Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Tl; DR
- Google has announced today that the next Android 16 QPR1 version would support the locking screen widgets to phones.
- Android 16 QPR1 should not be deployed before September, but we have managed to activate the feature before its release to provide a first preview.
- Lock screen widgets on phones may not work in the same way as on tablets, but this could change before the functionality version.
With the fall of previous pixels, Google presented the possibility of adding widgets to the locking screen, bringing a functionality that had deleted almost a decade ago. Unfortunately, the company has limited the functionality to Android tablets, limiting its usefulness. Fortunately, Google has now confirmed that it would support the locking screen widget to Android phones in a next Android version, and we have managed to activate the feature to bring you a first look.
To summarize, Google has reintroduced locking screen widgets in the first quarterly version of Android 15, that is to say Android 15 QPR1. The company has created a dedicated page for widgets called “Glableable Hub”, accessible by sliding inward from the right edge of the lock screen. The HUB page contains a 2 × 3 widget grid that scrolls horizontally. The functionality is very useful, because it allows you to easily manage your devices at intelligent home, to start timers, to view key financial information, and much more, all at a glance. It would have been great if this function was also available for phones; Fortunately, it will be implemented later this year.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
Google mentioned in a blog article that it would bring locking screen widgets to mobile devices in a next Android update. In a Faq About widgets on the lock screen, Google said that “the widgets on the lock screen will be available in AOSP (Android open source project) for tablets and mobile from the version after Android 16 (QPR1).” Android 16 QPR1 will be the first quarterly version of Android 16, and it is planned for the release “at the end of summer 2025”, according to Google. Google refers to Android 16 QPR1 internally as version 25q3, which will only contain new features and not new APIs. As a rule, the outings of the Q3 of Android fall in September, so it is likely that Android 16 QPR1 will be released in September 2025.
Presentation of the Android version calendar in 2025
Although Google’s blog post does not contain any real image of the lock screen widgets on phones, we have recorded a practical video demonstrating functionality. Although the functionality is not yet live in the most recent Android 16 Beta 2.1 version, we were able to activate it manually.
As you can see in the video integrated below, locking screen widgets on phones will run differently that they do it on tablets. The 2 × 3 grid on tablets is too wide for narrow screens of most phones, so Google’s solution is to display a column of widgets at a time. Most importantly, the “glable -billed hub” is not accessible by sliding inwards from the right edge of the locking screen, as it is on the shelves. Instead, it is accessible by triggering the screen saver, that is to say by placing the phone on a charger or moving it. In the future, the screen saver can be triggered by placing your vertical phone on a stand, but this trigger method is not yet available.
In addition to the number of widgets indicated at the same time, the trigger method is the only different difference between the lock screen widgets on tablets and phones. This could change in the future, although Google will not publish functionality for several months.
When Google publishes the functionality, it will put all the Android widgets available on the developer’s without intervention screen. However, developers must declare android:showWhenLocked="true" To allow their widgets to launch activities without user authentication. They can also prevent certain widgets from appearing entirely on the locking screen by defining their categories on “Pas Keyguard”.
Google says that OEMs can personalize the mechanism to trigger the experience of the locking screen widget, but not the real interface itself. It will be interesting to see which OEM, if necessary, adopt the implementation by Google of locking screen widgets. I hope that at least some will do, because the locking screen is an ideal place to put widgets. If users take advantage of large -number locking screen widgets, this will encourage developers to create more high quality widgets, which will be a victory for the Android ecosystem.
