Skip to main content

Google’s At a Glance widget for Pixel 6 series is on the cusp of a big update

It has almost become a custom for Google to debut several exclusive features every time it announces new Pixel smartphones. This year, for example, we saw the company revamp the popular At a Glance option with a host of new feature additions, some of which are already live on the Pixel 6 series. Now, it seems there are more features on the way.

The usually trustworthy folks at 9to5Google recently performed an APK teardown of the beta version of the Android System Intelligence app for the Pixel 6 series. After closely examining the various lines of code within the APK, they were able to deduce that Google intends to soon enhance the At a Glance feature with several new capabilities.

Pixel 6 quick access options.
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The likely additions to At a Glance include a new At a Store option that displays your shopping lists and Google Play reward cards. Interestingly, this only happens when the phone detects that you’re inside a supported store. There is also the Doorbell option, which will let you quickly check who’s at the door after your doorbell rings. Google is also likely to include a Connected Devices feature that will let you continuously monitor connection status and battery information of all connected Bluetooth devices in one place.

For fitness enthusiasts who can’t be bothered to open their fitness app every time they want to take a quick look at their stats, the upcoming Fitness at a Glance feature will display all the info you need on the At a Glance widget when required. A feature that we particularly like is simply called Flashlight, and its sole purpose is to remind you that your flashlight is left on.

While Google may have originally intended to launch all features of At a Glance alongside the Pixel 6 series back in October, we now know things didn’t exactly go as planned. This could mainly be because the app itself wasn’t completely ready and was riddled with bugs. It is also unclear if the updated At a Glance features will officially make it to older Pixel devices from the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4 series.

Editors' Recommendations

Rahul Srinivas
Rahul is a smartphone buff turned tech journalist who has been tinkering with all things mobile since the early 2000s. He has…
The Google Pixel Fold 2 could get a massive display upgrade
A game running on the Google Pixel Fold's open screen.

It seems Google’s next foldable phone will go big — quite literally. According to Ross Young of DSCC (which is now a part of industry analysis heavyweight Countepoint Research), the screen size of the Pixel Fold 2 will be bigger than what other leaks have suggested.

When the first set of Pixel Fold 2 leaks came out with alleged renders, they predicted a 7.9-inch inner foldable screen. Young writes in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the inner flexible panel measures 8.02 inches, which is a major bump compared to the 7.6-inch OLED panel on the first-gen Google Pixel Fold.

Read more
A big Google Pixel 9 feature just leaked, and it sounds impressive
Holding the Google Pixel 8 Pro in front of a bush.

Google introduced a “screen protector detector” service with the launch of Google Pixel 8 last year. It detects when you take a screen protector on or off to adjust the display's touch sensitivity. Google now seems to be building upon that and is aiming to release a new feature called “Adaptive Touch” with the next Pixel.

According to a report from Android Authority, Google is preparing to add this Adaptive Touch feature on the Google Pixel 9. In his teardown of Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1, Mishaal Rahman found the option under Settings > Display > Touch sensitivity. It is said to “automatically adjust to your environment, activities, and screen protector.”

Read more
The Google Pixel Watch 3 could steal this Apple Watch feature
A person sitting down and wearing the Google Pixel Watch 2.

Google is readying an upgraded wireless connectivity suite for its upcoming smartwatch that improves location tracking accuracy and helps with remote device unlock. The folks over at 9to5Google took a peek at the code of the latest Play Services app update and found mention of ultra-wideband (UWB) for device unlock.

The Google Pixel Watch 2 already offers a device unlock feature that keeps your smartphone unlocked as long as it is close to your smartwatch. Built atop Bluetooth-based proximity sensing, this system creates a “trusted device” pair, which essentially tells your phone that you are nearby (courtesy of the watch on your wrist) and keeps it in an unlocked state.

Read more