Google is giving the Pixel 11 Pro’s HiLight notification feature a big upgrade, with support for messages from favourite contacts coming to the phone in December.
HiLight was one of the more talked-about features on the Pixel 11 Pro, but its usefulness has been limited so far. At present, the light only activates when you’re talking to Gemini or receiving a call from one of your favourite contacts. The upcoming Android 17 QPR2 update will finally give it another reason to light up.
The change was spotted in Android 17 QPR2 Beta 6.1 for the Pixel 11 family, which adds a “Messages from favourites” option to HiLight. Turn it on, and the light will glow when you receive a message from a favourite contact. You can also assign a specific glow colour to individual contacts, giving you an easy way to tell who is messaging without reaching for the phone.
For now, though, there’s a catch; the new message alert only works with Google Messages. When a new text arrives, HiLight will glow twice. WhatsApp should presumably work too, since incoming WhatsApp calls already trigger the feature, although that’s yet to be confirmed.
You’ll also get more control over which contacts can trigger HiLight. On a Pixel 11 Pro or Pixel 11 Pro Fold running the Android 17 QPR2 beta, you can head to Settings > System HiLight and enable “Messages from favorites.” Alternatively, the HiLight panel in Google Contacts lets you configure calls and messages separately for individual contacts.
Android 17 QPR2 is expected to arrive in early December, so most Pixel 11 Pro owners still have a little wait before the feature reaches the stable release.
It’s hardly the dramatic HiLight overhaul some Pixel owners might have hoped for, but it does make the glowing notification light a little more useful. And if you want more control right now, the third-party HiLight Studio app can make HiLight respond to notifications from any app, with different light effects available for individual apps.
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