Apps need to access certain data in order to provide you with relevant info, and there’s usually nothing sinister about it. Trouble is, it’s gotten to the point where most of us treat permission prompts like a terms of service popup — we blindly tap “Yes” and move on. Thankfully, Google’s Pixel Launcher looks to be adding a privacy option that lets us see exactly what data is being used by the At a Glance widget, which should come in handy as the service continues to add new features that pull data from various sources likeridesharinganddelivery apps.
Pixel Launcher’s upcomingWhy you’re seeing thisfeature is designed to give users clarity about the source of any information provided by At a Glance.As spotted by Nail Sadykov, editor of the Google News Telegram channel, users can reveal details about the apps being used within the widget with a long press. After long-pressing the widget, a context menu will pop up with theWhy you’re seeing thisoption. After selecting this, the user will be given a list of apps being used to populate the data shown in the Smartspace widget.
Google has been testing a lot of features for At a Glance lately, includinga new style optionthat may allow users to personalize the widget. As users add more apps to customize the widget, such as the aforementioned rideshare information,flashlight status, and minidoorbell video feeds, that list will grow. Naturally, this will make it harder to remember what permissions the app has. By default, it has access to your calendar and location to show you the time, date, and weather.
There are two versions of At a Glance: the “Smartspace” iteration embedded into the Pixel Launcher, and the widget form available through the Google app on any Android phone. This new feature may only work for the Smartspace version, since widgets don’t get a popup when long-pressed on most launchers. Nonetheless, Google could find a way to implement its functionality in the widget version of At a Glance once this feature starts rolling out.
