Joe Maring/Android Authority
TL;DR
- Pixel’s “Take a Message” voicemail feature spotted in India.
- The feature has been spotted in the Phone app and by users enrolled in the Google Play Services beta program, though it may also be a server-side switch.
- Our APK teardown from earlier in the week showed clues to this expansion, as well as a broader global expansion as well as an expansion to non-Pixels.
Earlier this week, we saw clues that suggested Google was planning a massive global expansion for the Pixel’s Take a Message voicemail feature. It seems that the expansion has begun, as one user is now reporting that the feature is available in a major market where it was not previously available.
reddit user Savagescarm Take a message prompt seen on their Pixel 10 Pro XL in India:
The user is part of the Phone app beta and Google Play Services beta. Based on past trends, the rollout is likely a server-side switch tied to the beta app release.
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For those unfamiliar, Take Messages is essentially a smart voicemail system. When a call goes unanswered, this feature prompts the caller to stop recording. As they speak, you get a real-time transcription on your screen, letting you decide if the call is urgent enough to interrupt what you’re doing, or if you’d rather read the transcript from the Recent tab of the Phone app later. It also serves as an excellent secondary filter for spam coming from non-contact numbers.
Take a message is available on all Pixel 6 and above devices in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the US. In our APK teardown, we saw that this feature may be expanded globally. India was specifically mentioned in the code, while other regions were included as “audio only” and “transcript” markets.
- Audio-only markets: Markets where an audio-only version of the messaging feature will be available. New markets it may expand into may include:
- Europe: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia.
- America: Mexico.
- Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan.
- Transcript markets: Markets where both audio and transcript features will be available. New markets where it may expand include Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Japan.
Over at AllowingSide, we also saw code that suggested Take a Message could be extended to non-pixels. We have not yet received reports of expansion to other regions or non-Pixels, but that may change soon.
Google has not yet officially announced any extensions to the Take a Message feature. We will keep you updated as we get more information.
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