How to Use Lock Screen Widgets on Your Samsung Phone
Widgets are small interactive app shortcuts that display some data and allow you to perform actions without actually opening the app. The weather widget, for example, shows data for the current temperature or next week’s forecast, and you can tap it to open the app. Widgets for the clock, email, lists, and others are great for glancing at info without using an app.
While most Android phones only allow home screen widgets, you can get them on the lock screen on Samsung Galaxy phones. Here’s how to set them up.
How to Enable Lock Screen Widgets on Your Samsung Phone
Samsung devices running One UI 3.0 or above have the option for lock screen widgets in the settings. Though it doesn’t allow you to use all thebest Android home screen widgetson the lock screen, it does have some useful ones for music, alarms, the weather, the Digital Wellbeing app, and today’s schedule. Here’s how to use them on your lock screen:
How to View and Use Lock Screen Widgets on Your Samsung Phone
There are two ways to access Lock Screen widgets on Samsung: the lock screen or the Always-On Display. If you don’t have the Always-On Display feature turned on, you can find the lock screen widgets when you turn on the screen without unlocking the phone. Here’s how:
it’s possible to then tap on any widget to interact with it. However, the phone will ask you to unlock it before it opens the requested app for security purposes.
On the other hand, if you have Always-On Display turned on, here’s how you could interact with the lock screen widgets without turning on the screen:
As in the previous instructions, you can tap on any widget to interact with it; you just need to unlock your phone to open its associated app.
How to Access More Lock Screen Widgets (and Get Them on Any Android Phone)
Samsung phones have many good widgets, but you can only use a few on the lock screen. If you want more widgets—or if you want to use them on a non-Samsung phone—you can use a third-party app called Lockscreen Widgets.
The app allows you to use all your home screen widgets on your lock screen. Along with that, you can also add custom widgets from apps like KWGT. The Lockscreen Widgets app is compatible with any phone or tablet running Android 5.1 or above.
Download:Lockscreen Widgets($1.49)
Step 1: Grant the Permissions
To use the app, you must provide it with the necessary permissions. After opening the app, three left swipes will land you on the accessibility page. Now, tapMORE INFO, and it’s possible to see a dialogue box displaying information on why the app needs that permission.
Tap onGrantto open the Accessibility menu in your phone’s settings. SelectLockscreen Widgetsin the list to grant the permission. While allowing it, your phone will show you what data the app will access with this permission, so only give it if you’re okay with that. For your safety, you should alwayscheck the smartphone permissionsan app asks before approving them.
Now repeat the process for the Notification and Storage permissions, then you’re ready to start using the app.
Step 2: Add Your Widgets
Once you’ve given all the permissions, the app will take you to its home screen, where you can add widgets.
Step 3: Adjust the Settings
In the app, if you go to the lock screen widget’sSettings, you could tweak the following options:
Along with all these lock screen widgets and customization, the app has an option for a widget drawer. you could enable it by toggling on theEnabledoption under the Widget Drawer menu and then add widgets as you did for the lock screen.
After enabling the widget drawer, you’ll see a slider on the top right of your screen. Swiping that slider will display all the widgets in the drawer. Like the lock screen widgets, the drawer has many customization options in itsSettingsmenu to help you configure it properly.
You don’t need to download any app to get this feature if you have an iPhone. That’s because lock screen widgets are some of the handyfeatures you can access from your iOS lock screen.
Add Widgets to the Lock Screen
The Lockscreen Widgets app isn’t free, but once you use it, you’ll know it’s worth the money. It offers a lot more features than you get with the built-in option on Samsung phones. With the app, you can start using all your home screen widgets on the lock screen.
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