Google released the third developer preview of Android O for developers; this developer preview hinted that Google might be working on “Always on display” feature for Pixel smartphones. This is not the same Always on display feature as we saw on other smartphones from different brands. Android O third developer preview has a string with reference of “Always on” display which could be the feature for future Pixel smartphones.
XDA developers are the first to discover this string and point it out. Google’s team has used “Doze” term in the strings to refer to the Always On mode for the Ambient display. Doze is battery optimization feature that was debuted first in Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
<PreferenceScreen android:title="@string/tuner_doze" android:key="doze">
<com.android.systemui.tuner.TunerSwitch android:title="@string/tuner_doze_always_on" android:key="doze_always_on" sysui:defValue="false" />XDA Developers said that the feature could be enabled from the System UI tuner, this means that it should be tested before finalizing for the Pixel 2. They gave this feature a try but they weren’t successful at the moment, but soon they will show us a glimpse of the feature.
If this feature is going to be a real thing, then it might also be possible that Google will roll out this feature with Android O update for Pixel devices. In that case Pixel, Pixel XL and Pixel C will get this feature. with. And just like Samsung’s “Always On” feature for Galaxy S7, we can have this feature on Nexus and Pixel devices which are having AMOLED displays.
