Android should have never turned its back on lock screen widgets

Back when Google released Android 4.2 Jelly Bean in late 2012, support for lock screen widgets was among the most notable new features of the OS update. As the name implies, the feature made it easy to plop widgets directly onto the lock screen of your phone, neatly organizing your chosen mini applets within a handy side panel interface.

Upon release of 5.0 Lollipop in 2014, however, Google unceremoniously deprecated support for lock screen widgets, much to the chagrin of Android fans like myself. The ability to place widgets in proximity to the lock screen for quick access was a useful inclusion, and I was sad to see the feature kick the bucket so quickly.

Fast-forward to 2022, when Apple went ahead and implemented widget support on the iPhone’s lock screen with iOS 16, things took a sudden turn. It didn’t take long for Android phone makers to catch on to the inherent utility of the feature, and we quickly saw the likes of Samsung and other OEMs reintroduce lock screen widgets on their own accord.

Google, for its part, has since reversed course, and the company is now building out native widget support for the Android lock screen at a system level. The Pixel Tablet brought support for lock screen widgets earlier this year, and it looks like Android phones are next in line for the treatment.

As reported by Mishaal Rahman over on Android Authority, lock screen widgets are expected to make their smartphone re-debut in Android 16’s first quarterly update release, known as QPR1, sometime later this year. The feature appears to still be in active development, so exact implementation details are up in the air at this time.

Google was short-sighted in its decision to rip lock screen widgets out of Android Lollipop

Pocket-lint / Google

The ability to place widgets directly onto your phone’s lock screen makes a lot of intuitive sense. Widgets are meant to be glanceable and information-dense, and the lock screen is a great space for quickly accessing them.

While it’s true that the feature can potentially introduce privacy concerns into the mix, phone makers have more or less mitigated this issue: sensitive data isn’t available without PIN or biometric authentication, and the feature is opt-in as opposed to opt-out by default.

Google’s decision to dump lock screen widget support back in 2014’s Lollipop release is unfortunate, because it set back the feature’s potential by several years. We’re only just now experiencing an Android lock screen renaissance of sorts, and Apple, Samsung, and other phone makers had to light a fire under Google to make it a reality.

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Google has its work cut out for it

Other phone makers have taken matters into their own hands, having implemented excellent lock screen widget solutions

While Google has been resting on its laurels when it comes to updates to the Android widgetexperience, third-party OEMs haven’t been sitting still. Samsung quickly emulated Apple’s approach to the concept, with small purpose-built widgets orbiting the clock face near the top of the lock screen.

My personal favorite implementation is from Nothing — the company’s recent Nothing OS 3.0 skin lets you place widgets (including quick setting toggles) directly onto the lock screen, as opposed to obfuscating the mini applets on a separate page, or in a small section near the top of the display.

As the dust settles, we’re now bearing witness to a fragmented ecosystem of lock screen widget support across the Android OS. There are several different implementations and design considerations on offer, depending entirely on handset make and model.

As excited as I am to finally see the return of lock screen widgets on my trusty Pixel 9 Pro, it’s clear that Google made a miscalculation in removing the feature to begin with. The search giant’s fumbled approach means that lock screen UI fragmentation is probably here to stay, which is a shame.

Then again, there’s an argument to be made that the democratized approach to lock screen widgets has resulted in a diversity of options. Personally, I’d hate to see Nothing OS 4.0 or One UI 8 conform to Google’s approach to the feature, as I appreciate the different UX philosophies currently at play.

In any case, I’m just happy that our lock screens have become so much more customizable in recent years. This time, I think lock screen widgets are here to stay. The feature clearly has merit — after all, even Microsoft is getting in on the action with Windows 11’s lock screen update later this year, which is saying something.

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