Google expands Magic Cue on Pixel 10 with Wallet and Tasks, but reliability issues persist

Magic Cue leaks reveal how Google is headed in the wrong direction

Jon has been an author at Android Police since 2021. He primarily writes features and editorials covering the latest Android news, but occasionally reviews hardware and Android apps. His favorite Android device was the Pixel 2 XL, and he regards the three months when he owned an iPhone as a time of the utmost shame. Jon graduated with a History degree in 2018, but quickly realized his writing skills were better put to use writing about tech rather than essays. He started writing and editing for startups shortly after graduating, where he did everything from writing website copy to managing and editing for a group of writers. When he's not sitting at his computer, you can find him working at Warhammer World, reading sci-fi, or turning his speakers up to 11. As I was dashing between booths at CES 2026, I was constantly texting, photographing, and checking directions on my Pixel 10 Pro. The week gave my phone its most intensive workout since I bought it, but it also had an unexpected outcome. I've been trying to get Magic Cue to work since its launch, but despite my best efforts, I only managed to trigger it once. However, after I landed in the US, Magic Cue popped up multiple times a day. I'm not sure whether it was because of my location or how I was using my phone, but CES 2026 gave me my first real experience with Magic Cue. It's a shame it didn't work at all. In one situation, I checked the travel time from the airport to my partner's house for my return journey. A few minutes later, I opened a text message asking where I was, and Magic Cue suggested my partner's address. Not helpful, considering I was in a different country. Another time, it suggested I track the weather in Las Vegas on the day I left the city. It was remarkably unhelpful, so I'm disappointed to see that Google appears to be on the wrong track with its upcoming update. What is Magic Cue on the Google Pixel 10? Magic Cue represents a shift from reactive AI assistants to proactive AI that becomes part of your workflow Posts 2 By Dhruv Bhutani Google may be expanding Magic Cue's reach Look forward to Google Wallet integration Earlier this week, Android Authority posted a photo from Android developer Kieron Quinn showing the various apps Magic Cue can use to access data. In addition to the existing roster, the list showed two new apps, Google Wallet and Tasks. This screenshot hints at an upcoming Magic Cue update that could significantly improve its functionality. The most obvious benefit of this update would be Magic Cue's integration with Wallet. Let's say you saved a train ticket in your Wallet and a friend texts you to ask when your train is scheduled to arrive. Magic Cue could reference the train from your ticket, check a timetable, and prompt you with the correct time. Or perhaps you're shopping online and have a rewards card saved in your Wallet. Magic Cue could prompt you for your rewards number at checkout. What Magic Cue could do with Tasks is less obvious. Perhaps it could prompt you to create tasks based on events it reads from your Gmail inbox or calendar? Regardless, expanded Magic Cue access is a good thing, as one of our biggest complaints on launch was its limited compatibility. But I think that this potential update suggests that Google is on the wrong track with Magic Cue. What's the point of expanded functionality if it still doesn't work? Magic Cue needs to work consistently to be effective You can't rely on a feature that doesn't work While my interactions with Magic Cue have been overwhelmingly negative, many others have had positive experiences. However, the experiences vary wildly. For some people, it works perfectly, but only appears once every couple of months. For others, it pops up with timely suggestions regularly. The problem is that, as an AI tool, Magic Cue is challenging for users to troubleshoot because we can't see the inner workings of an LLM. Even if you use all the compatible apps daily and receive lots of texts asking you questions about information you've stored in these apps, Magic Cue may never appear. Before Google expands Magic Cue to more apps, I want it to focus on the apps it should already work with. Today I checked my Google Calendar app for the day and realized that I hadn't entered the details for a concert I was attending later in the week. Despite the email in my inbox containing all the relevant information, Magic Cue stayed resolutely silent as I typed in the details. I'm tired of Magic Cue missing out on obvious ways to be helpful. This potential Magic Cue update could include more than Wallet and Tasks functionality. Google may be prepping an update to improve the feature's usefulness. At the very least, I hope Google makes the feature more responsive, as even a stopped clock is right twice a day. However, Google has not shown an excellent track record of fixing features before launch. Has Google bitten off more than it can chew with Magic Cue? Magic Cue taxes the Pixel 10's inadequate processor Google has already admitted that its latest Tensor chips cannot handle the demands of Magic Cue without outsourcing processing to the cloud. Subscribe to the newsletter for Magic Cue testing & analysis Get the newsletter for hands-on tests and clear analysis of Magic Cue, Pixel features, and Google AI tools. Subscribing gives informed coverage on reliability, compatibility, and whether these features actually work. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes whenever Magic Cue tries to operate, so I don't expect it to work perfectly all the time. However, its abysmal performance so far suggests that, like many AI features, Magic Cue cannot work consistently. We're well-used to this pattern. Let's not forget Magic Brief, which is still absent from Pixel 10 phones five months after Google unceremoniously pulled it for being utterly useless. I was excited about Magic Cue before its launch, as it was one of the rare AI-powered features with a genuine use case in our day-to-day lives. However, five months later, and I'm back to my cynical self. Magic Cue may be doomed Part of me isn't surprised that Google is focusing on expanding Magic Cue's reach rather than fixing its inherent problems. Additional app compatibility makes for a more exciting update than bug fixes; it suggests that Google is moving forward rather than stagnating in the AI arms race. However, Pixel users are left with buggy and broken features that erode our trust in the brand.

