Nest Doorbell alerts are now rolling out to Pixel’s At a Glance widget
This feature actually follows the addition of a flashlight, which started rolling out last week. What we’re waiting for at this point are the Air Quality warnings that are also expected to arrive. Do note that some users already had Nest Doorbell alerts, since April. Google did test out the feature, but it did not roll it out widely. Now it’s rolling out to all Pixel users who received the latest Pixel Feature Drop update. In fact, both Android 12 and Android 13 Pixel units will get it. How does this work? Well, when somebody rings your Nest Doorbell, you’ll get to see a portrait camera preview inside your Pixel At a Glance widget. It will be a rather tiny preview, but it’ll be there, just enough for you to see who it is. Do note that you’ll be able to see this on both your home screen and lock screen. If you opt to tap on that preview, your Google Home or Nest app will open, depending on what you use.
The option is visible even if you don’t own a Nest Doorbell
Another thing to note is that you’ll see this option in the At a Glance settings even if you don’t own a Nest Doorbell. In fact, it will be turned on by default, as you can see in the image provided below. The setting itself is called simply ‘Doorbell’.
You can, of course, disable it, though if you don’t use a Nest Doorbell, this won’t really affect you in any way. Pixel’s At a Glance widget is getting more and more useful, and Google obviously wants you to use it, as it doesn’t allow you to remove it from the Pixel Launcher’s home screen.
