Someone already figured out how to fully control Pixel 11 Pro’s ‘HiLight’ and make it useful [Gallery]

Developer @Dhananjay_Tech has released 'HiLight Studio,' an app that gives Pixel 11 Pro users full control over the device's RGB 'HiLight' LED, enabling custom notification patterns, per-app colors, and always-on modes, despite Google's restriction of the feature to call notifications and Gemini status. The app requires sideloading from GitHub and setup via Shizuku and ADB, and must be reactivated after each reboot. This workaround, highlighted by David Imel of The Verge, demonstrates demand for broader HiLight functionality on Google's Pixel 11 Pro.

“HiLight” is one of the biggest hardware features on Google’s Pixel 11 Pro devices, but it’s also one that the company hindered by heavily limited what you can do with it. Android being Android, someone already figured out how to hijack “HiLight” and make the Pixel 11 Pro’s RGB light a lot more useful. Highlighted by David Imel https://x.com/Davidimel/status/2090430087459991714 currently working with The Verge , @Dhananjay Tech already figured out how to control the Pixel 11 Pro’s “HiLight” LED, even though Google explicitly said it wouldn’t open the feature to third-party developers. “HiLight Studio” is the result, an app that gives users full control of the Pixel 11 Pro’s light to do basically anything. Where Google solely supports call notifications and a status light for Gemini, this app lets you use it as a notification LED with patterns, custom color choices, and more. It’s customizable on a per-app basis with granular settings beyond that. You can also build and export presets to share with other users. You can also just have “HiLight” active all of the time if you want. It’s almost exactly what we wanted from this feature. The downside? Setup is very complex. You’ll need to sideload the app from Github, then use Shizuku and ADB sideloading from a computer to finalize the install. Even once installed and active, you’ll need to reactivate the app every time the phone is rebooted. Google didn’t exactly make “HiLight” easy to control – shocker. It’s still wild to see that someone figured out how to do this on day one , and it just opens up hope that Google might make this all possible directly through the software someday. But, seeing as this is sideloaded and using advanced permissions, install at your own risk. More on HiLight: Pixel 11 Pro Initial Review: Gemini Intelligence is the highlight, not HiLight https://9to5google.com/2026/08/19/pixel-11-pro-initial-review/ HiLight on the Pixel 11 Pro offers just two features at launch, more coming soon https://9to5google.com/2026/08/12/pixel-11-pro-hilight/ Pixel 11 Pro’s ‘HiLight’ is another half-baked feature burdened by bad first impressions https://9to5google.com/2026/08/16/google-pixel-11-hilight/ Follow Ben: Twitter/X https://twitter.com/NexusBen , Threads https://www.threads.net/@nexusben , Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/nexusben.com , and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nexusben FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. https://9to5mac.com/about/ affiliate our homepage http://9to5google.com/ for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on exclusive stories https://9to5google.com/feature/exclusive/ , reviews https://9to5google.com/guides/reviews/ , how-tos https://9to5google.com/guides/how-to/ , and subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/9to5google