Jon Gilbert is a technology journalist with five years of experience covering mobile technology. He’s covered smartwatches, tablets, smartphones, and Android accessories. He’s attended CES to explore unique hardware like the Pebble Round 2 or Mudita Kompakt. His daily mobile tech life revolves around Pixel devices, which he has used since the Pixel 2 XL. Jon loves exploring the latest Android features, but is highly sceptical of anything related AI.
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I’ve been using Google Pixel phones since the Pixel 2, and I’ve come to love the relatively bloatware-free experience.
However, the Pixel experience has soured somewhat in recent years as Google loads up new Pixels with more and more unnecessary apps.
Now, when I boot up a Pixel phone for the first time, I uninstall these apps before I even touch the Play Store.
Your experience may vary, but I find my Pixel phone runs faster after I uninstall or disable them. At the very least, I always save storage space.
My Pixel becomes redundant within minutes
Helpful for newcomers, irrelevant for veterans
If I were picking up a Pixel phone for the first time, I would find the My Pixel app useful for approximately an hour. It’s a useful repository of information on how to use the phone’s features, but it’s unhelpful for long-term use.
The problem is that it’s overdesigned. Each segment is essentially a page from Google’s online support portal, but presented as an overlong slideshow. If I want to know how a Pixel feature works, searching the support website is faster.
My Pixel replaced the old Pixel Tips app, which was folded into a separate tab containing the information described above.
The rest of the app is almost useless. It could be helpful if one was constantly buying and reading about new Pixel devices, but that’s what the website is for.
Overall, it’s not worth the storage space, so I always uninstall it.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Google Pixel phones
Trivia challenge
From the original Pixel to the latest flagship — how well do you know Google’s own phone lineup?
HardwareHistoryCamerasSoftwareFeatures
In what year did Google release the very first Pixel smartphone?
Correct! The original Google Pixel and Pixel XL were announced on October 4, 2016. They replaced Google’s Nexus line and marked the first time Google fully branded a smartphone under its own name.
Not quite — the first Google Pixel launched in 2016. Google had previously made Nexus devices with hardware partners, but the Pixel line was the first to carry Google’s own branding front and center.
What computational photography feature, first introduced on the Pixel 2, allowed sharp photos of moving subjects using a single lens?
Correct! The Pixel 2 introduced Portrait Mode using a single rear camera, relying on Google’s machine learning rather than dual lenses to create that blurred background bokeh effect. It was hugely impressive for its time.
The answer is Portrait Mode. Unlike rivals that used two cameras to simulate depth, the Pixel 2 achieved Portrait Mode with just one lens by using Google’s advanced machine learning algorithms — a notable technical achievement.
Which Google-designed chip first appeared in the Pixel 6 series, marking Google’s shift away from Qualcomm processors?
Correct! The original Google Tensor chip debuted in the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro in 2021. It was Google’s first in-house SoC designed specifically to accelerate AI and machine learning tasks on-device.
The correct answer is Google Tensor. Introduced with the Pixel 6 in 2021, Tensor was Google’s first custom-built SoC. It prioritized AI workloads like speech recognition and photo processing over raw benchmark performance.
What Pixel-exclusive calling feature uses AI to screen spam calls and read out a caller’s reason for calling before you pick up?
Correct! Call Screen launched with the Pixel 3 in 2018 and lets Google Assistant intercept unknown calls, asking the caller to state their purpose. You see a live transcript and can decide whether to answer or mark it as spam.
The answer is Call Screen. Introduced on the Pixel 3, this feature lets Google Assistant handle incoming calls from unknown numbers, transcribing the caller’s response in real time so you can decide how to respond without ever picking up.
Which Pixel model was the first to feature a hole-punch front camera, moving away from the notch design?
Correct! The Pixel 4a, released in August 2020, was the first Pixel to use a punch-hole selfie camera cutout. It was a budget-friendly device that many considered one of the best value smartphones of that year.
The first Pixel with a hole-punch camera was the Pixel 4a, launched in 2020. Its predecessor, the Pixel 4, used a large top bezel housing Face Unlock sensors, so the 4a’s punch-hole design was a notable shift in Google’s approach.
What night photography mode, now a staple of smartphone cameras everywhere, did Google debut on the Pixel 3?
