Latest news with #lockscreen
Android Authority
5 days ago
- Android Authority
Bored with your phone's lock screen? This brand lets you replace it with an eye-tracking 3D game
Paul Jones / Android Authority TL;DR Huawei's flagship Pura 80 Ultra features 3D interactive lock screens that move in sync with the phone's physical movement. The interactive lock screens also function as games, utilizing hand and eye-tracking features to manipulate objects. While the hand and eye-tracking gestures likely utilize the phone's front camera, there is no usage indicator, which raises privacy concerns. Android phones have always offered comprehensive customization options for the lock screen. In Android's early days, you could use third-party lockscreen or active display apps to replace the dull default screen; this has since been replaced by support for various lockscreen media apps or carousels. But certain brands always tend to go overboard and create something that lies at the intersection of fascinating and absurd. That's precisely what Huawei is doing with its interactive lock screen on specific flagship devices. Interactive lock screens aren't new to Android. At some point, we must have all interacted with lock screens on old Samsung phones that had a ripple effect following our finger's movement across the screen. However, Huawei is taking it a step further by embedding interactive games into its already interactive 3D lock screen. YouTuber Arun Maini, colloquially known as Mrwhosetheboss, recently posted a video on X, showing an interactive lock screen game on a Huawei Pura 80 Ultra flagship phone. The lock screen features an array of basketballs that move around the screen in response to the phone's physical movement. Would you want something like that on your phone? Would you want this wild Huawei lock screen on your Android phone? 0 votes Hell, yeah! NaN % Nah, it's not 2014! NaN % Maybe, it depends on privacy & battery concerns NaN % Maini also demonstrates how moving the phone up and down induces a depth effect, making it appear as though the basketballs are actually inside a transparent 3D box. But that's not the most fascinating part. You can actually flick your hands in the air in front of the phone for a quick game of swish basketball. My colleague Paul Jones was able to try out the feature on their Pura 80 Ultra unit. In addition to the basketball game, they confirmed there are at least two more lock screen games. That includes one where a bunch of spherical emoji heads float around the screen with the phone's movement, just like the basketballs, but without the swish game. Meanwhile, another interactive screen lets you play tennis, but instead of using your hands to move the racket, you just use your eyes to glide the ball. Have a look: The tennis game was also present on the previous generation, i.e., the Pura 70 Ultra. Although fascinating, Huawei's hand and eye tracking features for the interactive games have a scary side too. Paul confirmed that while there is no information on how these games work, they unquestionably rely on the front camera. However, while that happens, no indicator for the camera's usage appears on the screen. That evokes a big question about Huawei's transparency regarding the use of the front camera, whether it is while engaging with the game or using the phone otherwise. It leaves room for privacy concerns and questions about the extent to which Huawei phones may be accessing the phone's cameras (or other sensors, such as the microphone, for that matter) without the users' knowledge. In addition to those concerns, the feature is likely to guzzle the phone's battery much more quickly. Would you still want to try it despite those concerns? Share your vote in the poll above, or tell us in the comments below. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Geeky Gadgets
13-07-2025
- Geeky Gadgets
Live Activity Apps That Revolutionize Your iPhone Lock Screen
The iPhone lock screen has transitioned from a simple display of time and notifications to a dynamic, interactive interface. With the advent of live activity apps, your lock screen now serves as a real-time hub for updates and controls, offering tools that seamlessly integrate into your daily life. These apps enhance functionality, making your lock screen a personalized extension of your smartphone. In the video below, iReviews explores how live activity apps are reshaping the way you interact with your device. Watch this video on YouTube. Real-Time Weather Updates Stepping outside without worrying about unexpected weather changes is now possible with live activity apps. These apps deliver real-time weather forecasts directly to your lock screen, providing essential details such as temperature, precipitation chances, humidity levels, and wind conditions. For example, apps like Carrot Weather and Weather Live offer customizable widgets that combine precise data with visually appealing designs. This ensures that you are always prepared, whether you're heading to work, planning a hike, or simply running errands. The ability to personalize these widgets adds a layer of convenience, making weather updates both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Streamlined Task Management Keeping track of your responsibilities has never been easier. Task management apps like Todoist and Things 3 integrate seamlessly with the lock screen, allowing you to view and update