The feature is automatically enabled on supported devices, which means that a large number of users may find it working for them without clear notice. How does the feature work?
“Contextual Suggestions” relies on collecting indicators from daily phone use, most notably:
Frequently used applications
Places visited by the user
Daily habits and usage pattern
Based on this, the system predicts what the user might want to do next.
Examples:
Suggest playing a regular music playlist during your workout
Offer an option to stream a match at your usual viewing time
Provide quick actions within applications according to daily routine
The company confirms that this data is processed locally on the device, without sharing it with applications or sending it to its servers.
Control and privacy settings
Although the feature is activated by default, Google provides options to control it, including:
Turn off the feature completely
Disable location tracking only
Delete stored suggestion data
The settings can be accessed via the path:
Settings > (username) > All Services > Other
Expand through Google Play Services
The feature is not tied to a specific version of Android, as it is distributed through Google Play Services, which allows it to be accessed on different devices without the need to update the entire system.
According to technical reports, it has begun to appear on the Pixel 10 series, including the Pixel 10a phone running Android 16 with Google Play Services version 26.18, while it has not yet been registered on some older devices or beta versions of Android 17.
Discussion about privacy
Although it is not considered a direct threat to privacy according to some estimates, the method of activating it automatically has sparked controversy.
Critics point out that the absence of an informed consent option may lead to sharing data related to daily habits and application use without the user’s full awareness, reopening the debate about the balance between artificial intelligence and user privacy.
