Here's how Hub Mode might work on the Pixel Tablet

The Google Pixel Tablet is set to launch later this year, and we’re all looking forward to it. So far, we know a little bit about how it’s going to look, but we don’t know too much about how it’s going to function. Well, thanks to a leak from 9To5Google, we know a little bit about the Hub Mode for the Pixel Tablet.

Rumor has it that there will be two docks available when the Pixel Tablet launches. One of them will only power the device while the other one will act as a speaker as well. Both of them will put the tablet into Hub Mode. This is when you’ll be using the tablet as a smart display.

Thanks to Snoopy Tech, we have some leaked images of the dock. We’re not sure which variant of the dock we’re seeing, but there’s a chance that it’s the one only for powering it. It looks just like what we’ve seen in the promotional images. It’s predominantly pill-shaped with a fabric material on the outside. On the front of the dock, we see the four connector pins that will hold the tablet.

On the back, we see the Google logo along with the power port. There’s also a Google logo on the bottom. If this model only powers the tablet, then the one with the built-in speaker might be a bit bigger. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Here’s how Hub Mode could look on the Pixel Tablet

This was discovered from an APK deep dive by 9T05Google, so you’ll want to take this with a grain of salt. There are some strings hidden in the Google Home app right now that hint at some of the possible functionality of the Hub Mode. For starters, one string states that when docked, the voice match feature will only apply to the admin. All of the other people will be treated as guests.

The other strings in the app read:

<string name=”tky_device_toggle_subtitle_filters”>On Pixel Tablets, filters only apply in Hub Mode. %1$s</string>

<string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_calls”>The calls setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string>
<string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_news”>The news setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string>
<string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_podcasts”>The podcasts setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string>
<string name=”tky_filters_subtitle_websites”>The websites setting doesn\u2019t apply to Pixel Tablets. %1$s</string>