14 DAY TRIAL // I don’t know about you, but I find the “At a Glance” widget in the Pixel Launcher simply loveable, not only because it displays the weather but thanks to its overall simplicity and design.
And yet, Google knows this widget can actually do more than what it does right now, so the company has updated it with functionality that you’re going to love.
Beginning recently, the At a Glance widget can also display severe weather alerts, such as Flash Flood Watch or Winter Storm Warning right on the home screen.
Needless to say, this is a super-helpful feature, and 9to5Google notes that all warnings are issued by the local authorities, such as the National Weather Service in the United States.
Google has configured the widget in such a way that the warnings stay on screen until their expiry date, and this depends on the information provided by the weather agencies.
You can still disable the warnings though
Of course, not everybody finds these warnings useful, and Google actually provides a way to disable them, though I really can’t imagine why you’d want to do this.
As per the cited source, all you need to do is open the settings screen of the widget by long-pressing it on the home screen, and you should see a “Weather alerts” entry on the main screen. As Google explains, these are “forecasts for severe weather,” and simply touching the toggle button disables them on your home screen.
But of course, I really recommend you to let them on because they’re critical information that could come in handy, especially if you use to unlock the phone every once in a while to check the home screen. Google is yet to officially announce this new feature though, so expect more info to be shared soon.