One of the best Google Pixel features could be coming to all Android phones

Google Pixel 7 Pro display view
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Android phones could be due for a pre-Android 14 treat in the form of an updated Assistant At a Glance widget design, according to developer findings.

If you're not already familiar with At a Glance, it's a Pixel-specific widget that pulls information from your calendar, emails, the Weather app and more to give you a quick way of checking what's going on in the world from your home screen or always-on display.

The new version of the widget debuted with the Google Pixel 6 series, and has since appeared on newer models like the Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 7a

A screencap of the redesigned At a Glance Widget

(Image credit: AssembleDebug)

Meanwhile on other Android phones, you can get the previous version of this widget via the Google app as the Assistant At a Glance widget. It looks rather-old-fashioned compared to what the Pixels get, and doesn't pull in data from other apps as effectively, but fortunately Google's apparently been working on updating it.

The new look 

The refreshed design was apparently first spotted by Nail Saykov, but we can see more in a new screen capture from AssembleDebug. The new version of the widget does much the same job as the old widget, but now it's arranged in a pill that takes up to two lines of your home screen (the Pixel's only requires one) and always displays the weather in a little bubble. Hopefully it'll be better at floating timely information from your other apps too, something that the demonstration's amusingly-titled test event seems to show.

In true Material You style, the widget appears to adjust its colors to match your phone's wallpaper, including transitions to Light Mode or Dark Mode when needed. Plus, you're able to select solid, transparent or outline designs for the pill depending on what looks best to you.

There's no sign of a specific release date for the updated Assistant At a Glance widget, but it looks close to done in AssembleDebug's screen recording, so hopefully we'll get an official announcement from Google in the near future.

Android 14, the next big update to Android, is slated for stable launch this fall, and could feasibly include this as part of its big list of changes. Considering it's tied only to the Google app though, it also feels possible that Google will introduce the new widget design as part of a standard app update whenever it's happy with the rework. 

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Richard Priday
Assistant Phones Editor

Richard is based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, tablets, gaming, and whatever else people need advice on. Following on from his MA in Magazine Journalism at the University of Sheffield, he's also written for WIRED U.K., The Register and Creative Bloq. When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee.

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