Google Experimenting Always On Display Feature For Pixel, Pixel XL

The Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are very formidable flagship devices, but Google has never taken full advantage of their AMOLED display. Now, it looks like the company is planning on changing that by adding support for an Always On Ambient Display.

The folks over at XDA Developers have discovered evidence of an Always On feature inside the system UI APK file for the third developer preview of Android O. Lines of code appears to be showing something that’s called “Doze,” which might be Google’s internal codename for the Ambient Display feature.

This shouldn’t be confused with the battery saving feature that bears the same name and was first introduced by Google through Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The code suggests that the Always On Ambient Display can be toggled on and off on the Pixel phones. This of course would only be functional once Google officially rolls out the Android O update.

READ: Samsung Android O Update: Galaxy S8 And Other Devices Expected To Receive New 8.0 Software

An important thing to note here is that the new Always On feature is found within “tuner_pref.xml.” This means that it is still an experimental feature that’s hidden inside the Pixel and Pixel Xl’s settings, as pointed out by Android Authority.

XDA Developers actually tried to enable the Always On feature to see if its already functional. Unfortunately, it was simply not accessible. It’s possible that the experimental nature of the feature itself is preventing people from trying it out.

Since it’s an experimental feature for now, Google could keep it hidden away or even have it completely removed altogether. It might not even be part of the final version of Android O. Google could have the Always On Ambient Display feature removed on Android O, and just make the feature available on a different version of Android OS.

There’s no way of telling what Google will do with it at this point, so it’s best to just wait for an official announcement. It’s also good to know that Google is at least experimenting with it and could one day be a staple to the company’s line of devices.

READ: Google Updates Chrome For Android O With Picture-In-Picture Support

That being said, Google could possibly make this one of the new headline features for its Pixel and Pixel XL phones when it launches Android O. It would keep current users happy with their almost year-old devices.

This would also be great news for those who were disappointed that the Pixel and Pixel XL didn’t come with the Always On Ambient Display feature. The introduction of the feature might also finally convince some people to finally buy a Pixel phone, but that’s just unlikely at this point since everyone’s already talking about the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL.

Always On Ambient Displays aren’t really new. Samsung and LG made the technology popular with their own smartphones, but Nokia actually did it first with its Lumia line of smartphones years ago. Also, the first manufacturer to put this kind of feature on an Android device was actually Motorola with its 2013 Moto X. At the time, the feature was called Active Display for notifications.