Swipe to the left of the home screen on a Pixel phone, and you'll see the Discover page, a collection of news articles and updates tailored to fit your interests. During my time using the Pixel, I was pleasantly suprised at how accurate and specific Google's choices were.
The feed included a mix of everything from technology news about the companies and products I follow the most, to updates on my favorite video games and movies, to local news about my neighborhood. Of course, you can tell Google what kinds of updates you'd like to see in Discover, which helps it surface more accurate results.
Plus, the company has the benefit of leveraging the data stored in your Google account to help it pick personalized content.
Because of all of this, I found myself adding Google's Discover feed to the list of apps and services I check first thing when reaching for my phone in the morning.
Google's Discover is also available on the iPhone and other Android devices through the company's main search app. But having it built into the operating system on the Pixel puts it front and center, making it much more useful.
The iPhone has a somewhat comparable offering — when swiping to the left of the home screen you'll find a customizable stream of widgets that includes your next calendar appointment, suggested apps, news stories, and other updates of your choosing.
While they're similar features, they served different purposes for me. I definitely spent much more time scrolling through Google's Discover panel to get up to speed on the topics I'm most interested in, whereas I'd sometimes glance at Apple's feed to see the weather or how long it would take to get home from work.