While Google's native Clock app for Android rarely receives major feature updates, the latest v9.0 release finally changes that. The app is now gaining support for Android's Live Updates, making it much easier to keep track of active timers and stopwatches at a glance.
Google Clock Gets Redesigned Timer and Stopwatch Controls
Spotted first by Android Authority, the latest Google Clock v9.0 update uses Live Updates. This allows active timers and stopwatches to appear directly in the status bar instead of relying solely on standard notifications or the At a Glance widget.
Tapping the timer or stopwatch icon expands a dedicated Live Updates panel, giving users quick access to playback controls without opening the app.
The new interface uses the Metric Style Live Updates layout of Android 17, which Google introduced for displaying real-time information. The same design language is also expected to be adopted by supported Health & Fitness and Travel apps.
Besides, the improvements extend beyond the status bar, with Live Updates seamlessly integrating into the lock screen and Always-on Display. Active timers will be displayed on the AOD for better access.
Older versions of the app suffered from a visual bug where background timers appeared frozen on the AOD despite functioning normally. However, that should no longer be the case.
Users can download Google Clock v9.0 from the Play Store right now. However, it is important to note that this is a server-side rollout. Simply updating the app does not guarantee immediate access to the new feature.
The latest report notes that the functionality has already been spotted running on phones running Android 17 QPR2 Beta 1 and should be available on the stable Android 17 update. It is expected to roll out gradually to all Android smartphones that support Live Updates.
The Live Updates feature has been around since Android 16 and it's quite strange to see Google's own apps only making the most of it now. Most third-party apps are yet to adopt the feature and it's been slow progress.
However, with Google working on new ways to integrate Live Updates, more apps should start supporting it soon.
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