tasks without unlocking your phone. These apps provide features such as progress tracking, reminders, and priority settings, making sure that your to-do list is always accessible. Additionally, customizable backgrounds and widgets help you stay focused on your goals while adding a personal touch to your lock screen. This integration not only enhances productivity but also simplifies the process of managing your daily schedule. Enhanced Music and Media Experience For music lovers, live activity apps bring a new level of engagement to your listening experience. Apps like Apple Music and Spotify now display live song lyrics on your lock screen, allowing you to follow along with your favorite tracks in real time. Enhanced media controls enable you to adjust volume, skip tracks, or shuffle playlists directly from the lock screen, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple menus. This combination of dynamic lyrics and intuitive controls makes enjoying music more seamless and immersive, whether you're at home, on a commute, or working out. Fitness and Health Tracking Made Simple Fitness enthusiasts can now monitor their progress effortlessly with live activity apps. Whether you're tracking a morning run, monitoring your heart rate, or counting daily steps, apps like Strava and Nike Run Club display key fitness metrics—such as distance, pace, and calories burned—right on your lock screen. This real-time visibility keeps you motivated and eliminates the need to open apps repeatedly to check your progress. By consolidating essential health data in one easily accessible place, these apps simplify your fitness routine and help you stay on track with your goals. Quick Access to Shortcuts and Tools Efficiency takes center stage with shortcut launchers like Lock Launcher. These tools create a customizable dock on your lock screen, offering one-tap access to your favorite apps, websites, or playlists. For those who value personalization, apps like Widgetsmith allow you to design your lock screen with photos, text, or unique widgets that reflect your style. This level of customization ensures that your lock screen is not only functional but also tailored to your preferences, making it a true reflection of your personality. Interactive Everyday Tools The lock screen has evolved into an interactive tool for managing daily tasks and staying informed. Live activity apps enable features such as reminders, social media updates, battery tracking, and smart home integrations. For instance, you can monitor your home's security cameras, adjust thermostat settings, or control smart lights directly from your lock screen. By tailoring these tools to your specific needs, you can streamline your daily routine and enjoy a more connected smartphone experience. This transformation turns your lock screen into a practical interface that enhances both convenience and functionality. Unlocking the Potential of Your Lock Screen Live activity apps have fundamentally changed the way you interact with your iPhone lock screen, transforming it into a customizable and functional interface. Whether you're checking the weather, managing tasks, enjoying music, tracking fitness goals, or accessing shortcuts, these apps provide real-time updates and controls that seamlessly integrate into your lifestyle. By using these tools, you can turn your lock screen into a personalized hub that enhances productivity, convenience, and engagement, making your smartphone an even more indispensable part of your daily life. Unlock more potential in Live activity apps by reading previous articles we have written. Source & Image Credit: iReviews Filed Under: Apple, Apple iPhone, Guides, Top News Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. 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Android Authority
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Android Authority
Google is working to bring album art to Now Playing on your Pixel's lock screen (APK teardown)
Ryan Haines / Android Authority TL;DR Now Playing detects songs your phone hears in its vicinity and can identify them on your lock screen. Tapping on the detected song name currently takes you to your Now Playing history. Google is working on a new interface where that tap would instead display album art on the lock screen. Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. As we analyze Android app updates for evidence of in-development changes, it can really feel like it's dealer's (or should we say, developer's) choice, and it can be weeks or months before we find ourselves revisiting a specific feature. But this week we're retuning to one topic just a single day after we last checked in, as we look into what Google's working on for its Now Playing song-ID tool. Authority Insights story on Android Authority. Discover You're reading anstory on Android Authority. Discover Authority Insights for more exclusive reports, app teardowns, leaks, and in-depth tech coverage you won't find anywhere else. An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release. Last time around, we had just installed the new Android Canary release and saw Google adding a Now Playing option for our screen-corner lock screen shortcuts. That sounds well and good, but we also really like the way Now Playing works automatically on our lock screens, just displaying the song it's hearing without any extra interaction needed on our part. Right