How to Turn Off Annoying AI Features on Your Google Pixel Phone
One of the biggest selling points of Pixel phones is their AI features. However, I’m not a big fan of AI features on a smartphone. If you’re like me, keep reading to find out how to disable all the annoying AI features on your Google Pixel phone.
What is your definition of boring AI?
The Google Pixel phone comes with a ton of AI features, and not all of them are bad. Magic Editor, Add Me, and Live Translate are some of the AI features that I use frequently on my Pixel 10 smartphone. Likewise, your Pixel smartphone may have some AI features that you use regularly.
Since everyone has a different set of features that they find useful, disabling AICore and all AI services on your Pixel smartphone is not the ideal decision. This completely disables AI on your Pixel device, meaning you won’t even be able to use the AI features you love.
The best approach would be to manually disable only the AI features that you find annoying, one by one. Below I have highlighted the steps to disable AI features that I personally find unnecessary on my Pixel smartphone.
Disable camera trainer
The Camera Coach feature on your Pixel 10 smartphone helps you take better photos. However, the major problem with this feature is that it just gives you a set of instructions on how to take a better photo, instead of checking whether you followed the suggested instructions perfectly or not. If you move on to the next suggestion, the feature assumes that you have fully followed the previous one, rather than checking if you actually did.
This is why I find the Camera Coach feature useless, at least for now. If you feel the same way, I recommend turning it off. To do this, open the Camera app, tap the gear icon in the bottom left corner, then tap the three dots in the Photo Settings pop-up window. Finally, turn off the “Camera Coach (Preview)” toggle.
Disable magic signal
The Pixel 10 series’ Magic Cue feature is designed to automatically provide you with the right information when you need it. For example, if you call a hotel, the Magic Cue feature will search for your reservation details in emails or text messages and display them on the call screen. Unfortunately, my experience with this feature has been very mixed.
I had a movie reservation at the INOX cinema in my city and the details were stored in my email. When I called INOX Cinema to confirm my reservation, the Magic Cue feature should have displayed my email reservation details on the call screen, but unfortunately it did not.
It’s not that the feature fails every time. This has worked for me several times. For example, when I spoke to the Domino’s restaurant in my area to confirm my reservation, it correctly displayed the reservation details stored in messages. However, the number of times he failed was significantly greater than the number of times he succeeded. This is why I permanently disabled the Magic Cue feature on my Pixel 10 smartphone.
If you also want to disable it on your device, open the Settings app, select “Magic Cue” and turn off all toggles.
Disable Gemini in Google Messages
I really don’t understand why Google decided to add Gemini to the Google Messages app. The main purpose of the Google Messages app is to send and receive messages, and I don’t think Gemini contributes to that. That’s why I disabled Gemini in the Google Messages app.
To do this, open the Google Messages app, go to “Message Settings,” then select “Gemini in Messages.” Turn off the “Show Gemini button” toggle.
Turn off circle to search
Circle to Search is one of those AI features on the Pixel smartphone that I find really useful. However, I often end up triggering it accidentally. That’s why I temporarily disabled this feature and re-enables it whenever I need information about something displayed on my smartphone screen.
To turn off Circle to Search on your Pixel smartphone, open the Settings app, select “View & touch,” then choose “Browsing mode.” Turn off the “Circle to Find” toggle.
Disable AI in screenshot app
I really don’t find myself using the AI functionality of the Pixel Screenshot app. If you feel the same, you need to disable AI in the Pixel Screenshot app. To do this, open the Screenshot app on your Pixel smartphone, tap the gear icon in the upper right corner, and turn off the toggle next to “Find your screenshots with AI on device.”
Disable AI Assistant
When you long press the power button, the Gemini Assistant appears and you can ask it different questions. However, I still prefer Google Assistant over Gemini. If you’re like me, you can turn off Gemini and switch to Google Assistant by opening the Settings app and going to Apps > Assistant > Google Digital Assistants. Next, select “Google Assistant”.
That said, Google plans to permanently replace Google Assistant with Gemini by the end of this year. So I recommend you make full use of Google Assistant until it becomes available.
Considering the importance that smartphone manufacturers have started giving to AI features, the day is not far when almost every feature of a smartphone will work with the help of AI. When this happens, I don’t think it will be possible to disable the AI features. Until that day comes, take advantage of the freedom these smartphone makers give you to disable AI features you don’t like.
