Skip to main content

At a Glance on Pixel prepares to show timers from Nest Hub and Assistant speakers

Last month, Google updated At a Glance with flashlight reminders and Nest Doorbell alerts. The Pixel At a Glance widget could soon get a “Cross Device Timer” capability that integrates with Google Home.

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 case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.


At a Glance today shows you “timer and stopwatch info from the Clock app.” At the top-left corner of the lock and homescreen, there’s a live countdown that simply opens the application when tapped. 

Google app 13.26, which is currently in the beta channel, adds a new At a Glance feature:

<string name=”ambient_settings_cross_device_timer_toggle_title”>Cross Device Timer</string> 

<string name=”ambient_settings_cross_device_timer_toggle_subtitle”>Timer info from your home devices</string>

“Timer info” is somewhat vague and is presumably just referring to the countdown, but where they originate from — “your home devices” — is pretty clear from the string. This feature looks to show any timer set on your Smart Displays and speakers in At a Glance on Pixel phones.

It’s unclear whether you’ll be able to dismiss them from your phone or whether the widget will note the specific device responsible. Meanwhile, it will be accompanied by the following icon in the settings list.

One long-standing complaint of timers on Smart Displays/speakers is how they don’t sync across Assistant devices and remain siloed. (The one workaround is going into the Google Home app > selecting a device > Settings > Audio > Alarms & timers.) This At a Glance integration is a step toward making everything less isolated.

We set several timers this morning, but Cross Device Timer is not yet live in At a Glance or its settings. Google is also working on “Grocery deliveries and pickups” for At a Glance.

Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.

Dylan Roussel and Kyle Bradshaw contributed to this article.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Google — experts who break news about Google and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Google on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

Author

Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com

Manage push notifications

notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications
notification icon
We would like to show you notifications for the latest news and updates.
notification icon
You are subscribed to notifications