One of the many bonuses of owning an Android smart phone is that you are able to add widgets to your home screen. While some widgets may not be useful for every user, but there are some specific widgets for Android devices that everyone should definitely give a try. Also, very few people will be aware of the fact that widgets can also be used on your lock screens.
Android Jelly Bean 4.2 introduced these special lock screen widgets in the market. It allows you to interact with your smart phone without the need to unlock it. In situations where you are guarding your smart phone with a lock screen, it can be annoying to unlock your device each time you want to check the weather or change your wireless settings.
In situations like this, disabling the lock screen is not the only viable option. Try these lock screen widgets to get rid of this problem forever.
Dash Clock
As is clear from the name itself, Dash Clock is a dashboard clock for Android devices that is meant to replace the default Android lock screen clocks. Dash Clock is no doubt one of the most incredible widgets for your smart phone. This clock is definitely prettier than the traditional lock screen clock. This makes a huge difference as the lock screen is what you see the most on your smart phone.
But what makes this widget more appealing is its extensibility. You can now add more details to your clock using various extensions. By default, many extensions are present in this widget, such as upcoming alarms, calendar appointments, unread texts, missed calls, unread emails and a lot more. Apart from this, the Shuttle Player extension just makes this Dash Board widget more winnable.
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Simple Dialer Widget
For people who use their Android smart phone for its usual intended purposes i.e. calling contacts, this is definitely a God sent widget. This widget literally adds a dialler on your device’s lock screen. Basically all the contacts and phone keypad is added on to your lock screen and you no longer have to unlock your phone in order to make calls. This dialler comes with three tabs: the contact list, the call log as well as the keypad. This widget makes your Android smart phone comparable to your old and traditional brick phones, when it is all about making quick calls.
One crucial thing to keep in mind is that you will be allowing access to people for attending your calls as well as making calls from your smart phone. This may not be acceptable but the widget is definitely worth giving a try.
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Simple RSS Widget
With the recent demise of the Google Reader, people may have switched to its alternatives but this surely has left a void in their lives. This is where the Simple RSS widget comes into play. Using this widget, you can have instant and convenient access to RSS updates on your Android smart phone and all this without the basic need of unlocking your device. This widget shows a real time list of all your important RSS feeds that are being tracked with this widget’s options. For people who have tons of widgets to be tracked, subscriptions can also be imported. This widget can handle multiple feeds, is scrollable, customizable as well as resizable.
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1Weather
Out of all the Android weather apps, this one has been making strides in the recent times. This widget puts current weather data on the tips of your fingers, of course without the need to unlock your lock screen. It has a modern and sleek design and is frequently updated to provide accurate weather reports.
Not only is 1Weather a widget, rather it is a fully functional app for your Android smart phone. It comes with real time weather updates, its own home screen widgets, notifications, hourly weather forecasts as well as it can be integrated with the Dash clock. However, depending on your changing locations, the precision of the weather report may or may not vary.
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Extended controls
This is the first and only lock screen widget in this list that is not free of cost. You need to pay $0.99 USD in order to own this widget. But the usefulness of this widget makes each penny worth spending for. Considering all of the Google Play, this is the best setting app till date. It is extremely easy to use and you can toggle through all the settings with just a single tap. You can say that the Extended Controls widget is a must- have for all the Power users out there.
Apart from the long list of settings, this widget can also be customised in various ways, such as background customization, various icons, widget transparency, widget sizes, personalised labels, colours and a lot more.
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Conclusion
These lock screen widgets have surely revolutionised the Android experience for millions of smart phone users. It doubles the convenience factor of your device. These widgets are definitely worth giving a try.
About the Author: This post is written by Ujjwal Kumar, He is a tech blogger and loves to write on topics related to Android Firmwares, Android Rooting, Latest Android Updates. His recently wrote articles are Root Micromax A88 Canvas Music and Root Xolo Q800.
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