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Google patents phone controls that appear when you get close to smart devices

Google has filed a patent for a system that measures how far your phone is from nearby smart devices. As you walk around, the phone calculates a proximity score for each device and automatically shows controls on your screen for the one you are closest to.

Why it mattersThis could make it easier to manage multiple smart home gadgets by automatically surfacing the right controls without you having to search for them manually.

In the filing’s own words

A method includes obtaining proximity information for each of a plurality of assistant-enabled devices within an environment of a user device. Each assistant-enabled device is controllable by an assistant application to perform a respective set of available actions associated with the assistant-enabled device. For each assistant-enabled device, the method also includes determining a proximity score based on the proximity information indicating a proximity estimation of the corresponding assistant-enabled device relative to the user device. The method further includes generating, using the proximity scores determined for the assistant-enabled devices, a ranked list of candidate assistant-enabled devices, and for each corresponding assistant-enabled device in the ranked list, displaying, in a graphical user interface (GUI), a respective set of controls for performing the respective set of actions associated with the corresponding assistant- enabled device. 49 75276250.1

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method that when executed on data processing hardware of a user device associated with a user causes the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising:obtaining proximity information for an assistant-enabled device within an environment of the user device, the assistant-enabled device controllable by the user device to perform a set of available actions associated with the assistant-enabled device;as a user holding the user device moves through the environment:determining a distance of the assistant-enabled device is located from the user device based on the proximity information for the assistant-enabled device; andbased on the distance of the assistant-enabled device satisfying a maximum distance threshold, automatically detecting the assistant-enabled device as a target assistant-enabled device that the user wants to control; andbased on automatically detecting the assistant-enabled device as the target assistant-enabled device, displaying, in a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed on a screen in communication with the user device, a respective set of controls for performing the set of actions associated with the target assistant-enabled device.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Proximity-Based Controls on a Second Device
Publication number
US20260259655A1
Application number
19654278
Filed
Apr 21, 2026
Published
Sep 3, 2026
Inventors
2
Claims
20

Classified under

G06F 3/04847 Physics & computingG06F 3/0482 Physics & computingG06F 3/167 Physics & computingH04B 17/318 Electricity & electronicsH04W 4/023 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.