The Google Pixel Recorder app is poised to receive a significant upgrade with the addition of a “Clear Voice” feature, discovered within the latest Android Package Kit (APK) update. This new functionality promises to enhance audio recordings by minimizing background noise and prioritizing clear speech playback.
The Clear Voice feature, identified by 9to5Google within version 4.2.20241001.701169069 of the Pixel Recorder app, is designed to “reduce background noise while recording for clearer speech playback.” Essentially, it aims to isolate and preserve human speech while filtering out unwanted ambient sounds. Code snippets referencing “hdmic” within the APK reveal more details about the feature’s functionality:
- <string name=”hdmic_setting_title”>Clear Voice</string>
- <string name=”hdmic_setting_summary”>Reduce background noise while recording for clearer speech playback. External mic and stereo are not supported.</string>
- <string name=”hdmic_tooltip_with_learn_more”>Keep human speech and remove background sounds. Learn more in Settings.</string>
- <string name=”not_mono_channel”>This action requires mono audio. Please change your audio channels to mono.</string>
- <string name=”off_for_new_recordings”>Clear Voice is off for new recordings</string>
One limitation of Clear Voice is its exclusive compatibility with the Pixel’s built-in microphone and mono audio recordings. External microphones and stereo audio are currently unsupported.
The Recorder app on the Google Pixel Watch 3.Pixel Recorder app interface on the Pixel Watch 3. (Andy Boxall / MaagX)
While the latest APK includes the code for Clear Voice, the feature isn’t yet active. A server-side component is required for its functionality, and Google hasn’t announced a release date.
This year, the Pixel Recorder app has already seen a number of updates, including the integration of Gemini Nano with multimodality for enhanced summarizing capabilities on the Pixel 9 series. Another recent update extended the Recorder app to the Pixel Watch 3 and earlier models, enabling voice memo recording from the wrist.
The addition of Clear Voice promises to be a valuable enhancement to the Pixel Recorder app, offering improved audio clarity for various recording scenarios. While its arrival is pending server-side activation, it’s a feature worth anticipating for Pixel users.
