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Google’s upcoming custom clocks could be easy to edit and move between Pixels
Sep 17, 2026 — 2:25 PM ET
- Google is still developing its AI-generated lock screen clocks, with the feature not yet functional in Android Canary builds.
- New strings suggest users will be able to edit, delete, rate, and generate multiple AI clock styles.
- Google also appears to be working on cloud backup and device-to-device transfer, so your custom clocks could follow you to a new phone.
Google has steadily been increasing the amount of control it gives users over lock screen customization. The tech giant finally gave us our lock screen widgets back last year, after taking them away all the way back in 2014 with Android 5. Now, it seems to be taking that customization a step further.
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We first spotted Google working on a new AI clock feature for Pixel phones back in Android Canary 2608. With the latest Canary 2609 build, we’re now learning a lot more about the feature.
We already knew that the Google was working to let users create their own lock screen clock styles using AI prompts, complete with the option to upload an image as a reference. We were already able to get an early look at AI Clock’s UI, but the feature itself wasn’t functional. With Android Canary 2609, that’s still the case, but new code strings do offer more perspective on how users will be able to manage their AI-generated clocks once everything is ready.
New strings suggest users will be able to edit clock styles they’ve already created, alongside options to delete styles they no longer want. Additionally, styles that you create would be backed up on the cloud, which means you’ll be able to transfer them to a new device during setup. This could be huge, especially for those who will spend time fine-tuning prompts and tweaking designs to land on a clock that looks exactly the way they want.
Here are some of the relevant code strings we found:
<string name="delete_clock_title">Delete Clock?</string>
<string name="delete_confirmation_label">Are you sure you want to delete this clock?</string>
<string name="edit_style_label">Edit style</string>
<string name="editing_clock_style_pane_title">Editing clock style</string>
<string name="feedback_button_description">Feedback</string>
<string name="feedback_negative_label">"I don't like this style"</string>
<string name="feedback_positive_label">I like this style</string>
<string name="generate_new_clock_label">Generate New Clock</string>
<string name="presets_label">Presets</string>It’s unclear what the new “Presets” string refers to, considering that Google already lets users choose a clock of their choice from a selection of styles. The string could simply be referring to those existing designs, or potentially pre-made prompts that users would be able to leverage.
As is the case with developments uncovered in early Canary builds, there’s still no guarantee that AI Clocks will ultimately come out. If they do, they might not look or function exactly as described here.
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