What you need to know
- Pixel phones feature an At a Glance widget that smartly shows the information you need, when you need it.
- Google appears to be working on a new At a Glance mode that will show live sports scores on your home screen.
- This functionality could give Pixels a competing feature to the iPhone's Dynamic Island, which can already be used to show live sports scores.
The At a Glance widget is a staple of Google Pixel home screens, even if it's now removable. That's because it's a fairly unobtrusive, but useful widget. It smartly switches what information is displayed on your screen based on your habits, the time of day, and the status of your smart home devices. However, the At a Glance home screen widget could be gaining the ability to show sports scores, according to an APK teardown from 9to5Google.
The folks over at 9to5Google unpacked version 13 of Android System Intelligence, the app that handles a ton of your phone's smart features, including At a Glance. In it, the team found a handful of code strings indicating that the widget could one day "show sports updates" on Pixel home and lock screens. Here's the full section of code relating to sports cores in At a Glance:
<string name=”echo_smartspace_pref_sports_key”>gemini_space_sports_score</string>
<string name=”echo_smartspace_sports_toggle_subtitle”>Show sports updates from %1$s. These might affect battery life.</string>
<string name=”echo_smartspace_sports_toggle_title”>Sports</string>
<string name=”echo_smartspace_sports_toggle_subtitle_provider_name”>Google</string>As spotted by 9to5Google, the code strings reference Gemini rather than Google Assistant. This could be a precursor to Google shifting the At a Glance widget to become part of the Gemini suite. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise, since Google is clearly shifting away from Google Assistant and toward Gemini. Additionally, it's possible that Gemini could factor in some other way, like providing summaries of big plays or game recaps.
The potential addition of sports scores to the Add a Glance widget could be a big win for Android, and more specifically, Pixel. Apple has been pushing into the sports industry aggressively of late, buying the media rights to Major League Soccer games, debuting an Apple Sports app, and showing live scores through the Dynamic Island on iPhone. By including sports scores in At a Glance, Google could help Pixels become one step closer to matching the iPhone's live sports capabilities.
However, it's important to note that this feature is clearly still in development and may never ship. If it does debut on Pixel phones, it could be a top feature for sports fans.
