Google is bringing widgets to phone lock screens with Android 16 QPR1

Home Control screen saver on Pixel 9 Pro Fold and widgets on Pixel Tablet

(Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

What you need to know

Widgets will arrive on the lock screen for Android phones and tablets later this year with Android 16 QPR1.
Google brought lock screen widgets to the Pixel Tablet with Android 15, and the feature will be available as part of the AOSP in "late Summer 2025."
While the update will be available for OEMs to implement, device manufactures won't be able to customize the experience.

Lock Screen widgets are a crucial part of the Google Pixel Tablet experience, and they're coming to all Android phones later this year. Google announced the move in a blog post on the Android Developers Blog today, March 6. The update will be pushed to the Android Open Source Project in "late Summer 2025" and "all widgets are compatible with the lock screen widget experience," according to the company.

"Lock screen widgets will be available in AOSP for tablets and mobile starting with the release after Android 16 (QPR1)," the company says in the post. Pixel phones might get lock screen widgets first, as the blog post notes "other device manufacturers may update their devices as well once the feature is available in AOSP."

The update coming as part of Android 16 QPR1 will not only boost the capabilities of Android phones, but could also third-party Android tablets, like the OnePlus Pad and Samsung Galaxy Tab lineup. However, it's up to those third-party OEMs to implement the functionality when it becomes available. Notably, Google says device manufacturers can't customize the appearance of lock screen widgets, so it's possible some OEMs might opt not to include this feature.

"All lock screen widgets will have the same developer experience on all devices," the company adds.

Google Pixel Tablet in vertical mode — (Image credit: Andrew Myrick / Android Central)

Google also provides insight on how widgets might appear on the lock screen in the form of developer instructions. "For the best experience, please make sure your widget supports dynamic color and dynamic resizing," the post explains. "Lock screen widgets are sized to approximately 4 cells wide by 3 cells tall on the launcher, but exact dimensions vary by device."

Lock screen widgets, when available, could give users more ways to easily take actions within apps with fewer taps. Android 16 is set to bring multiple new experiences to the lock screen, as Live Updates are also expected to arrive as part of the update.

Brady is a tech journalist for Android Central, with a focus on news, phones, tablets, audio, wearables, and software. He has spent the last three years reporting and commenting on all things related to consumer technology for various publications. Brady graduated from St. John's University with a bachelor's degree in journalism. His work has been published in XDA, Android Police, Tech Advisor, iMore, Screen Rant, and Android Headlines. When he isn't experimenting with the latest tech, you can find Brady running or watching Big East basketball.