Google’s Pixel Weather app has a hidden play/pause button for animations

At the beginning of the year, people noticed certain settings disappearing in Google’s weather app for Pixels, but we’ve found an option that seems to be outright hidden. This comes as a nice little update with several quality-of-life improvements is in the process of rolling out, but the hidden play/pause button doesn’t appear to be exclusive to the latest version.

Google’s Pixel Weather app features some subtle animations in the background of the current conditions view for each location, with many cities getting a custom silhouette featuring their downtown skylines. The animations show things like the sun’s rays glinting off your screen when there are clear skies, or clouds slowly moving past the silhouetted skyline.

While you may not have noticed these animations if you weren’t paying close attention on a calm day, you’ve surely seen the ones for precipitation — raindrops will fall down your screen, making immersive vibrations as they land, and snow flurries float by during a blizzard.

It’s unclear when this was added, but today, we stumbled across a feature that lets you pause these animations and focus on the forecast. Just tap the upper portion of your screen — the area around the current conditions, in particular — and the motion will stop. This makes a small play button appear towards the bottom-right of the current conditions, which you can tap to resume animations if you choose (though you can also just tap any spot around the current conditions, too).

Again, this is a lot more obvious when you see it in action alongside a precipitation animation. Here’s the play/pause button doing its thing while it’s raining in San Francisco:

We thought this might be tied to the new update Google is currently seeding to the Play Store (version 1.0.20250127), but we checked a phone that was still running the version before that (1.0.20250106) and noticed the behavior is present there as well. So we’re not sure exactly when this hidden play/pause button was added, but it’s a nice touch — even if it’s not particularly discoverable.

The latest update also adds snowfall forecasts and a Save button

In related news, SmartDroid spotted Google adding snowfall forecasts to its Pixel Weather in the recent 20250127 update (via 9to5Google). Much like the existing card for rainfall, this new one gives you a glanceable way to see how much it’s predicted to snow over the course of the day, and it only shows up when snow is expected in your area.

Snowfall information in the Google Weather applet (left), Google Search (middle), and the Pixel Weather app (right)

In addition to the snowfall card, version 20250127 introduces a new Save button for your current location, something that you may or may not find useful. It’s handy for quickly adding a city to your Saved Locations list, but if you’re viewing your home, school, or work location, saving it will result in duplicate entries in the list whenever you’re in one of those places.

Thanks: Moshe!