Lock screen widgets

[MNealBarrett]

Widgets is one of the areas where Android is LIGHT YEARS beyond iOS. iOS does not have them AT ALL, while Android not only has them, but keeps improving them. The latest in Jelly Bean 4.2 is to be able to have widgets on the lock screen, which is very, very handy. Imagine having customizable live information right there when you turn the screen on, without having to do anything else at all. A stock trader could have overall market info, for example. I have a time/date and weather widget on mine.

The default in 4.2 is to only support a few new widgets for the lock screen, but here is the beauty of open source: several hacker groups have modified the code to allow any widgets to be used. The one I used is called Xylon, and it is very stable and rocks.

Lock screen widgets is still in its infancy, though, but there is much potential and I can see it getting better. Right now, you can only have one widget per 'screen', and you have to swipe left or right to see additional widgets, which kind of defeats the purpose if you ask me. But I can see support being added for the widgets being resizable (as they already are for home screen widgets) so more than one could be added to the main lock screen.

 

[roxxette]

How do i add new widgets in lockscreen ? Or change to custom clock etc

 

[superwoman]

Eh, WidgetLocker? It's been around for ages.

 

[tjl3]

Meh, I have them turned off, altho it should've been a option on 4.2.

The idea isn't novel, which makes me wonder why the implementation is so poor. I hope it isn't like Project Butter, where Google throws it at us and doesn't mention it again.

Also, in my opinion iOS would benefit much greater from lockscreen widgets than Android. Simply, iOS wakes to the lockscreen (something I think Android should do as an option). As the OP pointed out, swiping to each widget defeats the purpose of having a lockscreen widget.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

How do i add new widgets in lockscreen ? Or change to custom clock etc

When you wake the phone on the lockscreen, you'll see "brackets" appear and then disappear on either side of the screen. This indicates you can swipe left or right. If you swipe from the left side of the screen, you'll see a big "+" in the middle of it. Tap that, and you can add almost any widget to that screen. If you want to replace the lockscreen clock, just add whatever clock you want to one of the widget screens, then tap and hold the screen to send it into edit mode. Now move the screen with the clock you want to the right of the standard lockscreen. That will now be the screen that appears when you wake the device.

 

[cynics]

I wouldn't say iOS doesn't have them at all. You can add weather and stock widget (maybe more?) to the notification center.

The only lock screen widget I personally think is useful is the "what song is this". There have been many occasions a song ends before I can get the app open on my iPhone.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I don't use Lock Screen widgets.

I use normal widgets, however.

 

[roxxette]

When you wake the phone on the lockscreen, you'll see "brackets" appear and then disappear on either side of the screen. This indicates you can swipe left or right. If you swipe from the left side of the screen, you'll see a big "+" in the middle of it. Tap that, and you can add almost any widget to that screen. If you want to replace the lockscreen clock, just add whatever clock you want to one of the widget screens, then tap and hold the screen to send it into edit mode. Now move the screen with the clock you want to the right of the standard lockscreen. That will now be the screen that appears when you wake the device.

Thanks !

Was hoping for better options, i use some widgets on the homescreen (regular widgets) but they dont seem to show up when i try to apply in the lockscreen; anyway lets hope they do something in the future rather than just leave the option as is.

 

[The Game 161]

Can you get a espn scorecenter widget on android?

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Can you get a espn scorecenter widget on android?

Yes.

(10 character)

 

[The Game 161]

Yes.

(10 character)

Any chance you could post a print screen on what it would look like?

 

[mattopotamus]

I really only use like 1 or 2 widgets. I think they are good, but nothing great or really needed.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Any chance you could post a print screen on what it would look like?

Here you go. And once you're logged in, you can scroll with the bar on the right to "Your Teams" and other scores, as well as scrolling up and down through other game scores.

 

[The Game 161]

Here you go. And once you're logged in, you can scroll with the bar on the right to "Your Teams" and other scores, as well as scrolling up and down through other game scores.

Image

That's brilliant thanks for doing that

So it updates scores on the lock screen or do you have to click the widget?

 

[KentuckyHouse]

That's brilliant thanks for doing that

So it updates scores on the lock screen or do you have to click the widget?

No problem. Glad I could help.

I don't usually have the widget on my home screen (I just added it to show you what it looked like). But yes, it will update on it's own (I believe you can set the update interval, but it's usually every 30 minutes or hour).

