Google’s At a Glance widget will soon start showing you train alerts, like it’s supposed to

As reported by Android Police, train alerts are starting to show up in the At a Glance widget, suggesting a wider rollout is underway. This was spotted while a user booked a long-distance train trip through Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway operator. While At a Glance settings list trains under the “Travel” toggle, this feature hasn’t always translated to actual on-screen alerts.

However, the tides seem to be turning. The trigger for this change remains a bit of a mystery, since the user first booked through the Deutsche Bahn app, and Gmail picked up the details from the email confirmation, so it is unknown if the widget was picking up the information from the app or from Gmail. Interestingly, Deutsche Bahn recently revamped its email layout, presenting all trip info within the email body instead of the usual PDF attachment. This, along with a redesign of the operator’s confirmation email in Gmail, might have played a role in enabling train alerts.

Beyond displaying time and details, the new At a Glance widget also shows platform information for both departure and arrival stations, but its availability might depend on your chosen train operator. While Google’s At a Glance support page already mentions trains, hinting at platform, station name, status, and even seat information support, the limited regional rollout was a frustrating reality for many. This global expansion suggests Google has always yearned to offer comprehensive travel info, but individual train operators might have hindered progress.

More exciting developments are in store for the At a Glance widget. Soon, Pixel users will finally be able to move the widget around their home screen or even banish it altogether – a long-awaited feature slated for a future Android 14 QPR2 beta release, and one that yours truly can’t wait to try out.