What are Call Notes? Pixel 9 feature means no more scrambling for a pen

The Google Pixel 9 phones will benefit from a new phonecall summary feature called Call Notes, which will help owners recall important details from the call.

During the Made by Google Keynote, where Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold phones were revealed, Google pitched Call Notes as a handy feature when you don’t have a pen handy to scribble down information from the call – like times, dates, names, and phone numbers.

The new Gemini AI-powered Call Notes feature will summarise key details from the phone call and place them within the call details screen as text. During the keynote, Google used the example of seeking a new haircut from your barber, who doesn’t specialise in that style. On the phone, he’s gven you the name and number of someone who can handle that cut. The only problem is, you forgot all that info the moment you ended the call.

With Call Notes you’ll get a text summary featuring the name, address and phone number of the barber, delivered shortly after you hang up the blower. This AI-based feature is part of a wider call transcription feature and, when enabled, it’ll also give users a full transcript of the call.

What might you see in Call Notes?

Google published a couple of different examples of how Call Notes may be presented to users. In one instance, where a call participant has asked you to grab items from the store, the summary reads: “Taylor asked for several things from the grocery store including: ginger cookies that are near the register, hazelnut dark chocolate wafers, strawberry ice cream (not gelato), pork chops, garlic, a white onion, green beans and potatoes.”

In another example, the Call Notes recapped a takeaway order: “A call to Hero’s Hoagies to place a pickup order for Robert. The order includes: A large California Club on wheat with bacon and everything that normally comes with it. A large smoked chicken on white with everything except thunder sauce, with provolone and pickles.”

Is Call Notes private and safe?

For the sake of privacy and transparency, all participants on the call will be notified when the feature is enabled. That way, they can ensure they’re speaking in a sufficiently guarded fashion when engaging in conversation.

The feature also runs completely on-device, so there’s no chance of your conversations being uploaded to the cloud, Google says.

“The new Call Notes feature sends you a private summary and full transcript of your phone call shortly after you hang up,” Google explains, before adding the call needs to be at least 30 seconds long. “So the next time you get that call back from your mechanic, you won’t have to scramble for a pen and paper. To protect privacy, Call Notes runs fully on-device and everyone on the call will be notified if you have activated the feature.”