I just realized you were asking about it on the lock screen. You can easily add it to your lock screen in one of two ways...if you're running a phone with 4.2.2 (either the Nexus 4 or, like me, AOKP on the S3), you can add widgets right to your lock screen. Otherwise, you can use something like WidgetLocker and add any widget you want to your lock screen. I typically use WidgetLocker because I can change the wallpaper (whereas on 4.2.2 your lock screen wallpaper is the same as your home screen. Why they do it this way, I have no idea).

 

[The Game 161]

No problem. Glad I could help.

I don't usually have the widget on my home screen (I just added it to show you what it looked like). But yes, it will update on it's own (I believe you can set the update interval, but it's usually every 30 minutes or hour).

I just realized you were asking about it on the lock screen. You can easily add it to your lock screen in one of two ways...if you're running a phone with 4.2.2 (either the Nexus 4 or, like me, AOKP on the S3), you can add widgets right to your lock screen. Otherwise, you can use something like WidgetLocker and add any widget you want to your lock screen. I typically use WidgetLocker because I can change the wallpaper (whereas on 4.2.2 your lock screen wallpaper is the same as your home screen. Why they do it this way, I have no idea).

Thanks for that

I'm planning on getting the S4 as my first android phone so wanted to see if I can get it on the lock screen as the notifications are different than on my iPhone regarding NBA score updates.

Guessing the S4 will only come with 4.2.1? Widget locker sounds good..the widget side of things along with screen size is a big reason for switching

 

[KentuckyHouse]

Thanks for that

I'm planning on getting the S4 as my first android phone so wanted to see if I can get it on the lock screen as the notifications are different than on my iPhone regarding NBA score updates.

Guessing the S4 will only come with 4.2.1? Widget locker sounds good..the widget side of things along with screen size is a big reason for switching

No problem at all.

Yeah, I believe there are other ways to get the notifications to show up on your lock screen, but I've always used WidgetLocker to just replace the entire lock screen. Plus, you can put the widgets anywhere you want and resize them, so it's really easy to make your phone exactly what you want. DashClock might be another idea, as you can add extensions that will give you different notifications (though I'm not sure if it has a sports score extension yet...I need to look for that!) It's only compatible with 4.2 and above, but it should work with the S4.

As far as what the S4 will come with, I'd be guessing as well. Obviously we'll know later tonight, but it should come with at least 4.2.1. But maybe they'll surprise us and bring out 4.2.2 or even higher. I don't have my heads in the clouds, though, and think they'll unveil Key Lime Pie or anything like that. What a shocker that would be, though!

I think you'll really enjoy the S4. I adore my S3 and yet I'll probably still grab a S4 in the next few weeks. If the leaked pictures are the actual phone, I really like the more squared up top and bottom and the flat sides. It should be a beauty!

 

[csluyuan]

I wouldn't say iOS doesn't have them at all. You can add weather and stock widget (maybe more?) to the notification center.

The only lock screen widget I personally think is useful is the "what song is this". There have been many occasions a song ends before I can get the app open on my iPhone.

 

[mattopotamus]

No problem at all.

Yeah, I believe there are other ways to get the notifications to show up on your lock screen, but I've always used WidgetLocker to just replace the entire lock screen. Plus, you can put the widgets anywhere you want and resize them, so it's really easy to make your phone exactly what you want. DashClock might be another idea, as you can add extensions that will give you different notifications (though I'm not sure if it has a sports score extension yet...I need to look for that!) It's only compatible with 4.2 and above, but it should work with the S4.

As far as what the S4 will come with, I'd be guessing as well. Obviously we'll know later tonight, but it should come with at least 4.2.1. But maybe they'll surprise us and bring out 4.2.2 or even higher. I don't have my heads in the clouds, though, and think they'll unveil Key Lime Pie or anything like that. What a shocker that would be, though!

I think you'll really enjoy the S4. I adore my S3 and yet I'll probably still grab a S4 in the next few weeks. If the leaked pictures are the actual phone, I really like the more squared up top and bottom and the flat sides. It should be a beauty!

it won't be anything higher. I don't know if there will be anything else before KLP, and then the s4 will be on the 6 month waiting game.

 

[sentinelsx]

Thanks for that

I'm planning on getting the S4 as my first android phone so wanted to see if I can get it on the lock screen as the notifications are different than on my iPhone regarding NBA score updates.

Guessing the S4 will only come with 4.2.1? Widget locker sounds good..the widget side of things along with screen size is a big reason for switching

The s4 will ship with 4.2.2