Google may be bringing a Magic Cue-like feature to all Android devices

With the recently launched Pixel 10, Google introduced Magic Cue to simplify how we use our phones. The feature is designed to offer us personalized, context-based suggestions or app actions within supported apps. Although it has been limited to the Pixel 10 series — and has failed to amaze us as it should have — since launch, Google may be cooking up something similar, albeit toned down and more generalized, for all other Android devices.

We’ve learned that Google is working on something called Contextual Suggestions, which offer “helpful suggestions from apps and services based on their routine activities and locations.” The feature’s description also includes a relevant example: your usual workout playlist in your preferred music app boots up automatically when you arrive at the gym.

The feature uses Google Play Services and has started showing up for some users with version 25.49.32 beta of the app. It can be found under Settings > Google Services > All services > Others, though it’s not available for all users, indicating a selective rollout.

Another example, per Google, of Contextual Suggestions in play is that if you cast sports at a particular time every week from your phone to a TV screen, your phone will automatically suggest that you cast them at that given time of the week.

We expect it to study your phone usage patterns to help you achieve the same results with fewer steps. The description also mentions AI, though it’s unclear whether that limits the feature to devices with hardware powerful enough to run models locally.

Naturally, that can raise privacy concerns, and Google addresses that, too.

Contextual Suggestions can also be toggled off if you don’t require them or feel uneasy with sharing your personal information. However, if the latter is the case, you can be relieved, since all the processing happens locally on your device in an “encrypted space.” The data supposedly never leaves your device unless you desire for it to do so for reasons such as sharing a bug report. The data is automatically deleted after 60 days, but if you’d like it to happen sooner, you can delete it manually using the “Manage your data” option on the dedicated page.

Google also specifies that apps can’t access any data about Contextual Suggestions. At the same time, it does not specify which apps it currently supports. We suspect it is restricted to system apps or Google-owned apps at the moment, though we can’t say that with confidence and will wait until we hear more from Google.

Thanks, Telegram user @ndraaprengsed, for the tip!