A major update is underway with third-party Nest Hubs and Google Assistant smart screens with lots of cool new features, many of which have been promised or teased / leaked for months. You can now (well, if the features have been extended to your unit) use your screen as a sunrise alarm, set the Google weather frog as wallpaper, leave sticky notes for your family and more.
Sunrise alarm and new alarm UI
A new alarm setup interface has appeared on smart screens. Instead of just asking Google to create an alarm, you can now customize everything on the screen, from the time it rings, to the tone it plays, the days it repeats, the dormancy period, and whether you morning routine should start after it is over.
In addition, there is a special new sunrise setting that allows you to slowly bring the screen to life in the morning to mimic the sun. You can choose how long the effect will last, the smart lights that should follow and slowly flare up along with the show, and whether a small tone should play before it starts.
The video below shows all these new settings when creating alarms.
Google Retriever
Until now, you could choose from three different environmental backgrounds for your display: Google Photos, Google’s composite artwork, and different full-screen clock designs. There’s now a fourth option: the Google Frog we all love on our phones.
A new map on your home screen should tell you about it, but you can also say ‘Hello Google, set up my photo frame’, or swipe down on the screen and go to Settings> Photo Frame. The reflector should be the fourth option there.
Instead of random photos or art photos, you now see a full screenshot with the weather frog chilling or freezing or having random fun over lush green hills and sandy beaches. It changes with the time of day, so you get a night scene after sunset and a brighter one during the day. The time and weather for the next two days are also displayed at the bottom left. This is your environmental impression and any notes, reminders, calendar events or other notifications will appear on the right.
Family tab and notes
Google has been teasing sticky notes on smart screens for a little over a year. The feature was introduced in a limited capacity for some users, but for most it was not available. Google reiterated its promise last November, announcing it as part of a new Family page. Now both of these units have started showing up.
On my Lenovo Smart Display, the new Family page is direct. It includes quick access to the Family Bells, family notes, Life360 tracking, and some fun questions and activities for kids. Household contacts, although a family-oriented feature, remain among the Communicate tab.
To add a new notebook, you can tap on the yellow card, but you can also activate it by saying “Hey Google, add a family note” from any screen or even when the screen is in surround mode . Make sure you mention it family there, otherwise Google will create a regular note that you will find in your linked note and listing service (like Keep of Any.do).
The sticker notes appear on the screen and the main screen for everyone to see, so no family member should miss it. But you may want to avoid sharing any secret messages there if you have guests. You also have access to delete all your family notes and those you have finished.
The new alarm interface along with sunrise alarms must be alive for most of you, but the other features seem to roll out as part of a change on the server side. For the record, I do not use any preview software on my Lenovo Smart Display, and my device is currently on software version 33.27.44.346118233 with Cast firmware version 1.52.239754. However, other Android police writers with hubs and exhibits on newer versions do not have some features, so the versions do not seem to matter much.
However, Smart Monitors does not install updates until nightfall or when restarted, so to see if a new version is available for your device and pending installation, you will need to disconnect and plug in your device again. You can then get some of these options, otherwise your friend is patient.