New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on October 19, 2022) follows:

The Google Pixel 7 is one of the best Android phones for the money available, offering a fantastic camera and an unrivaled Android software experience.

However, these phones aren’t perfect. We’ve highlighted issues such as front camera photos being blurry, grainy or washed out, ‘No network’ or ‘No service’ (connectivity) issue and many more.

Pixel 7 lock screen media controls missing

And now, according to the reports, many Pixel 7 users say that the media controls are missing or not showing on the lock screen for them (1,2,3,4,5).

Pixel 7 lock screen media controls missing
Source

When an app is playing music in the background, a widget is displayed on the lock screen. It allows users to change the song without having to unlock their handsets.

However, for many Pixel 7 owners, the media player does not appear on their lock screen unless they drag down their notifications bar.

Several users have noticed that the current time is shown in the upper left corner to create room for the music app widget. But it’s missing from that spot.

Media Controls not showing on lockscreen. Title says it all basically. The controls are visible in the notification center but as soon as I lock the phone it knows that there’s something playing because it doesn’t show the two-line clock, but no widget comes out.
Source

Spotify on lock screen without any other notifications. As the title suggests I’m trying to figure out on my P7P how to have Spotify as a music player on the luck screen but without any other notifications present, is that possible?
Source

Another issue is that the media player cuts off in half at the same time it fades out when swiping down the notification center from the lock screen. This seems like an Android 13 issue and is not specific to any Pixel.

Troubleshooting methods like logging in and out, uninstalling and then reinstalling, and making sure all notifications are on for their lock screen don’t work either.

Issue acknowledged

Fortunately, Google support has confirmed that the issue with the lock screen media player halving has been escalated to the concerned team. However, no ETA for a fix has been shared.

Pixel 7 Pro
Source

Potential workaround

In the meantime, disabling the ‘Skip lock screen’ option in face unlock settings has helped some Pixel 7 users fix the issue with lock screen media controls missing.

Here are steps to disable the ‘Skip lock screen’ option:

1. Go to Settings
2. Open Security option
3. Press Face & Fingerprint Unlock
4. Select the Face Unlock option
5. Now disable the Skip lock screen
Source

If the aforementioned workaround helped fix the media controls missing issue, do let us know in the comments down below.

We will be updating this space once the problem is resolved so stay tuned for more information.

Update 1 (December 7, 2022)

06:46 pm (IST): With the December 2022 update, Google has fixed the issue where lock screen media controls were missing.

Note: You can also check out our Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro updates & bugs/issues tracker.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Karanjot Sidhu
963 Posts

A computer science engineer who loves tech and won't stop talking about it. Here at Piunikaweb, I mostly cover Google Pixel deals and how-tos, though you may find me covering Pixel news as well sometimes. Apart from being a nerd, i love gaming and watching movies in my free time.

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