Google Assistant Ambient Mode Starts Rolling Out, Letting Your Android Device Show a Helpful Visual Overview

Google initially announced Ambient Mode in September, and at the time had revealed a limited number of devices it was rolling out on.

By Gadgets 360 Staff With Inputs From IANS | Updated: 27 November 2019 19:12 IST

Google Assistant Ambient Mode Starts Rolling Out, Letting Your Android Device Show a Helpful Visual Overview

Photo Credit: YouTube/ Android

Google Assistant has scored a new Ambient Mode that helps surface information

Highlights

Google Assistant has gained a useful new feature that will help users
The Ambient Mode for Google Assistant was announced back in September
Devices running Android 8.0 Marshmallow or higher will get the feature

Google has begun rolling out its Ambient Mode for Assistant -- which turns an Android device into a smart display while it's charging. The company says it will launch soon, beginning with a number of select devices that run Android 8.0 operating system (OS) or above. The company made the announcements in two separate tweets on its Google Photos and Android Twitter handles. The Ambient Mode for Assistant feature is limited to Android devices.

The tech giant had initially announced the Ambient Mode in September and said was coming to the Lenovo Smart Tab M8 HD and Smart Tab tablets, the Nokia 7.2 and 6.2 smartphones. The Ambient Mode in Google Assistant essentially offers a new visual overview that makes it easier to see notifications and reminders, start a playlist and control smart home devices on the lock screen of your device. When on standby, the screen will turn into a personal digital photo frame linked to your Google Photos account. As we mentioned, the feature was announced to be rolling out by the Google Photos Twitter handle, as well as the Android Twitter handle.

"The new ambient mode shows a quick greeting message at the top, followed by your calendar, weather, upcoming flights, and notifications. Below that is a quick settings section that shows things like a do-not-disturb toggle and smart home controls for lights and thermostats. There's also a photo frame mode. It looks like a handy screen that could pop up when you're just charging your phone before bed," ArsTechnica reported on Tuesday.

The Ambient Mode is reportedly going to be rolled out for Sony, Transsion and Xiaomi smartphones too. Surprisingly, Google's own Pixels line up of smartphones are not on the company's list yet, the report notes.

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