You can change the Android 12 square clock on Google Pixel lock screen

Here’s the crux of the article in video form:

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

Original story (published on November 1, 2021) follows:

Android 12, the most recent version of Google’s operating system, brought many aesthetic and functional changes. While the new features are attractive, the design changes are not appealing to everyone.

Android 12 changed things like system base colors, widget shape/size, and lock screen clock. It appears that the new lock screen clock is somewhat confusing for some Google Pixel users, according to reports.

Some users report feeling quite uncomfortable with the new way the clock is displayed on the Android 12 lock screen.

Apparently, the new design can be a bit confusing and impractical for many, as it does not allow them to know the time at a quick glance.

My phone just updated and among other annoying changes I now have a square clock display on my lock screen. I have dyslexia and can’t read the square display. Is there any way for me to change it?
Source

Android 12 change the way my lock screen time lays out….. Into a position where it is very difficult for me to read and understand the time in that format. I’d like to go back to the old way where time made sense and I didn’t hate looking at my phone… How do I do that?
Source

It seems that users were already very accustomed to the Android 11 lock screen clock format, which remained more or less classic and easy to use.

However, Android 12 changed this on Google Pixel phones. Now, the design of the clock on the lock screen has a gigantic size and a particular format that makes it difficult to interpret quickly.

For those who don’t like the new design of the clock on the Android 12 lock screen, there is a workaround that may help.

Apparently, the new ‘giant clock’ of Android 12 is present as long as there are no active notifications on the lock screen. When there is an active notification, the clock changes to a smaller format.

So, the workaround is to use an app that always keeps a notification active. A Google Product expert suggested an idea in response to one of the reports:

While you cannot manually change it back to the old one-line H:MM format, you will get that smaller format if there are any active notifications on your phone.

I use an app Signal Spy that lets you know how you are connected to the internet – wifi or cellular. It has an option to display an icon on the notification line. As long as that is active, my lock screen shows the one-line clock.
Source

Weather apps may also work for this workaround, as a report suggests:

It is not yet known if Google plans to change the design of the lock screen clock in future Android 12 updates. To this day, the company has not officially commented on the matter.

We will update this article when new updates appear on this issue. Meanwhile, you can also check the Issue/Bug tracker dedicated to Android 12 on Google Pixel phones.

09:43 am (IST): In case you really dislike the square clock, then you can check out apps such as KLCK that allow one to customize the lockscreen. It isn’t flawless with Android 12, but it does what it’s supposed to do.

09:50 am (IST): If don’t want to go the Weather app route, you can even use an app called Persistent Notifications that allows you to add notes or to-do lists.

This will help get rid of the giant square clock on the lockscreen as pointed out by a Redditor.

If you don’t want a weather app notification constantly, there’s an app called Persistent Notifications where you can leave yourself notes (or a blank message) as a notification that won’t go away as well. (Source)

10:20 am (IST): Ava Lockscreen is another excellent non-root app that lets you customize your lockscreen in just a few taps. If you’re looking to replace the Android 12 lockscreen, download Ava Lockscreen here.

12:20 pm (IST): Incoming is yet another great lockscreen customization application that’s available for free called Solo Locker. The app offers a lot of customization options to fine-tune your lockscreen.

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