Smartspacer APK - With one exception—it can improve Pixels' integrated At a Glance—Smartspacer is an Android widget that can be customized without root access!
Despite a few hardware issues such as overheating and poor modem connectivity, Google's Pixel phone lineup is consistently regarded as one of the top Android phone lineups. This is mostly due to Pixel phones' unmatched stock Android experience. Unquestionably, a crucial component of the user experience is the At a Glance widget integrated into the Pixel Launcher. But there are a few issues with it that a new program called Smartspacer aims to fix.
A useful tool for the date, time, and weather is the At a Glance widget. It can also be set up to show a plethora of other data, including stopwatches, timers, seismic alerts, a torch toggle, package delivery alerts, and information gleaned from compatible fitness applications. With all of this information conveniently located on the Pixel Launcher home screen, At a Glance is frequently taken for granted as a widget.
At a Glance isn’t really a widget
At a Glance isn't technically a widget. It is actually a data stream for Google's Smartspace, which was unveiled with Android 12 and is currently visible on the Always-On Display (AOD), lock screen, and home screen. It supports displaying video feeds from your video doorbell and features content-dependent long-press actions in addition to swiping across pages. At a Glance does, however, have many important drawbacks, one of them being the absence of personalization.
Toggle integrations on and off, yes, but that's your only option. There are no settings to control when and how long the information is shown updates. Because of this, the At a Glance widget is essentially limited to an enhanced weather display most of the time. This is especially true in non-US nations where capabilities like shopping lists, boarding passes, and loyalty cards aren't enabled.
To solve these issues, app developer Kieron Quinn—who you might know from the success of Ambient Music Mod—rose to the occasion and developed a brand-new application called Smartspacer. Naturally, that piqued my interest, and I tested multiple iterations of the app—which is currently under development—for a few weeks. Quinn has developed a unique smartspace service that can work with the built-in At a Glance on Pixel phones or as a stand-alone widget on most Android phones. Refer to the developer's extensive documentation for a detailed explanation of the technical aspects and how this is accomplished. However, I'm more focused on the user experience in this essay.
Setting Up and Needs
With its deep integration with installed apps and access to a variety of system-level permissions, Smartspace is akin to a widget on steroids. This is a major factor that makes third-party widgets inferior. In a Snapshot. Smartspacer, on the other hand, enhances the Android functionality. It requires the same system-level rights to function correctly, and Google makes that difficult. Although there are a lot of steps in the setup procedure, Quinn has done an excellent job of guiding the user through each one. It's best to complete the process all at once rather than working on it intermittently, even if it takes a while. If not, it could come across as daunting, similar to an app meant for power users.
The most recent Smartspacer APK can be downloaded via APKMirror or Quinn's GitHub. On Android 12 and later versions, all in-app features function flawlessly; however, root access is required on devices running previous versions of Android, such as 10 and 11. Shizuku is required to enable Smartspacer integration on Pixel phones, which is enabled by the Enhanced mode option inside Smartspacer and At a Glance on the lock screen and AOD. Shizuku setup requires pairing codes for synchronization and requires wireless debugging rights.
Take note that each time your phone reboots or runs out of battery, you will need to restart Shizuku and wireless debugging. Although it can seem laborious, taking this extra step prevents you from rooting your smartphone. Permissions for device and app notifications, accessibility settings, and other features are also required for Smartspacer. Immediately after the app was loaded on my Pixel 7, the Android system banned both of these choices, and I had to toggle the Enable restricted settings option in the App info page overflow menu. To incorporate features like Now Playing on Pixel phones, these permissions are necessary.
Features:
- Come on over At a replacement glance, while maintaining current functionality at a glance.
- Built-in upgrades In a nutshell, the Pixels lock and home screens (requiring Shizuku)
- Compatible with all launchers, this widget displays all Content at a Glance, even on outside launchers.
- Vast plugin mechanism to import data from numerous apps.
- In-app Plugin Repository for convenient plugin downloads.
- Artificial intelligence-style requirements system, to make information displayed more dynamic - would you like to display your shopping list and loyalty card at the store, or your gym ticket at the gym? It is possible to use Smartspacer.
"Expanded Smartspace" is a full-screen interface that displays all of Smartspacer's widgets and shortcuts at once. Available as a Discover Killer "OEM Smartspace" support for devices still using the legacy Discover launcher and as a Google Discover substitute for compatible launchers Implementation at a Glance.
