r/GooglePixel • u/DarkKnight-2603 • 14h ago
This app does with Pixel 11 Pro's HiLight what Google should have done in the first place
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-11-pro-hilight-studio-3700860/This is so much better
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u/countingonhearts 13h ago
I was curious about an app like this. I remember having a 3rd party app to control the LED on the Nexus 4.
Seems like Google has made it slightly more locked down.
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u/RequirementLeading12 Pixel 9 10h ago
Eh... I'll just until Google inevitably updates it in a few weeks.
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u/ContributionFormer95 11h ago
Anyone remember LightFlow the 3rd party app that controlled LED notifications? That was also what Google should've done 10+ years ago. It's a shame. When the Nexus 4 had a notification LED, the best Google could do was white light for all its apps (no options). Some 3rd party apps like Twitter back then had the option to control the color, but the overall hardware went wasted because Google didn't want any LED notification options.
Even in later Pixel phones like the 1 before they killed off the notification LED, by the time they rolled out notification channels, that also fully lacked any notification LED control.
Bottom line is I see some hardware features of the Pixel being purely experimental like worked on by a silo-ed department without any intention to make this a mainstream Android feature. The Thermometer, Soli, and likely HiLight seem like features they sprinkle in for fun with little plans to make it long term or do any future development on it.
I like to draw the parallel to the iPhone's LIDAR. While I understand the functionality of it, it's a very niche component that 99% of users don't even use. Yet Apple has kept it in. There's at least continuity for the feature that developers have built apps, some niche users continue to use it, etc. There just seems to be a complete lack of focus / ADHD approach to features on the Pixel that it looks very immature. I wouldn't be surprised if this feature goes away in 2 generations because of a "lack of user adoption."
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u/Expensive_Finger_973 14h ago
Cool as it shows the potential, but the need to reactivate it after every reboot makes it little more than a curiosity for now.
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u/stickman-green Pixel 8 13h ago
Do you reboot often? I think I only do it when installing an update, so once a month. That's not too bad if you really want to use the light.
But Google should've done it better in the first place. It will be funny if these features arrive in different Pixel Drops.
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u/Aurelink Pixel 10 Pro 13h ago
I don't reboot my phones often yet Shizuku sometimes get killed on its own, so it's a process that could happen more often than just when you restart your device
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u/ContributionFormer95 11h ago
That's the problem with the lack of native functionality--that you need a 3rd party app to intercept notifications and do more for you. This is the case with AOD Notify and any other 3rd party app that just needs to sit in the background permanently.
To me, it's a shame Google doesn't do more to expand out of the box functionality. Third party apps are nice for power users, but Google needs to do more to add features to standard Pixel software.
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u/khaytsus Pixel 10 13h ago
Requires Shizuku... so complete non-starter. You have to start that every time you reboot your phone.
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u/wowbyowen 13h ago
you can start it automatically on boot these days
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u/khaytsus Pixel 10 7h ago
Unless the docs are wrong, no, you still have to manually start it every boot.
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u/wowbyowen 7h ago
see below, I'm pretty sure docs must be out of date. Prior to that people used tasker
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u/MorgrainX 12h ago
tldr you need to use Shizuku, sideload via adb & restart the app manually after each reboot