Pixel Battery widget updated with compact sizes, and Wear OS now appears as ‘Other devices’

Abner Li | Jun 9 2022 - 1:27 pm PT

We spotted in Android 13 Beta 3 how the Pixel Battery widget can be resized into smaller sizes, but you don’t have to wait for a new operating system to benefit. A Settings Services update is rolling out on Android 12 along with a partial Wear OS appearance.

Version 1.1.0.452445739.sr of Settings Services is responsible for letting the Pixel’s Battery widget get much smaller. The previous compact configuration was 2×2 and it can now be as tiny as 2×1. Meanwhile, as we noted last night, there’s a 5×1 size that can show three items at once: phone, left earbud, and right earbud. At 4×1, Pixel Buds are combined with one percentage.

Meanwhile, the percentage bar now resizes to take up the available space. If there’s only one device, it will take up the entire rectangle. Users were previously left with a lot of empty space. Google also tweaked the icon used to represent Pixel Buds as seen below versus in the cover above. It’s somewhat more accurate now.

The other big part of this update is how there’s now an “Other devices” line item that serves as a count of connected Bluetooth hardware.

This includes Fitbit and Wear OS, but the battery level continues to not be reported by the Pixel Battery widget. A count is not overly useful, but it’s somewhat faster than using the Quick Settings tile. Tapping this item will open the Connected devices page in Settings.

Settings Services 1.1.0.452445739.sr is widely rolling out via the Play Store for Android 12 today and was part of the Android 13 Beta 3.