Google is testing a nifty improvement to the Take a Message feature in its Pixel-exclusive Phone app that updates your voicemail greeting without requiring carrier interaction. Initial cues in a public beta update hint at a new in-app “Manage greetings” toggle that may make it easier to record and swap custom messages.
What is changing with Pixel’s Take a Message greetings
Take a Message, which launched on the Pixel 4 and newer in the US, UK, Australia, and Ireland, transcribes voicemails and plays a greeting before callers leave a message. Now, customizing that greeting has often meant setting it in carrier software — which varies widely and can be clunky. A few users in the beta Google Phone app (version 200.0.831411868) have noticed a native prompt to add and manage greetings directly from the app — no carrier menus required (the feature arrives via edge-to-edge A/B testing for some).
The upcoming interface appears under Settings > Take a Message as “Manage greetings,” with an icon of a microphone to record audio and a little countdown before capture. Testers also noticed placeholders that allowed for the option of multiple greetings, indicating potential convenience in the future by allowing reuse of greetings across several contexts.
Why this matters for voicemail on Pixel phones and beyond
Voicemail continues to be a fail-safe when calls are not answered, especially for businesses, freelancers, and service providers who may not always be able to answer the phone. But programming greetings has always been dependent on carrier systems that feel outdated. It’s also more logical on a practical level: Making sure that voicemail behaves consistently grooves with recent call features, such as spam protection, call screening, and transcripts — a collection of functions people expect to handle in one location.
For Google, it also means less friction. Visual voicemail, call transcriptions, and personalized greetings are increasingly evaluated as one experience. By moving setup into the Phone app, that carrier-by-carrier eccentricity has been excised — and Pixel owners now have a single route to get to a professional or personal message within seconds.
How the new greeting management feature appears to work
According to the current round of testing, Pixel phone users would open the Phone app and tap Settings, followed by Take a Message and Manage greetings. A new recorder UI with a countdown and a big mic icon lets you record audio. Presumably, the same area for existing greetings will show up, allowing users to preview, rename, and set a default. If it could be done, it would also simplify things when wanting to go back to a stock greeting.
The beta is also said to be unstable and crash-prone, which is usually an indication when products are midstream in their development. As with any pre-release feature, there are no guarantees that this interface is going to roll out: Google can (and often does) change its mind about the thing altogether before it becomes widely available.
Availability and caveats for the Pixel Take a Message update
Take a Message is currently available for Pixel 4 and later in certain English-speaking countries. So even if greeting controls do indeed go live, region availability could still be subject to support for local languages and carrier legitimacy. For those on the stable channel, changes might not be coming until Google takes the feature out of beta.
It’s worth noting also that rules regarding voicemail and call recording are different in different regions. If you are using call recording — which Google is trying to roll out to Pixel 6 and later devices worldwide, though, as noted above, it has not been updated for the United States — be sure to abide by one-party or two-party consent laws in your area. There is in-app advice, and Google usually has pretty good advice, but ultimately the user is responsible.
The bigger picture for Pixel calling and voicemail features
Google has slowly been adding intelligence to the basic phone call: real-time spam filtering, Assistant-powered call screening, and live transcriptions of messages. A first-party, carrier-agnostic method of personalizing greetings would be the natural next step in this game plan, as rivals focus on-device transcription and smarter call handling themselves.
If the new greeting manager ships, Pixel owners might enjoy a small but noticeable quality-of-life improvement: being able to set up faster, keep their controls in check, and let their greetings be customized based on who’s calling or when they’re available. Modern polish goes a long way for a feature as old as voicemail.
For now, all eyes are on the beta channel. The foundation’s there, the purpose is obvious and — once polished up a bit — it could make Take a Message feel like even more of a natural fit within the Pixel’s calling experience.