Pixel Screenshots getting a smart Gboard integration, auto-filters, and more

As part of the December 2024 (Feature) Drop, Pixel Screenshots is getting a big upgrade that adds major integrations with other Google apps, including Gboard and Circle to Search. 

Last month, the grid on the Pixel Screenshots homepage was updated with density options. Google is now auto-categorizing your captures into filters like Music, Places, Products, and even Promo codes. They appear as you take screenshots that match the category. You will see a new carousel above the grid to filter what appears below. 

When viewing a screenshot, Google will surface more actions that you can take. To accommodate these new suggestions, the Share, Reminder, and Edit shortcuts have been moved into the top bar. 

Existing actions let you Add to Contacts or Calendar, open in Google Maps, and return to a webpage. Pixel Screenshots will soon extract and let you search for songs, artists, movies, TV shows, social media accounts, products, and tracking numbers.

Similarly, if you capture a pass, Pixel Screenshots will offer an “Add to Wallet” shortcut directly in the corner preview. 

The second integration is with Circle to Search, which a few months ago added the ability to crop and share images with other apps. A new “Save” to Pixel Screenshots now appears in that menu to just store a specific part of a screen capture. 

Finally, Pixel Screenshots is getting an impressive Gboard Recall integration for contextual autofill. Let’s say you screenshotted an article about a band and open YouTube Music or Spotify to search for it. The band name might already appear as a suggestion in the Gboard row for you to quickly paste.

This will also work if you capture a movie and open an app like IMDB, or products and shopping applications. Suggestions are surfaced based on recency, with the last music, movie, or product screenshot being surfaced to Gboard.

Behind-the-scenes, Pixel Screenshots is continuing to analyze captures, but is now surfacing information to Gboard in relevant apps. This works on-device, and a new setting in the Screenshots apps lets users disable these suggestions.

On paper, this is quite impressive and changes Pixel Screenshots from being just a library of your data to almost an active assistant. 

This Pixel Screenshots update is rolling out with the December 2024 Feature Drop for the Pixel 9 series.