Correct! Night Sight arrived as an update for the Pixel 3 in November 2018 and used computational photography to capture bright, detailed images in near-darkness. It set the benchmark that nearly every Android manufacturer has since tried to match.
The answer is Night Sight. Google launched Night Sight for the Pixel 3 in late 2018, and it quickly became a gold standard for low-light smartphone photography, using multiple exposures and machine learning to dramatically brighten dark scenes.
The Pixel 4 series featured a unique sensor array on the back. What was the distinctive sensor included that no other mainstream Android phone had at the time?
Correct! The Pixel 4 included Google’s Soli radar chip, which enabled Motion Sense — allowing the phone to detect hand gestures hovering above the screen to skip tracks or silence alarms. It was innovative but ultimately discontinued in the Pixel 5.
The correct answer is the Soli radar chip. Google embedded this miniature radar sensor in the Pixel 4 to power Motion Sense gesture controls. Despite being a fascinating piece of technology, the feature was dropped by the Pixel 5 due to limited practical use.
Pixel phones are known for receiving Android updates first. How many years of OS updates did Google promise for the Pixel 8 series at launch?
Correct! With the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro launched in 2023, Google committed to an impressive 7 years of OS and security updates. This matched Samsung’s Galaxy S24 promise and set a new standard for Android software longevity.
The answer is 7 years. Google announced 7 years of guaranteed OS and security updates for the Pixel 8 series — a major leap from the previous 3-year promise and a direct response to pressure from Samsung’s similarly extended update commitments.
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AI Core and supported apps
Disabling this app also saves the most space
Since the Pixel 8 Pro, Google has shipped its flagship Pixel smartphones with the Gemini Nano model preinstalled. This model powers features like Magic Cue as well as AI-powered apps like Pixel Journal.
However, it takes up a lot of storage space and reserves up to 3.5GB of RAM. I don’t find the on-device AI features particularly useful, so I disable it.
As AI Core is required for other apps, I also uninstall or disable them to save more space:
- Pixel Screenshots
- Pixel Journal
- Device Intelligence
I still use Gemini to answer important questions, but these queries are powered by Gemini’s cloud models; disabling AI Core doesn’t affect Gemini’s performance.
Google TV is irrelevant on my phone
It does what other streaming apps do, but worse
Google TV provides a single portal to access all my streaming purchases and the Google TV store. But I don’t need it.
I use Google TV, but on my TV, not my smartphone. I buy and rent films through Google, but on my TV, not my smartphone. If I’m away from home, I open the YouTube app.
I can also buy, rent, and watch the same content through the YouTube app. While it’s nice to explore other streaming apps, I prefer to open them directly or access them through Google Search.
The rest of the app is an unhelpful mix of highlights and recommendations. A quick scroll through the For you page shows a variety of films and TV shows, none of which I’m interested in.
Dedicated streaming apps do Google TV’s job better. Uninstalling it saves me space, and I miss out on nothing.
Google Password Manager makes my passwords confusing fast
Alternative apps have more features and are more secure
Google Password Manager is a convenient way to store my passwords, but I prefer a third-party password manager app over relying on my Google account to store everything.
I prefer Proton Pass to store my passwords, but other apps like Bitwarden are viable options.
I uninstall Google Password Manager before anything else; otherwise, passwords get confusing fast. With multiple password managers installed, it’s easy to accidentally save passwords in the wrong one, which can be confusing.
I don’t use Google Password Manager for a variety of reasons. It’s locked to the Google ecosystem; it offers no two-factor authentication support, no support for storing secure documents, no master password, and no on-device encryption by default.
Google Authenticator is inferior
I make this app disappear instantly on new devices
For my two-factor authentication needs, I would rather use nearly any other app than Google Authenticator. It’s one of the most confusing and least secure authentication apps.
I use 2FAS, but most alternatives will work. Like Google Password Manager, I always uninstall it first to avoid confusion later.
I uninstall more, but these are the essentials
I uninstall many more apps, including Google Keep, YouTube Music, Google Keep, and Google Health. However, this is because of personal preference, not because I think they waste space.
Google phones are much less bloated than Samsung’s, but the push to get us to adopt AI tools has added an increasing number of irrelevant apps.
Fortunately for us, Google constantly removes and replaces its own apps. Pixel Studio would have been on this list, but Google folded it into the Gemini app, where it’s even easier to ignore.
