6 features I immediately disable on my Google Pixel

Even Google’s clean take on Android needs a bit of tweaking.

As far as notable slab-style Android devices go, I've always been a big fan of Google's Pixel line. It's not that I dislike Samsung's S series, though. In fact, I think the South Korean tech giant's phones, particularly the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but the understated, stripped-back vibe of the Pixel series' take on Android and the overall design of the phone, just really resonates with me. Like Microsoft's Surface, the Pixel is Google's vision of how its operating system and hardware work best together.

It's sort of an Apple-like approach to Google's mobile OS, and there's just nothing quite like it in the Android world. There's also likely a bit of nostalgia there for me too, since I've covered the Pixel line since its launch back in 2016. With all of that said, over the years, I've become accustomed to turning off specific features as soon as I get my hands on Google's latest flagship device — and in the context of this story, that's the Pixel 10 Pro.

Some of these settings tweaks are more straightforward and obvious, like turning off the Pixel 10 Pro's always-on display and disabling adaptive brightness to save battery life, while others are a bit more niche, like disabling Now Playing or turning off Top Shot, but they're all changes I've picked up over the years that make whatever Pixel device I'm using feel like it's truly mine. If you don't want to follow the steps to find the settings, you can search for them within Google's Pixel Settings app.

In most cases, the option will instantly appear. In general, I find the Pixel Settings app's Search functionality to work really well. I've never really enjoyed being behind the wheel, but these apps make the experience less painful and help pass the time. I appreciate the Pixel 10 Pro's Now Playing feature. It's cool to have access to song-identifying, Shazam-like functionality without needing to download a third-party app.

I also appreciate that it organizes songs into a Now Playing playlist. On the other hand, Now Playing is always running and listening in the background, which isn't something I'm totally comfortable with from a privacy perspective. Google says the feature works entirely offline and only turns on your Pixel's microphone in brief bursts, but I can't help but be at least a bit concerned about the privacy implications.

To turn Now Playing off, head to Settings > Sound and Vibration > Now Playing. I'm more comfortable using my Pixel 10 Pro with Now Playing disabled (it also helps optimize battery life a bit). If I want to use the feature again, I just turn it back on. When it comes to my Pixel 10 Pro and nearly any smartphone I use, my goal is to maximize battery life without significantly limiting the device's functionality.

While Screen Attention can be useful for preventing annoying display timeouts when you're reading long articles, I turn it off to try to eke out a bit more battery life from my Pixel 10 Pro. With this in mind, I turn off Screen Attention by navigating to Settings > Display & Touch > Screen Timeout > Screen Attention. On a side note, I often find that Screen Attention sometimes doesn't work properly and lights up my Pixel 10 Pro's display for too long.

The tech giant's latest entry-level smartphone is very similar to its predecessor. If you're into talking to your phone, awesome — but I'm not. With every Pixel I've ever owned since the feature's launch, including the most recent Pixel 10 Pro, I turn off the "Hey Google," which once prompted Google Assistant and now is Gemini's magic wake phrase. To be clear, I'm not entirely against AI and have started relying on Gemini and ChatGPT to answer basic search-style questions.

I know AI is quickly destroying the industry I'm part of, but Google Search is just so bad at this point that I don't blame people for giving up on it. To turn off Hey Google, head to Settings > Search > type Gemini > Talk to Gemini Hands-free > set "Hey Google" to off. When it comes to my Pixel 10 Pro, I'd rather open the Gemini app and type my question, or, if I can't for some reason, I prefer to talk to Google's AI after launching the app.

This also prevents Gemini from launching when I don't want it to, which still happens far too often. Amazon's relatively cheap streaming stick has several settings turned on by default that can be frustrating. Whether it's the iPhone 17 Pro, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, or the Pixel 10 Pro, I'm not a fan of smartphone always-on displays. I understand they exist to offer up easy access to information at a glance, but I've always found them to be little more than an unnecessary distraction sitting on my desk throughout the workday, or in the evening when I'm trying to stay off my phone.

With this in mind, as soon as I got my hands on the Pixel 10 Pro, I immediately headed to Settings > Display & Touch > Always-on Display to turn the phone's always-on display off. I don't find that an always-on screen is worth the extra battery drain or the constant distraction of seeing notifications that probably don't matter constantly popping up on my Pixel 10 Pro. Unlike a lot of features in this list, the Pixel 10 Pro's Always-on display really contributes to battery drain, especially if you have a wallpaper enabled (I encountered the exact same thing with the iPhone 17 Pro, too).

While Top Shot Motion Photos is useful if you end up with a bad photo and want to grab a different frame, especially with group shots, Google's take on Apple's Live Photos feature can contribute to filling up your Photos app cloud storage. Since I don't want to give Google any more cash by paying for additional cloud storage, I turned this feature off right away on my Pixel 10 Pro. To flip it off, open Google's Camera app > Settings in the lower left corner > Top Shot.

I'll sometimes turn this feature on if I know I'm shooting a specific event or going on a trip where I'll be snapping a lot of photos with my Pixel 10 Pro, but generally, I leave it off whenever possible. Adaptive brightness just straight up isn't very good on the Pixel 10 Pro or any smartphone, for that matter. I've lost count of how many times I’ve been in a dark room only for the feature to either fail completely or crank the Pixel 10 Pro’s OLED display to blinding brightness.

With this in mind, when I got my hands on my Pixel 10 Pro, I went to Settings > Display & Touch > Use Adaptive Brightness and turned it off. If I'm doomscrolling late at night and don't want to bother my partner, I can just adjust the brightness myself. At least in that case, the brightness level is actually reliable, and I can set it to a level that actually makes sense fo rme. Amazon's relatively cheap streaming stick has several settings turned on by default that can be frustrating.

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