In this guide, we will show you a couple of workarounds to fix the issue of home screen icons and widgets disappearing in the Android 13 Beta 1 device after unlocking it. The thirteenth iteration of the OS has just made its way from the Developer Preview phase over to the Beta builds and the first version is already live. As a result, you are now about to welcome a plethora of new and intriguing features as well as a few under the hood changes.
Some of these include the likes of themed icons for third-party apps, more Material You theme styles [from 4 to 16] QR Code scanner in Quick Settings tile, changes to media output picker, and the ability to edit clipboard texts. However, being a beta build, a few bugs and issues are along the expected lines. In this regard, various users have voiced their concern that the home screen icons and widgets tend to disappear whenever they unlock the device running Android 13 Beta 1.
What is even more interesting is the fact that all the apps, folders, and icons are still there. So if you tap on that empty space, it will open the corresponding content. However, truth be told, hardly anyone remembers the exact position of icons and widgets on the screen. But randomly taping on a particular portion of the screen and hoping that the right app gets launched is mostly a hit and miss. So is there a more concrete method to fix this issue? Well, there does exist a couple of workarounds that have spelled out success for a few users. Let’s check them out.
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Fix Home screen icons & widgets disappear after Device Unlock in Android 13 Beta 1
It is recommended that you try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and then see which one spells out success for you. So with that in mind, let’s get started.
FIX 1: Disable Smart Lock
The Smart Lock feature keeps your phone unlocked if it is in a motion [say, you are walking with it], if it is in a trusted place or close to it, or if it is connected to a trusted device [such as your smart watch]. While it is indeed quite a handy feature as you would no longer have to manually unlock the device every time you are in these scenarios, however, this feature is proving to be the culprit and hence you should consider disabling it as of now. Here’s how it could be done
- Head over to Settings > Security > Advanced Settings.
- Then go to Smart Lock and disable On-Body Detection.
- Likewise, remove all your Trusted Places and Trusted Devices.
- Now check if it fixes the home screen icons and widgets disappearing issue in Android 13 Beta 1.
FIX 2: Reset Device
For some users, it was the ultimate decision of resetting their device that did the trick. However, do note that doing so will wipe off all the data. So if that’s well and good, then take a complete device backup beforehand and then proceed with the below instruction set
- To begin with, head over to the Settings menu on your device.
- Then go to System > Reset Options > Erase all data [Factory Reset].
- Finally, tap on the Erase all data and wait for the process to complete.
- Once done, sign in using your Google account and set up the device.
- The underlying issue should have been rectified.
FIX 3: Downgrade to Stable Android 12
If none of the aforementioned methods spelled out success for you, then you’ll have to take the nuclear route of reverting to the earlier stable OS build. You could do so via Android Flash Tool or Fastboot Commands. We have listed both these methods in the linked guide below, you may refer to the one that is in sync with your requirement: How to Downgrade Android 13 to Android 12 [2 Methods]
So with this, we round off the guide on how you could fix the issue of home screen icons and widgets disappearing in the Android 13 Beta 1 device after unlocking it. As far as the official stance on this matter is concerned, the developers are aware of this issue, but they haven’t given out any ETA for the rollout of a fix. As and when that happens, we will update this guide accordingly. In the meantime, the aforementioned workarounds are your best bet.
