Pixel Watch 5's At a Glance is more convenient than ever

At a Glance is getting an upgrade on the new Pixel Watch 5. While previous Pixel Watch models have offered an At a Glance watch face complication, the new generation Google finally unveiled today can surface relevant, glanceable info on your watch’s home screen regardless of which watch face you’ve chosen or which complications you’ve added.

The new wearable version of At a Glance shows up at the bottom of the Pixel Watch 5’s display, in the same spot you’d see indicators for things like unread notifications or ongoing exercise tracking. What pops up there and when is situational, and Google says it can be as specific and real-time as a countdown of stops left on your public transit route until you need to get off.

At a Glance shows up as a small indicator in a curved pill shape, following the contour of the bottom edge of the Pixel Watch 5’s display. It’ll show a small snippet of information on your watch’s home screen — for example, which gate your upcoming flight is departing from — along with an icon for the app that information is coming from.

You can tap At a Glance to expand it to show more information, and Google says you’ll also be able to open it with a hands-free wrist gesture. Swiping right on the screen that appears when you tap the At a Glance widget collapses the info back into its compact form.

It seems like a neat addition that should be more helpful than the existing At a Glance complication, with the added bonus of no longer occupying a complication slot on your watch face. The updated At a Glance will be exclusive to Pixel Watch 5 at launch; we don’t know if or when it’ll make its way to older models.

The Pixel Watch 5 is available for pre-order starting today. The 41mm model costs $399; the 45mm goes for $429. General availability starts August 20.