Android 15 (One UI 7) may introduce native lock screen widgets

Widgets are essential to our mobile interface and work as mini-applications with specific purposes. Over the past decades, Android OS has offered widgets to add a shortcut on your home screen for any function on your device. On Samsung devices, One UI uses the Android Widgets framework to recreate something new from it. Recently, there were reports that the latest beta development for Android 14 spotted reintroducing the Widgets feature on Lock Screen.

The article of Mishaal Rahman from Android Authority shows a glimpse of the upcoming Android 15 Lock Screen Widget interface. As per the developer, he could activate the communal Space of his Pixel Tablet. After this, a gray bar appeared on his tab that was in lock screen mode. Swiping further the bar allows him to add widgets on his lock screen. For example, the developer adds the Google Finance and Google Calendar widgets among the selected widgets. He also mentioned that other app widgets cannot be added to the lock screen. This could be because of the KEYGAURD feature of Android introduced by Google.

Android 15(One ui 7 ) Lock screen widget
Credit: Android Authority

The overall output of the widget in the lock screen seems fine, but as soon as it is unlocked, it overlaps with the clock in the background, which creates a confusing home screen! This is because of the current phase of beta development. Hopefully, Google will be developed further before its public beta is released.

For your information, Google has been working on its next Android 15 launch, and since November 2023, it has released four beta updates. The recent one in the Quarterly Platform Releases program was the QRP2 Beta 3 version on 10th January for its Pixel Devices.

Mr. Rahman further mentions that Google needs to think out of the box to make this Lock screen widget feature available for other Android devices. Communal space (multiuser workspace device) will not be available for other Android devices. Well, the final version might have this improvement.

There is enough time for the Android 15 beta to be publicly released; hence, wait to taste what Google is cooking. Meanwhile, Samsung is also working on the next One UI 7ย Launch. The noteworthy point is that Samsung’s Good Lock app already has a LockStar module in its devices to do such stuff. However, the Goodlock app is limited to flagship devices only. Therefore, if Google implements the feature fully in the next launch, Android users will be able to enjoy it.

With a passion for technology and a keen eye for detail in Samsung Products, Manajit's writing is always well-researched and easy to understand. When Manajit is not busy writing, he can be found sketching cartoons. Email: manajit8@gmail.com

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