Lock screen widgets could be set to return in the next big Android OS update, Android 15, based on hidden features discovered in the latest Android 14 beta.
The tool is clearly unfinished, suggesting that it is still far from being released to the public, but as reported by Android Authority it is possible to access a new Common Space area on the lock screen that allows you to add widgets.
Currently, it's limited to just three apps: Google Calendar, Google Clock, and Google App, although more software will likely be added if its widget category is updated.
What's more, when you return to your full Communal Space, it's currently a messy mix of widgets and the typical Android lock screen. So it's not something that's ready for public use.
This wouldn't be the first time lock screen widgets have appeared on Android devices: Google tried something similar in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Users could add a preview of their messages, calendar, and email inbox to the lock screen, as well as quick access to the camera and a tool that identified which song was playing.
Some aspects of this feature were kept (you can see message previews, quickly access certain apps, and identify which song is playing on the lock screen), but Android 5 removed this proper sense of widget-like personalization, which is something that this feature of the Common Space could bring back.
An exclusive Pixel tablet?
Unfortunately, although lock screen widgets will apparently return in the next Android update, they may not come to all devices. At least not right away. Right now, it looks like Communal Space may be exclusive to devices with Hub mode (currently only for the Pixel tablet).
What's more, you may not be able to update your common space with all the widgets you can decorate your home page with. The Pixel tablet can have multiple users, and the Communal Space name suggests that these widgets would be ones that would be safe and relevant to each user of the device.
As with all leaked beta features, we have to remember that there's no guarantee that the return of lock screen widgets will happen anytime soon, or even at all. Google could reserve the feature for a much newer Android OS update, like Android 16 or 17, or it could decide after its testing that it wants to remove it entirely.
That said, considering that lock screen widgets are now a mainstay of Apple products since the release of iOS 16 (released in September 2022), it seems likely that Google doesn't want its Android users to feel like they're doing it. They are losing. So lock screen widgets on Android seem more a matter of when and not if. We'll have to wait and see what he announces next year.