now, Now Playing on the lock screen is basically all text, just showing you the song and artist it's detected. From there you're welcome to tap through to your Now Playing history, where you get a richer experience with album art and links to YouTube and YouTube Music. Looking into a recent Android System Intelligence update, however, we've been able to get an early preview of some new behavior from this feature. Instead of jumping right into your history upon tapping, Google is thinking about an interface where Now Playing would start with its familiar text display, but then tapping it would expand that to offer a bar with album art. We also get quick access to the favorite button over on the right, and can add or remove tracks from that list with a tap. And if you do need to access your full history, you can get there with a double tap. Frankly, we wish Google would think about removing that first step and make this new look the default for Now Playing on the lock screen, instead of needing us to tap for the art. But who knows? Right now this is still very much in active development, and we just might get an option like that by the time Google's ready to formally introduce it. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
10-07-2025
- Android Authority
What's that song? Android Canary introduces Now Playing lock screen shortcut
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Android lets users set up a pair of lock screen shortcuts for quick access to system tools. Today's inaugural Android Canary release adds a new 'Now Playing' shortcut to your available options. Locking your smartphone is an important step that practically everyone should take, helping to protect your device and keep your private information secure. And while the lock screen serves a critical role, it also makes getting access to anything on our phone that much slower. Thankfully, Google has offered a few ways to mitigate that impact, and maybe the most useful there is Android's support for lock screen shortcuts. With today's release of the first public Android Canary build, we've spotted the company's latest. Google first started letting us customize the screen-corner shortcuts our lock screens offered back in Android 14, choosing from things like quickly accessing Wallet, Home controls, or our camera. Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority With the new Android Canary release, we've spotted the presence of a new 'Now Playing' option. Google has given Android users a few different solutions for identifying songs over the years, including Now Playing on Pixel phones — even if that has been a little wonky lately. We've recently spotted evidence that developers have been paying a bit more attention to the tool, though, working on things like a Quick Settings tile. And now this lock screen shortcut feels like it fits in perfectly with that sort of effort. Right now your only way to try this out for yourself is to install an Android Canary build on your Pixel 6 or newer, but considering Google's dire warning about system stability, you should not feel remotely bad about preferring to wait things out until this is available in a slightly more stable form. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Android Authority
07-07-2025
- Android Authority
Is your Pixel having lock screen issues after Android 16 update? You're not alone.
Joe Maring / Android Authority TL;DR Some Google Pixel owners are reporting lock screen issues after updating to Android 16. Problems include tap-to-wake not working, the screen not turning on after hitting the power button, and more. Affected users are advised to restart their phones to mitigate the issue, but Google is apparently working on a fix. Google Pixel phones were the first to receive an update to the stable Android 16 software. This update brings features like an Advanced Protection Mode, anti-scammer measures during phone calls, and more. Unfortunately, it looks like the update has also brought lock screen woes to some users. Some people on the Pixel Phone Help forum and Reddit (h/t: 9to5Google) have reported various lock screen issues on their Pixels after the Android 16 update. These problems include tap-to-wake not working, the screen not turning on (or being slow to turn on) after hitting the power button, extreme variations in brightness, and fingerprint scanner problems. A few people also report a slow UI and app crashes when they are eventually able to unlock their phone screen. Is your Pixel phone having lock screen issues after the Android 16 update? 0 votes Yes NaN % No NaN % Affected users have tried several workarounds to mitigate this problem. One prominent workaround is to restart the phone, but this only seems to work for a few hours before the lock screen issues pop up again. A product expert on Google's forum also suggested that users reset their adaptive brightness as a workaround for the brightness issue on the lock screen. This can be done via Settings > Apps > All apps > Device Health Services > Storage and cache > Clear storage > Reset adaptive brightness. Unfortunately, these problems seem to have persisted for almost a month now. Thankfully, the product expert confirmed that Google is aware of these lock screen problems and is working on a fix. There's no word on a release timeline just yet, but we hope it's sooner rather than later. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
