Glance AI already had a bad reputation going in.
I'm writing this newsletter from a desk I'm renting in a small-town warehouse. In an attempt to get me out of the office and into the world so that I might feel some semblance of "mental health" after nearly a decade of exclusively working from home, I'm paying a small monthly sum to work out of a corner of a large storage facility filled with antique furniture and paintings. It's also filled with spiders of all varieties. They include your typical house spiders and daddy long legs, plus spiders with gnarly, wiry legs that look like they're reaching out to me, and the teeniest tiny spiders that jump in out of nowhere while you're deep in thought. I leave all of them alone, hoping that they never touch or crawl up on me.
The spiders in this place have at least given me something else to obsess over. I haven't been able to think about much besides AI over the past couple of weeks—since Google I/O, actually. Google launched Veo3, its video generation platform, for all users who pay for access. I've been tuning in to every video posted on Reddit and other internet spaces in awe of the realism depicted through artificially generated video. It's gotten so good that you can't tell the difference without squinting real close, and even then, it's just too passable.
Now that AI has established itself as being here to stay, the audacity of companies with something to peddle has also increased. Glance started years ago as a controversial lock screen app forced onto new Android phones sold in India. Brands like Xiaomi, Realme, and Samsung were all peddling the "pushy," "intrusive," and "disruptive" lock screen, which displayed a running carousel of advertising, news snippets, and other types of so-called "spamware." Now, it's teaming up with Samsung to offer, thankfully, an optional shopping assistant that converts your likeness into AI-generated versions of you wearing items you could be buying.
When Glance AI reached out to me earlier this year, I'm sure I replied with skepticism. I was assured that the days of forced lock screens were over and that what was next would be something much more appealing to consumers. So I went to San Francisco and met with Naveen Tewari, the CEO and founder of InMobi, which develops Glance. I received the entire presentation on Glance AI, which bills itself as a "generative AI shopping platform." I even fed it a photo of my face, which it then used to generate images of me wearing different styles of clothing. I hardly recognized myself in any of the pictures, despite my face being the one on all the bodies.
The thing is, though, this isn't my body. I have a long torso and slightly stumpy legs. I'm shorter than the average model. Skinny jeans look different on me than they do on a tall, thin person. I also don't dress feminine, at least not lately, and the overt "girl after church on a Sunday" looks that Glance was generating weren't calling out to me.
I found one aesthetic that pleased me. But the generated image turned me into a smiling hiking Mom. Granted, I lean into that category the most out of anything else that my face was plopped onto, but there was no constructive reason for me to be generating images of myself this way. I already know I'm a matriarch who dresses in gorpcore. I didn't need artificial intelligence to tell me any of that.
Google announced last month that it's offering a similar feature in search's AI Mode. The company is working with major retailers to request full-resolution assets of clothing and other items that can be generated onto various body models. The idea is to turn Google back into a shopping haven where you can try on clothing from brands like Levi's and have access to models that closely resemble your body type, even if the original retailer does not offer it. That's why it isn't too far off for Glance to try to re-enter the market with something that appeals to mass advertisers looking for a new way to push their wares. However, this first-generation version isn't convincing me to use it for my shopping ventures, even if it does make me appear taller.
Glance AI is already rolling out to Galaxy S22, S23, S24, and S25 series smartphones this week. It's an optional download so far, but I echo The Verge's sentiment that I wouldn't be surprised "if it comes with a push notification encouraging users to go download it."
This week's episode features Jason, Mishaal, and me. It somehow turned into a Samsung and Pixel love fest. We discussed the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge extensively. Ron and Jason also chat with AT&T's Jeff Howard all about the evolving role of the carrier in the world of Android.
It was a light week of reading for me. I had a migraine, and I was moving into the spider-infested office.
Next week, I'll probably recount WWDC from an Android user's perspective, so buckle up for that one.
Have a great, restful weekend! Tell your friends about my newsletter! The more people who get this in their inbox, the more I am emboldened to write this newsletter in the first person.
