Key Takeaways
- Samsung’s upcoming One UI 7 update will remove the full-size widget carousel from the lock screen. This change has already been observed in the first One UI 7 beta.
- Users will no longer be able to access full-size widgets by tapping the clock on the lock screen.
- Mini-widgets still remain accessible on the lock screen.
Samsung’s first Android 15-based One UI 7 beta, albeit late, landed on the Galaxy S24 series last week, and there’s already a lot worth talking about. For starters, the OS update finally unlocks a vertical app drawer, something that Samsung has avoided since its early TouchWiz days. The update also introduces a new Now Bar to track live activities, while also splitting the Quick Settings panel and the notification shade into two — something that was prominently leaked in the weeks leading up to the OS.
The update also brings AirPods-like Galaxy Buds integration to Galaxy devices, complete with controls added into the revamped Quick Settings panel and 32 new actions for Routines.
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While the update seems to focus on only new additions, there’s one area where Samsung appears to be scaling back too. For reference, thanks to One UI, Galaxy users have continued enjoying lockscreen widgets, even though they were vaulted with Android 5.0 Lollipop back in 2015. On Galaxy devices, users have had the option to add ‘mini widgets’ directly on their device’s lock screen, or full-sized widgets that are hidden behind a carousel accessed by tapping on the lock screen clock. With One UI 7, Samsung seems to be getting rid of the latter.
The information was highlighted by credible leaker Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority, indicating that the Settings menu to add full-sized lock screen widgets is no longer available in the first One UI beta. In previous versions, the page to add widgets to the lock screen clock carousel was accessible via Settings → Lock screen and AOD → Widgets. Navigating to the same page now no longer shows the widget setting.
Additionally, tapping on the lock screen clock now only displays the time and date, and it doesn’t highlight the widgets you might have previously added. Mini-widgets, however, still remain accessible by long-pressing anywhere on the lock screen, as highlighted in the screenshots above.
It isn’t entirely clear why the South Korean tech giant got rid of the full-size widget carousel, and if they will make a return by the time stable comes knocking. Rahman suggests that Samsung likely knows that not many users utilize the functionality hidden behind the lock screen clock, and killing it off may reduce clutter, especially with the arrival of the Now Bar.
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