Based on the latest Android Canary and Android 17 Beta releases, Google is working on a Pixel “laptop” of some sort that will feature a “Pixel Glow” hardware feature.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

Android Canary 2604 and Android 17 Beta 4, as well as earlier releases, make reference to a feature called “orbit.” In the system Settings app, it’s referred to as “light_animations.”

Beta 4 today explicitly names and brands this feature as “Pixel Glow.” This hardware capability “uses subtle light and color on the back of your device to inform you of important activity when it’s face down.”

There’s a clear emphasis on letting you “Stay in the moment without losing touch.” Pixel Glow will show these “subtle lights” when a favorite contact calls. One particular implementation detail is how using existing flash notifications will override the new capability.

Pixel Glow will also be active when speaking or “interacting with Gemini.” It’s pitched as a way to have “Hands-free interactions using visual feedback.”

• Calls from favorites: Subtle lights when your favorite contacts call you
• Speaking with Gemini: Hands-free interactions using visual feedback

Google will let you enable/disable those features individually, and we’ve enabled an early look at the Settings page. The page warns to “Use Pixel Glow with caution if you’re light sensitive.”

The inclusion in Android 17 suggests Pixel Glow will come with the next Pixel phone. That said, the Pixel 11 series renders that have leaked do not show any cutout for lights. Some possible locations could be the Camera Bar or even the ‘G’ logo.

Integrating Pixel Glow into the Camera Bar would make the signature Pixel hardware element even more iconic.

According to our findings, this capability will be available on both Pixel phones and laptops. The aforementioned settings page explicitly checks whether the device type is a desktop or not. Compared to the phone implementation, we don’t have as many details about how Pixel Glow will work on laptops.

However, we’re confident the Gemini visual feedback will be an option on laptops. There’s also an “ic_laptop_light” icon in this week’s Android releases:

Google making a new laptop is not surprising in the context of desktop Android. In the modern era, it would follow the Pixelbook and Pixelbook Go.

Before that, there was the Chromebook Pixel (and Pixel C) that prominently featured a “light bar” you could tap to check the battery life.

Dylan contributed to this post

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