{"id":5781,"date":"2026-08-20T16:53:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:53:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5781"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:53:42","slug":"this-app-makes-the-pixel-11s-hilight-feature-actually-useful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5781","title":{"rendered":"A new app makes the HiLight feature on the Pixel 11 Pro actually useful"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Google\u2019s new HiLight notification LED on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/981713\/google-pixel-11-pro-review\">Pixel 11 Pro<\/a> is nearly useless. Out of the box, the only two things it can glow for are when the phone is face down and you\u2019re interacting with Gemini, or when you get a call from a favorite contact. And even then, it can only glow one of five colors!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">This is a massive wasted opportunity for a feature that used to be so beloved on older Android phones, so developers have wasted no time doing what Google won\u2019t.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">X user <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Davidimel\/status\/2090430087459991714\">Dhananjay_Tech<\/a> developed a new app called <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/89mC2VMa48\">HiLight Studio<\/a>, which lets you do practically anything you want with the HiLight LED array. Did you receive a new Slack notification that mentions a certain word? Make HiLight pulse in a rainbow array. Get a new text? Make HiLight spin in a wave of green. You can even control things like timing per cycle, brightness, intensity, and saturation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">Unlike the official feature from Google, you can select any color you want through eight preselected colors, or a classic color slider. HiLight Studio even lets you import and export presets, so you can share them with your friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\">The app isn\u2019t on the Play Store quite yet, so you\u2019ll have to grab it from <a href=\"http:\/\/github.com\/DhananjayBhosale\/hilight-studio\">GitHub<\/a> and sideload a couple of apps to make it work. Running it requires unlocking developer settings and tweaking a couple things on your phone. It\u2019s not as easy as a regular app, but if you\u2019re willing and comfortable, it\u2019s worth it. I know I\u2019m going to be using the hell out of this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1044qizi _18mzr4b1 _18mzr4b0 _19wv7tc1\"><em>Photos by David Imel \/ The verge<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/tech\/982791\/this-app-makes-the-pixel-11s-hilight-feature-actually-useful\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google\u2019s new HiLight notification LED on the Pixel 11 Pro is nearly useless. Out of the box, the only two things it can glow for are when the phone is face down and you\u2019re interacting with Gemini, or when you get a call from a favorite contact. And even then, it can only glow one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[32,536,34],"class_list":["post-5781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-google","tag-google-pixel","tag-tech"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A new app makes the HiLight feature on the Pixel 11 Pro actually useful - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Devs are already doing what Google won\u2019t.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5781\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A new app makes the HiLight feature on the Pixel 11 Pro actually useful - 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