The latest Google Pixel phones already include Gemini AI assistance that can help you do things like clean up the copy in an e-mail, message, or document to fix grammar or spelling mistakes, even adjust tone. But a new more advanced feature called Rambler takes this a step further when using Gboard in any compatible app.
Introduced with the Pixel 11 series, Rambler uses AI to, rather than transcribe your speech word-for-word as you dictate, clean up your natural spoken speech to filter out fillers, run-on sentences, corrections, and more. Using this feature, I rarely ever need to actually type on the phone anymore. I have been having fun using it and it works quite well.
How to use Rambler on a Pixel 11 phone
It’s so easy and useful
Rambler isn’t enabled immediately on a new Pixel 11 phone, even the top end Google Pixel 11 Pro XL we reviewed. But when you open an app to use the keyboard, like Gmail, Messages, or WhatsApp and tap the microphone to speak, you’ll see an initial dialog message explaining what it is and how it works. When you select Start, it’s now on, as long as you have granted Gboard microphone permissions and you have an active internet connection via Wi-Fi or cellular.
Then, start talking. It might be composing an e-mail or message, or recording notes for something you’re working on, like a report or birthday party planning. As many of us are likely to do, you may end up rambling off a stream of consciousness with your thoughts and ideas. This is especially if you’re brainstorming. You may also use a lot of “ums,” “ahs,” or as I have noticed with myself, “you knows.” The new generations are known to say the word “like” every fifth word, and this feature can eliminate that, too. (Sadly, it can’t do it from your actual speech). Once done, watch the text flow with only the pertinent information and not any filler words, mistakes, or, well, rambling on.
I put it to the test by intentionally rambling
Ums, ahs, and corrected information
I tried a few tests to see how Rambler works. I sent an e-mail to my son about the importance of making himself a healthy lunch for school. He just started high school and keeps “forgetting” to take food. I also saved a stream of consciousness to help write my review of the new MGM+ show American Hostage. And I composed a message to a friend about an event we’re attending this Thursday.
In each case, I purposely flubbed words, said “um” and “ah” a lot, citing incorrect information like dates and times, then correcting myself. For example, with the message about my son’s lunch, I mentioned he should take mini buns with peanut butter and jam, then corrected and said not to take peanut butter since the school is allergy-friendly. As you can see in the final note, peanut butter isn’t mentioned at all, as if I never said it. It’s a step up from traditional AI dictation and Gemini’s ability to adjust the tone of your message, allowing you to speak more freely while the phone cleans up your speech before it even transcribes it, not just adjusting the tone after.
Adjusting tone works well, too
Make it sound how you want
Speaking of tone, once you have leveraged Rambler to turn your droning into something that sounds coherent, you can make further adjustments. For example, with my American Hostage notes, I asked it to make the text sound more critical, then more complementary, then more playful. You can see how this adjusts the perspective while still capturing the gist of what I said.
With the e-mail to my friend about the event, I asked Rambler to make the text more concise, more fun, then to condense it down to a single paragraph. It’s perfect if you want to send friends a quick message with details about a gathering, but you tend to lose your train of thought or speak freely with your thoughts ending up all over the place. You can dictate everything in point form, out of order, and have Rambler remove the extraneous information, re-order the thoughts, and make it sound better.
Let your stream of consciousness go
If you’re like me and tend to ramble on, go ahead and do it. Rambler is like a note-taking or message composing app that lets you speak as you do with natural hesitations, awkward pauses, mistakes, and random thoughts and cleans it up so you don’t have to edit after the fact. Gemini can already clean up text and adjust tone, but this feature does work in the background to provide much cleaner text from the get-go based on speech that isn’t articulated perfectly.
If you prefer to write more authentically and don’t even want to use Gemini to adjust your writing, Rambler is a good alternative, too. It doesn’t alter what you say, it simply eliminates parts of speech you don’t need. It’s still your dictation as you spoke it, without the rambles. Currently, Rambler is only enabled with the Pixel 11 series phones, so you won’t get it on the Pixel 10, which some still believe is the best Pixel phone. But it’s one of the most exciting features of these new models.
- Brand
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Google
- SoC
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Google Tensor G6
- Display
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6.3-inch Super Actua display
- RAM
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12 or 16GB
- Storage
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256GB, 512GB, or 1TB
- Battery
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4850 mAh
The Google Pixel 11 Pro has some neat new features you won’t get in older model devices, including the clever HiLight LED light to advise of messages and Gemini replies, and Rambler for cleaning up your rambling when sending messages, taking notes, and anywhere Gboard is used.
