JAKARTA – Your phone’s lock screen is tech’s hottest new real estate. Apple is now making the iPhone lock screen the heart of iOS 16, giving users more control over how it looks and works.
But when Apple talks about beautiful clock fonts and wallpapers With matching colors, they also show a world where your lock screen is more than just a security measure. The lock screen is now another surface where businesses can place information, apps, and even advertisements. Apple isn’t the only company thinking about this either.
Tech Crunch reports that Glance, a lock screen content company is currently in talks with US carriers and plans to launch several Android phones in the US over the next two months.
The competition is now outside the app and on your home screen, via widgets and notifications. Now it seems to go even further: to the first thing you see when you turn on your phone, before you even pick it up or open it.
If you’ve never seen a device running Glance before, one way to think of this app is like the Snapchat Discover feed on your phone’s lock screen. The company presents a rotating series of news headlines, videos, quizzes, games and photos that pop up every time your phone screen turns on. Glance refers to this content card as “looks”, naturally, and says that the average user consumes these looks 65 times a day.
Of course, all of them are filled with advertisements. Glance is a subsidiary of InMobi Group, an Indian advertising technology company. They have partnerships with a number of manufacturers, including Samsung and Xiaomi, and the company claims its software is built into over 400 million phones in Asia. Google is an investor in the company, as is Peter Thiel.
As quoted from the edge, , Glance or something like that is a very reasonable idea. You don’t have to constantly log in and out of apps looking for news and information, you don’t even have to unlock your phone. You can simply trust your device to bring you something interesting every time you turn it on.
Apple has also echoed this idea, explaining how they see a more feature-rich lock screen as a way to help you use your phone less. Apple software chief Craig Federighi calls the lock screen “the face of your phone.” He says features like Live Activity can make it easier to get quick information without having to unlock your phone and expose yourself to all the distractions.
“If you can get the answer at a glance, you won’t unlock it,” he says, “and once you unlock your phone, you almost forget why you were there in the first place!”
But by opening up this space, these companies offer apps and advertisers the opportunity to get closer to you. The developers are sure to create live activities that last long after they are finished to be useful, better grab yours every time you start your phone.
Platforms will find ways to pull more of their content onto the lock screen, trying to connect to the stream before you even press a button.
In general, most users don’t change their settings, and you better believe the developers will use them to their advantage.
“Consumers will shift from searching for content to consuming what is shown to them,” said InMobi CEO Naveen Tewari. Forbes when launching Glance.
More importantly, the future of apps like Glance is a way to change smartphone further into a consumer-only device.
At first glance, there will certainly be competition, but this is already a good example of the direction this is all taking. In June, Glance Live Fest took place, a three-day virtual festival that takes place entirely on the user’s lock screen.
It streams concerts and interactive challenges, live tutorials and interviews, and a wealth of live shopping content, to over 70 million users. It’s like a music festival of choice, where you get caught up every time someone texts you. It sounds boring, frustrating, and downright exhausting.
