Lockscreen widget is missing

[mikhail Liew]

I just updated my phone yesterday and noticed that the lockscreen widget is missing in the lockscreen when music is being played.

This is good for change the songs on the go.

Before the phone update, no issue with this as the widget is always on the lockscreen 

But now I found that I need to swipe down the lockscreen to access the widget under notifications.

I do not have to do this previously.

 

I do not remember what version i was from before but I remember I had not updated for quite some time.

It is now on Android 12, UI 4.1.

I am using samsung S10+, Poweramp build-305 and version build-939-bundle play[939004-333c8a71] full version 64bit.

 

Went through the usual google for answer, reddit, forums and reviews and sort of found the answer but not quite.

Had to enable the "show on lock screen" in Poweramp lockscreen settings.

But now it is showing the entire Poweramp menu screen in the lockscreen instead of a small widget.

Notification setting in phone setting is enabled for Poweramp and always show on display.

Lockscreen > widget > music tab is enabled.

Have tried most of the methods found online but since everyone phone is different, what works for them does not work for me.

 

https://imgur.com/mlL3SgR

Not sure if you get my point but maybe this screenshots will ..... I hope

 

All I hope to get is to have the small widget back onto the lockscreen.

When I tap the phone, the lockscreen pop up and the widget is there for me to change songs.

 

 

[andrewilley]

The 'Poweramp Lock Screen' feature is not the same as the Android one, it presents the majority of the main PA interface on the unlock screen, which I don't think is what you want here.

The Android Lock Screen widget gets its content from the Notification system, so check that is enabled in PA Settings=>Look and Feel=>Notifications. Also make sure it is enabled in Android's own settings.

Try using Restore Defaults in both the Lock Screen and Notifications settings pages, as currently the options will have been inherited from your previous (Android 11, or earlier?) setup.

Andre

[mikhail Liew]

Yes, the Poweramp lock screen feature is totally different from what I had previously, so this is out.

Restoring defaults did not work either.

Notifications is already enabled for Poweramp, to show on top.

 

Searched high and low in various forums posts, reddit threads, self help websites and finally found what is the problem.

I did not set permission for bluetooth, to allow nearby devices access to this app.

Once I allowed permission, the lockscreen widget came back on

I don't allowed permission and the lockscreen widget is gone again.

 

Now the next question is why do I need to allow this bluetooth permission thing in order to use the lockscreen widget?

To allow nearby devices access to this app ........ this doesn't sound very safe, is it?

[andrewilley]

I guess the lockscreen controls must use the same button event mechanisms that Bluetooth and headsets do for button presses. Do you need to have the Bluetooth radio actually turned on, or merely provide permission for its control access?  @maxmp might be able to tell us more though.

Andre

[mikhail Liew]

Nope, bluetooth is always off.

radio app was never used and turned off too.

Yes, i had to give permission for bluetooth to allow other devices access for the Poweramp app.

 

There is this media output option from the UI home/menu which i find somehow is connected to this issue i see.

This is for music sharing on bluetooth ( which is turned off )

When going into the media output, there is a tab for Music Share and a dropdown menu on the top right to go into its setting.

In this setting there is an option to enable " Show earbuds when available" , to show your Galaxy buds in the media output panel if they're nearby, turned on and ready to connect. ( this is also turned off )

This media output option only appears when i gave the permission for the bluetooth to gave nearby devices access for this app.

When permission is not allowed, this media output option will be done and so is the lockscreen widget.

See attached screenshots

 

Really strange. haha

[automp]

@mikhail Liew
I got the exactly same issue with same problem and have no idea how to solve this.

Using a Samsung Galaxy A41. Since the last System Update, the PA Lockscreen widget isn't shown anymore. Only via Samsung Media Output.
(also other music apps like e.g. Radionator which i'm using isn't shown anymore)

I tried each setting, permission, notification possibility doesn't work.
Are you any further meanwhile or even have a solution?

[maxmp]

@automp it works 100% on default settings, so please do Restore defaults in Poweramp settings / Look and Feel / Notifications. 

Note that notification is shown only when player is actively playing something.

If it doesn't appear anyway (so you generally don't have Poweramp notifications in the notification shade), ensure you have notifications enabled for player (long press on Poweramp / (i)) Notifications - Allowed.

Also global notifications on lock screen settings should be enabled (phone settings / Lock screen / Notifications / On) and Lock screen / Widgets should have Music widget enabled.

[automp]

@maxmp

Thanks again for your reply and explanation. Just to understand:

On the lockscreen you only see the PA controls (skip buttons, status bar etc.) via the Android Media Output widget? Not the previous (more compact) Poweramp control bar? 

 

That's what i actually meant. I thought there is a different lockscreen widget provided from PA app itself. (not the "full" PA as lockscreen view) 

At my phone it looks like in the attached screenshot. 

Edited July 7, 2022 by automp

[Rafal B]

I would like to reopen this topic as I can't get PA widget available on the lock screen.

I think I have followed all steps provided here and did what other suggested but still no PA widget on lock screen.

Is it a problem that only occurs on Samsung devices? I have just migrated from old Android 9 phone where I had have no issue with that to Samsung Android 13 and it is here.

Edited January 9, 2023 by Rafal B
Problem solved. I have unselected Music from showing on Lock screen. Once enabled PA widget is there.

[andrewilley]

@Rafal B  On recent Android builds, media playing apps pass any info they wish to display to system's lockscreen 'widget' - but the layout is defined by Android, not the app. The only way to get around that is to take over the whole lockscreen completely, as a kind of intermediate page, which should be available via PA Setttings=>Lock Screen=>Show on Lock Screen.

Andre

[LDW]

I've been having this same problem. It happened suddenly while I was out and using it so wasn't caused by an app or software update. I had to use the show full app on lock screen to get by.

I've just been messing about with settings and gone into widgets on lock screen and tried toggling the music player setting on to see if that did anything and that has got it back. I'm not sure if that setting was toggled on before and if so I don't know how it was toggled off, but that has fixed it. 

[andrewilley]

I guess this could have been Samsung's / Android's penchant for disabling permissions for thing it thinks haven't been used for a while (as noted above for BT/external device permission), but I can't think why something as simple as a Lockscreen widget should get hit that way.

Andre

[andrewilley]

The buttons on the lockscreen media controller widget are now configurable, see PA Settings=>Misc=>Buttons. The middle three '<<', 'Play/Pause' and '>>' buttons are system-specified and cannot be changed. The first two Button items in the menu are for the outer two controls on the Notification or Lockscreen Widget (they are basically the same thing). The subsequent Buttons 3-6 are for Android Auto/etc, which offers more than the initial five button slots.

 

 

Andre

[VSIDO]

I found a different solution for this and if it is the same as others I apologize. On the regular Android 15 screen when you pull down from the top it shows the mini widget. I long pressed on it and a settings wheel showed up. When I opened it, it gave the choices listed in the image below. I selected and enabled the Show Media on Lock Screen and now it works as it should have 

[andrewilley]

@VSIDO That's not available on other device though. On older versions of Android (well, on my Samsungs anyway) you can use the Android Settings=>Lock Screen=>Widgets menu.

Andre