If you own a Google Pixel 10, you may be lucky enough to receive Magic Cue prompts.
These prompts surface information when you need it (for example, showing flight information when someone texts you about your travel plans), and work across a variety of Google apps.
However, the feature is inconsistent, and some users have only seen it once since the feature launched.
The idea of surfacing relevant information when you need it is probably one of the most useful implementations of AI.
However, a recent Google Wallet update proved that your phone doesn’t need AI to surface relevant information at the right time.
There’s a ton of potential here, and I’m just excited that Gemini isn’t a part of it.
Google Wallet introduces a feature we should have had years ago
A small but useful feature
Google Wallet can now send you a notification containing the relevant pass or ticket for the relevant destination.
For example, if you buy a train ticket, Google Wallet will prompt you when you arrive at the station. Tap this notification, and the ticket will instantly appear.
I don’t get excited about features that shave off a few seconds as a rule.
Currently, finding my train ticket involves tapping the Wallet shortcut on my lock screen, unlocking my phone, and then tapping the ticket.
If I didn’t have this shortcut, I would spend another couple of seconds finding the Wallet app.
This new update doesn’t make my life a lot easier, but it opens the door to intriguing possibilities.
However, before I explore that idea, I want to ask why this feature doesn’t exist already.
We’ve been able to add passes to Google Wallet for years, and location tracking is nothing new.
The technology is well tested, so I can only conclude that the reason it’s taken Google this long is that it’s not actually that significant.
But now that Google has decided to expand location-based features in Wallet, I want to see this everywhere. In short, let’s have a reliable Magic Cue feature.
Location tracking is simple, accurate, and filled with potential
Imagine what our phones could do with this existing technology
The Pixel 8 series of phones launched with an exciting feature. Even when powered off, you can locate them with Google’s Find My Device network.
The phone stores precomputed Bluetooth beacons, which can be picked up by other Android devices for several hours.
Whether offline or online, you can locate your Android device to within meters in ideal conditions. With this technology proven to be reliable, I want to see it elsewhere.
Pulling up your boarding pass when you arrive at the airport is helpful, but what about in more frantic situations?
Buses near me are well-equipped with Wi-Fi networks. Could my phone not use those to pull up my bus pass when it detects the network?
I store my loyalty cards in Wallet. Why doesn’t my phone pull up my Tesco Clubcard when I enter the store?
Location tracking is relevant across all my Google apps.
I store notes of events in Calendar, so why doesn’t it pull up the event description when I arrive?
Speaking of traveling, why can’t Tidal, Play Books, or Netflix prompt me to download media when I arrive at an airport?
Why can’t Maps prompt me to check a restaurant’s reviews when I stop next to one when I consider it for lunch?
The more I consider how many ways location tracking can be used, the more I feel like I’m losing my mind. The technology is here, the need is there, so where are the results?
In an age of unreliable AI prompts, I want technology I can rely on
We can do so much more with location-based features
I don’t think Magic Cue will ever live up to its potential. It relies on too many types of inputs, and forcing it to work with non-Google apps would be a security nightmare.
Unimportant as Google Wallet’s new feature may be, I want to celebrate it as loudly as I can.
Here we are, with a feature based on technology that’s proven to work time and time again. The possibilities are endless, and location tracking is just the tip of the iceberg.
Our phones store far more contextual information than their location. What about time?
Google Calendar is great at reminding me that I need to leave the house shortly to arrive on time, but Google Wallet is incapable of letting me know my train leaves in half an hour.
Let’s make our phones more useful with technology that works
I won’t pretend that location tracking is perfect.
How to find your lost Android phone or tablet becomes significantly less accurate when used indoors, and heavy weather and tall buildings can interfere with GPS trackers.
Nevertheless, I feel more confident in my phone’s ability to track its location than in Gemini’s ability to unearth my flight information when I need it.
Features powered by location tracking are widespread, but as Google Wallet shows, there’s still so much more to be done.
