Pixel Phones Get Lock Screen Widgets With Android 16

Android 16 QPR2 joins the club with a much-desired feature for Pixel phones: lock screen widgets. Having leaned on At a Glance and app shortcuts for years, Pixel owners can finally pin rich, glanceable widgets to the lock screen itself to get at things quicker without so much unlocking.

What You’ll Need Before You Start With Android 16

First, check that your Pixel is on Android 16 QPR2. You can do this by opening Settings, tapping System, and then System Update to check for the latest build. This feature shows up after the update on applicable Pixel phones is done.

If you use a work profile or device management, your administrator can restrict the content of your lock screen. If widgets don’t appear after setup, please check your organization’s IT policy.

Enable Lock Screen Widgets on Your Pixel Phone

Open Settings and navigate to Lock Screen. Search for Lock Screen Widgets and toggle it on. On Pixels, it shows up as a simple toggle; there’s no pop-up for confirmation. If the switch is checked rather than X’d out, you’re good to go.

Return to your lock screen. From the lock screen, swipe right to see the new widgets page. Google preloads some choices to get you started, and they’re usually Gemini, Pixel Weather, and the Google Finance Watchlist.

Edit, Add, Resize or Arrange Lock Screen Widgets

Long press anywhere on the widgets page to enter edit mode. You may also resize, delete, or drag widgets to organize them. Tap Add Widget to see the rest of the gallery from apps you have on your device—just about any standard Android home screen widget can be placed on the lock screen at this point.

Don’t see the button for Add Widget? It can be obscured by the selected widget’s controls. Tap the chosen widget once; its top-left button switches from Remove to Add Widget and shows the picker.

Three standard-size widgets can be placed per page. Most widgets grow to fill two slots, while some are extended over a page for “dashboard”-style use. Need more room? Add several pages and swipe left or right to navigate between them.

One weird thing to note: the page swipe is sensitive.

If you employ three or more pages, you can quickly swipe past a page. You can slow down your swipes or pause between them for precise control.

Pro Tips to Take Your Lock Screen Setup Up a Notch

With the phone unlocking immediately using your fingerprint, you might not see the widgets page enough. Wake the screen by hitting the power button, and give it a beat before reaching for that sensor. This affords you a chance to swipe Notification Center widgets into view without unlocking.

Pick widgets designed for glanceability. Calendar’s agenda, a concise to-do list, transit departures, and weather summaries end up being the most useful. Material You adaptive colors assist with contrast; if you’re finding a widget difficult to read, try resizing it or changing your wallpaper for improved legibility.

Not all third-party widgets work well on the lock screen. Widgets based on Android’s AppWidget framework have generally functioned well, though occasionally with small touch targets or light text on a light background. If that is the case, experiment with a different size or a widget from another app.

Privacy and Battery Considerations for Lock Screen Widgets

Widgets can show personal information even when the phone is locked. To regulate what appears, go to Settings and then Notifications and adjust On Lock Screen and Sensitive Content. Many apps also offer privacy options specific to widgets; for example, some calendar widgets can show locked-down events only once they’re unlocked.

Battery impact is minimal. Android constrains background updates using Doze and refresh windows, and widgets are snapshots — not full apps — until you tap them. Google’s power management advice gives low-frequency updates the priority in lock screen surfaces, so you’re not likely to notice any meaningful hit to normal daily endurance.

Great Real-World Uses for Pixel Lock Screen Widgets

Travelers can combine weather, a finance list to track currency rates, and a flight tracker for easy checks when on the go. Students could pin up a class schedule, notes, and a timer. When you’re sweating bullets while running, you’ll probably appreciate quick access to your workout of choice without having to hunt it down on the home page. Runners often pair a music widget with a quick launcher from a fitness app.

The big victory is less unlocking. Behavioral studies from places like Asurion and industry UX studies reveal people are checking their phones dozens of times a day. By surfacing the correct widgets on your lock screen, you transform many of those glance-checks into just one glance and a swipe — quicker, quieter, and also (hopefully) more private.

Bottom Line: Lock Screen Widgets on Pixel Are Worth It

And for Pixel phones, at long last we finally get the flexible, purpose-crafted lock screen widgets that Google introduced with 16 QPR2.

Turn on the toggle, make a selection of some high-value widgets, and then adjust sizing and pages. Once you get it dialed in, you’ll spend less time unlocking and more time at a glance performing productive tasks.