For years, Android users have been asking Google to restore the ability to add widgets to the lock screen, a feature that was removed in Android 5.0 Lollipop. Android 15 should finally bring them back.
With Android 15, Google is finally testing ways to reintroduce lock screen widgets, taking inspiration from a similar feature on iOS – Live Activities. The first clue came to us earlier this year, when reports indicated that Android 15 would allow tablets to add widgets in a separate space accessed by dragging the mouse from the right edge of the screen locking.
However, This approach for tablets would not be suitable for phones with smaller screens. For smartphones, Google therefore seems to be considering an implementation similar to that of iOS, which would rely on the existing “Glance” widget.
Android 15 could reintroduce Widgets to the lock screen
At a Glance currently displays information such as calendar appointments and travel details on the home and lock screens of Pixel phones. It’s based on Google’s Smartspace API, separate from the RemoteViews API that powers traditional Android widgets.
9To5Google has uncovered evidence that Google has been working to add RemoteViews support to Smartspace behind the scenes. This would allow At a Glance to display third-party app widgets directly on the lock screenlike Live Activities that appeared in iOS 16.
There are still some challenges to overcome, like making sure the widgets fit properly into the limited space of the lock screen and don’t block the entire interface. But the biggest change 9To5Google spotted is that Google tested the repositioning of Glance at the bottom of the lock screen on Android 15, precisely where Live Activities appears on iPhone.
This new feature therefore makes the lock screen rather cluttered with notifications also displayed in the middle. The good news is that users will therefore have several new information displayed on the lock screen, which will probably save them valuable time.
