I Tried Motorola Next Move, And It’s Unlike Any Other AI Feature I’ve Used

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

I’ve never been great with on-device AI features. Sure, I have an apartment full of iPhones, Pixels, and Galaxy devices, each with a toolbox of helpful tricks, but that doesn’t mean I know how to use them all. It’s almost like I have so many options that it paralyzes me with indecision rather than making my life easier. So, when Motorola introduced Next Move as the Moto AI tool to steer me towards other AI tools, I figured it had to be worth adding just one more cook to the kitchen.

It turns out I was right.

Next Move? What about a first move?

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

Given my struggles with the ever-expanding world of AI features, I went into my time with Next Move cautiously. How cautiously? Well, I couldn’t find it at first or didn’t know what I was looking for, so I immediately raised alarm bells. I started asking for guidance to find my AI guidance before discovering that I’d been overthinking the entire adventure.

As it turns out, you don’t need to activate Motorola’s Next Move. It doesn’t appear in any settings menu because you don’t have to opt in or out of the feature — it’s just, well, there. Any time you open the Moto AI menu, Next Move kicks in automatically, adding tailored options to the end of Motorola’s go-to list, encouraging users to use the menu more often than not. For my Razr Ultra, that meant frequently pressing and holding the new AI Key, a much better implementation of Nothing’s Essential Key that sits opposite the power button and volume rockers.

If nothing else, Next Move has trained me to use Motorola’s AI Key early and often.

In a way, I think I understand exactly why Motorola set Next Move up this way. It threw me for a loop while trying to figure out when I was using it and when I wasn’t, but I think I prefer that to being forced into it with a heavy hand. After all, I could imagine that many people are in the same boat as I am, where they’re curious about using AI, but don’t necessarily want to give up control of their phone or jump into new features too quickly. So, Next Move started to feel like the natural halfway point.

And, now that I had my halfway point, it felt like time to start exploring. However, I still wasn’t entirely sure what Motorola’s Next Move suggestions would feel like. I didn’t know if they’d only kick in after using another AI feature — an actual next move, in that case — or if I could start from scratch. So, I did the only thing I could: I started pressing Motorola’s AI Key whenever I thought I’d generally do things by hand.

Slowly but surely, I’m warming up to Moto AI

Ryan Haines / Android Authority

As it turns out, saying yes to the AI Key (or the Moto AI menu in general) is all I needed to do. The more I triggered it, the more I noticed and used the Next Move recommendations. Were they all perfect? No, but neither is the state of on-device AI. I decided the best way to test out my AI tour guide was to go through as typical a day as possible, opting for Moto AI any time I’d normally do the work by hand.

In practice, that meant scrolling Instagram, checking the status of a few incoming packages, and doing some marathon research for the upcoming fall racing season. However, whenever I wanted to save something or add a date to a list, I pressed the AI Key instead of opening my Notes app or Google Calendar. Then, I waited to see what the Moto AI menu would have in store.

Sometimes, it offered helpful insights, like creating a running playlist with the Playlist Studio or saving the details of signing up for the Erie Marathon as a Remember This memory. I also appreciated that the Moto AI menu continued to give me deep research from Perplexity as an option, especially when I’d usually tumble right down a rabbit hole. I let Perplexity explain why Erie is a top Boston Marathon qualifier, where to stay in the area, and what I’d have to do to pick up my race packet, all from essentially pressing the AI Key and tapping the top option in Motorola’s menu.

Other times, though, it felt like Next Move was pushing AI features for the sake of it. Right behind suggesting Perplexity for research or a playlist for running, Next Move thought I might want a generated image of people running the Erie Marathon, wonky image artifacts and all — sorry, Motorola, but no thanks.

Sometimes, Next Move sticks the landing. Other times, I’m just not sure it knows what to do with Moto AI.

I’m still a little confused by Next Move’s other limitations, like recommending I try Catch Me Up even when I have no notifications waiting or offering to generate an image when editing a portrait in Google Photos, only to replace my friend with a generic white guy. I’d also like Next Move to steer me towards AI features beyond Motorola’s in-house options. Yes, Perplexity is still an option on the list, but only because it comes pre-installed on all new Razrs. I’m sure there are situations when a chat with Gemini Live makes the most sense or Copilot could keep me more productive, but they don’t seem to fit within Motorola’s Next Move umbrella.

Ultimately, though, Next Move has me further along with Moto AI than I’ve ever been. It’s helped me make sense of Motorola’s sudden leap into the AI race, and it’s done so in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming. Maybe it’s more of a first move than a next one, but it’s finally made AI feel approachable.