The now bar is very useful for things like voice recording and a whole lot more, but when the phone is unlocked, the nowbar on the top left doesn't have as many features, such as: music, calling (it doesn't pop up in a smaller menu at the top, it just immediately goes to the call screen), quick share progress, google maps, food delivery progress, etc.. If these processes were added to the nowbar, unlocked and locked screen, it would much improve the consistency of the feature and make it even more useful.
It would be nice to have a nice animation of the app going into the now bar to the top when scrolling out of it and transitioning into the pill at the top.