Pixel 9a is missing an important Google app but I don’t mind

Sometimes Google will do something that lets me itch me in my head. It is jumped from innovative flagships such as Pixel 4 to the midrange Pixel 5 and back again, used strange features such as the temperature sensor, and created and created and accepted more Exclusive features than anyone could imagine. Sometimes it has been a method of madness, but usually it just feels as if Google is trying things to see what is staying.

And now it has skipped the Pixel screenshots app on Pixel 9a. Initially, the omission troubled me, but since I used the phone, I have realized that I do not mind. Here’s why I’m good with Google’s Midtranger skipping one of the latest AI features.

Ok, before I get into why I think Pixel 9a Is fine without pixel screens, let’s talk about why it skipped the function in the first place. After all, Google told us that the Midtranger has the same version of the Tensor G4 chip that the flagship Pixel 9 series has, so we can exclude it right away. Instead, the real reason Pixel 9a does not support Pixel screens that it does not have enough RAM. Yes, that’s right, 8GB RAM is no longer enough for a mid-tone unit in 2025.

More specifically, the step down in RAM means Pixel 9a runs a different version of Gemini Nano than the rest of the siblings. Instead of the standard Nano XS found on Pixel 9 and all three Pro models, Pixel 9a is depending on Gemini Nano XXS, the Ultra-compact version Google was first introduced on Pixel 8 and 8A in the previous generation. The main difference is that Nano XX is just uploaded as needed, instead of running constantly in the larger bank of RAM, which means it saves space, but also packs less strokes. Oh, and that restriction also means that Gemini Nano XX -is just accepting text input, making it tough (impossible) to process screens.

So because Google did not pack the midtranger with enough RAM, Pixel 9a misses. It cannot process images or audio sources, so you have to do without call notes in the phone app as well. On the bright side can pixel 9a treat files generated in Recorder The app, but only when Google’s second speech-to-text model generates a transcript. Basically, text is good to go, but you have to find smart solutions for everything else.

Now, with all that way out of the way, the reason I don’t basically care is that I didn’t use pixel screens anyway. I thought it was a nice idea when Google first showed it off on the Pixel 9 launch, and it looked pretty impressive with a premade library of screens that were already organized in collections, but I never reached quite the same level in my own library. I wanted to snap a screen here and there to remind me of something, but never enough that I need a collection to manage them.

And unfortunately for Google, it means it is easier for me to use one of the much older tools instead of learning me through Pixel screens. Yes, that’s right – I’m using Google images instead. Whether it meant or not, Google has done the organization in photos a little too good, where it already draws my screens and organizes them according to articles and posts in social media, along with dividing them by date. So when I need to draw a date from something or enter a reminder, the muscle memory pulls me to Google images every time.

Of course, if Google’s pixel screens worked more like nothing is Essential roomMaybe I tell another story. I don’t trust the essential key as much as nothing will hope, but the automatic generation of task lists and reminders makes the app much more useful than Google’s manual collections. You can let Pixel screens send you reminders of music and movies in other apps when it thinks they can be relevant, but it’s not quite the same as having Essential Space recognizes concert dates and adding them to your calendar or reminding you when the tickets are to be sold.

Honestly, until Pixel screens are as fast and intuitive as some of the competitors, I probably won’t see myself using it on Pixel 9 Pro, rather why worry about it on an otherwise excellent middle tones?