The Google Pixel 9 has lots of AI features — but Pixel Screenshots looks like a game changer

The latest Google Pixel 9 devices boast a bunch of AI-powered capabilities , from inserting different people into group shots to generative image editing. But during my Pixel 9 demo time this week, it became pretty clear right away that the Pixel Screenshots tool is the one I'm going to be using the most once I get my hands on a new Google phone.

I take a lot of screenshots the various smartphones that I use. More than a few of those are tied to how-to articles I write that ilustrate different smartphone features, but screenshots serve other purposes, too. Sometimes, they include information I'm too busy to copy into a note. Other times it's funny headlines I like sharing with my wife or gift ideas I want to remember later on.

But here's the problem with that approach — often times I take those screenshots and then forget completely about them. Or even worse, I remember them but can't track them down and spend more time than I care to admit swiping through the images stored in the screenshot album of my default photo app. So much for using screenshots as a time-saver.

It turns out I'm not the only person who uses their phone this way, at least according to the Google employee showing off the Pixel Screenshots feature to me on a Pixel 9 Pro XL . Apparently enough people are capturing enough screenshots that they later have difficulty finding for Google to build a specific tool that searches for screenshots by the content they include and retrieves them for our convenience.

Pixel Screenshots: How it works

There's a dedicated Pixel Screenshots app on the new Pixel phones where you can access all the screenshots you've capture, but you can just as easily search for screenshots using Gemini, which is also included on Google's new phones. Type in a search word of phrase — say "Disneyland" if you're looking for that screenshot of a retro Disneyland poster you could have sworn you captured as a future gift idea — and Pixel Screenshots will show you a series of thumbnails that you can tap if it's the image you've been trying to track down.

This all happens pretty quickly, at least in the Pixel Screenshots demo I saw. And searches take place entirely on your device, so Google's not peaking in on whatever screenshots you've got stored or the search terms your typing into your Pixel.

Why Pixel Screenshots impresses

Pixel Screenshots would be a clever enough addition to the Pixel 9 if all it did was help you find things you were looking for. But Google threw in a number of nice touches that make the feature even more useful.

When you take a screenshot on your Pixel 9, for example, you can set a reminder about it, reducing the risk of forgetting about what you've just stored on your phone. You can also add tags and notes that are also searchable when you need to track things down again — handy for retrieving all of your gift ideas at once, just as an example.

Of course, if that level of involvement doesn't appeal to you, you can just take a screenshot as you always would. It's automatically routed to the Pixel Screenshots app for future searches even if you do nothing at all.

I'm also impressed by the amount of detail that appears along with your screenshot. In my demo, I saw a screenshot of a pair of boots that were on sale. A separate notes field gathered up relevant information about those boots — the available sizes, the materials used, even a promo code to knock a few bucks off the price. Pixel Screenshots also supports a deep link capability where there will be a link back to the original screen if it's something that's still availability like a website.

Granted, everything I saw involving Pixel Screenshot came in a canned demo designed to highlight the feature's strengths. Things may not go so smoothly in real-world use — it may take longer to find what I'm looking for, it's unclear how conversational and informal your search terms can be and results may not always turn out to be as complete as what I saw in the demo. Still, it's an impressive addition to the Pixel 9, even if I do run into some growing pains during real-world use.

The push toward AI features on mobile devices has introduced a number of new capabilities in the past year, some of which are flashier than others. There's nothing particularly breath-taking about retrieving screenshots based on their content — it's just one of those features that removes some of the hassle of an everyday phone task. And I think that's what I like best of all about Pixel Screenshot.

More from Tom's Guide

• Google Pixel 9 hands-on
• 5 ways Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold beats Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6
• Google Pixel 9 vs Pixel 9 Pro vs Pixel 9 Pro XL: What's the difference?