Google’s Take a Message feature may soon expand to non-Pixel phones, 20+ new markets

The “Take a Message” feature on Pixels is Google’s modern take on voicemail. Take a Message answers missed calls for you, shows real-time transcriptions, and makes those transcripts easy to read after the fact on the Phone app’s Home page. It can also detect spam among messages left by missed or declined calls from non-contact numbers. It’s a fairly handy feature, but it remains underappreciated because it is exclusive to Pixels and restricted to certain regions. This could change soon, as we’ve uncovered evidence that Take a Message is gearing up for a massive expansion, potentially bringing the feature to non-Pixel smartphones and a host of new countries worldwide.

Currently, Take a Message is available on all Pixel 6 and above devices in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the UK, and the US. We’ve spotted clues in the Phone by Google app v221.0.909663815 that indicate the feature could expand to non-Google devices and to more regions.

To start, this “enabledBeeslyV2NonPixel” code snippet clearly suggests that the “Beesly” feature is being tested on non-Pixel devices:

Here, “Beesly” is the codename for the Take a Message feature. It’s not immediately clear which devices the feature will expand to. Given that the feature works as far back as the Pixel 6 series, it would be reasonable to presume it could expand to current-generation mid-range phones and previous-generation flagships.

There are other code bits that indicate which sub-features are available in which markets. Here are the snippets and the new markets in which the sub-feature could expand into:

• enableBeeslyV2AudioOnlyMarkets: This code snippet dictates the markets where the audio-only version of the Take a Message feature is available. The new markets this could expand to could include:
  • Europe: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovakia.
  • Americas: Mexico.
  • Asia: Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan.
• enableBeeslyV2TranscriptMarkets: This code snippet dictates the markets where both the audio and transcript features are available. The new markets this could expand to could include Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and Japan.
• enableBeeslyV2InMarket: This code snippet specifically controls the feature for India.

We haven’t been able to get Take a Message working on non-Pixels or on Pixels outside the supported regions just yet. We’ll keep you updated when we learn more.