Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android 17 Beta 4 internally references an in-development notification tool called Pixel Glow.
- Pixel Glow uses “subtle light and color” when your phone is face down to let you know what’s going on.
- Demands for hardware lights may mean Google adds RGB LEDs to its upcoming Pixel devices.
Android 17 Beta 4 just landed, bringing us closer than ever to Google’s upcoming stable release. At this late stage, we don’t see Google making a ton of user-friendly changes — but that doesn’t mean progress isn’t happening quickly under the hood. As we delve deeper into the new build, we were able to uncover a little secret that might just hint at a major hardware change. Pixel 11 series.
Back in Android 17 Beta 2we first defined the development effort for a feature for “Light animations”. At the time, we weren’t too sure what Google was doing here, and we didn’t have many details beyond a reference to something called “Orbit,” which seemed like a possible codename. But now in Beta 4, the picture is finally starting to come together.
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For starters, we find a new name attached to it. Instead of “light animations,” that’s what Google calls it now Pixel Glow. But more than just getting that new name, we’re also seeing some text (no pun intended) that begins to clarify exactly what this feature does. First we have this screen:
AssembleDebug / Android Authority
Let that sink in for a second: We’re talking about something that uses colored lights on the back of your phone, and its Pixel branding.
Google gave us Flash Notifications Back in Android 14, using your screen or camera LED to notify you of incoming calls. As you can see here, Pixel Glow will be available as a sort of alternate version of it – though it’s not thought to be fully usable.
Code
Whether subtle lights should be shown when the user's favourite contracts call them (when the Pixel Glow feature is enabled)
Subtle lights when your favorite contacts call you
Calls from favorites
Hands-free interactions using visual feedback
Whether subtle lights should be shown when interacting with Gemini (when the Pixel Glow feature is enabled)
Speaking with Gemini
Allows the user to configure the Pixel Glow feature which uses subtle light and color to inform the user while the device is face down
Use subtle light and color to stay informed when your device is face down
Whether the Pixel Glow feature is enabled. This feature uses subtle light and color to inform the user while the device is face down
Use Pixel Glow
Pixel Glow, lights, effects, glow, notifications, calls, alerts, favorite contacts These lines establish that Gemini will play an important role in Pixel Glow, which certainly matches the rainbow glow that Google emphasizes when it comes to Gemini.
But how exactly will this work? Of course, Google continues to dwell on “slim” in this text, but the Pixel 11 will indeed have some kind of feature gaming phone type RGB lights? Well, here’s another line of text for you:
Code
"The device must have hardware lights."We’re pretty sure we didn’t see any obvious backlighting on the camera (beyond the camera flash). Pixel 11 shows has been published, but it’s entirely possible that these CAD-based renders won’t reveal a new component like this – especially if it’s hidden somewhere on the camera stick.
This is where we are for now – we got it some of them answers, of course, but they only raised a bunch of new, more interesting questions. That doesn’t leave us with much choice but to keep searching. Thankfully, this is what we do best, so we’ll keep it up and share future updates with you.
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