First look: Android 16 is testing a fresh design for the Pixel lock screen
Google is working on a new lock screen layout for Pixel phones in Android 16
- Google is testing a cleaner lock screen layout for Pixels that repositions elements of the At a Glance widget.
- The date and weather are moved below or beside the clock, while the informational complication is separated.
- Spotted in Android 16 Beta 4, this cleaner layout isn’t enabled by default yet and its official release date is unknown.
One of the best Pixel-only features is the tight integration of Google’s At a Glance widget with the Pixel Launcher and the lock screen. While the At a Glance widget is available on other Android devices, the Pixel version offers significantly more features. The At a Glance widget is prominently positioned at the top of the Pixel Launcher homepage on Pixel devices, but its placement is more dynamic on the lock screen. The current lock screen placement can feel cluttered, though, so Google is working on a new, cleaner layout.
The current lock screen layout on Google Pixel phones places the At a Glance widget above the clock when the clock is centered, and below the clock when it’s at the top. The widget has three complications: one showing the date, another showing the weather, and a third displaying snippets of information from the OS and select apps (like Google Clock) in a horizontally scrolling carousel. (Android’s widget APIs don’t allow for horizontally scrolling widgets, which is why At a Glance isn’t technically a widget, but it’s the closest term.)
