Google's Gemini Space: A Potential AI-Powered Rival to Samsung's Now Bar

Gemini Space is coming to Pixel phones, and it could be Google's take on Samsung's Now Bar

This new feature could be Google's version of Samsung's "Now Brief," providing a full-screen, contextual summary of your day from the lock screen. Google is locked in a race with rival OpenAI to get people to use its Gemini AI over ChatGPT, and one of its key advantages in the race is its hardware ecosystem. The company has already integrated its Gemini AI into multiple features on its Pixel devices and plans to introduce even more with the upcoming Pixel 10 series. One such upcoming feature is called "Gemini Space," which we expect will debut on the Pixel 10 before trickling down to previous devices.

Gemini Space might just be Google's version of Samsung's Now Bar

Your Pixel device offers two primary At a Glance experiences. One of them is powered by the Google app, which is available widely across other Android devices too. Then, there's the Pixel-exclusive At a Glance widget (SmartSpace) that's powered by the Pixel launcher. As of right now, the latter highlights contextual information from 19 different categories, including the likes of Alerts, Weather, Fitness, Air Quality, Doorbell, and more. Google is already looking to enhance the launcher's widget with support for two new Pixel-exclusive At a Glance features: Finance Recap and Sports. However, that isn't the full scope with Google now reportedly looking to rebrand the widget. Related Pixel's At a Glance widget could soon help to keep an eye on your finances And keep up with your favorite sports teams too Posts 3 Google's upcoming Pixel 10 could debut the rebranded experience, which is likely to be called 'Gemini Space,' as highlighted by credible Android analyst Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority. As the name suggests, the new experience will be tightly integrated with Google's flagship AI tool, potentially taking on Samsung's new and exclusive Now Bar feature. First hints about the rebranding came to light with last month's Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 release. The build included new system configuration files and references to 'Ambient Data' (internal codename for Gemini Space) and 'Ambience Hub.' By connecting the dots with similarly-named existing features like 'Ambient Display' and 'Ambient AOD,' it can be inferred that Ambient Data will likely highlight contextual information. Ambience Hub, on the other hand, could be a new interface to show said contextual information. You might be wondering how the new strings connect to Pixel's At a Glance widget? Well, the Android System Intelligence app, which handles the At a Glance widget's functionality, has references to 'Gemini Space' and the fact that it will highlight 'finance recaps' and 'sports.' Which other feature was just reported to gain finance recaps and contextual sports information? The Pixel Launcher's At a Glance widget. This could be Google's take on Samsung's Now Bar <string name="echo_smartspace_pref_finance_recap_key">gemini_space_finance_recap</string> <string name="echo_smartspace_pref_sports_key">gemini_space_sports_score</string> Once the tweak goes live, Google could also finally let users relocate the widget to the bottom of the lock screen, giving it an appearance similar to Samsung's Now Bar. Tapping the widget could open a Now Brief-like interface. For what it's worth, code hinting at Ambient Data is present in firmware files for Google's older Pixel 9 Pro and the Pixel 8 Pro as well, suggesting that it might not be a Pixel 10 series exclusive. It's worth noting that this is just educated speculation, and at the end of the day, Gemini Space could have a different application altogether. We'll likely have concrete information when the Pixel 10 is officially unveiled in August. Related Google Pixel 10 series official launch may have been delayed But you don't have to wait too many days Posts 4

Google's betting everything on this rumored Pixel 10 AI and it better work perfectly

