The Samsung Galaxy S5 and the larger Galaxy Note 4 are packed with features and sensors. From a fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor, to an infrared blaster that acts as a remote control. These phones can do a lot of fancy stuff, but one thing many want is text message previews on the lock screen. For whatever reason, all you see is “New Message” and there’s no preview like older versions of the Galaxy S series.
Recent updates to the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 4 by default do not show text message information or previews on the lock screen. Instead, you’ll only see a new message notification. Below we’ll explain why it does this and how to get previews and message details on the lock screen.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 4 use Samsung’s own Messages app to send and receive text messages versus the stock Hangout messenger on Android 4.4 KitKat or Android 5.0 Lollipop. As a result, things are handled a little differently and we constantly get questions about how to see your message previews on the lock screen. Below are a few easy steps you need to do.
For security reasons, Samsung devices do not show text message details or previews on the lock screen by default. Instead, owners only have a small message icon and the words “new message”. This is to prevent prying eyes from seeing your information. It’s a nice touch, but fortunately a replaceable option.
Most third-party text messaging apps show previews by default, and our personal favorite is Textra, available here. Google Play store. Download this or any other third party text app and you will see the previews and all the text information on the lock screen. However, if you want to continue using Samsung’s built-in text messaging app that you’ve been using since the beginning, here are the instructions for enabling text previews on the lock screen.
Instructions
It’s actually very easy to change this and get more information about your lock screen. Users just need to open the “” app on their Samsung device and change a few settings. It just takes a few taps.
Open the Messages app, then tap on the three dots, which is the menu at the top right, and tap on settings. In settings (inside the messages app) scroll down and select and just tick the box. This will show previews of new messages on the lock screen. You can also check the status bar option, but it’s usually enabled by default.
For those who need an image to help them complete this task, the image above shows you everything you need to do on the Galaxy S5 or Note 4. And these steps will likely be the same for the new Galaxy S6, which will be out next week. It only takes a few moments to go to settings and tap on the lock screen option and you’re done.
As you can see above, now whenever you receive a new text message on the Galaxy S5 or Note 4, you will see the message previews or details directly on the lock screen. It doesn’t matter if you have a password, pin or pattern. You now see the name of the incoming message and a short preview of the text message.
However, if you have more than two, they will be lumped together and you will only get a notification for how many new messages and the preview will disappear once again. While this isn’t the best way to get things done, it’s better than nothing. In Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google refreshed the lock screen notifications, but Samsung didn’t bring all these cool new features to their devices.
For more details on the Samsung Galaxy S5 or Note 4, be sure to check out how we have coverage.