Player for the lock screen?

[jaybotinc]

I used to be able to control whatever audio (podcasts, audible, etc) I was playing from the lockscreen on my Samsung S7. Does this exist for the Pixel 2XL?

 

[B. Diddy]

Yep, lockscreen controls are available for pretty much all media apps I've tried before on my 2 XL and current 3 XL (e.g., Pandora). I've never tried a standalone podcast app, though.

 

[jaybotinc]

Yep, lockscreen controls are available for pretty much all media apps I've tried before on my 2 XL and current 3 XL (e.g., Pandora). I've never tried a standalone podcast app, though.

How do I turn it on? I don't know how I did it on Samsung. It was just there.

Or maybe a better question is how does one turn it off? Perhaps I did on accident?

 

[jaybotinc]

Figured it out. I had my lock screen preference set to "Do not show any notifications".

Easy fix though now I have to always see the annoyingly persistent useless MacroDroid notification. (The persistent notification is useless, not the app).

 

[B. Diddy]

Glad you figured it out! Yeah, I'm not crazy about persistent notifications. I use Power Toggles, and it requires a persistent notification in the status bar (but at least I can choose something semi-useful, like an icon with the current date). On the lockscreen, though, I see my Power Toggles bar, since I had set it up to be in the notification panel (which works well as a lockscreen notification as well).

 

[jaybotinc]

Glad you figured it out! Yeah, I'm not crazy about persistent notifications. I use Power Toggles, and it requires a persistent notification in the status bar (but at least I can choose something semi-useful, like an icon with the current date). On the lockscreen, though, I see my Power Toggles bar, since I had set it up to be in the notification panel (which works well as a lockscreen notification as well).

It helps to know someone understands my dislike for these unnecessary clutter. I know one man's clutter is another man's tool, but I just wish pixel offered a more granular customization of what you see or do not in notifications, status bar, etc. Oh well, fwp. Lol

 

[jaybotinc]

Glad you figured it out! Yeah, I'm not crazy about persistent notifications. I use Power Toggles, and it requires a persistent notification in the status bar (but at least I can choose something semi-useful, like an icon with the current date). On the lockscreen, though, I see my Power Toggles bar, since I had set it up to be in the notification panel (which works well as a lockscreen notification as well).

Btw, what are Power Toggles? Sounds intriguing. Going to check it out but curious what you have to say about it.

 

[B. Diddy]

It helps to know someone understands my dislike for these unnecessary clutter. I know one man's clutter is another man's tool, but I just wish pixel offered a more granular customization of what you see or do not in notifications, status bar, etc. Oh well, fwp. Lol

Yeah, it's not just Pixel -- it has to do with how the app is coded for Android in general.

Power Toggles has long been one of my favorite apps. I don't know if you remember older Android phones that came with a "Power Controls" widget, which was a toggle bar with toggles for things like wi-fi, Bluetooth, etc. that you could place on your homescreen for easy access. Power Toggles allows you to create a custom toggle bar that you can place on either the homescreen or the notification panel (which I prefer, because it doesn't take up homescreen real estate). When the native Quick Settings swipe down menu became standard in Android, apps like this became less important, since you could easily access a lot of those toggles there -- however, there are certain things I like to do often that can't be added to the native Quick Settings. I created a toggle bar that includes my calculator app, the Play Store shortcut, and the system settings shortcut, and put it in the notification panel. So whenever I want to access them, I just swipe down and tap.

It's free and ad-free, but it's a little tough to find, because the developer had to give up supporting it due to lack of time. If you search for it in the Play Store (or even in Google), it doesn't come up -- but I dug it up in my Play Store apps list, and here it is! https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc

Notification Toggle is similar, and is more easily found in the Play Store.