Beta: Google's Phone app for Pixel gets voicemail in Germany
Google's Phone app beta for Android is getting a voicemail with transcription function in Germany. Initially only for Pixel devices.
Pixel exclusive: Google's Phone app gets a "Record message" function in Germany.
(Image: Google)
Google has apparently rolled out the “Record message” function for devices from Android 11 or from Pixel 6 and newer in Germany. This allows missed and rejected calls to be managed. According to Google, the function runs entirely on the device and serves as a kind of answering machine with transcription.
Phone App Beta
The function (via Smartdroid) is offered to us on a Pixel 10 Pro with a beta version of the Phone app (version 223.0.922203806); it is hidden in the app's settings under “Record message.” According to Google, the function, which was first announced in October 2025 for the Pixel 10 announced, can display transcripts and an audio recording of the caller's message. Furthermore, “Record message” is also supposed to detect spam among messages “left by numbers that are not stored in contacts,” it says.
(Image:Â Andreas Floemer / heise medien)
According to Google, “Record message” uses the same spam detection model as “Call Screen,” and the feature is executed directly on the Pixel smartphone, so the data does not end up in Google Cloud. A Gemini model is used for this.
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Activated by default
In the Phone app settings, users can both deactivate the function – on our device, the function was activated by default – and record their greeting.
Since the function is executed directly on the phone, it must, of course, be switched on. If the Pixel phone is off or has no reception, the mobile provider's voicemail will kick in instead.
Curiously, Google does not yet mention Germany in a support document. Officially, the company offers it in the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Ireland. Given that it is already usable in the beta version of the Phone app, it should not be long before it is extended to other countries. The “Record message” function could be officially announced for other regions and languages as part of the Android 17 update or a Pixel Drop, Google's quarterly update for Pixel devices, released from it.
Just at the beginning of this year, Google integrated the function to record calls, among other things, into its Phone app in Germany under another.
(afl)
