It’s fair to say that artificial intelligence on smartphones has been a mixed bag so far.
For every feature that’s worked as advertised, there’s been another that’s been frustratingly unreliable. And while some companies offer a comprehensive suite of features, others are weirdly limited.
Google has been one of the firms leading the way for a while, adding useful AI functionality to its Pixel phones all the time. However, most of these require you to go looking for them, which can be a time-consuming and confusing process.
As someone who tests phones for a living, I make a point of trying out all the new AI features on handsets, but it doesn’t tend to stick. After publishing my reviews, I just go right back to using the device as I did before.
What I really want is for AI to be working in the background to make my life easier. And on the new Pixel 10 series , it sounds like that’s just what Google has done. Could this be a watershed moment for artificial intelligence on phones?
Anyron Copeman / Foundry
What’s Magic Cue?
No, it’s not a fancy tool for helping you get better at snooker.
Magic Cue is an AI assistant that automatically runs in the background. When you receive a prompt in a supported app, it’ll proactively find and surface the information that it thinks is most relevant, saving you from having to search for it manually.
Here are a few of the ways Google has suggested that Magic Cue can be used.
Phoning it in
Making calls is stressful enough as it is. You don’t want to have to remember important information or always go searching for it while someone is waiting on the other end of the line.
Magic Cue offers a potential solution to this. After the Phone app recognises that you’re calling an airline (something it already does well), it’ll search your Gmail inbox and display a summary of any flights you’ve booked with them.
Currently, you’d have to leave the call screen and manually search for the email address – Gemini can’t even do it for you.
While impressive, the success of this feature will depend on how widespread Google’s implementation is. Will it be able to find an appointment reminder text from my dentist? And what will it do when I have multiple order confirmation emails from the same retailer?
That remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of potential here.
Detailed Maps of your life
I love using Google Maps, but not when I have to find a specific place and then send it to the relevant person. At best, it’s a five-step process.
But with Magic Cue, a single tap might be all you need. In a briefing attended by Tech Advisor, Google showed an example of receiving a text in Messages asking which coffee shop a mutual friend had recommended.
Almost immediately, Magic Cue appears to be able to read through the texts with the person mentioned, find the name of the relevant coffee shop, search for it in Google Maps and display it directly below the notification. Now that’s what I call a timesaver.
The Google Maps integration appears to work in other contexts, too. If you’ve added a location to an event in Google Calendar, it’ll pop up in Google Maps, allowing you to get directions quickly.
Photo sharing made simple
I don’t know about you, but my Google Photos library is a cluttered mess. Even with the app’s powerful search function, it takes ages to find and select all the photos I want to share with friends and family.
Magic Cue could make that process much easier. For example, when asked in a text or email for pictures of your dog at the beach, Google Photos could surface a selection and allow you to share them with a single tap.
Finding your best pictures in Google Photos can be difficult at the best of times
Foundry
It might not include every single photo that you wanted to share, but I’d expect it to do a decent job. The ‘Top Pick’ feature (where near-identical photos are automatically grouped and only the ‘best’ one is highlighted) proves that Google has an eye for a good photo.
Now Brief, but better?
Samsung introduced Now Brief alongside the Galaxy S25, aiming to provide a helpful summary of key information across a range of stock apps and some third-party ones.
Now Brief on Samsung phones still has room for improvement
Luke Baker
Google’s new Daily Hub feature appears to be a direct response to that, but the integration of Magic Cue could make it even better. In an official screenshot, Daily Hub knows from an email that a bill is due soon and when a meetup is happening from a text, even if they haven’t been added to your calendar or to-do list.
Google is quite vague as to what else Daily Hub can do – what other “relevant topics for you to deep dive on” might be included – but there’s already a lot of potential.
How secure is Magic Cue?
This is an understandable concern. Magic Cue relies on you giving Google permission to search some of your most personal apps, and the nature of these queries means it’ll have to be handled in the cloud rather than on-device.
However, it sounds as though Google has robust safety measures in place. The company says that Magic Cue runs “securely and privately through a combination of the Tensor G5 chip and Gemini Nano”.
Magic Cue puts one of Google’s most impressive AI features (on paper) front and centre. While you can turn it off, the benefits may well outweigh the potential downsides, and I can see Pixel 10 owners (including myself) using it on a regular basis.
After a couple of years of underwhelming AI and hidden features, Magic Cue could be the mainstream moment Google has been waiting for.
See more news and opinions on the Pixel 10 phones in our dedicated 2025 Google Event hub .
Author: Anyron Copeman, Mobile Editor, Tech Advisor
Anyron is Mobile Editor at Tech Advisor, where he’s been a mainstay of the editorial team since 2019. In his current role, Anyron is responsible for all smartphone, tablet and mobile network coverage on the site. A BA Journalism graduate, he has experience with a wide range of consumer tech products and services, including smartphones, tablets, foldables, wearables and more.
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