Teardowns of the last few Google app releases have revealed continued work on an ‘Ambient Mode’ for Google Assistant. However, we may now have our first look at the new feature.
So far, we’ve only been able to see the code related to Ambient Mode, but 9to5Google was able to get it running on one of its Pixel devices.
According to 9to5, the new Ambient Mode works like the existing Updates tab in Assistant, except displayed on the Pixel’s Always-on Display. Ambient Mode starts with the clock in the top left corner, weather in the top right, and a greeting below. The background appears to be a gradient that, according to 9to5, follows the time of day.
At the bottom of the display is the Assistant logo, which users can tap to activate Assistant. A “Hi, how can I help?” message slides up from the bottom along with the four Google-coloured dots that typically show up when speaking with Assistant.
9to5 notes that some parts of this interface are already live on the Pixel Launcher today.
However, there’s a second interface that, based on the black-on-black text, is still in development. This display features a widget to control the currently playing music. The widget can change depending on what you’re doing, with other cards including directions or commute details.
Below the widget is a scrollable list of Assistant suggestions that users can interact with. At the bottom is a link to “Change Ambient display settings.”
Despite this detailed look at the upcoming Ambient Mode, it’s still not entirely clear what it is. Ambient Mode could be an upgrade to the Pixel’s Always-on Display, or it could be an upgrade the Pixel Stand experience. However, it’d be nice to see those features expand to other devices and work with cables as well, instead of just Pixels and wireless charging stands.
Source: 9to5Google
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