[Android General] Hopper8:
Lockscreen Notifications for Android [4.2+]

I decided to open this thread because of the number of PM's I get regarding how I get my lockscreen notifications to work. I posted once, a while ago that I have a setup for lockscreen notifications, and since then I've been getting PM's asking how I do it. I know that some KitKat ROMs (e.g PAC, Beanstalk, among others) have Lockscreen Notifications. But not everyone runs a custom ROM. So here's how to do it regardless of ROM, and regardless of a secure lockscreen :D Root is not required, although it will work better if you have root (allows widgets to start maximised on lockscreen).

Example: (yes you can add more apps than this) ;)

What you need:

Smartphone running android 4.2-4.4. In Android L, notifications are built into the lockscreen :good:

Steps

1. Download DashClock Widget, and DashNotifier.

If you're on KitKat you can try XblastTools along with Xposed framework. Note that using the Xposed module may cause SystemUI FC's on some ROMs, for example SlimKat. Because of this, I use DashClock and DashNotifier.

2. Add Dashclock widget to your lockscreen.

You may have to enable widgets in the security settings of your phone to be able to do this. For those who haven't done it before, from your lockscreen, swipe to the right and click the '+' symbol. Add Dashclock.

3. Add DashNotifier Extension.

When you click to add Dashclock in step 2, it will bring you to the Dashclock setup. Add an extension "DashNotifier 1".

4a. Configure your extension.

Click the 3-dot menu in the lower right hand corner of the "DashNotifier 1" extension, and choose Settings. From here, choose the application you want to receive notifications from. IMPORTANT: Make sure to click "Show notification content", so that you'll be able to read the notification from the lockscreen.

4b. Configure your text colour to make it readable.

From the Dashclock settings page, click the "Advanced" option from the drop down menu. Choose a colour for the text ("Foreground color") which will allow you to read text over your lockscreen wallpaper. If you can't find a good colour, change the 'Background' option to say 50% and then try. If need be, change this percentage even higher.

5. Set up notifications for all needed apps.

This probably doesn't need saying, but repeat steps 3&4 for all the apps you want lockscreen notifications for.

6a. IMPORTANT [4.3, 4.4]- Allow Notification access for DashNotifier.

On my ROM (SlimKat), this is under Settings>Security>Notification access, where I click the checkbox for DashNotifier. Your ROM may list this in a different location, but you still need to activate this setting if you're on 4.3 or 4.4.

6b. IMPORTANT [4.2] - Allow accessibility option for DashNotifier.

This is usually under Settings>Accessibility>DashNotifier, and turn this on. No need if you're not on 4.2.

7. [ROOT] Start widgets maximised.

If you can't activate this option, you'll have to swipe down on your widget to view their content from the lockscreen. (As I would from the second screenshot at the beginning of this post.)

A lot of custom ROMs have this option. For me, it's under Settings>Security>Widgets>Start maximized. Your ROM may have this option in another place. If you don't have this option in your ROM, you can use Xposed framework and [MOD][Xposed] Maximize widgets on lockscreen.

Credits: These guys have done all the hard work. I'm just explaining how I use their tools :)

Femblack, for Xblast tools.

Roman Nurik for Dashclock.

umanx for DashNotifier

rovo89 for Xposed framework

MohammedAG for his mod to maximise widgets.