Remember when phones had little LED lights that blinked different colors to tell you what was happening? Green for a Facebook message, blue for a missed call, yellow for Snapchat - it was like a tiny, limited Morse code for your social life. Those days are back, sort of, thanks to the Google Pixel 11 Pro series and its new 'HiLight' feature.

The HiLight is a pulsing indicator that replaces the temperature sensor in the camera bump. It's designed to signal incoming alerts, but for now, it's only for phone calls and Gemini interactions. So, when someone calls or Gemini is listening, thinking, or responding, you'll see an aura of color. That's it. No green for Facebook, no blue for missed calls - just a subtle beacon that you'll have to train yourself to notice.

Google says HiLight is part of its digital well-being efforts, working with the 'Flip-to-shhh' gesture, and the colors are designed to be accessible even for color-blind users. But the big question is: will it do more? Google has a history of abandoning features, and it just killed the temperature sensor for this. So, we're not holding our breath.

Still, the potential is there. Integrations with Messages, general notifications, or calendar events would make sense and truly revive the old-school notification LED. Google says it's working on Messages integration, but hasn't confirmed anything else, like third-party apps. Nothing's Glyph interface did something similar, but its design is more polarizing. With the Pixel's popularity, Google might actually get developers on board. If not, well, we'll just have to keep staring at our phones to see if anyone's calling.