Google Pixel 'At a Glance' widget train information feature availability expanding globally

The Google Pixel ‘At a Glance’ widget is becoming even more useful in more regions thanks to the expanded availability of the ‘train information’ feature, something that until now was present in a few markets.

‘At a Glance’ widget was designed to offer useful information for your daily life on your home screen, using information obtained from your Google Services accounts. For example, it can offer you updates on the tracking status of a purchase or reminders for incoming flights.

The widget is also capable of offering alerts on booked train journeys, but this feature seemed to be limited in scope. However, it seems that the Google Pixel ‘At a Glance’ widget is now capable of displaying your train reservation information in more countries.

More specifically, the Android Police team detected the availability of the feature in Germany for a reservation made through Deutsche Bahn. As with the ‘At a Glance’ widget alerts for other situations, the train reservation information is obtained from Gmail.

According to the report, the widget now shows in Germany train information such as the time of the booked trip, departure and arrival station platforms, among others. But, since the data is obtained from the reservation email, it is possible that the alerts displayed in the widget vary between different train operators.

Also, it is possible that the widget supporting train travel information may also depend on the train operator adapting their email formats to an ‘At a Glance’ friendly one. In fact, the report indicates that the widget began offering train information after Deutsche Bahn updated the format of its travel booking emails, now including all key details in the email body instead of in a PDF file.

The expansion of the feature could also be a part of the improvements Google is working on for the ‘At a Glance’ widget, such as the ability to change its positioning on the home screen and even hide it completely on your Google Pixel phone. These improvements could arrive in the next Pixel Feature Drop which should arrive in March 2024.

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