The first Pixel handsets to feature an Always-on display (AOD) were the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, which were released in 2017. As most of you know, the AOD shows you the time, date, battery status, and some other information even when the phone is asleep or locked. As helpful as an AOD display is to the smartphone user, it does have a major downside. An AOD display is likely to drain your phone's battery a little faster.
To avoid the battery drain, some phones allow you to set a schedule as to when the AOD feature will be turned on. This allows the user of the device to enjoy receiving information via the AOD at certain times, while the feature is disabled at other times when it's not needed thus giving the device a little extra battery life. Unfortunately, Pixel phones do not have this feature. But Google is reportedly working on a way to give Pixel users more control over their AOD.
Would you like to be able to turn off the AOD on your Pixel phone?
Yes. I'd like to preserve battery life on occasion.
66.67%
No. I always want AOD to be enabled.
33.33%
A new Android Canary build includes several interesting Pixel features. One is a redesigned slider for the Pixel flashlight. Code found inside the Settings app reveals a new option for Pixel users that allows them to turn off the Always-on display to save battery life when it doesn't detect any user activity. In case you were wondering, Android Canary is the most experimental and earliest channel for the release of features to the public.
The controls to enable or disable the Always-on display on the Pixel 6 Pro. | Image credit-PhoneArena
In other words, it replaces the "Developer Preview" as the first public step in the Android process. Android Authority discovered strings of code in Android Canary related to controls that can turn off the AOD when there is no user activity. One string confirms that the display is turned off when there is no activity detected. The second strong notes that the display is powered down when there is no user activity.
While you could disable the AOD display on your Pixel manually by going to Settings > Display & touch and toggling off Always-on-display, the code discovered by Android Authority would do this automatically when there is no sign of user activity on the phone.
The strings don't tell us when the user's Pixel is considered to be in an inactive state. Google could borrow Samsung's "Auto" AOD feature that turns off the AOD display when the device is in the user's pocket for a few minutes, or if the user is considered to be asleep. Considering Google's penchant for backporting features to older Pixel phones, perhaps this feature, when it does launch on the latest Pixel phones, will also be made available to older models, perhaps even my Pixel 6 Pro.
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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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