Pixel 11 Pro HiLight notification light gains Google Messages support

What the Pixel Drop adds

Google has expanded HiLight, the notification light on the Pixel 11 Pro, to cover Google Messages. According to Android Authority, the change arrives with the November Pixel Drop, the regular software update Google releases for Pixel phones.

Until now, HiLight officially worked with phone calls, WhatsApp calls and Gemini, Google's AI assistant. With the new update, the light can also glow when a text arrives from one of your favourite contacts.

How HiLight works with Messages

The behaviour mirrors what the light already does for voice calls. When the phone is resting face-down and a message arrives from a contact you have marked as a favourite, the HiLight illuminates to signal the notification.

HiLight itself is a hardware feature Google introduced this year, but only on the Pro models of the Pixel 11 range. It revives the idea of a notification light, a feature that largely disappeared from smartphones as screens grew to fill the whole front of the device.

Support remains limited

Android Authority notes that the official list of apps using HiLight is still very small. Beyond the new Messages support, it covers calls in the Phone app, WhatsApp calls and interactions with Gemini.

Getting more out of the light has required unofficial tools such as HiLight Studio. The publication also points out apps that still lack support, including Gmail and Google Voice, and questions why a feature added to Messages has not reached Voice as well.

What may come next

There are signs the feature could widen. Android Authority reports new evidence that Android's upcoming Notification Rules could use HiLight to flag high-priority notifications, although it is not clear when that will arrive.

The publication suggests it could come with Android 17 QPR3 in the spring. Until then, Messages support is the main official expansion Pixel 11 Pro owners get from this update.