Pixel’s Lock Screen Is Getting a Major Refresh – Google Just Forgot to Mention It

Google announced a lot today during The Android Show live stream. But there are still a lot of things that Google did not explicitly call out, that you can see in the GIFs that Google shared.

In the Live Updates GIF, for example, we can see a couple of new Pixel features like AOD wallpapers and a redesigned lock screen with the compact notification shelf.

In the GIF above, you can see the wallpaper is very dark on the AOD, and when you start interacting with the phone, it brightens up so you see the wallpaper. This isn’t the first time that we’ve had wallpapers for always-on display; Google actually took it away a few years ago. They are likely adding it back now because of the iPhone having it.

It also shows off a new lockscreen look. We now have the clock further up, instead of centered, with the date and weather across from it. Below that is your next calendar appointment, with the live updates below that, and then a compact notification shelf. Showing just three app icons. It’s definitely a cleaner look for the lock screen.

These changes were discovered with the Material 3 Expressive redesign a few weeks ago. So it’s nice to see some confirmation here.

Don’t expect these changes to come next month

As we noted, Android 16 is going to launch next month, as confirmed by Google. And you shouldn’t expect these two changes to be part of that update. In fact, Google said as much. Instead, we are expecting this to start showing up in the QPR1 beta, which should launch around the same time as Android 16 stable.

These are some really nice changes, and much needed ones. Since most of the Android changes lately have been pretty minimal, on the visual side.

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