Android 16 is due to release in June this year and its first quarterly update will include lock screen widgets. Expected in late summer, the update will bring the lock screen widgets already available on Pixel Tablets to other tablets and Android 16 phones.
Support for the lock screen will be turned on for all widgets by default, though there will be a disable option for developers. This means you’ll be able to display important information front and center on your lock screen. If you click a widget that opens an app, you’ll need to unlock your phone before it completes its action but this will still be a lot faster than opening your phone and finding the app manually.
The announcement was posted to the Android Developers Blog, and Android Authority managed to activate the feature early and have a look. Unlike Pixel Tablets, phones will display just one column of widgets at a time and the widget screen will be accessed by triggering the screensaver. Google notes, however, that the trigger method will be customizable by hardware manufacturers so we should see some variations once the feature is out.
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Since the feature is still a few months out, it could change between now and then but Android Authority’s video shows that it is already in a working state. Lock screen widgets are available in various forms across different operating systems and devices but many have problems with refreshing and encounter plenty of bugs. By supporting the lock screen feature by default, Google will hopefully encourage plenty of users to take advantage and plenty of developers to create better, higher-quality widgets.
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