With the Pixel 6, Google announced a big upgrade for At a Glance that it’s been teasing since the Material You reel shared at I/O in May. At a Glance is now set to get even more features that justify the new design that spans the entire width of the Pixel Launcher.
About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.
An update (version S9 -> S10) to the Android System Intelligence app (previously called Device Personalization Services) for the Pixel 6 reveals a slew of strings describing new “smartspace” – which is how the Google app refers to At a Glance – capabilities.
This includes features already live for the Pixel 6 and other Pixel phones on Android 12:
- Commute & Time to Leave: See traffic and ETA
- Weather: Current weather info
- Alerts: Severe weather alerts
- Travel: Flights from Gmail
- Upcoming: Calendar events and reminders
- Work Profile: Calendar events and reminders from work profile
ASI looks to be replicating the At a Glance settings page found in Pixel Launcher settings today.
<string name=”echo_smartspace_bc_page_desc”>Your Assistant shows you what you need, right when you need it, on your home screen and lock screen.</string>
However, the big development is the introduction of a number of other capabilities:
- At a store: Shopping lists and Google Pay rewards cards when you’re in supported stores
- Bedtime: Your upcoming bedtime from the Clock app
- Connected devices: Connection status and battery info for your Bluetooth devices
- Doorbell: Show who’s at the door when your doorbell rings
- Fitness: Activity info from your fitness app
- Flashlight: Reminder when flashlight is on
- Safety check: Safety check countdown from the Personal Safety app
- Timer & stopwatch: Timer and stopwatch info from the Clock app
We previously saw “At a store” in the Material You teaser reel, while “Timer & stopwatch” has been live since the Android 12 Beta period. The big addition is the ability to see the battery life of your connected Bluetooth devices, while integration with Nest Doorbells could result in a prominent shortcut on your homescreen to the live feed or even just list names directly.
Google is letting more apps integrate with At a Glance, including Personal Safety and Google Clock, while the Pixel 6 teased the ability to see fitness activity, e.g. current workout stats. Lastly, the reminder that your flashlight is still on will be remarkably convenient.
So far, we’ve only seen signs of this upgrade on the Pixel 6. It could very well arrive on other Pixel phones via new ASI releases. Google is likely moving At a Glance to the Android System Intelligence app for faster updates, while it thematically makes sense to have these upcoming smart features located alongside Now Playing and Live Translate.
None of these features are live yet, and it’s unclear when they will be widely available or if Google will limit initial availability to the Pixel 6.
Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.
Dylan Roussel contributed to this article
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