With Google Clock 9.0 for Android, timers and stopwatches get a big update with support for Live Update notifications on Pixel devices.

Compared to previous notifications, Live Updates — which require Android 16+ — appear as pill-shaped containers with a solid background in the status bar. There’s a real-time count next to the timer or stopwatch icon, but that comes at the expense of no other notification icons appearing next to it.

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Tapping the pill causes the notification to appear over your screen for five seconds. The count appears at the right and is much bigger than before with larger buttons for Pause/Lap and Pause/Add 1 min.

These Live Updates always appear as the first item in the notification shade, lockscreen, and on the always-on display.

If you prefer the previous approach, go to the App info page for Google Clock > Notifications > App settings > Live updates.

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Version 9.0 of Google Clock widely rolled out at the end of July, but the stopwatch and timer Live Updates are part of a separate server-side rollout. As of today, we’re seeing broad availability on Pixel. If it’s not yet live, try starting a timer and then restarting your device.