Google was developing a smarter, more contextually aware version of “At a Glance” for Android 11
Screenshots revealed a new “At a Glance” UI codenamed Smartspace that would be part of the lock screen and always-on display. Based on the images, it appears that users would first need to tap on a button to open the full-page “At a Glance” screen which would show more information than the “At a Glance” widget which remained in use with Android 11 and is still found on Android 12.
Screenshot showing Google’s work on the At a Glance feature for Android 11
Asking the user to expand “At a Glance” to full-screen could be a way for Google to save battery life on Android devices since keeping the feature open all day at the size seen in the screenshots would no doubt consume more power than Android users would like. And static images also raise the possibility of causing screen burn-in if displayed for a long time on an AMOLED display.
A button would display any virtual coupons that could be used and another button would bring up Google Pay for a quick check out.
Getting permission from so many third parties might have been too daunting a task for Google
And at the train and bus stations, “At a Glance” would show you upcoming modes of mass transit to your destination, possibly picked by Android based on how often you searched for information on a particular city. Any purchased tickets might have appeared along with a link to Google Maps.
Visiting the grocery store, commuting, and listening to entertainment would have been much easier to do
While this certainly would have expanded the capabilities of “At a Glance,” Google reportedly never took this past developing prototypes. Possibly the task of getting all of the third-party agreements that Google would need to pull this off might have been too daunting for the gang in Mountain View to attempt.
Thumbnail images from a Nest doorbell camera will eventually be shown on the “At a Glance” widget. So while Google is planning changes to the feature, for now at least, the smarter, more contextual version of “At a Glance” is no longer being considered by Google. We should point out that while Google might have intended this to be used on its Pixel handsets, the ultimate goal was to make it available to all Android phone manufacturers.
