On iPhone (iOS 16 or later) you can put a verse widget on the lock screen, and it takes about thirty seconds. On most Android phones you cannot — not because the app is missing a feature, but because Android has left lock-screen widgets optional for device makers since 2014, and almost none of them enable it.
| Device | Third-party widget on the lock screen? | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone (iOS 16+) | Yes | See the steps below |
| Pixel Tablet | Yes — documented by Google | Long-press the lock screen → Customize |
| Pixel phone on Android 16 QPR2+ | Beta, and you have to switch it on yourself | Settings → Display & Touch → Lock screen → Widgets on lock screen |
| Every other Android phone | No | The two options further down — both work everywhere |
This is not a bug and not a limitation of any one app. It is a decision Google made in 2014 and has never reversed at the compatibility level:
MUST support application widgets on the lock screen to MAY. Android has never used the word "removed" — it made the feature optional, and in practice the phone makers stopped shipping it.MAY as of the Android 17 CDD. Optional means exactly that: a phone can ship without it, and nearly all of them do.So when an app's store page promises "lock-screen widget", on Android that is a promise the app cannot keep for most of its users. It is worth reading such claims sceptically.
The phone's. This is the part most explanations get wrong, and it is worth two minutes because it decides whether you should go looking for a setting in the app.
Since Android 16 QPR1, Google's position is that apps do not have to do anything to be eligible. Google's own FAQ says it plainly: "All widgets are compatible with the lock screen widget experience. To prioritize user choice and customization, we've made all widgets available." There is no opt-in switch an app forgot to flip.
What an app can do is the opposite — it can opt out. Android 16 adds a widget category that lets a developer say "never show this on the keyguard". That is the only lever the app side has, and it points the other way. So if one app shows verses on your lock screen and another does not, the difference is your device and your launcher, not the second app's code.
Two consequences that surprise people:
Which is why "lock-screen widget" in a store listing is neither automatically a lie nor automatically true: on Android it is a claim about some devices, and a careful listing says so.
lock screen.Display & Touch → Lock screen → Widgets on lock screen, and the feature has been in beta. Treat that as a starting point, not a guarantee, for your model.Two things, and neither of them is a lock-screen widget:
This is fully supported on every Android version and every launcher. Long-press an empty area of the home screen → Widgets → find the app → drag it out. If you want the verse visible the moment you pick the phone up, put the widget on the top row of your first home screen: it is the closest thing to a lock-screen verse that Android reliably offers.
A notification does appear on the lock screen, and it is the only way to get a verse onto a locked Android phone across every device. Two caveats, both from Android's own documentation:
A store listing that promises a lock-screen widget is making a claim about some Android devices, not all of them — because whether the feature exists at all is up to the phone maker, and the app side cannot force it. The precise phrasing is "home-screen widget, and on supported devices also the lock screen". We would rather write that here than have you install something and hunt for a setting your phone was never shipped with.
At the time you choose, a prayer reminder arrives on your lock screen. Tap it and the app walks you through three short steps — be still, give thanks, ask. No streak, no score, nothing to keep up with.
What you are watching: the reminder arrives as a notification — that works on every Android phone. Tapping it asks you to unlock, and then the app runs the guided prayer. We are not claiming a lock-screen widget here: most Android phones cannot show third-party widgets on the lock screen, which is exactly why the reminder is a notification rather than a widget.
How the prayer is written: the words tell you what you might do — never what God is saying to you. The verses stand on their own. There is no streak, no completion count, and no prompt asking whether you prayed yesterday.
The app is free to download, and it stays on your device. The prayer flow is not part of the subscription, and we do not record what you say — there is nothing to upload. Why most Android phones can't do lock-screen widgets →
On most Android phones, no — not a third-party widget. Lock-screen widgets are in Android's compatibility definition as MAY (optional), not MUST, and almost no phone maker ships them. A few do: Pixel Tablet, and Pixel phones on Android 16 QPR2 with the feature switched on. What works everywhere is a notification.
Turn on the app's daily reminder. It arrives as a normal notification, and notifications appear on the lock screen on every Android phone — subject to your own notification and lock-screen privacy settings. Tap it and you'll be asked to unlock before it opens.
The ones we could confirm are Pixel Tablet and Pixel phones on Android 16 QPR2 with the setting enabled. That list is short and it changes, so check your own phone rather than trusting a list — turn on lock-screen widgets in Settings and see whether the option exists on your device.
Yes. A daily reminder notification costs nothing and works on every Android phone. The app is free to download, and the reminder is not behind the subscription.
iOS 16 and later does have lock-screen widgets, and Apple's terms for them are different from Android's. We are an Android app, so we cannot speak first-hand about iOS — check the App Store listing of whichever iPhone app you are considering.