Google could bring a key iPhone lock screen feature to Android

Summary

• Android 15 might bring back lock screen widgets but limit it to tablets. For phones, Google could take inspiration from iPhones.
• At a Glance widget in Android 15 could possibly show third-party widgets on the lock screen.
• Google may also move the At a Glance widget to lock screen bottom in Android 15.

Android 14 brought some much-needed lock screen customization options to the OS, letting you change the clock style and the two widgets sitting below it. But compared to the iPhone’s Lock Screen, Android’s lock screen still feels limited, mainly due to the lack of widgets. Google might bring back lock screen widgets with a twist in Android 15 and restrict them to tablets. For phones, the company could reportedly take inspiration from the iPhone and port one of its key features over to Android 15 to make its lock screen more useful.

In a report for Android Authority, Android expert Mishaal Rahman claims Google will take inspiration from iPhone’s Live Activities to bring widgets to Android 15’s lock screen on phones through its At a Glance widget. The company is working on integrating RemoteViews API, which is used by Android widgets, into At a Glance’s Smartspace API.

Rahman claims this will theoretically allow At a Glance to show third-party widgets. There are many issues here, though. At a Glance does not have the space to show full-size widgets. So, Google must dynamically resize them to fit their content within the limited space.Based on the video, in the current implementation, At a Glance is pulling the relevant information from the third-party widget and showing it instead of displaying the entire widget itself.

Another issue is that At a Glance is only available on Pixel devices on the lock screen. If Google uses At a Glance to bring third-party widget support to Android phones’ lock screens, it will have to work with other manufacturers to expand the widget’s availability to their devices. Currently, you can only place At a Glance widget with limited functionality on the home screen of non-Pixel phones.

Apparently, Google is also considering moving the At a Glance widget to the bottom of the lock screen. Rahman enabled some hidden flags in Android 15 Beta 1.2 to achieve this, but it is not clear yet if the company will proceed with this change.

At the moment, it is unclear if Google will introduce Live Activities-like widget support in Android 15. The feature still appears to be in the early stages of development and might not be ready for the OS’s launch later this year.

If that’s the case, we could have to wait until Android 16’s launch in 2025 to enjoy a superior lock screen experience. And if Google plans to debut this enhanced lock screen experience on Android 15, we should hear the company talk more about it at Google I/O next month.