Samsung's new One UI 7 beta killed a handy lock screen feature

What you need to know

• The lock screen widget carousel, which let users tap the clock to access full-sized widgets, is missing in the latest One UI 7 beta.
• The lock screen now only supports mini widgets below the clock, but Good Lock’s LockStar module still allows full customization.
• While Samsung pulls back, Google is going the other way, with Android 15 QPR1 and QPR2 keeping full-sized lock screen widgets, at least on tablets.

While Samsung added more lock screen customization in the first One UI 7.0 beta, the company may have removed the widgets carousel, with no word on its return.

Samsung’s delayed Android 15-based One UI 7 beta finally made its way to the Galaxy S24 series last week, and it’s packing some solid updates. One of the big ones is the long-awaited vertical app drawer, replacing the old horizontal layout and making things feel much smoother and easier to navigate. On top of that, One UI 7 introduces the Now Bar to keep track of live activities, plus a revamped Quick Settings panel that's now separate from the notification shade.

Even with all the new upgrades, One UI 7 appears to be saying goodbye to the lock screen widget carousel. Users could tap the lock screen clock to access a carousel with full-sized widgets in previous versions. But with One UI 7, it looks like that feature is being dropped.

A Reddit user recently spotted, as reported by Android Authority, that the lock screen widget carousel is missing from the latest One UI 7 beta. If this sticks around in the final release, Samsung’s One UI will align even more with Google’s Android, which stopped supporting native lock screen widgets back with Android 5.0.

In earlier versions of One UI, users could find the lock screen widget carousel settings under Settings > Lock screen and AOD > Widgets, where they could choose full-sized widgets like Weather, Calendar, and Digital Wellbeing. But with the latest One UI 7 beta, this setting is nowhere to be found.

As a result, the lock screen only shows mini widgets below the clock. For those who enjoy customizing their Galaxy phone, Good Lock's LockStar module still lets you add any widget to the lock screen.

While Samsung is pulling back on lock screen widgets with One UI 7, Google is heading in the opposite direction. Android 15 QPR1 brought full-sized lock screen widgets, and they’re sticking around in Android 15 QPR2 for tablets.