Android How To: Enable Lock Screen Widgets in Android 4.4 – KitKat


You may remember that back in Android 4.2, Google introduced a new feature known as Lock screen widgets. Which wasn't a real popular feature. For a while there none of us really cared about lock screen widgets, until developers started creating third-party widgets for the lock screen, then we started to care. I've been using DashClock pretty much ever since it was announced and love it. I install it on just about every device I have. I'd have to say that I can't live without it since I have the weather on it, missed calls, text messages, unread emails, unread Feedly items, and much more. But in Android 4.4 – KitKat, Google decided to turn off lock screen widgets by default. Okay, that's not a huge deal, but where exactly is it? You'd think it would be under Settings > Display, since it's part of the display…maybe that's just me. But nope it's not there. So here's how you can enable them again.

  1. Go into Settings
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  2. Scroll Down to Security and tap on it
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  3. Check the 'Enable Widgets' option, it should be the second one.
  4. Voila!
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That's literally how simple it is to enable lock screen widgets again. There are many app developers that have incorporated lock screen widgets into their apps now, and a lot of them even work with DashClock. So lock screen widgets are really starting to catch on, especially now that more and more devices are getting updated to Android 4.2 or higher.


Yes we know the Nexus 5 and KitKat is just about over and most people are onto the Moto G and the HTC One Max, but there are still some smaller things we want to cover, so make sure you're on the look out for that type of stuff. If you have any questions related to the Nexus 5, KitKat, HTC One Max, etc., don't be afraid to ask. Who knows you may not be the only one with the question.

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