Google may port several One UI features to Android OS with Android 16. The latest beta update already adopts One UI 7.0’s Live Activities pill in the status bar. The company has now confirmed support for lock screen widgets, which already exist on Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets. Native support on Android OS should allow Galaxy users to add third-party widgets to their lock screens.
Google to introduce native lock screen widgets in Android 16
Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and tablets allow users to add widgets to the lock screen, but only from its first-party apps. This is because lock screen widgets are not a native Android feature but rather a proprietary One UI implementation from the Korean firm. Well, Google did introduce the feature to its Pixel tablet with Android 15, but it wasn’t released to AOSP (Android Open Source Project) or even Pixel phones.
However, this changes with Android 16 later this year. Google is working on making lock screen widgets a core feature of Android 16. Pixel phones will receive the feature with Android 16 QPR1, followed by its integration into AOSP by late summer 2025. This native implementation should make lock screen widgets available for all apps rather than being limited to first-party offerings.
For Galaxy users, this means One UI 8.0 — Samsung’s custom skin based on Android 16 — could leverage this feature and expand lock screen widget support to third-party apps. Despite the company facing delays with One UI 7.0, the next update should arrive on time. The first beta build should drop sometime in Q3 2025, followed by the stable release in the fourth quarter.
Google has already confirmed that the stable Android 16 update will be available in June 2025, about three months earlier than the usual timeline. This should help Samsung speed up One UI 8.0 development. It has already started working on the next update, even though it has yet to begin the One UI 7.0 rollout. The Android 15-based update will hit the stable channel next month.
