Key findings
- Microsoft's callback feature failed because user data was stored in plain text, causing indefinite delays.
- Google's Pixel Screenshots is superior to Recall because it offers smarter search features, photo separation, and more control.
- With Pixel Screenshots, security is the top priority because, unlike standard Recall capture, only manually created screenshots are analyzed.
The flagship feature of Microsoft's new Copilot+ brand of great AI PCs was Recall, and it's supposed to work like a “memory” for your computer. Unfortunately, the company completely botched it. Microsoft touted Recall as being on-device and secure, but security researchers revealed that Recall stores user data in plain text. That led to the feature being delayed indefinitely, and we haven't heard much about Recall since – except that Microsoft says it's coming.
Here's the thing: Microsoft should just abandon Recall. In the technology industry, timing is everything, and the timing of Recall's release came and went. The Copilot+ brand is now little more than a marketing name, and people are still buying Copilot+ PCs thanks to the Snapdragon X Elite chipset's good performance. More importantly, during the time Microsoft was trying to fix Recall and the disaster it caused, Google released a feature called Pixel screenshots. Debuting alongside the Google Pixel 9 series, it's exactly what Recall should have been from the start.
3 Pixel Screenshots fulfills a need
Our photo libraries have been overflowing with unorganized screenshots for years
Every company is trying to find a use case for artificial intelligence that actually makes sense. While I understand the appeal of a feature like Recall—it remembers the name of the website you forgot and the name of that pesky file—I think this is Microsoft grasping at any straw to get a killer feature for Copilot+. Nobody really asked for Recall, and without it, Copilot+ is far less interesting. By comparison, Pixel Screenshots actually solves a problem faced by many users of the best phones.
The way the Pixel Screenshots app works is simple. Every time you take a screenshot, it gets transferred to the app. Then, when you need to search for a screenshot, it can use text recognition, AI, and other intelligent machine learning techniques to simplify the process. In theory, you can use natural language like “driving to California” or “Valentine's Day dinner” and Pixel Screenshots will find what you're looking for.
A few days ago, I took a screenshot in the Google Maps app showing directions from New York to California. To test Pixel Screenshots, I simply searched for “drive.” Pretty easy, right? Pixel Screenshots quickly not only pulled up my Google Maps screenshot, but also a screenshot of an Uber Eats delivery order. When I narrowed the prompt down to “drive to California,” I was left with just the Google Maps screenshot.
I don't know if those exact keywords appeared in any of the screenshots, and that's the point. I didn't have to specifically think of the exact words or phrases that were in the screenshot I wanted to find in order for Google Photos' OCR to find them. With the Pixel Screenshots app, all I had to do was say what I was thinking – in natural language – and the AI did the rest of the way for me.
I've been using Pixel Screenshots on the Google Pixel 9 for a few days now, and the feature is incredibly useful. It's not designed to help you find the screenshot you just took – it's designed to help you sift through weeks, months, and years of screenshots. Many smartphone users find it difficult or annoying to navigate through their photos and screenshots combined in the standard Gallery app. Pixel Screenshots offers some separation between photos, videos, and screenshots, more so than Google Photos' sorting and filtering options.
At the same time, Pixel Screenshots adds some useful functionality to the process. Perhaps what I like most about this feature is that it offers room for growth that perhaps doesn't exist with Recall. I could imagine a future where Pixel Screenshots is the default app for saving, viewing, editing, and finding screenshots. Honestly, I hope that future comes soon, because I'd love to draw a clear line between my real photos and videos and my screenshots and screen recordings.
2 You choose exactly what is analyzed
Pixel Screenshots can only see the screenshots you take, and it's easy to turn it off
The reason Recall isn't there is because privacy and security were big concerns surrounding the feature. Microsoft wanted Recall to capture your computer's screen most of the time and let you narrow down the things you didn't want Recall to see. The feature was technically optional, since you could uncheck the Recall box during the initial setup process of a Copilot+ PC. But it was the kind of setting that most users would probably just click through without changing. When you used Recall, it automatically prevented it from taking screenshots of private browser windows and of apps or websites you had forbidden it from seeing.
However, with Recall, taking screenshots was the default. Pixel Screenshots takes the completely opposite approach. It doesn't take regular screenshots of your Android phone, but only shows the screenshots you take manually. If you don't take a screenshot of it, Pixel Screenshots and its AI algorithms can't see it. What's more, everything runs on the device and is stored securely.
If you want even more control over what Pixel sees screenshots, you have that option. There's a switch in the app that lets you disable AI analysis entirely. For more security, you can deny or restrict photo and video permission at the Android level in your Pixel's Settings app.
If you have concerns about trusting a tech giant like Google or Microsoft, I can understand that. However, Google's approach with Pixel screenshots is definitely the one Microsoft should have handled from the start with Recall. You should be able to choose exactly what your AI screenshot tool sees; you shouldn't have to tell it exactly what not to capture.
1 Security is the focus of Pixel Screenshots
Processing is done on the device and phones are often more secure than Windows PCs
That is all well and good, but the real The reason Recall didn't ship on time was because it stored user data in plaintext. Anyone with access to your computer, whether personally or remotely, could steal the information Recall captured in the plaintext files. This was a massive problem and it's why Pixel Screenshots was developed, announced and released before Recall was even released to Insiders (we're still waiting on that).
Pixel Screenshots doesn't have the same problem. First of all, people don't share their phones like they do great laptops and PCs, so the security equation is completely different. If you lend your PC to a friend or family member and they can see all your activity history in plain text, that's a problem. I'm not saying the images stored in Pixel Screenshots are 100% safe, but they are protected by the same Android security features that would protect your screenshots anyway. The only difference is that screenshots are now stored in Pixel Screenshots And Google Photos.
Like Recall, the AI processing in Pixel Screenshots is done entirely on-device, so this shouldn't be a cause for concern. Again, it's important to stress that Recall's big mistake was recording everything you do on your Windows 11 computer and storing it in plain text. Pixel Screenshots only sees the screenshots you take, and they're stored in the same way as Google Photos. This allows Pixel Screenshots to provide about 75% of the utility of Recall without any additional security concerns.
It's time for Microsoft to let Recall die
Microsoft had a chance to make Recall a hit, but it was already eclipsed by Apple Intelligence and Pixel Screenshots. Google hit the jackpot with the Pixel Screenshots feature because it gives the user full control. When you take a screenshot, it can be analyzed using AI to make searching in the Pixel Screenshots app smarter. Nothing you didn't screenshot will show up, and you have several options to disable the feature entirely.
If Recall worked the same way, it would likely already be in the hands of Copilot+ PC users. Google has chosen the safe route, and Recall is certainly more ambitious than Pixel Screenshots. But I suspect we'll find that consumers prefer to take the safe route over the risky one when their data is at stake.