With the arrival of Android 14, Google has brought different options on board smartphones lock screen customization.
These functions allow users, for example, to change the clock style and the other widgets present, but despite this, the lock screen dell’iPhone is much further ahead, making that of Android still appear decidedly “limited”.
This is mainly due to lack of widgetsa “problem” that Big G may want to solve with the arrival of Android 15 which should introduce customization methods very similar to those seen above iOS. Let’s find out more.
Android 15, how to customize the lock screen
According to the first information shared by Android Authorityit seems that Google “let itself be inspired” by iOS, bringing widgets to the lock screen with a system similar to Live Activities Of Apple. To do this, however, you should use the widget At a Glance adapted for the occasion.
In a nutshell, this means that, theoretically, it will be possible to display various widgets on the lock screen, including third-party ones, which would be able to update themselves completely independently based on the information they show, such as the traffic status of Google Mapsfor example.
However At a Glance would not have the space to display this information in full size and the operating system will have to resize cards dynamically to try to adapt them to the available space.
To make best use of this feature, it also seems that Google intends to reposition At a Glance in the bottom of the lock screenshowing even more affinity with iOS Live Activities.
We must keep in mind, however, that there are “limits technicians”, because the At a glance widget (and all other widgets supported by Android) run on different APIs; this would make it necessary that, first of all, Google integrate these APIs into the widget above, also trying to coordinate with all the various developers to ensure that their products are compatible with this system and with the limited space available on the screen.
What changes for users
As things currently stand, this new mode of customization is still in the testing phase and, therefore, it may never reach the top Android 15 and remain “segregated” in the various beta versions.
However, Google is working on functions of this kind, and this bodes well for the future even if the Mountain View giant is unlikely to be able to implement this feature 100% before the arrival of the new Android release, scheduled for the end of 2024.
Optimistically speaking, therefore, this beta could represent a testing ground for future versions of the operating system, perhaps officially arriving on Android 16with the possibility of also being inserted on previous versions.
At the moment we don’t know anything else about it and, perhaps, the company itself will talk about this topic during the Google I/O 2024 scheduled for May.
To know more: Android, operating system features