Be careful not to shine it in anyone’s face
Every three months, Google releases a Feature Drop for its Pixels, a roundup of new tools and tricks that enhance how you use your phone every day. Often, these are so packed with changes, it’s easy to lose track of how they all work, forgetting that your Pixel has some neat capabilities it didn’t always have. It’s especially true for At a Glance, Google’s handy widget that, lately, has become essential for everything from showcasing the air quality to controlling your smart doorbell.
In June’s Pixel Feature Drop, Google announced a handful of new features, including friendly reminders to disable your flashlight if you forget to turn it off. As spotted by Esper.io’s Mishaal Rahman on Twitter, this update seemingly also paired your Pixel’s flashlight with the At a Glance widget, allowing you to turn it on in spaces where you’re unable to see.
According to Rahman’s tweets, he first noticed this in the back of a dark car in the early morning before demonstrating it hours later by holding his hand over the device to reduce ambient light. He’s using a Pixel 6 Pro running the latest Android 13 beta, and was unable to reproduce the same effect on a Pixel 6 Pro running Android 12L. It’s possible this feature requires Google’s upcoming software update to work. I’ve been unable to access this feature on a Pixel 6 running Android 12L and a Pixel 4a 5G running Android 13 Beta 4.1.
While some might see this as an easy way to illuminate dark spaces, it feels a little redundant, considering how easy enabling the flashlight is on Android. Personally, I’ve never found myself in a space where I wasn’t already aware of the need for a flashlight. Still, a friendly reminder never hurt anyone — as long as you don’t accidentally blind your partner in bed — and the ability to quickly turn on the tool right from the home screen is bound to be helpful.
