Android’s At a Glance Widget Shifts to the Bottom of the Lock Screen

At a Glance has long been a standout and immensely practical feature of Pixel devices, yet it has seen few significant updates in recent years. It has been known for some time that Google is testing the option for users to remove At a Glance from the home screen, and now it seems they’re exploring another alteration to the widget’s placement, potentially relocating it to the bottom of the Pixel’s display, akin to live activities on iOS.

Initially discovered by Mishaal Rahman via Android Authority, Google is experimenting with moving the At a Glance widget’s position to the bottom of the lock screen in Android 15.

In addition to this, Google has been actively developing lock screen widgets. If they intend to incorporate iOS-like live activities into Android, they will need to ensure compatibility between the Remote Views API and the Smartspace API, a transition they have been gradually working on.

Smartspace currently manages At a Glance views, while Remote Views is responsible for widget display. Establishing compatibility between them would be an essential initial step toward having a widget-compatible At a Glance feature.

Smartspacer, a third-party app, already enables users to achieve similar functionality using tools like Shizuku, which allows access to system APIs without complete root access to the device.

The current positioning also presents an issue, as it necessitates disabling lock screen shortcuts to prevent overlap. Clearly, there is still considerable work to be done, casting doubt on the possibility of a revamped At a Glance widget arriving in the stable Android 15 update, assuming Google proceeds with the change.

What do you think about relocating At a Glance to the bottom of Android? Let us know in the comments below.