Google app leak gives us a glimpse of life with smart glasses and meaningful controls

Ahead of Google’s smart glasses launch, a Reddit user appears to have gained access to the unreleased Glasses companion app via an Android Studio preview build (also accessed by folks at Android Authority). While the app can’t be set up without the actual glasses, its interface strings and settings give us a fair idea of what Google is building.

The package name of the concerned APK is “com.google.android.glasses.companion.” It’s an app that helps users connect Google Glasses to their Android smartphone. The app opens to a welcome screen with the message “Welcome to a new way of seeing the world,” followed by “Set up your glasses now, or discover your next pair on the Google Store.”

Inside the leaked app powering Google’s smart glasses

The next screen asks the user to put on the Glasses and keep them close to their phone during pairing. Thereafter, users would need to slide the power switch on the right glasses arm to make the LED on the device pulse blue (indicating that it is in pairing mode), then wear the glasses.

While these are the steps involved in the initial setup process, the publication also reveals some key features of the Glasses companion app. For instance, the app could include a setting to pause notifications when a conversation is detected. Further, the app could include an option to mute incoming alerts for a set duration.

Google’s reportedly working on three types of smart glasses to release over the next couple of years, but not all of them will include a display or Gemini-based features.

For such devices, the companion app includes an audio-only mode (which might be available on models with an integrated display as well) and a message that says, “Your glasses are not eligible to use Gemini.”

The app also indicates that one of the three models might be able to record videos in 3K resolution, along with a security system that prevents users from blocking the recording indicator (similar to that on the Ray-Ban Meta glasses).

While the companion app doesn’t reveal any groundbreaking features, a new glasses design, or a release timeline, it does indicate that Google is serious about providing a grounded, practical, and distraction-free smart glasses experience for its users.