Android 11 - Remove lock screen or place apps on lock screen

[Frank H]

I would like to remove the lock screen on my Pixel 3 Android 11. Unfortunately, I cannot find such an option.

Next I would like to place a few apps on the lock screen.
I have tried to look on the internet and cannot find a method for Android 11 and none of the other methods work on my phone.

Is there a way to do either of these?

 

[ocnbrze]

I would like to remove the lock screen on my Pixel 3 Android 11. Unfortunately, I cannot find such an option.

Next I would like to place a few apps on the lock screen.
I have tried to look on the internet and cannot find a method for Android 11 and none of the other methods work on my phone.

Is there a way to do either of these?

settings>security & location>security>lockscreen
https://www.techjunkie.com/guide/google-pixel-3-how-to-change-lock-screen/

as far as apps on the lockscreen.....i have never seen that nor would i want that. for one, if the phone is in my pocket one of those apps would keep launching. also it might be easier for someone to unlock the phone.

 

[Frank H]

The last section on the page of that link shows the options for the lock screen - none, swipe, pattern, pin, password, finger print and smart lock. The problem is that my phone does not have the 'none' option. The menus are different too.

As far as security is concerned, an app on the lock screen could not be less secure than not having a lock screen. So that doesn't worry me.

 

[Unforgiven]

Is this a managed phone? By a school or company? That's the only reason I could think of not having an option for none on lock screens.

 

[Frank H]

No, this is not a managed phone. It is my own phone. I do not have any accessible banking apps or security sensitive data.. The only things that may be considered sensitive are the contacts and message history.

However, the phone is in my google account so can be remotely secured via my google account in case of theft.
I just want to make the phone more easy to use for the basic things like making a phone call.

 

[ocnbrze]

i would then use swipe option. otherwise if you keep your phone in your pocket, it can easily open the phone and start and app or even butt dial someone. have a screen to unlock will prevent accidental touches.

 

[Frank H]

Yes, that has been my only option and what I have been using.

I did try to install Launchify. It is supposed to allow adding of icons on the lock screen. Unfortunately it was last updated on 24-May-2020 for Android 10. I am running Amdroid 11 and it doesn't work properly.

 

[Hadron]

Funny that "none" isn't one of your options, since on my Pixel 2 (android 11) it is. Of course I've not had any updates since November (3 years and that's your lot), so it may be that Google have removed it since then. Or maybe you have something else active that I don't that requires a lockscreen and so disabled this option (just speculating here, don't have any idea what that might be if it is even a thing).

There's no option within the phone for apps on the lockscreen (that type of stuff is manufacturer and android version dependent, so while it was a thing with HTC phones 8 years ago, for example, I've never seen it on a Pixel. And yes, it would ask for your PIN if you tried to leave that app). I've not used a third party lockscreen app for a long time, so don't know which if any will work properly. If you can't turn off your own lockscreen you would probably have to unlock twice with a third party app.

To be honest I rarely see the lockscreen: I put my finger on the scanner when I pick the phone up and it's unlocked. Therefore I don't find the lockscreen to be any inconvenience in use. Just mentioning this as an alternative workaround.

 

[Frank H]

I have read somewhere that if there is more than on account set up on the phone, the lock screen option 'none' id removed.

Hadron, I've thought of trying the finger scanner (the Pixel 3 is my first), but I've been worried about locking the phone out if the scanner is not reliable.
I also don't understand how you don't see the lock screen. When you pick up the phone, doesn't it first come on?
I have never set up a scanner before. I don't really know how it would work.
I do agree though, if I could get the scanner to work the way you say, that would solve my problem.

 

[Unforgiven]

Hadron, I've thought of trying the finger scanner (the Pixel 3 is my first), but I've been worried about locking the phone out if the scanner is not reliable.

Of the phones I've had the Pixel 3a scanner was the most reliable.

I also don't understand how you don't see the lock screen. When you pick up the phone, doesn't it first come on?

When you touch the scanner it wakes the phone up and, if your fingerprint matches, unlocks it. After only a short period of time it becomes habit to touch the scanner while picking the phone up, so by the time you are looking at the screen it is already unlocked.

I have never set up a scanner before. I don't really know how it would work.

Essentially, you first need to set up a pin or pattern lock in case you are unable to scan your fingerprint. Then you set up fingerprints. You need to use your pin or pattern unlock each time you want to add or remove a fingerprint. I'm not sure the limit, but I scanned each of my index fingers (so I could unlock the phone with either hand), added each middle finger (in case either of my index fingers were unreadable for some reason), and added my wife's and son's index fingers.

If at any time the phone is unable to read a fingerprint you will revert back to your pin / pattern unlock. Also, the phone will occasionally require you to use your pin/pattern unlock as well as after each reboot.

 

[Hadron]

^this - there's no worry about being locked out from the fingerprint scanner not working because you have to set up an alternative (and as well as asking you for that every now and then as a check it will also ask for the PIN/etc whenever you reboot, so one way or another your memory will be jogged).

I also don't understand how you don't see the lock screen. When you pick up the phone, doesn't it first come on?

That's an option, but I don't turn that on (I didn't find any great merit in it so decided to save some battery). So my phone doesn't wake until I touch the scanner, and then it unlocks faster than the screen switches on. So no, I don't see the lockscreen. Plus I typically unlock it as I'm pulling it out of my pocket, so it's on before I can see the screen at all.

 

[Frank H]

That all sound promising.
Just one thing before I try it out.
From the above I understand that multiple fingers can be set up at once. However, if set it up for one finger and it all works, can I edit that later and add another finger also?

 

[Unforgiven]

That all sound promising.
Just one thing before I try it out.
From the above I understand that multiple fingers can be set up at once. However, if set it up for one finger and it all works, can I edit that later and add another finger also?

Yes, you just need to enter your pin/pattern to go back into the area where you add prints.

 

[Frank H]

I set up the fingerprint and works fine. And yes, I agree, the phone can be taken out of the pocket with the home screen already activated.

The only thing that is puzzling is that the lock screen is still active. I thought that the screen requiring to enter the pin/password would become the lock screen - but no. If the fingerprint is not used, the lock screen comes on, and when dismissed the pin/password screen comes on.
I don't understand the requirement for the lock screen under this situation.

 

[Hadron]

You may not always be able to use your fingerprint, e.g. when wearing gloves or if your hands are wet or dirty. Hence if you wake the screen using the power button rather than the fingerprint scanner you are presented with the same option you'd have had if you'd not set up the fingerprint.

Some people may also just want to wake the lock screen to check a notification or something. So doing it this way gives them the option.

 

[Frank H]

Oh, OK. The notifications.
The pin/password screen does not have notifications, therefore, the lock screen is required after wake up , before the pin/password screen in case you only want to see the notifications.
I am happy now!

 

[puppykickr]

I also have an old device that 'none' disappeared as an option.

To get it back, I had to

Settings
Security
Clear Credentials

Now, your device will probably be a bit different, as this is the terminology used on the 5.1.1 that it happened to me on.

Once I cleared the credentials, 'none' was once again an option as the lockscreen, and then there is effectively no lockscreen at all.

 

[QuininQ]

I would like to remove the lock screen on my Pixel 3 Android 11. Unfortunately, I cannot find such an option.

Next I would like to place a few apps on the lock screen.
I have tried to look on the internet and cannot find a method for Android 11 and none of the other methods work on my phone.

Is there a way to do either of these?

For some reason, Google decided to protect this feature. Once you activate the pin screen lock, you will not automatically see the option to remove it. You need to double-tap on the Pin option to be prompted to re-enter the pin and find the main menu where you can select either none, swipe, pattern or pin again.