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

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.