Google is rolling out a more personalized interface for its smart displays

Image credit: Google

If you've got yourself a Google Nest Hub, a Lenovo Smart Display, or anything else running Google's own Smart Display UI, you should see some visual changes and tweaks in the near future.

Google just pushed out an update for the interface that makes more use of the ambient display that's on while the display is idle – the clock face or wallpaper becomes a blurred background as soon as you start interacting with it.

As 9to5Google reports, the dedicated weather forecast has been removed as well (leaving just an icon and a temperature reading), and the time and date style has been tweaked and repositioned.

Part of the reasoning behind the change is preparing the ground for the Nest Hub Max, and making room for the Duo call reminders coming with the Face Match ID technology (something that's not available on the Nest Hub).

All the upgrades

These updates to the interface on Google's smart displays come a couple of weeks after the company demoed a host of improvements to its products at Google IO 2019.

As well as introducing the Nest Hub Max, Google also gave a sneak preview of the next-gen Google Assistant – able to process information faster, with a smaller footprint on devices, and getting smarter all the time.

Google Assistant is also getting more helpful when it's on the move, giving you the option to control more of your phone's functions in navigation mode.

That's part of the appeal of buying a smart speaker or a smart display: you know that whatever smart assistant is working behind the scenes is going to get regular improvements to make your device even more useful.

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David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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