Microsoft launches free Picturesque lock screen replacement for Android devices

Microsoft has launched a new lock screen replacement for Android devices called Picturesque. The app comes from Microsoft’s Garage division, which the company describes as “a 24-hour idea factory.”

Picturesque features a daily wallpaper from the Bing homepage (which you can change by shaking your phone), the ability to search the web and browse the results directly from the lock screen (also powered by Bing, naturally), along with a news feed, weather updates, app notifications, and controls for your camera and phone calls.

The free lock screen replacement is available from Google Play now. You can find the full description and feature set listed below:

Picturesque Lock Screen, a Microsoft Garage project, brings the beautiful Bing home page images to your android lock screen. The app allows you to easily change the image (from the past 6 days Bing homepages) with just a shake of the phone or by swiping to the right. You could see your missed calls and text messages at a glance on the lock screen and also search directly from the lock screen without unlocking your phone. Picturesque also brings your current weather, news and Indian regional calendars on your phone lock screen.

Key Features:

• Beautiful Bing Homepage images: Your lock screen will be updated with the beautiful daily Bing image; you could swipe through the images from past 6 days or shake your phone to change the image on your lock screen.
• Search on the lock screen: You could search for anything on the web directly from the lock screen and read all the linked pages without having to unlock your phone.
• Latest news: Keep yourself updated with the latest news headlines and tap through to read the full articles.
• Weather: Find out what the weather is at your current location; long tap through on the icons to get the detailed weather predictions for the week.
• Notifications on Screen: See your missed calls and Messages quickly from your lockscreen. Quick call or reply from the notification from Home screen itself.
• Regional Calendars & Muhurats (Only for Indian users): Personalize the lock screen to access your favorite regional calendars and Muhurat. Now you can figure out what festival is on for the day, rahu kalam, chogadiya/hora timings all from the lock screen itself.
• Camera & Phone controls: Access your phone camera from the lock screen; Change your WiFi, Bluetooth, volume, brightness settings; also use your phone as a torch from the lock screen.