Google Pixel Recorder 'Summarize' AI feature requires 1GB download; not working correctly for some

‘Summarize’ is one of the most interesting and potentially useful AI-powered features of the Google Pixel 8 Pro, as it can generate a summary of key-points captured from the Recorder app, helping you save time. That said, it appears that enabling it will require an additional download of around 1GB.

To use the new ‘Summarize’ AI-powered feature on your Google Pixel 8 Pro, you will need to install the latest Recorder app update (v4.2.20231031.x) and the December Feature Drop. However, you will also have to download around 1GB extra, but there is an explanation for this.

Google Pixel Recorder app ‘Summarize’ relies on the latest Gemini Nano AI model integrated into the Pixel 8 Pro after the latest December update. But, as it works completely locally (offline), you will have to download additional data from the necessary AI model.

So, like the ‘Smart Reply’ feature, it’s powered by the combination of the Tensor G3 NPU and the new on-device Gemini Nano AI model. For now, it is unknown if ‘Summarize’ will come to the vanilla Pixel 8 or older Pixel devices.

That said, it seems there are people who are unhappy with the capabilities of the feature, or even unable to use it. I’ve found reports from users for whom the summary of the recording is kinda shallow, flat or lacking in details, making it practically useless.

Also, there are cases of people for whom the ‘Summarize’ button simply does not appear on some recordings, for no apparent reason.

In both cases, the common factor seems to be that the recordings last more than 15 minutes. Apparently, in its current state, the Pixel Recorder ‘Summarize’ feature is kinda picky, requiring the recordings to be neither too long nor too short. The maximum duration of recordings to function correctly seems to be around 15 minutes, although it is not clear what the minimum duration would be.

That said, being a rather new feature, it is likely to improve noticeably in the coming months, and its current state could be just a ‘preview’ of what it is capable of doing.