Android phones will feature widgets on the lock screen this year.
Manage your phone without needing to unlock it.
Google has revealed that lock screen widgets will be coming to Android 16 phones later this year. While widgets have been available on the Pixel Tablet's lock screen since last year, the company is expanding this functionality to phones and more tablets.
All widgets will be compatible with the lock screen by default, although app developers will have the option to disable this feature if they prefer. It is important to note that certain actions of the widgets, such as opening an app, will still require authentication via fingerprint, PIN, or facial recognition before they can be used.
This modification was communicated in the Android Developers Blog, where it was specified that lock screen widgets will be added to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in the first quarterly update following the release of Android 16, scheduled for late summer. The Android 16 version is currently in beta and is expected to be released in June.
Although lock screen widgets for phones are not yet enabled in the latest beta of Android 16, Mishaal Rahman from Android Authority managed to activate them early. He noted that while Pixel Tablet users can access the widgets by swiping right from the home screen, the current implementation for phones is only accessible through Android's screensaver mode, which requires the phone to be charging or docked. However, Google mentions in its post that the mechanism for triggering the widget interface can be customized by hardware manufacturers, which could lead to different approaches when the update is complete.
The other significant difference compared to the implementation on the Pixel Tablet lies in the screen size. Instead of having a two-row widget layout, Rahman's video shows the widgets stacked vertically, with room for only a couple of them on the screen at a time, which will require users to swipe between screens to access them all.
