Pixel ‘At a Glance’ widget may be getting a sports enhancement

If you are a sports fan, we have some good news for you! It looks like Google is getting ready to bring live sports scores right to your Pixel’s At a Glance widget. 9to5 Google dove deep into the latest Android System Intelligence APK (the same one that teased the enhanced ‘Now Playing’ features) and unearthed some pretty interesting clues that point to an exciting new feature that may showcase scores from your favorite teams.

For those unfamiliar, whenever Google updates an app on the Play Store, the APK can be decompiled to see the actual code hidden inside. Often, these lines of code hint at upcoming features that Google might be cooking up. It’s good to remember that these are just hints, and sometimes prospective features get scrapped before they ever see the light of day. Many times, however, they do end up surfacing in the apps where they are found.

Game On: Sports Scores at a Glance

Now, on to what was found. In the APK’s code there are a few lines that clearly indicate Google’s plan to “Show sports updates” in the At a Glance widget. These updates seem to be pulled straight from the Google app, which already has a built-in feature for delivering timely sports notifications. But as nice as that is in the Google app or in Discover, having those scores front and center on your lock screen or home screen is way more helpful. Here’s a look at those particular lines:

<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>

You may also have noticed the term “gemini_space_sports_score” in the code, suggesting that At a Glance might soon be associated with Google’s Gemini AI instead of Google Assistant. Is this just a simple name change, or could we see some AI magic sprinkled into At a Glance? It’s unclear for now, but I’m all for a bit of Gemini to help round out the At a Glance experience, for sure.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this and will let you know as soon as we spot any updates. When this feature actually will roll out is anyone’s guess, but it would be a nice addition as we roll into the heart of the College Basketball season and as we inch closer to the playoffs in the NFL and College Football, too.