of my favorite hidden features Google has added to the Pixel 10 series over the past few months. Most of them are genuinely useful, yet they’re also some of the easiest to miss.

As good as these features already are, I’m actually even more excited about what’s coming later this year with Android 17 QPR1.

Google has already previewed several additions that I’m looking forward to, including AI-generated custom widgets, the redesigned 3D emojis, and the ability to automatically shuffle my favorite photos as lock screen wallpapers.

SoC

Google Tensor G5

RAM

16GB

Storage

128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB with Zoned UFS / 1 TB with Zoned UFS

Battery

4870mAh

Operating System

Android 16

Google’s latest Pro Pixel packs a faster yet efficient Tensor G5 chip, an upgraded ISP, and a brighter display. Plus, an array of new AI features that make it one of the best Android phones to launch in 2025.