Category: Microsoft Next Lock Screen

Microsoft has pushed an update out to their Android lock screen app, Next Lock Screen.  The new 3.11 version brings much improved battery performance so all users of the app are encouraged to upgrade.  If you aren’t familiar with the app, it is designed to give you more information on your lock screen than the standard lock screen found on Android devices.  Sure it can give you things like notifications and weather, but it gives so much more.  You can for example text friends who have texted you right from the lock screen or have your favorite apps one-tap away.  It will also allow you to do searches via Bing right from the lock screen.  The idea is to give you quick information or access to key apps without having to go through the unlocking process.

One of the biggest benefits to Android as a platform is its flexibility.  Google, much to their credit, has made it very easy for developers – including companies that compete with them – to produce apps for Android to sell or give away.  Microsoft, much to their credit too, has taken advantage of this openness.  The Redmond, Washington company as certainly competed with Google and more directly Android but equally, have produced great apps that allow you to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem without too much pain.  In fact, really no pain.

If you are new to Android but your personal and/or work life is surrounded by Microsoft applications, take heart.  You will find that Android is more than capable of giving you a rich, powerful Microsoft experience without the sacrifices in other areas.  I’m of course referring to Windows Phone.  Clearly the Microsoft experience on Windows Phone was outstanding but even the apps on that now all-but-dead platform lacked when you compared them to those for Android or even iOS.

In this How To I’m going to highlight some of the key apps from Microsoft that will make your Android phone (and in most cases tablets) a solid performing and excellent user experience for those who have their digital work or personal lives in Office 365, OneDrive and other apps.  While those apps are expected, it is the other apps that Microsoft offers that may be a surprise to you.

Microsoft is rolling out a nice update to their lock screen app, Next Lock Screen, that brings a lot of improvements to the app.  The biggest new feature in the app, which is now up to version 3.10.3 for those keeping score, is the expansion of fingerprint scanner support to a much wider range of Android phones.  The support for fingerprint scanners has been in the app for a few months now but it was very limited on the number of devices that it would work on.  Indeed most people didn’t even know it was there in the app.  This update greatly expands the number of devices that can now use the scanner to unlock the phone.  In testing it this morning, it works on my Nexus 6P and my Nextbit Robin, two devices that were not supported in the previous release.

The lock screen app, Next Lock Screen from Microsoft, has been updated today with several big improvements.  The biggest change in the new build, version 3.9 for those keeping score at home, has to do with improved notifications and weather on the lock screen of your Android phone.  In this new build, these two features have been significantly improved and are, well, reliable.  In the previous build the weather updates in particular were haphazard at best.  This new 3.9 build is much better at updating both notifications and weather updates in a timely fashion.

Microsoft’s Next Lock Screen, their Lock screen app for Android phones, has had another significant update today, bringing a host of fixes and improvements to the app.  The updated build is version 3.2 for those keeping score at home and the first thing you will notice is a streamlined and improved UI with a new color scheme.  Microsoft is driving to emphasize that this app is very much location aware and their new logo and look are meant to reflect that fact.

If you aren’t familiar with Next Lock Screen, it is a lock screen app that provides you notifications, calendar updates and now an app usage aware quick launchpad all from your lock screen.  It is actually a very informative and elegant lock screen app that gives you a good amount of information without having to actually unlock your device.  So why use a lock screen app like this instead of the Android built-in lock screen?  Mainly so you can get more customized information.

Microsoft’s lock screen app, Next Lock Screen, has seen an update today that brings several bug fixes along with several new features to the app.  If you aren’t familiar with Next Lock Screen, it is a lock screen app that provides you notifications, calendar updates and now an app usage aware quick launchpad all from your lock screen.  It is actually a very informative and elegant lock screen app that gives you a good amount of information without having to actually unlock your device.  So why use a lock screen app like this instead of the Android built-in lock screen?  Mainly so you can get more customized information.