GoKawiilRita El Khoury / Android Authority
At a Glance is one of the most awesome features of a Pixel phone, and I’m not alone in thinking this. When I told you a couple of weeks ago that I was falling in love with the widget again, thanks to its recent updates, many of you replied and said that you liked it, too. The poll results were also very positive about At a Glance, making me wonder: Is it just a minority of users who are always vocal about wanting it gone from their home screen? Are they wrong?
1 in 2 Pixel users love At a Glance Every time an Android Authority writer mentions the Pixel Launcher in a post, the comments are flooded with people complaining about how they want to remove At a Glance and the Google Search widget, and how they’ve switched launchers to avoid these eyesores. The same happens on Reddit and other enthusiast forums and sites. I never really understood the hate, but to each their own, I guess.
53% love At a Glance and only 15% don't like it. That says a lot.
I was still curious, though: Is this a vocal, annoyed minority, or is there really that much dislike for At a Glance? Is Google stubbornly keeping a mandatory widget on everyone’s home screen despite it being hated by so many people? So I asked you, our Android Authority readers, to tell us what you think of At a Glance. After nearly 2,500 votes, the numbers speak for themselves. Over 53% said that they love At A Glance, while only 15% said they don’t like it. Of those, only 5% have gone through the trouble of switching launchers to avoid the widget. The rest are in the middle, with 22% saying they find At a Glance useful in certain situations and 9% voting that they could take it or leave it.
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority Screenshot
I didn’t expect these numbers, but, in retrospect, they make so much sense. Only a small fraction is annoyed by At a Glance, but most people are silent fans of the feature. And they’re right for loving it: It’s easily one of the best Pixel features and, in my opinion, the best Android widget out there.
At a Glance is the best Android widget for your home screen
There’s nothing like At a Glance out there for Android. If you use your calendar, follow sports, set timers, listen to music on earbuds, live anywhere with random weather changes, or simply just turn on your phone’s flashlight, then At a Glance instantly becomes crucial to your phone. I can’t tell you how many times I inadvertently turned on my phone’s flashlight and only noticed it because At a Glance warned me. Or how much I love the fact that I can see my Pixel Buds’ battery status without dedicating a huge widget on my home screen that stays there, even when my buds aren’t connected.
My favorite new feature is sports scores and warnings about upcoming games. For example, I had assumed that Barcelona would be playing Newcastle at 9:00 PM, but At a Glance just told me this is the early UCL game of the day and it’s starting at 6:45 PM. I’d have missed the entire game if I didn’t see this. At a Glance is also indispensable if you travel. It has warned me a few times about last-minute gate changes, notified me of the baggage carousel before I reached it, and kept me on top of check-in and boarding times. It’s so helpful that I could ditch all other widgets, but not At a Glance.
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