The AI-powered screensaver displays from Glance aim to capture your attention and influence your shopping budget.

For millions of Android users in Asia, the home screen of their phones offers something more than just the typical time displayed over a beach or pet background. Instead, it features a series of news headlines, weather conditions, sports scores, all interspersed with advertisements. This concept, known as Glance, arrived on Android phones in the U.S. in 2024, although it received what could be considered a lukewarm reception. A reviewer of the Motorola Moto G noted that "it adds no real value, and it looks bad."

The company behind Glance, which is backed by Google and bears the same name, seems to have ignored those criticisms, as its president and COO, Piyush Shah, offered a preview of their new idea during CES 2025: Glance will expand to televisions. During a presentation that lasted about 30 minutes but stretched to an hour, Shah revealed his vision for the future of television screens, which turns out to be very similar to the Glance experience on a phone.

GlanceTV will transform inactive TV screens into dynamic smart surfaces powered by artificial intelligence, which will provide personalized content in real-time when the television is not in use. During the demonstration, a carousel of eye-catching news headlines with images was showcased, complemented by a widget displaying major sports scores and the clock. Shah emphasized that partnerships with hundreds of content providers will ensure the variety presented, and there are no plans to incorporate web content. Generally, the images associated with the headlines will come from the same source, although generative artificial intelligence will be used on occasions where those images are missing.

The presentation was free of advertisements but surprised with its customization capabilities. Shah uploaded a photo of me to the GlanceTV system, allowing an AI model to generate images of my likeness wearing different outfits in Instagram-worthy locations. The similarity was astounding, although my digital duplicate had a remarkable talent for posing for the camera. Each image represented an outfit that could be purchased with a simple click of the remote, which could be tempting for those like me who dislike going shopping.

I also observed how easy it was to get captivated by the content on GlanceTV, similar to the monitors seen in elevators or medical offices that capture our attention simply by being there. This difference stands out when comparing the Glance experience on mobile devices versus on televisions. While phones are highly utilized multifunctional tools, televisions are more for passive content consumption. When a show ends, we are not bothered when the screen switches to a screensaver mode. Shah hopes that GlanceTV's personalized offering will be so engaging that people will choose to keep their televisions on all the time.

The adoption of GlanceTV will depend on manufacturers, as it cannot be downloaded as an app, but will need to be integrated into the device's operating system. Some existing devices may receive it through a software update, but it is likely that new equipment will be the primary pathway for GlanceTV's arrival. There is very low expectation for a potential deal with Apple, as any attempt to monetize idle time on an Apple TV would be controlled by Apple.

However, Glance is likely to strike deals with other manufacturers, considering the potential to monetize the screen during idle time that is typically lost to screensavers. The recent collaboration between Glance and Airtel in India, which is already active by default on a million Airtel Xstream set-top box devices, supports this idea. If the GlanceTV proposal proves to be uncomfortable, users can disable it, as is already possible with Glance on Android phones. Nevertheless, GlanceTV is expected to be more popular than the initial experience on lock screens.