The Samsung Galaxy S25 was a remarkably unimaginative phone. Boasting marginal upgrades in some of its hardware, it was hard to see why you wouldn't want to stick with the cheaper and equally competent Galaxy S24. However, Samsung had bet on AI to generate interest, with the Now Bar and Now Brief as the flagship features. The Now Bar is a dynamic window that pops up at the bottom of your Galaxy's screen when certain conditions are triggered. This includes timers, media controls, sports scores, and navigation steps. However, it's an unreliable tool, and despite some small improvements, it's still lacking many core features. Now Brief also struggles to present relevant and timely information. If Google were to learn from Samsung's mistakes, the upcoming 'Gemini Space' feature could be a useful upgrade, and not another dud AI feature that spoils the upcoming launch of the Pixel 10. Related 4 features I'd love to see Samsung add to One UI 7.1 Samsung needs to flesh out One UI 7's flagship features Posts 3 What we know about Gemini Space so far A Gemini-powered replacement for the At a Glance widget All the evidence unearthed about Gemini Space suggests that it will act similarly to Samsung's Now Brief and Now Bar features. References in the code to finance recaps and sports are paired with links to the At a Glance widget. Features named 'Ambient Display' and 'Ambient AOD' suggest a new interface for showing contextual information on your home screen and lock screen. Together, these hints paint a picture of features that sound a lot like Now Bar and Now Brief. So it looks like the At a Glance widget is set for an AI-powered upgrade. I've used Pixel phones for years, and while I wish I could move the widget, I find At a Glance to be useful in my day-to-day life. I'm not convinced that a Gemini-powered upgrade will improve it much, but after Samsung's Now Bar has been extensively tested by thousands of users, I can say what would make this feature something to welcome, not dread. Third-party support is crucial for the wide adoption of a Now Bar clone Google's apps are useful, but not everyone uses them The simplest critique we have of the Now Bar is that it isn't very useful. Even when it works, it just doesn't do much. It's locked to a selection of apps chosen by Samsung, so if you preferred Google Keep to Samsung Notes, or FitBit to Samsung Health, you couldn't link those apps to Now Bar or Now Brief. Presumably, a Google version of Now Bar would include its first-party apps instead of Samsung's, but if Google wants the feature to attract new customers and keep the attention of existing Pixel users, it must allow third-party app integration. For example, I would use it to show me directions from Citymapper, delays for upcoming train journeys, coupon alerts from shopping apps, and listening data from stats.fm. This all information I want to check at a glance, but doesn't need a persistent notification. I use third-party apps more than ever now that Gemini is easing its way into all aspects of my phone, so I can't see myself using Gemini Space without this support. But before Google opens the door to third-party app developers, it must make sure this feature works. Is it too much to ask for working software? Broken AI features are ruining new hardware launches Samsung pitched new AI tools as the flagship features of the Galaxy S25, which makes us wonder why it didn't properly test the features before launch. While AI development is still rushing at a breakneck pace, and fully completed features are the exception, not the norm, Now Brief stood out as one of the most broken and useless AI features we've tested. Now Bar wasn't much better, but at least Samsung got around to fixing the incorrect sports reporting months later. For those of us who have become accustomed to At a Glance, the shift to an AI-powered replacement might not be a welcome change. At the most fundamental level, Google needs to make sure that the basic functionality of At a Glance is not hamstrung by Gemini. Copying At a Glance's features shouldn't be much of a challenge. Most of the information displayed by At a Glance doesn't need AI to function, so I feel confident that my timers, delivery alerts, and weather notifications should be just as useful. But if Google copies Now Brief, it can learn a lot of lessons from Samsung's mishandling of its flagship AI feature. In our review of the Galaxy S25, AP's Taylor Kerns found that Now Brief was almost entirely useless. Apart from weather reports, it would generate playlists with no correlation to his music preferences and news stories about crime in faraway countries. AI could summarize important local news like public transport interruptions, road closures, or police alerts. It could work with Spotify's AI Playlist to generate playlists relevant to our interests. It could read our travel plans and show the weather at our destination when we arrive. There's a lot that AI could do here, but if it doesn't work, we won't use it. Gemini Space needs care and attention to avoid a repeat of Samsung's mishandling of One UI 7 I'm regularly underwhelmed by Google's integration of Gemini into my Pixel phone and apps, but it doesn't have to be the case. A careful understanding of what we were disappointed about with Now Bar and Now Brief, plus a straightforward and competent integration of Gemini, could result in the first Gemini feature I use daily. Gemini Space is still in development, and we only have snippets of code to draw our conclusions from. It remains to be seen whether Google can bring us effective AI tools into our daily Android experiences, or show again that we don't need Gemini crammed into every aspect of our digital lives. Related I want the Pixel 10 to build on what Google finally got right More of the same Posts 5

Google could be planning its own take on Samsung's Now Bar -- what we know

AI is becoming a part of every part of our phones, whether we realize it or not, and each new feature is just the beginning. One good example is Samsung's Now Bar, and it sounds like Google may have its own version in the pipeline -- dubbed Gemini Space. This comes from Mishall Rahman over at Android Authority, who finds hints about the feature in the Android 16 QPR 1 beta 1 release. Apparently new files reference something called "Ambient Data", which is believed to be the internal code name for Gemini Space. Other strings refer to "Ambience Hub", "Ambient Display" and "Ambient AOD." That suggests Google is working on a feature that relies on contextual data, and is prepping it for a bunch of different devices and use-cases -- including smart home hubs and devices with an Always on Display. Rahman believes that this could be the start of Google rebranding its existing "At a Glance" feature, in an attempt to offer something similar to the Now Bare and Now Brief features on the best Samsung phones. For those that don't know. Now Bar is a section of the lock screen that features real time information, which changes throughout the day depending on whatever contextual information the phone can pick up. At a Glance does do some of this, but it's not quite as easy to access. Shifting it to the lock screen, and adding extra features, could be one way for Google to offer comparable features for other Android phones to utilize. Though Rahman does admit that he could be wrong, Gemini Space may end up being something entirely different. With limited information, we can't really make strong affirmations either way. But considering Google and Samsung do have a close relationship, especially with AI, it would be surprising if we didn't get something similar to the Now Bar at some point in the near future. We're just going to have to wait and see, though.