How To Set Up Lockscreen Shortcuts On Galaxy S7 & Edge

Not long ago, customizing your lockscreen meant rooting your phone and installing a custom ROM. As Android itself and manufacturer skins have both improved, however, this ability and many others have become an integral part of the operating system, accessible to all users, much like quick settings customization and the upcoming addition of multi-window by default in Android N. Some owners of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge may have a bit of a hard time finding where they can set up custom lockscreen shortcuts. If that’s you, read on for a quick and easy tutorial.

To begin, unlock your phone, of course, and get into your settings. This can be done either through the icon in your app drawer or by the gear icon in your quick settings panel, up near the top of the screen. Once there, go into the section titled “Lock Screen and Security”. You’ll be presented with a few options pertaining to setting up your lockscreen, secure lockscreen methods, and of course, customization. One of those options should say “Info and app shortcuts”. Give it a tap. Once you’re in there, you’ll find yourself face to face with options that let you select the left or right shortcut. Tap either one of those and you’ll be staring at a list of your apps. Tap the app you want to set as the shortcut, and you’re good to go. Keep in mind, unlike shortcuts in Nova Launcher or tasker, you cannot pick individual tasks or activities within an app – launching the shortcut will simply launch the app. If you’d like to disable one or both of the shortcuts for a cleaner look, just hit the slider button in the top right while looking at your list of apps for either shortcut.

This level of customization may not be the peak that Android has to offer, but should be good for most users. An app in the Galaxy Apps store, called Good Lock, can help with further customization and, indeed, transforming your entire phone ecosystem, if you happen to be part of the camp that’s tired of TouchWiz, but managed to find yourself with a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 Edge anyway.