Pixel 10's Magic Cue feature seems to be preparing Google Tasks & Wallet integration

New findings reveal that, months after launch, Google might be expanding on the Pixel 10's Magic Cue feature by adding support for information from Tasks and Wallet. Magic Cue on the Pixel 10 was a promising AI feature at launch that, sadly, only seems to work moderately well in reality. The idea here is that the feature can pull information from your various apps and present it when you need it, automatically. Google's examples include showing flight information when you're on the phone with customer service, or showing a restaurant reservation while chatting with friends. But, most of the time, it only surfaces the occasional suggestion in Gboard, if it appears at all. Nearly 70% of 9to5Google readers said that Magic Cue "hardly appears" on their Pixel 10, though Google has announced some improvements. Now, it seems Google also wants to expand the data Magic Cue can pull from. Android Authority, citing Android developer Kieron Quinn, posted a screenshot showing Google Wallet and Google Tasks in the list of supported apps in Magic Cue on the Pixel 10. That's in addition to the currently-supported apps - Pixel Screenshots, Gmail, Messages, Keep Notes, Contacts, and Calendar - that have been available since the Pixel 10 launched last year. These new options are not actively rolling out, and instead were manually enabled, but the fact that that's possible shows Google is preparing support behind the scenes. What might this be used for? It's hard to say anything for certain, but there's a lot of potential, especially for Wallet, as the app can store your travel tickets and present information about flights and more.

New Magic Cue upgrades could let your Pixel 10 show tickets and reminders automatically

Google appears to be working on making Magic Cue more useful on the Pixel 10 series. For the uninitiated, Magic Cue works like a background assistant, and it is easily one of the best AI features in Pixel 10. It can pull relevant information from apps you already use and surfaces it at just the right moment. For example, if you are chatting about a trip, Magic Cue might show your flight details without you having to search for them. Until now, it has relied on apps like Gmail, Messages, Calendar, Contacts, Keep, and Pixel Screenshots to do this. Magic Cue integrations with Wallet and Tasks According to Android Authority, Google is now experimenting with adding Google Wallet and Google Tasks to Magic Cue. These new options were spotted as inactive toggles inside Magic Cue's settings on a Pixel 10 device. If enabled, Wallet integration could allow Magic Cue to surface boarding passes, event tickets, transit cards, or even payment cards exactly when they are needed. Recommended Videos One particularly useful upgrade would be real-time travel updates. While Magic Cue can already pull travel details from Gmail, it does not support live status changes. Google Wallet already does this for certain train tickets and passes, and connecting the two could finally bring live updates into Magic Cue. Google Tasks integration could also make reminders more visible by letting Magic Cue surface to-do lists and deadlines directly, instead of relying solely on Calendar entries. This could make the feature feel more proactive, especially for people who use Tasks heavily. These features are not live currently as it is under development. If Google releases these features, Magic Cue could turn the Pixel 10 into a more intuitive device, offering timely assistance without constant prompts or interruptions. Google has recently upgraded Magic Cue on the Pixel 10 with more advanced Gemini-powered models while keeping user privacy intact, and some reports suggest that Magic Cue's smarter assistance could eventually make its way to other Android phones as well.