Pixel’s At a Glance widget timers can now reach across your connected devices

The At-a-Glance widget on Pixel phones is part of what makes a Pixel, well, a Pixel. Not only is it part of the DNA and branding of the Pixel Launcher, but is also surprisingly helpful as it has become more proactive through the years. Recently, Google announced some quality-of-life improvements coming to the At-a-Glance widget, most of them powered by the smarts of the Google Assistant, in which you would be able to see at a glance when rain is expected to start, get notified when a package gets dropped off at your door, or simply be served flight and baggage information when traveling.

One other feature that had been previously teased, by way of an APK teardown completed by 9to5Google, is the ability for the widget to show you timer and stopwatch info from other connected devices, namely Smart Displays and speakers that are part of the Google ecosystem, like the Nest Hub and Assistant speakers. While this was discovered back in July, the feature had not been live on any production devices until now.

It now appears that Google has begun the rollout to a limited amount of users, some of which are reporting their findings and sharing screenshots like the ones you see above. Additionally, users are reporting that when a cross-device timer goes off, Google Assistant sends a message that lets the user stop the timer on that device or add an additional minute to it. The tipster also advised that this was found by accident when the timer showed up on the user’s Pixel 7 Pro within seconds of starting the timer on another device.

Neither myself nor the folks over at 9to5 were able to manually enable this extra toggle for cross-device timers, even though the Beta version of the Google app is the one installed. However, I expect this to roll out more widely sooner rather than later, perhaps when it’s time for the next Pixel feature drop. I, for one, am very excited about this new ability, as I can now easily start a timer on my Kitchen nest hub and walk away, and get the notification on my Pixel phone, or maybe even my watch, while I am multitasking.

Little details like these are part of the reason I stick with Pixels and the Google ecosystem. Though I wish there were more synergy between Google products, sometimes I feel that I have just enough that we can handle, and sometimes even too much, such as is the case with YouTube proper and YouTube Music right now, where playlists are shared. However, this is one integration that I am excited about and truly want to celebrate.