Whenever a company releases new phone hardware that is very similar to the previous generation hardware, we still try to find the things that might make it feel different or new. For the Pixel 11 Pro series, Google’s new HiLight system was supposed to be that, but Google basically gave it the bare minimum set of features, leaving it almost useless.
Now that the phones are in your hands, as well as a bunch of developers, we’re already seeing the first signs of where HiLight could go. In fact, a first app release basically brings us to where Google should have started things off.
Backing up for a second, the HiLight feature on the Pixel 11 Pro series is a light in place of the camera’s flash that performs double duty and may one day become your notification companion. When it’s not flashing for photos, this light will glow in multi-color when you activate Gemini and your phone is face down. It’s only other feature beyond that is to show a limited number of colors when you favorite contacts call. That’s it – it has just two features to start.
An app called HiLight Studio (from @Dhananjay_Tech) is already here to try and expand the feature set by making the light a powerful notification light for any app on your phone. This app is very much in its early stages, but you can download and try it out for yourself with a little bit of work.
The HiLight Studio is posted to Github and has some cool ideas already. For one, you can set the light to perform several effects (Pulse, Breathe, Wave, etc.), plus it can show all sorts of colors, you can adjust saturation and intensity, and more. It also has settings for Quiet hours, Do Not Disturb settings, Battery Saver, and low-battery controls.
You can see the full Github page here, with full descriptions on how the app works and instructions to get setup. You’ll find the latest .apk builds here.
