Legibility has been the Achilles’ heel of the Google Pixel Launcher’s At a Glance widget for years now. Plus, the Pixel Launcher never gave users the option to get rid of the widget.
Google solved the latter with Android 17’s first beta, and for me, Android 17’s latest Beta 2 seems to have finally put the legibility struggle to rest as well.
The development comes soon after the widget gained dedicated Finance and Sports categories.
Considering that more users are going to leverage the feature now because of the new categories, including soccer enthusiasts looking to track every FIFA World Cup game, it was only a matter of time before Google realized that a widget users can’t properly read is a widget they won’t use.
The At a Glance widget’s text already uses dynamic coloring. This means that against light wallpapers, it uses a darker text color, and on darker wallpapers, it flips to a lighter shade.
The problem mainly arises when you use “busy” or high-contrast wallpapers that have both dark and light colors around the string of At a Glance’s text.
The widget’s text would often disappear or be camouflaged within said wallpapers, forcing you to squint at the listed information.
Google reportedly rolled out a fix for the issue with Android 16 QPR3, though the change didn’t make it out widely.
That’s no longer the case with Android 17 Beta 2, which finally lets me toggle on a “high contrast background” for my At a Glance widget.
Here’s how you can enable high contrast mode on Android 17 Beta 2
When you enable high contrast mode, you’re free to use the wallpaper of your choice, regardless of how loud or contrasting it might be.
For users with visual impairments, this is a big change that makes the At a Glance widget a lot more useful.
Those who prefer the cleaner floating text look can leave their widget as is, while those that want a distraction-free home screen experience can get rid of the widget outright.
- Long tap the At a Glance widget on your Pixel’s home screen.
- Tap Settings.
- Toggle on High contrast background.
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Back out of the Settings menu, and you should see your At a Glance widget within a pill.
Follow the screenshots embedded above for visual cues.
If you’re looking to get rid of the At a Glance widget, you can:
- Long tap the At a Glance widget on your Pixel’s home screen.
- Tap Settings.
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Toggle off Use At a Glance and Show on home screen.
Contrast that doesn’t completely kill the view
Google is solving the legibility issue by giving the At a Glance widget its own contrasting pill background.
The translucent pill essentially creates contrast right behind the At a Glance widget’s text, allowing the text to pop, all while keeping the background wallpaper visible.
Regardless of your wallpaper’s color, the pill backdrop always retains a dark hue with white text on top.
